Nikos Mamagakis dies

Mamagakis, one of the most important Greek composers whose work covers many different musical genres, dies at 84. Born in Rethymno, in a family of players of traditional instruments, parallel to his studies at the Greek Conservatory in Athens, he played guitar in various urban folk clubs with Apostolos Kaldaras, Costas Kaplanis, and Dimitris Stergiou (Bebis). In 1957 he won a scholarship which brought him to Germany, where he studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Karl Orff and Harald Genzmer. He returned to Greece in 1965 and began his composing expeditions with emphasis on sound, structure and rhythm relationships, based on numerical proportions, often in the context of Western standards (Darmstadt School), and also with references to folk and traditional music, especially of his birthplace. His collective work includes songs with poetry from Karyotakis, Polydouri, Ritsos, etc., music for the cinema (Lufa kai Parallagi, Vios kai Politeia [Nikos Perakis], Bordello [Nikos Koundouros], etc.), music for theater (Ploutos, Wasps [Aristophanes], Iphigenia in Aulis [Eurypides] Amadeus [Ionesco], Othello [Shakespeare], etc.)  and for German TV series (Felix Croyle, Homeland).