Theophrastos Sakellaridis

Theophrastos Sakellaridis (1883-1950) is a well known Greek composer and conductor. After receiving his initial music instruction from his father, he continued his studies in Germany and in Italy where he was influenced by the main musical genres of his time.

He is primarily known as one of the pioneers of the Greek or Athenian Operetta, a light form of opera that flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. During his lifetime he composed more than 80 operettas. The most famous of his works is “ The Godson”, a comic operetta in three acts that premiered in 1918. Other known works are “The Possessed”, “I want to see the Pope”, and “Sataneri”.

He became popular to the wider public also for his patriotic songs composed during WWII, like “Vazei o Duce ti stoli you” and “Duce-Duce” which were sung by Sofia Vempo and Nikos Gounnaris, both famous greek singers of his time. During the years 1937-1945 he wrote music for several theatrical revues by Alekos Sakellarios and Dimitris Giannoukakis.

His music style is melodic and pleasant, combining elements from Greek traditional music, folk songs, serenade tunes, italian opera, waltz, polkas and mazurkas. His librettos, written in the popular Greek language, enact and often satirise the civic morals of his contemporaries creating a personal style that was much loved by the public.