Dimitri Mitropoulos - Passacaglia, Intermezzo and Fugue (Orlando Bass)

Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960) Passacaglia, Intermezzo and Fugue, for solo piano (1924) Performed by Orlando Bass Track from a CD (Piano Modern Recital Vol.2), published by IndéSens and recorded by Nikolaos Samaltanos, under the artistic direction of Dimitri Tchesnokov Passacaglia, Intermezzo and Fugue by Dimitri Mitropoulos was almost certainly the first atonal work ever written by a Greek composer. The first movement’s basso obstinato repeats exactly 13 times and its 7-beat bars produce an infectious rhythm reminiscent of traditional Greek dance music. Chords formed by accumulated fourths stand proudly like the columns of the Parthenon. After a brief Intermezzo, the Fugue launches with perfect fourths piling up over contrary motion chromatic progressions and a backdrop of augmented chords. Unrelenting until the end of the stretto passage, its fugal structure then gradually dilates before concluding on a luminous chord built around Db major. Mitropoulos succeeds here in creating a work of great breadth and originality through cross-fertilization of baroque compositional practices and the aesthetics of pre-serial atonal music by Schoenberg. I. Passacaglia 00:03 II. Intermezzo 08:20 III. Fugue 09:47