Nikolaos Mantzaros

Nikolaos Halikiopoulos Mantzaros (Greek: Νικόλαος Χαλικιόπουλος Μάντζαρος or Italian: Niccoló Calichiopoulo Manzaro, 26 October 1795 – 12 April 1872) was an Italian-Greek composer born in Corfu and the major representative of the so-called Ionian School of music (Επτανησιακή Σχολή).

Mantzaros was of noble Italian descent, coming from one of the most important and wealthy Venetian families of the "Libro d'Oro" di Corfu and therefore he never considered himself a "professional composer". Recent research and performances have led to a re-evaluation of Mantzaros as a significant composer and music theorist.

He was taught music in his native city by the brothers Stefano (pianoforte) and Gerolamo Pojago (violin), Stefano Moretti from Ancona (music theory) and cavalliere Barbati, possibly a Neapolitan (music theory and composition). Mantzaros presented his first compositions (three concert or substitute arias and the one-act azione comica Don Crepuscolo) in 1815 in the theatre of San Giacomo of Corfu.

From 1819 onwards he was regularly visiting Italy (Venice, Bologna, Milan, Naples), where, among others, he met the veteran Neapolitan composer Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli. His compositions include incidental music, vocal works in Italian and demotic Greek, sacred music for the Catholic Rite (three masses (1819?, 1825, 1835?), a Te Deum (1830)) and the Orthodox Church (notably, a complete mass based on the septinsular polyphonic traditional chanting (1834)), band music, instrumental music (24 piano sinfonie, some of them also for orchestra) etc. Mantzaros also composed the music for the first concert aria in Greek in 1827, the Aria Greca.

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