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Abstract
This dissertation presents three aspects of the life of the composer Maria Kalogridou. The first is a biography of Maria Kalogridou based on conducted interviews from her relatives, collaborators, and other musicians; archival material existing in the Lilian Voudouri – Music Library of Greece; and from my personal research on her life. The second is a complete catalogue of her known works constituted from the scores existing in her personal archive existing in the Lilian Voudouri – Music Library of Greece. And the third is an analysis of her compositional style on selected compositions for the baritone voice and the implementation of ethnic Greek elements in her music. The idea for this dissertation started while researching compositions for the baritone voice in the Greek language at the Lilian Voudouri – Music Library of Greece. A set of songs for the baritone voice composed by Maria Kalogridou was discovered in an unpublished and uncatalogued archive containing her manuscripts and biographical information collected by her last living relatives and donated to the library. Kalogridou’s compositions were analyzed according to their rhythmic patterns; the modality implemented; the preferred title selections denoting the use of Greek, Ancient Greek, and Byzantine music, i.e. Inventions in Aiolian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Byzantine Concerto; and the poetry she used for her songs which was based on famous Greek poets such as Cavafy, Elitis, Kariotakis, Ritsos, Seferis, and others. The analyses of her works indicated that Kalogridou based her compositions on ideas of original Greek melodies and rhythms while integrating in a western neoclassical and contemporary style. Maria Kalogridou is the potentially the most prolific woman composer of the 20th c. in Greece, and the first Greek woman to incorporate this innovation in her music.