Quick Facts
Biography
Stamatis Spanoudakis - Σταμάτης Σπανουδάκης (born December 11, 1948 in Athens, Greece) is a modern Greek classical composer. Early on he studied classical guitar. He went through a rock music phase, but then continued classical studies at the Würzburg State Conservatory with Bertold Hummel and later in Athens with Konstantinos Kydoniatis. Later on he studied Byzantine music.
Biography
Stamatis Spanoudakis was born in Athens Greece. Very early on he began to occupy himself with music.
He first studied Classical music ( guitar and theory ). He later played bass guitar and keyboards in a number of bands, in the sixties and the seventies, in Athens, Paris and London where he lived and recorded his first albums.
He later returned to Classical music and resumed his studies of composition, first in Wurzburg Germany with professor Bertold Hummel and then in Athens with professor Konstantinos Kydoniatis.
He was then attracted to his third love - Byzantine music, which led him to Greek songwriting and instrumental music.
Since then he is consciously trying to reconcile his three musical influences (Rock, classical and Byzantine), in his music.
He wrote numerous hit songs (words and music) for most major Greek singers.
He also wrote the music for many successful films in Greece, Germany and Italy, for the theater and television and has recorded so far more than sixty albums.
Since 1995, he concentrates on instrumental music, based on Greek historical or religious themes, a music that has an unprecedent appeal in Greece.
Stamatis lives in a quiet suburb with his wife Dori and their four dogs. He has his own studio where he records his music, being the composer, arranger, producer, performer and engineer of his work.
An introduction
He has worked with the most successful Greek singers, composing the music and writing the lyrics for a large number of hit songs. (I akti, Pame gi’alles polities, Lathos epohi, Simera, Efiges noris, Zoi klemmeni, Kalimera ti kanis, etc). With his religious works, he has provided a very different perspective of contemporary byzantine music. (Kyrie ton Dynameon, Efta Paraklisis, Imera Triti, Earini Ora, etc). He has made numerous soundtracks (Colours of Iris, Angel, Sudden Love, Stone Years, All in a road, Brides etc). From 1994 he composes instrumental music exclusively. A music that embraces Greece's history and religion (Alexandros, John’s Tear, Marble King, For Smyrni, A Piece of My Soul, Moments Gone, Alexandros II, Rejoice my sea etc).
Discography
| Album/CD title | Published by | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Beautiful Lies Songs with Stamatis Spanoudakis | Philips | 1971 |
| Looking Back Songs with Stamatis Spanoudakis | Seagull | 1974 |
| Promitheus Original soundtrack from the film by Kostas Feris | Seagull | 1974 |
| Colours of iris Original soundtrack from the film by Nikos Panayiotopoulos | Seagull | 1975 |
| To the first musician A religious record with Stamatis and a vocal group of friends | Seagull | 1977 |
| Let's listen together Stories for children. Texts by Maria Goumenopoulou. Nαrrαted by Kostas Giannikos | Seagull | 1977 |
| Nestor's company Children's songs, with Nestor, Dori, Eva and Stamatis | Seagull | 1977 |
| Nestor's dream Children's songs, with Nestor, Dori and Stamatis | Seagull | 1978 |
| Maran atha Stamatis's first instrumental record. His first attempt. | Seagull | 1978 |
| Songs of love Songs with Dimitris Tamposis and friends | Seagull | 1979 |
| The garden with the statues Music from the TV series of Pantelis Voulgaris | ΕΜΙ | 1980 |
| The story teller Music from the TV series of Nikos Pilavios | Seagull | 1980 |
| The story teller ΙΙ Music from the TV series of Nikos Pilavios | Seagull | 1981 |
| Lord of the powers A religious record with Giannis Koutras and Eleni Vitali | Lyra | 1981 |
| Angel Original soundtrack from the film by Giorgos Katakouzinos | Lyra | 1981 |
| Dies Irae A religious record with Michalis Dimitriades and Electra | Lyra | 1982 |
| Sudden love Original soundtrack from the film by Giorgos Tsemperopoulos | MINOS EMI | 1983 |
| Something is happening here The first collaboration of Stamatis with Vassilis Saleas. With Giannis Ekmektsoglou on electric guitar and Chiko on drums. . | MINOS EMI | 1984 |
| Seven prayers A religious record with Eleni Vitali and children's choir | MINOS EMI | 1985 |
| Senza tempo Songs with Demi Roussos | Warner Music | 1985 |
| Stone years Original soundtrack from the film by Pantelis Voulgaris | Lyra | 1985 |
| Contrabando Songs with Eleutheria Arvanitaki. This was his first whole album, for a singer | Lyra | 1987 |
| Absences Original soundtrack from the film by Giorgos Katakouzinos | Lyra | 1987 |
| On the way Songs with Stamatis Spanoudakis | Lyra | 1987 |
| And we came into the years Songs with Eleni Vitali | Columbia/ Sony Music | 1988 |
| Two steps from the sand Songs with Alkistis Protopsalti | Polygram | 1989 |
| Tanirama Songs with Eleutheria Arvanitaki | Polygram | 1989 |
| Ping Pong A record of Stamatis rock era,with electric and acoustic guitars, synths and drums. | Polygram | 1989 |
| Striker Number 9 Original soundtrack from the film by Pantelis Voulgaris Striker no 9 | CBS | 1989 |
| Third Day A religious record with Manolis Mitsias and Vassilis Saleas | CBS | 1990 |
| The dilemma Songs with Petros Gaitanos | Polygram | 1990 |
| Bye bye Original soundtrack from the film by Giorgos Tsemperopoulos | Columbia/ Sony Music | 1991 |
| I'm fine, thank you Songs with Manolis Mitsias | Sony Music | 1991 |
| Thalassa . | Sony Music | 1992 |
| Touch Songs with Giannis Parios | Minos EMI | 1992 |
| Where do you go when you sleep Songs with Dori Spanoudaki | MINOS EMI | 1992 |
| Iris / Promitheus / Maran atha 3 of the earlier instrumental and soundtracks, together in one record | Stam Studio | 1994 |
| With words A compilation of hit songs | Stam Studio | 1994 |
| Alexandros (The myth of the east, the dream of the west) This album tells the tale of Alexander the Great. | Stam Studio | 1994 |
| Moments gone . | Stam Studio | 1995 |
| Holy Hour An album filled with melodies of the Greek orthodox religious hymns as well as originals by the artist. With Vassilis Saleas and Lefteris Zervas | Stam Studio | 1995 |
| John's Tear Music for the revelation of St. John. | Stam Studio | 1996 |
| Moments gone II Contemporary musical arrangements. | Stam Studio | 1996 |
| The Marble King A musical impression of Constantine Palaiologos, the last martyr Emperor of Constantinople. A tribute to Agia Sofia and the fall of his beloved city in 1453. | Stam Studio | 1998 |
| All In A Journey Original soundtrack of the film by Pantelis Voulgaris. Instruments Saxophone and Greek Lyra, carry the tunes, accompanied by piano and contrabass. | Stam Studio | 1998 |
| Facing the audience A live performance of the best of Stamatis Spanoudakis's works, performed by a string orchestra, a choir and an elite of soloists of traditional Greek instruments. | Stam Studio | 1998 |
| Nineteenhundredandninetynine A musical journey honoring the year before the millennium. | Stam Studio | 1999 |
| Before the exhibition A compilation of Stamatis's music made for artist's Vasiliki exhibition in Paris. | Stam Studio | 2000 |
| Moments gone III . | Stam Studio | 2000 |
| For Smyrni The artist's musical perception of events that took place in Smyrni in the early twentieth century. | Stam Studio | 2001 |
| The Essential Collection The absolute "Best of" Stamatis Spanoudakis's works. Digitally remastered all on a double CD album. | Stam Studio | 2002 |
| Piece of my soul A combination of children's voices and mixed teenage choir. With Spyros Lambrou choir. | Stam Studio | 2003 |
| Music for films A compilation of film themes | Stam Studio | 2004 |
| Brides Original soundtrack of the film "Brides". Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris and produced by Martin Scorsese. With traditional instruments and Byzantine voices. | Stam Studio | 2004 |
| Live at the Royal Albert Hall Some of the best pieces of Stamatis Spanoudakis, performed live at the Royal Albert Hall by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the London Symphony Choir. | Stam Studio | 2006 |
| Alexandros II (Paths you never walked) Performed by ERT Symphony Orchestra and Choir and Stamatis's band. | Lyra | 2009 |
| Live in China Live recording in Beijing. Performed live by ERT Symphony Orchestra and Choir and Stamatis's band. | Stam Studio | 2009 |
| Je veux toujours être avec toi . | Stam Studio | 2011 |
| Rejoice my sea A blend of melodies children's voices, classical and ambient orchestrations, guitars, pianos and violins. | Stam Studio | 2013 |