The cities of Leo Rapitis

The fascinating life of the Greek composer of three continents and five seas unfolds through music and visual fragments, reflecting the essence of the era that shaped him. For composer Leo Rapitis, a child of a strange and liberated time—before the Nazi shadow covered Europe—found himself in the England of sensitive troubadours, Noël Coward, Ivor Novello, and musicals. He brought back to Greece (perhaps the first and only one to do so) something of the charm of interwar Britain.

An enigmatic figure of the Greek music scene during both the pre-war and post-war periods, Leo Rapitis wrote songs performed by Sofia Vembo, the Kalouta sisters, Nikos Gounaris, and Panos Visvardis. His music continues to boldly resonate today, with echoes of a hidden past. Did his audience at the time recognize their own passions behind his notes? His melodies, intertwined with historical moments and the emotional sensitivity of an entire era, remain alive—reinterpreted by contemporary artists and infused with new meaning in today’s musical landscape. Rapitis’s work proves that music, when in dialogue with history, becomes timeless.

Michalis Papapetrou—conductor, pianist, and director of the ERT Choir—undertakes to reintroduce the music of Leo Rapitis, shedding light on the composer’s personal journey through his songs: from Athens to Manchester, Palestine, New York, and finally to the Belgian Congo, where he ended his life under the mistaken belief that he had killed his lover.

The orchestration draws on the familiar timbres of the era, while adding a polyphonic ensemble that brings out the jazz elements of his music. Leo Rapitis’s story is deeply moving: a man initially forced by his family to follow a path that wasn’t his, but ultimately won over by music. The “Deconstructed Loom” becomes a symbol of this journey. This traditional weaving tool transforms into a space of liberation—the fabric unravels, the strings are revealed, and music finds its way again.