ABSTRACT
Mantzourani has offered an introduction to certain compositional elements of Skalkottass dodecaphonic music and a detailed analysis of several works. Skalkottas, although absorbing and imaginatively using traditional Greek folk elements in his music, did not try to follow or adapt to the prevailing folkloristic musical aesthetics of his compatriots. Although it is useful to distinguish Skalkottass compositional approaches to dodecaphonic composition, the terminology used by these musicologists is problematic and confusing. They ignore the fact that Skalkottass formal education in Berlin coincided with the early stages of the development of the twelve-note method at a time when Schoenberg did not teach twelve-note composition, and before the formulation of its theoretical framework and nomenclature. The book suggests that it would be more appropriate to divide Skalkottass compositional and stylistic development into two major periods: the Berlin period and the Greek period.
