Dimitris Dragatakis
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Dimitris Dragatakis (22 January 1914 – 18 December 2001) was a Greek composer of classical music.
He was born in Epiros in 1914 and studied the violin at the Greek National Conservatory in Athens.
He is considered one of the most important modern Greek composers, with a personal musical idiom that is both mature and laconic. Influenced by the musical traditions of Greece and ancient Greek drama, his music came to reflect his interest in new techniques; he developed a free atonal style of writing.
He won a number of major prizes.
He taught advanced harmony at the Greek National Conservatory for twenty years, until he was appointed vice president of the conservatory in 1997.
He played in the Opera Orchestra as a violist and later served on the board of the Greek National Orchestra. He was vice president and honorary president of the Greek Composers Union.
His piece Ballade or Lullaby for Saxophone and Strings was written in 2000 and originally intended for violin and piano. The saxophone version was first performed in Athens in March 2002 by saxophonist Theodore Kerkezos and the Athens State Orchestra. He died in Athens aged 87.
