Theodore Antoniou (b. 1935) is one of the most significant contemporary Greek composers with international recognition and a multitude of awards. He belongs to the same generation as Ligeti, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Xenakis. For his overall contribution to the international musical scene, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Athens, Greece’s highest intellectual establishment. He is a prolific composer with an output of more than 450 works which include operas, theatre music, choral works, symphonic works, concertos, chamber music and solo instrumental pieces. What makes his works unique is his refusal to let creative instincts be bound by convention or strict stylistic rules; his music integrates Greek traditional elements within a wide range of post-war musical styles, always approached in an intuitive, personal way. The composer’s main sources of inspiration have been theatre and Ancient Greek drama, and many of his works are composed for theatrical plays. According to the composer himself, this has left a strong imprint in his musical identity in general; he perceives the flow of music as a sequence of events, which defines the structure of his compositions. In an attempt to best describe his music, Antoniou invented the term ‘Abstract Programmatic Music’ at the beginning of the 1960s: ‘There is always an underlying dramatic plot behind my music. No matter if it is for piano solo or any combination of instruments, theatre is always in my head... Abstract Programmatic Music introduces an abstract scenario, an abstract idea, which controls the four parameters (pitch, volume, duration and timbre).’ Remiscences of Bartók mixed with the special Greek scales and modes make this music easily recognizable and yet very personal. Most of the piano pieces are here recorded for the very first time. The pianist Konstantinos Destounis (b. 1991) is regarded as one of the most prominent Greek artists of his generation. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree at the Royal College; his research focuses on Theodore Antoniou’s piano works. © SM/Qobuz