Nikos Skalkottas

Recent decades have seen the emergence of comparative law, both as an important area of American legal practice and as a significant field of academic study in American law schools and universities. The comparative study of Jewish law and American law stands out as a particularly notable avenue of inquiry, gaining substantial prominence among legal scholars and garnering considerable interest among broader audiences. The chapters in "Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study" turn to Jewish law to provide insights into substantive and conceptual areas of the American legal system, particularly areas of American law that are complex, controversial, and unsettled.

On September 14, 2020, Touro Law Center, Touro Law Review, and the Jewish Law Institute hosted an international conference, “Jewish Law in Comparative Context.” The conference built on the success of previous Jewish Law Institute programs–most recently, the 2019 conference, “Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study.” As in the past, the 2020 conference featured prominent scholars from around the United States and Israel, who addressed areas of comparison between Jewish law and other legal systems. At the same time, the conference broke new ground for Jewish Law Institute conferences, in both format and content.

Music-theoretical introduction to a key work of the twelve-tone technique: Arnold Schönberg's "Variations for Orchestra op. 31". The seminar was part of Pierre Boulez's conducting master class at the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2011.
With the help of numerous sources from the Arnold Schönberg Center, the presentation attempted to work through the compositional genesis, but also the aesthetic and contemporary historical context of the work. The innovative and sometimes bold texture of the music is juxtaposed with great formal rigour and numerous traditional references to Brahms, Haydn, Bach and the Renaissance. Schönberg's idea of "Fasslichkeit" (comprehensibility) plays a decisive role here, which is also reflected in a curious document where Schönberg presents an alternative, tonal harmonisation of his twelve-tone variation theme as part of a radio broadcast.

Background: Dr. Priscilla White, a pioneer in the care of diabetes (DM) in pregnancy, recognized that the prognosis of pregnancy is not identical in all women with type 1 DM. To improve the prediction of risks, she published in 1949 a classification system for pregnant women with DM according to the age at onset, the duration of DM and the presence of diabetic vascular complications. Since then, great advances in diabetes care and obstetrics have been made, but adverse outcomes remain increased in type 1 DM pregnancies compared with background populations. Pregnancy-related metabolic and hemodynamic changes superimposed on the diabetic metabolic milieu and the diabetes-affected vasculature contribute to many of these complications. The increasing prevalence of obesity in women of reproductive age may result in additional obstetric challenges. Aims. To analyze the trends in pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), glycemic control and blood pressure (BP) levels and their relations to obs...

The present paper focuses on the special features of Skalkottas’s chamber works that employ Greek folk elements and on the way in which these elements are used in each case. The overall structure of the paper is based on the division of the works into two tables: the first table includes works in which Greek folk elements are employed and in which a direct reference to Greekness is also made in the work or movement titles, and the second includes works that incorporate those Greek elements in more indirect or abstract ways. This division is important because it makes it possible to first trace the more obvious Greek folk elements in the works of the first table and then explore their more abstract characteristics in the works of the second.
The features revealed through the analysis of specific passages are: folk or folk-like tunes, traditional rhythms, modes, formal features and instrumentation. These observations are then organized in ways that allow us to trace connections between different works, compositional periods and practices and even different idioms, and finally yield a clear view of the ways in which the composer uses folk elements in art music.

Nikos Skalkottas has become quite a well-researched composer throughout the last two decades. Especially his studies in Berlin with Willy Hess (violin) and subsequently with Arnold Schönberg (composition) hold an unwavering fascination for his researchers. His early years in Athens though have not received such a high degree of attention: In Skalkottasʼ biographies they are rather regarded as an intermediate stage usually dealt with in two or three sentences.
This paper would therefore like to shift the focus to Skalkottasʼ time at the Athens Conservatory, which he attended from age ten to sixteen: Who were the formative teachers of Skalkottas there, who provided him with such a thorough education that Willy Hess called his acceptance at the Berlin Academy of Music as “unquestionable”? Skalkottasʼ Dutch violin-teacher Tony Schultze is referred to with the highest regard. However, next to nothing is known about Schultzeʼs own life except that he must have been a very good musician. More is known about Philoktitis Oikonomidis, with whom Skalkottas studied theory and harmony, but we do not know if already Oikonomidis could have incited Skalkottasʼ later interest in composition. Also Avra Theodoropoulou is often mentioned as a leading figure in the cultural life of Athens, but as Skalkottasʼ teacher in music history she is only mentioned in a byline.
The article therefore re-evaluates Skalkottasʼ early years through the lives of his teachers at the Athens Conservatory in order to gain more knowledge of those years which made his studies in Berlin possible in the first place.

We define the wage incentive to management as the wage premium the manager earns because of his/her supervising role. We adopt an approach based on what if questions and estimate the premium at different quantiles of the distribution of wages for 26 European ...

Ο Σκαλκώτας ως συνθέτης που κινείται ανάμεσα στην παράδοση και την καινοτομία, έδειξε καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια της δημιουργικής του περιόδου μία ιδιαίτερη προτίμηση στη σύνθεση κοντσέρτων, η οποία συνδυάζεται με την επιλογή του να κρατάει δεσμούς με το παρελθόν προτιμώντας σαφώς τις κλασικές μουσικές μορφές (φυσικά με παρεκκλίσεις που οφείλονται είτε στη φύση του θεματικού υλικού, είτε στην έλλειψη της τονικότητας). Σε μια συγκριτική θεώρηση των γρήγορων μερών των κοντσέρτων για έναν ή δύο σολίστες και ορχήστρα του Νίκου Σκαλκώτα τίθενται ερωτήματα για τους λόγους για τους οποίους ο συνθέτης επιλέγει το κατά περίπτωση συγκεκριμένο θεματικό υλικό για την ανάπτυξη, τον τρόπο οργάνωσής της και τα μέσα που χρησιμοποιεί ώστε να επιτευχθεί η απαραίτητη φραστική και δομική αστάθεια που θα αποτελέσει κίνητρο για την επαναφορά της σταθερότητας στην επανέκθεση. Σημαντικό παράγοντα αποτελεί η έννοια της αναπτυσσόμενης παραλλαγής και ο ρόλος της στη δημιουργία της μορφής και πιο συγκεκριμένα στη διάταξη του θεματικού υλικού στην ενότητα της ανάπτυξης. Η εποπτική παρουσίαση θα εστιάσει επίσης μέσω της συγκριτικής ανάλυσης σε τμήματα με μεταβατική λειτουργία προς την επανέκθεση, τμήματα που εμφανίζουν νέες θεματικές ιδέες ή ενδιάμεσα επεισόδια, καθώς επίσης και στο φθογγικό υλικό (κατά περίπτωση τονικότητα-ατονικότητα-δωδεκαφθογγισμός) και τον τρόπο που επηρεάζει τη μορφολογική δομή.

La presente These de Doctorat propose une introduction biographique et une approche analytique des quatuors a cordes du compositeur grec Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949). Debutant avec une etude biographique critique, elle presente le contexte socio-politique et les milieux artistiques, grecs et allemands, dans lesquels se cristallise l’esthetique de N. Skalkottas et s’inscrivent ses creativites creatrices. Ayant demontre les facteurs qui contribuent a la formation de son style musical, l’etude se concentre en priorite sur l’analyse des oeuvres pour quatuor a cordes du compositeur, afin de mettre en relief les procedes compositionnels elabores par Skalkottas, dans le cadre de la tonalite elargie, de l’atonalite et du systeme dodecaphonique, tout en portant une attention particuliere a d’autres aspects de sa demarche artistique (comme la forme, la construction harmonique, le rythme, la texture, le timbre). En outre, un des objectifs de la presente etude consiste a confronter l’approche d...

À l'occasion du dossier "Athènes Musikopolis" consacré à Athènes par Hémisphère son, Tristan Bera invite à un retour chronologique sur les faits musicologiques marquants et les personnalités clés de la deuxième partie du 20 siècle, et à une immersion dans un cosmos musical à la fois autonome et connecté. La capitale grecque, en pleine expansion, interroge, aimante et détient une histoire de la musique contemporaine passionnante et peu connue en dehors des cercles musicologiques. Riche en lieux de diffusion indépendants, elle parvient aujourd'hui, non sans détours fascinants, à organiser son chaos hors des circuits institutionnalisés en offrant toujours plus d'expérimentations à entendre.
Le texte écrit en français est suivi de sa traduction en anglais.
lien de la publication online : https://hemisphereson.com/athenes-lequilibre-du-chaos/

La présente Thèse de Doctorat propose une introduction biographique et une approche analytique des quatuors à cordes du compositeur grec Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949). Débutant avec une étude biographique critique, elle présente le contexte socio-politique et les milieux artistiques, grecs et allemands, dans lesquels se cristallise l’esthétique de N. Skalkottas et s’inscrivent ses créativités créatrices. Ayant démontré les facteurs qui contribuent à la formation de son style musical, l’étude se concentre en priorité sur l’analyse des œuvres pour quatuor à cordes du compositeur, afin de mettre en relief les procédés
compositionnels élaborés par Skalkottas, dans le cadre de la tonalité élargie, de l’atonalité et du système dodécaphonique, tout en portant une attention particulière à d’autres aspects de sa démarche artistique (comme la forme, la construction harmonique, le rythme, la texture, le
timbre). En outre, un des objectifs de la présente étude consiste à confronter l’approche de Skalkottas de l’atonalité et du système dodécaphonique avec l’esprit de la Seconde Ecole de
Vienne, afin de mettre en évidence la spécificité de son langage musical ; il s’agit aussi d’évaluer la place et l’apport des pratiques musicales situées en dehors des traditions de la
musique savante, dans les œuvres du compositeur grec. Enfin, au terme de cette démonstration, on aboutit à une vision globale de l’œuvre de Skalkottas permettant d’estimer la place du compositeur, dans le paysage musical de la première moitié du vingtième siècle.

Titre en anglais : The string quartets of Nikos Skalkottas
Résumé en anglais
This study introduces to the life and the string quartets of the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949). It comprises a critical biographical study of the composer and a brief presentation of the greek and german social-political and artistic environment in which he had been instructed and had lived as composer. However, the main thrust of the study is analytical and concerned with Skalkottas compositional procedures connected to atonality, twelve-note
method and extended tonality. In addition to it, the study provides an examination of the
treatment and adaptation of several compositional features (such as form, harmonic construction, rhythm, texture, timbre) within the context of his musical systems. Moreover, it demonstrates the particularities of his personal adaptation of those systems in relation to the
context of the Second Viennese School and the influences issued from musical genres outside the occidental tradition. This study aims at a global appreciation and comprehension of his music.

In a world where various technological advancements have influenced the way humans interact on a global scale, a few disruptive technologies have cleared the path for a new chapter in global affairs. Among these technologies is the blockchain technology which is a distributed ledger technology (DLT) and artificial intelligence. Global logistics, which remains to be the backbone of the entire global supply chain, describes the importance of ensuring the optimization of the shipping industry challenges. However, the shipping industry is going through some challenges that force the industry to reconsider their business model. The shipping industry has a lack of visibility due to the opaqueness created by the complex structure of the industry, with numerous agents and intermediaries , filing heaps of paperwork , which continues to plague the smooth and efficient functioning of the shipping industry. Through this book, we are focusing on these aspects of the evolved technologies and their applications in the global shipping industry. Emerging and disruptive technologies such as blockchain and AI , has been implemented in parts, within the shipping industry, however, due to certain challenges, a fully-functional implementation has not taken place. This book would be exploring how the integration of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence would impact the shipping sector and examines the benefits of an integrated ecosystem for the industry.

CD recordings and reviews
BIS: Nikos Skalkottas From Berlin to Athens, solo piano works
BIS: Nikos Skalkottas Ballet music for piano The Land and the Sea of Greece                     
ECM: Konstantia Gourzi Works for piano and string quartet
Athens Music Society: Yiannis Ioannidis Works for violin and piano                                Yiannis Ioannidis Works for voice and piano
Spektral: Breathless, oeuvres pour basson et piano
Hax: Christos Parmenidis You are still far away, oeuvres pour voix, clarinette, violoncelle, piano, électronique                                                    NAXOS: Dimitris Dragatakis Complete solo piano works                  NAKAS: Manolis Manoussakis Piano Miniatures             Furtadas (PT): Dimitris Andrikopoulos, Eos, piano et électronique

Μια άγνωστη «συνέντευξη» του Νίκου Σκαλκώτα

Παρουσίαση έρευνας στο Αρχείο του Πανεπιστημίου Τεχνών του Βερολίνου [Universität der Künste Berlin - Universitätsarchiv] που στοιχειοθετεί τους λόγους για τους οποίους ο συνθέτης Νίκος Σκαλκώτας (1904-1949) διέκοψε τις βιολιστικές του σπουδές στην τάξη του Willy Hess στην Ανώτατη Κρατική Σχολή Μουσικής του Βερολίνου (1922-1924). Τα ευρήματα περιλαμβάνουν πίνακες με τα δίδακτρα για τα διάφορα όργανα και το «τέλος αλλοδαπών» ανά χώρα, καθώς και ένα λεπτομερές χειρόγραφο ερωτηματολόγιο – αίτηση προς τη Σχολή όπου ο συνθέτης εξηγεί λεπτομερώς την οικογενειακή και οικονομική του κατάσταση. O συνδυασμός των πληροφοριών που προέρχονται από αυτές τις πηγές με την αλληλογραφία του της ίδιας περιόδου οδηγεί στο συμπέρασμα ότι οι λόγοι διακοπής των βιολιστικών του σπουδών του είναι πρωτίστως οικονομικοί. Ωστόσο, το γεγονός αυτό συμπίπτει χρονικά και με την ουσιαστική στροφή του ενδιαφέροντός του Σκαλκώτα προς τη σύνθεση.

An unknown “interview” by Nikos Skalkottas

Presentation of a research held at the Archive of the Berlin University of Arts [Universität der Künste Berlin - Universitätsarchiv], elucidating the reasons behind Nikos Skalkottas’s (1904-1949) interruption of violin studies at Willy Hess’s class at the Berlin Academy of Music [Staatliche akademische Hochschule für Musik] (1922-1924). Research findings contain lists with instrumental fees and the “foreigners’ fee” per country, as well as a handwritten application – questionnaire, where the composer explains in detail the situation of his family and finances. The information from these sources combined with his correspondence of the same period lead to the conclusion that the reasons behind the interruption of his studies were mainly financial. Nevertheless, they coincide in time with a substantial change in his orientation towards composition.

Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949), compositeur grec qui a étudié à Berlin entre 1921 et 1933 et élève d’Arnold Schoenberg (de 1927 à 1930), auteur d’une importante œuvre pianistique, n’a eu que des collaborations éphémères avec les interprètes de son temps. Le propos de l’article est d’exposer les différentes possibilités offertes par la recherche pour pallier l’important manque d’informations relatives à l’interprétation de ce répertoire. Nous nous pencherons sur des filiations pianistiques du milieu berlinois de l’entre-deux-guerres. Quelques-uns des pianistes que nous allons mentionner n’ont jamais eu de contact avec l’œuvre de Skalkottas ; d’autres, qui l’ont joué, n’en ont laissé aucune trace. Nous considérons indispensable de faire le point de l’apport des uns et des autres et de rechercher tous les éléments susceptibles d’éclairer notre abord de l’œuvre pianistique du compositeur.

Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949), a Greek composer who studied in Berlin between 1921 and 1933, becoming Schoenberg’s pupil (1927-1930) and author of an important pianistic oeuvre, had only ephemeral relations with the interpreters of his time. The aim of the article is to propose a research in the pianistic milieu of Berlin interwar period, trying to overcome the absence of a composer-performer transmission in the case of Skalkottas’s piano works. The playing of pianists who did come in contact with Skalkottas’s music, together with other complementary features, will possibly provide us with guidelines towards the interpretation of this repertoire.

Η ανακοίνωση αναφέρεται στην αρχική εκδοχή της χορευτικής σουίτας Τα Παγανά του Νίκου Σκαλκώτα για σόλο πιάνο. Το αυτόγραφο, που φέρει τον τίτλο Tanz-Suite (χορευτική σουίτα), εντοπίστηκε σχετικά πρόσφατα και πρόκειται για εντελώς διαφορετική μουσική σε σύγκριση με την, ήδη γνωστή, ομώνυμη σουίτα για μικρό οργανικό σύνολο, η οποία περιλαμβάνει κυρίως ενορχηστρώσεις κομματιών άλλων συνθετών. Το ιστορικό της ανακάλυψης αυτής της εκδοχής ακολουθείται από πραγματολογικά στοιχεία σχετικά με τη σύνθεσή της, υφολογικές παρατηρήσεις, συσχετισμούς με άλλα έργα μπαλέτου του Σκαλκώτα, καθώς και ερμηνευτικές προτάσεις που απορρέουν από τα παραπάνω.

The paper refers to the first version of Nikos Skalkottas’s dance suite The Gnomes (Ta Pagana) for solo piano. The autograph bears the title Tanz-Suite (dance suite) and has been discovered relatively recently. It is a totally different piece from the homonymous suite for small instrumental ensemble, which mainly includes orchestrated pieces by other composers. The history of this discovery is followed by information relative to its composition, stylistic remarks, correlations with other Skalkottas’s ballets, as well as some emanating interpretative propositions.

[English text follows] L’histoire de l’enseignement de la danse en Grèce dans la première moitié du XXe siècle concerne surtout la danse libre et l’eurythmie, tout en intégrant des influences de la danse expressionniste allemande. Dans ce contexte, le compositeur Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949) exécute plusieurs commandes de ballets dont les sujets et les arguments contribuent à l’expression de la grécité en son temps. Grâce à un projet de recherche du Conservatoire de Paris, une reconstitution partielle de la chorégraphie d’Yvonne de Chirico sur la musique du Chalutier et de la Danse des vagues de Skalkottas a pu se réaliser. La vidéo de cette chorégraphie constitue un rare témoignage pour la danse grecque dans les années quarante et nous permet une étude plus approfondie aussi bien sur le mouvement que sur l’interprétation pianistique de ces œuvres.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACuhKBuJklU 


The history of dance education in Greece during the first half of the 20th century revolves around free dance and eurhythmics, as well as it embraces influences from German expressionist dance. Within this context, composer Nikos Skalkottas executes several commissions for ballets, on subjects and plots contributing towards the expression of Greekness in his time. Thanks to a Conservatoire de Paris grant, it has been possible to reconstitute extracts from Yvonne de Chirico’s choreography on Skalkottas’s The Trawler and The Dance of the Waves. The resulting video is a rare testimony of Greek dance during the forties and it allows a more in depth study of both the quality of movement and the piano interpretation of those works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACuhKBuJklU

The three year EU-funded MAZI research project (www.mazizone.eu) brought together universities, civil society organizations, and neighbourhood groups to design, develop and trial a digital toolkit for supporting local sustainability in four European countries. Funder constraints, partner ambitions and community needs had to be balanced to both adhere to academic research protocols while making a difference in the neighbourhoods where research and action took place. These sometimes conflicting ambitions caused partners to continuously question whose agendas were best being served by the project activities. They had to confront asymmetries of power, capacity, and credibility both within the consortium and within the community settings. Local circumstances changed; partners had to negotiate new, unfamiliar, and changing roles; and guises had to be adopted to progress sometimes conflicting ambitions. In this paper, we report on the challenges encountered in two of the pilot locations, Berlin and London. These two pilots were similar as they consisted at the outset of a university partner previously unconnected to the locality, working with a civil society partner that was deeply embedded in the setting though long-term engagement. In both cases, the pairings sought to work closely together both on the ground and in research tasks. Finding acceptable compromises stimulatedconsiderable self-reflection and required ongoing negotiation. We offer insights on the potentials and pitfalls of civil society activistsand academic researchers collaborating within a research framework from the perspectives of both, with the goal of building a bridge of understanding between these two viewpoints.

Neem oil extracted from seeds of neem trees (Azadirachta indica A.juss) growing in three soil types has showed variations, using petroleum ether and ethanol. Effect of temperature and the influence of solvent on the extraction were studied. Results showed that the maximum oil yield was 42.60% with petroleum ether and 39.17% with ethanol at 50ºC. It was observed that the increase in temperature, decreased the iodine value, whereas increased acid, and peroxide values, envisaging that the higher extraction temperature, though gives higher oil yield, decreased the quality of oil. It was evident that petroleum ether (bp 60-80 o C) can be effectively used as a good solvent for the extraction of oil in solvent extraction process. Further it was observed that some significant variations in Azadirachtin (980-2420 mg/kg), seed protein (27.2-32.8 %) and seed weight (16.8-18.9 g) were observed in trees growing in different soil types.

The Athens Conservatoire Research & Documentation Centre celebrates the anniversary of the 70 years of the early demise of the Conservatoire former student Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949), with a conference, an exhibition and a danse performance.