Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi

Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi (2 October 1877 – 1 February 1944) was a French-born music critic and musicologist of Greek descent who was a British citizen and resident in England from 1914 onwards.

[4] At first, he studied at the Lycée Janson de Sailly, Paris, but inspiration from an Orchestre Lamoureux concert of Richard Wagner's works galvanized his interest in music.

[4][a] Alongside his piano lessons with Eugène Claveau, Calvocoressi frequented the Parisian concert scene, with works by Bach, Liszt, d'Indy, Wagner, and the Romantic Russian composers in particular leaving a lasting impression.

[5][b] Ravel also harmonized a set of Greek folk songs which Calvocoressi translated, known as Cinq mélodies populaires grecques [fr], and may have inspired the composer's piano Sonatine.

[12] Described by Abraham as "a remarkable polyglot", Calvocoressi's career beginning in 1902 was as a music critic and correspondent for several English, American, German and Russian periodicals.

[2] Calvocoressi paused music criticism at the onset of World War I in 1914, but found himself unable to serve the French due to his Greek ancestry.

[2] He spent the rest of his life in England; he was naturalized and married Ethel Grey, a British citizen who was the dedicatee of many of his future books.