He composed his first
song,
“Lullaby”, in 1917. Some years later he embarked on more important works, especially for orchestra, but several belonging to this period were afterwards destroyed by him, except the
Cleftic Dances (1922), the
Concerto Grosso for Winds and Timpani, and various songs. The year 1928 marks the beginning of his technical maturity as a composer. At this period he wrote
his
1st Symphony and the
Greek Suite. In 1932 Petridis composed
Le Clavier Modal for pianoforte, which is a codification of the polyphonic and harmonic possibilities of the old modes.
Until 1939, Petridis wrote several new compositions, including the
Ioanian Suite, two
Pianoforte Concertos, a
Concerto for Strings and his most important work so far,
“Digenis Akritas”, a dramatic symphony in nine connected parts. The
Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello (1933-1934) was also composed during this creative period.
In 1950 Petridis composed the oratorio
“St. Paul” for the celebration of the 1900th anniversary of St. Paul
’s visit to Greece.
His last major works are the
“Requiem for the Last Emperor of Byzantium”, the
Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra and the
Violin Concerto. In 1959 was elected member of the Academy of Athens.
Petridis is one of the most important and original modern Greek composers. The chief element of his style is perhaps his continuous, profound treatment of counterpoint within a personal modal language.
We present here his first texts, published in the Greek newspaper
Esperia in London, from May to September 1916, about the Greek National School of Music, referring to the possibilities of Greek Music to develop as a part of the international modern music.