Mikis Theodorakis
Encyclopedia
Mikis Theodorakis (born July 29, 1925) is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores
for the films Zorba the Greek
(1964), Z
(1969), and Serpico
(1973).
Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy
party in order for the country to come out of the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou
and helped to establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Constantine Mitsotakis
, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, education and better relations between Greece and Turkey. He continues to speak out in favor of left-liberal causes, Greek-Turkish-Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He has consistently opposed oppressive regimes and was the key voice against the Greek Junta 1967-1974, which imprisoned him.
and spent his childhood years in different provincial Greek cities such as Mytilene
, Cephallonia, Patras
, Pyrgos and Tripoli
. His father, a lawyer and a civil servant was from Galata (Crete
) and his mother from Cesme (Asia Minor
).
Theodorakis's fascination with music began in early childhood; he taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. In Patras and Pyrgos he took his first music lessons, and in Tripoli, Peloponnese
, he gave his first concert at the age of seventeen.
He went to Athens in 1943, and became a member of a Reserve Unit of ELAS. During the Greek Civil War
, he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria
and then deported to the island of Makronisos
, where he was tortured and twice buried alive.
During the periods when he was not obliged to hide, not exiled or jailed, he studied from 1943 to 1950 at the Athens Conservatoire
under Filoktitis Economidis,. In 1950, he finished his studies and took his last two exams "with flying colours". He went to Crete, where he became the "head of the Chania Music School" and founded his first orchestra. At this time he ended what he has called the first period of his musical writing.
where he entered the Conservatory and studied musical analysis under Olivier Messiaen
and conducting under Eugene Bigot. His time in Paris, 1954–1959, was his second period of musical writing and a time of intense artistic creation.
His symphonic works: a Piano concerto
, his first suite
, his first symphony
, and his scores for the ballet
: Greek Carnival, Le Feu aux Poudres, Les Amants de Teruel, received international acclaim. In 1957, he won the Gold Medal in the Moscow
Music Festival; President of the Jury was Dmitri Shostakovitch. In 1959, after the successful performances of Theodorakis's ballet Antigone
at Covent Garden
in London
, the French composer Darius Milhaud
proposed him for the American Copley Music Prize - an award of the "William and Noma Copley Foundation", which later changed its name to "Cassandra Foundation" - as the "Best European Composer of the Year". His first international scores for the film Ill Met by Moonlight and Luna de Miel, directors: Michael Powell
and Emeric Pressburger
, were also very successful: The Honeymoon title song became part of the repertoire of The Beatles
.
In 1960, Theodorakis returned to Greece and his roots in genuine Greek music: With his song cycle Epitaphios he started the third period of his composing and contributed to a cultural revolution in his country. With his most significant and influential works based on the greatest Greek and world poetry – Epiphania (Giorgos Seferis
), Little Kyklades (Odysseas Elytis
), Axion Esti (Odysseas Elytis
), Mauthausen (Iakovos Kambanellis), Romiossini (Yannis Ritsos), and Romancero Gitano (Federico García Lorca
) – he attempted to give back to Greek music a dignity which in his perception it had lost. In developing his concept of "metasymphonic music" (symphonic compositions that go beyond the "classical" status and mix symphonic elements with popular songs, Western symphonic orchestra and Greek popular instruments), he quickly became recognised internationally, and won acclaim as "Greece's greatest living composer".
He founded the Little Orchestra of Athens and the Musical Society of Piraeus, gave many, many concerts all around Greece and abroad... and he naturally became involved in the politics of his home country. After the assassination of Gregoris Lambrakis
in May 1963 he founded the Lambrakis Democratic Youth ("Lambrakidès") and was elected its president. Under Theodorakis's impetus, it started a vast cultural renaissance movement and became the greatest political organisation in Greece with more than 50.000 members. Following the 1964 elections, Theodorakis became a member of the Greek Parliament, associated with the left-wing party EDA
. Because of his political ideas, the composer was black-listed by the cultural establishment; at the time of his biggest artistic glory, a large number of his songs were censored-before-studio or were not allowed on the radio stations.
During 1964, he wrote the music for the Michael Cacoyiannis film Zorba the Greek, whose main theme, since then, exists as a trademark for Greece. It is also known as 'Syrtaki dance'; inspired from old Cretan traditional dances.
(the Regime of the Colonels) took power in a putsch. Theodorakis went underground and founded the "Patriotic Front" (PAM). On 1 June, the Colonels published "Army decree No 13", which banned playing, and even listening to his music. Theodorakis himself was arrested on 21 August, and jailed for five months. Following his release end of January 1968, he was banished in August to Zatouna
with his wife Myrto and their two children, Margarita and Yorgos. Later he was interned in the concentration camp of Oropos
. An international solidarity movement, headed by such personalities as Dmitri Shostakovich
, Leonard Bernstein
, Arthur Miller
, and Harry Belafonte
demanded to get Theodorakis freed. On request of the French politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber
, Theodorakis was allowed to go into exile to Paris
on 13 April 1970. Theodorakis's flight left very secretly from an Onassis
owned private airport outside Athens
. Theodorakis arrived at Le Bourget Airport
where he met Costa Gavras, Melina Mercouri
and Jules Dassin
. Theodorakis was immediately hospitalized because he suffered from lung tuberculosis
.
Myrto Theodorakis, Mikis's wife and two children joined him a week later in France
. They arrived from Greece
to France via Italy
on a boat.
He met Pablo Neruda
and Salvador Allende
and promised them to compose his version of Neruda's Canto General
. He was received by Gamal Abdel Nasser
and Tito, Yigal Allon
and Yasser Arafat
, while François Mitterrand
, Olof Palme
and Willy Brandt
became his friends. For millions of people, Theodorakis was the symbol of resistance against the Greek dictatorship.
), Ballades (Manolis Anagnostakis
), Tis exorias (Songs of the Exile)
2. Oratorio: Canto General
(Pablo Neruda
)
3. Film scores: The Trojan Women
(M. Cacoyannis); State of Siege
(Costa-Gavras); Serpico
(Sydney Lumet)
After the fall of the Colonels, Mikis Theodorakis returned to Greece on 24 July 1974 to continue his work and his concert tours, both in Greece and abroad. At the same time he participated in public affairs. In 1978, through his article For a United Left Wing, he had "stirred up the Greek political life. His proposal for the unification of the three parties of the former United Left – which had grown out of the National Liberation Front (N.L.F.) – had been accepted by the Greek Communist Party which later proposed him as the candidate for mayor of Athens during the 1978 elections." (Andreas Brandes) He was later elected several times to the Greek Parliament (1981–1986 and 1989–1993) and for two years, from 1990 to 1992, he was a minister in the government of Constantine Mitsotakis
. After his resignation as a member of Greek parliament, he was appointed General Musical Director of the Choir and the two Orchestras of the Hellenic State Radio (ERT), which he reorganised and with which he undertook successful concert tours abroad.
Theodorakis has always combined an exceptional artistic talent with a deep love of his country. He is also committed to heightening international awareness of human rights, of environmental issues, and of the need for peace. It was for this reason that he initiated, together with the renowned Turkish author, musician, singer, and filmmaker Zülfü Livaneli
, the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society.
From 1981, Theodorakis had started the fourth period of his musical writing, during which he returned to the symphonic music, while still going on to compose song-cycles. His most significant works written in these years are his Second, Third, Fourth and Seventh Symphony, most of them being first performed in the former German Democratic Republic
between 1982 and 1989. It was during this period that he received the Lenin Peace Prize
. He composed his first opera Kostas Kariotakis (The Metamorphoses of Dionysus) and the ballet Zorba the Greek
, premièred in the Arena of Verona during the Festival Verona 1988, a ballet which has a tremendous success worldwide. During this period, he also wrote the five volumes of his autobiography: The Ways of the Archangel (Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου).
In 1989, he started the fifth period, the last, of his musical writing: He composed three operas (lyric tragedies) Medea
, first performed in Bilbao
(1 October 1981), Elektra, first performed in Luxembourg
(2 May 1995) and Antigone
, first performed in Athens' Megaron Moussikis (7 October 1999). This trilogy was complemented by his last opera Lysistrata
, first performed in Athens (14 April 2002): a call for peace... With his operas, and with his song cycles from 1974 to 2006, Theodorakis ushered in the period of his Lyrical Life.
Theodorakis is Doctor honoris causa of several universities, including Montreal, Thessaloniki, and Crete, and was nominated by the Greek people for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2000.
Now he lives in retirement, reading, writing, publishing arrangements of his scores, texts about culture and politics. On important occasions he still takes position: in 1999, opposing NATO's Kosovo war
and in 2003 against the Iraq War. In 2005, he was awarded the Sorano Friendship and Peace Award, the Russian International St.-Andrew-the-First-Called Prize, the insignia of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of Luxembourg
, and the IMC UNESCO International Music Prize, while already in 2002 he was honoured in Bonn with the Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Prize for film music at the International Film Music Biennial in Bonn (cf also: Homepage of the Art and Exhibition Hall Bonn). In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the distribution of the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.
A final set of songs entitled: Odysseia was composed by utilizing poetry
written by Costas Kartelias for lyrics. Created in 2007, Theodorakis achieved the distinction of producing one of the largest works by any composer of any time.
for establishing closer relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
, who was guilty, he said, of "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."
, Kaimos, Aprilis, Doxa to Theo, Sotiris Petroulas, Lipotaktes, Stis Nichtas to Balkoni, Agapi mou, Pou petaxe t'agori mou, Anixe ligo to parathiro, O Ipnos se tilixe, To gelasto pedi, Dendro to dendro, Asma Asmaton, O Andonis...
His song cycles are based on poems by famous Greek authors, as well as by Lorca
and Neruda
: Epitaphios, Archipelagos, Politia A-D, Epiphania, The Hostage, Mykres Kyklades, Mauthausen, Romiossini, Sun and Time, Songs for Andreas, Mythology, Night of Death, Ta Lyrika, The Quarters of the World, Dionysos, Phaedra, Mia Thalassa, Os Archaios Anemos, Ta Lyrikotera, Ta Lyrikotata, Erimia, Odysseia.
Theodorakis released two albums of his songs and song cycles on Paredon Records and Folkways Records
in the early seventies, including his Peoples' Music: The Struggles of the Greek People (1974).
For a complete discography, see the Official Homepage of the composer.
See the complete list on the Official Homepage of Mikis Theodorakis
Reference: Guy Wagner. Chairman of the International Theodorakis Foundation FILIKI.
List of works based on the research of Asteris Koutoulas
, published in O Mousikos Theodorakis.
(for the whole list see Schott Music
)
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
for the films Zorba the Greek
Zorba the Greek
Zorba the Greek is a 1964 film based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film was directed by Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis and the title character was played by Anthony Quinn...
(1964), Z
Z (film)
Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(1969), and Serpico
Serpico
Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...
(1973).
Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
party in order for the country to come out of the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...
and helped to establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Constantine Mitsotakis
Constantine Mitsotakis
Constantine Mitsotakis , a Greek politician, was born in Chania, Crete. He came from a political family: his father and grandfathers were members of parliament, and the great liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos was his uncle...
, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, education and better relations between Greece and Turkey. He continues to speak out in favor of left-liberal causes, Greek-Turkish-Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He has consistently opposed oppressive regimes and was the key voice against the Greek Junta 1967-1974, which imprisoned him.
Early years
Mikis Theodorakis was born on the Greek island of ChiosChios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
and spent his childhood years in different provincial Greek cities such as Mytilene
Mytilene
Mytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
, Cephallonia, Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
, Pyrgos and Tripoli
Tripoli, Greece
Tripoli is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in the central part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. It is the capital of the prefecture of Arcadia and the centre of the municipality of Tripolis, pop...
. His father, a lawyer and a civil servant was from Galata (Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
) and his mother from Cesme (Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
).
Theodorakis's fascination with music began in early childhood; he taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. In Patras and Pyrgos he took his first music lessons, and in Tripoli, Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, he gave his first concert at the age of seventeen.
He went to Athens in 1943, and became a member of a Reserve Unit of ELAS. During the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
, he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria
Icaria
Icaria, also spelled Ikaria , is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles southwest of Samos. It derived its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who fell into the sea nearby. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria peripheral...
and then deported to the island of Makronisos
Makronisos
Makronisos is an island in the Aegean sea, in Greece and is located close to the coast of Attica, facing the port of Lavrio. It has an elongated shape and its terrain is arid and rocky. In ancient times the island was called Helena. It is part of the prefecture of the Cyclades but it is not part...
, where he was tortured and twice buried alive.
During the periods when he was not obliged to hide, not exiled or jailed, he studied from 1943 to 1950 at the Athens Conservatoire
Athens Conservatoire
The Athens Conservatoire is the oldest conservatoire in modern Greece. It was founded in 1871 by the Athens Music and Drama Society. Initially, the musical instruments that were taught there were limited to the violin and the flute, representative of the ancient Greek Apollonian and Dionysian...
under Filoktitis Economidis,. In 1950, he finished his studies and took his last two exams "with flying colours". He went to Crete, where he became the "head of the Chania Music School" and founded his first orchestra. At this time he ended what he has called the first period of his musical writing.
Studies in Paris
In 1954 he travelled with his young wife Myrto Altinoglou to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he entered the Conservatory and studied musical analysis under Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
and conducting under Eugene Bigot. His time in Paris, 1954–1959, was his second period of musical writing and a time of intense artistic creation.
His symphonic works: a Piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
, his first suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
, his first symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, and his scores for the ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
: Greek Carnival, Le Feu aux Poudres, Les Amants de Teruel, received international acclaim. In 1957, he won the Gold Medal in the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Music Festival; President of the Jury was Dmitri Shostakovitch. In 1959, after the successful performances of Theodorakis's ballet Antigone
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
at Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the French composer Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
proposed him for the American Copley Music Prize - an award of the "William and Noma Copley Foundation", which later changed its name to "Cassandra Foundation" - as the "Best European Composer of the Year". His first international scores for the film Ill Met by Moonlight and Luna de Miel, directors: Michael Powell
Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
and Emeric Pressburger
Emeric Pressburger
Emeric Pressburger was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a multiple-award-winning partnership known as The Archers and produced a series of classic British films, notably 49th Parallel , The...
, were also very successful: The Honeymoon title song became part of the repertoire of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Notable works up to 1960
- Chamber Music: Four String Quartets; Trio four piano, violin, cello; Little Suite for piano; Sonatina for piano; Sonatinas No.1 and No.2 for violin and piano;
- Symphonic music: Assi-Gonia (symphonic movement; Piano Concerto "Helicon"; Symphony No.1 (Proti Simfonia); Suites n° 1, 2 et 3 for orchestre; La Vie et la Mort / Live and Death (for voice and strings); Œdipus Tyrannos (for strings; later for quartet and symphony orchestra); Piano Concerto;
- Ballets: Greek Carnival; Le Feu aux Poudres; Les Amants de Teruel; Antigone;
- Filmscores: The Barefoot Battalion (Greg Tallas); Ill Met by Moonlight and Honeymoon (Powell and PressburgerPowell and PressburgerThe British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
); Faces in the Dark (David EadyDavid EadySir David Eady , styled The Hon. Mr Justice Eady, in legal writing Eady J, is a High Court judge in England and Wales. As a judge he is known for having presided over many high-profile libel and privacy cases....
).
Back to Greek roots
Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
), Little Kyklades (Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
), Axion Esti (Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
), Mauthausen (Iakovos Kambanellis), Romiossini (Yannis Ritsos), and Romancero Gitano (Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
) – he attempted to give back to Greek music a dignity which in his perception it had lost. In developing his concept of "metasymphonic music" (symphonic compositions that go beyond the "classical" status and mix symphonic elements with popular songs, Western symphonic orchestra and Greek popular instruments), he quickly became recognised internationally, and won acclaim as "Greece's greatest living composer".
He founded the Little Orchestra of Athens and the Musical Society of Piraeus, gave many, many concerts all around Greece and abroad... and he naturally became involved in the politics of his home country. After the assassination of Gregoris Lambrakis
Gregoris Lambrakis
Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, track and field athlete, and member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens.-Early life:...
in May 1963 he founded the Lambrakis Democratic Youth ("Lambrakidès") and was elected its president. Under Theodorakis's impetus, it started a vast cultural renaissance movement and became the greatest political organisation in Greece with more than 50.000 members. Following the 1964 elections, Theodorakis became a member of the Greek Parliament, associated with the left-wing party EDA
United Democratic Left
The United Democratic Left was a political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.-Foundation:...
. Because of his political ideas, the composer was black-listed by the cultural establishment; at the time of his biggest artistic glory, a large number of his songs were censored-before-studio or were not allowed on the radio stations.
During 1964, he wrote the music for the Michael Cacoyiannis film Zorba the Greek, whose main theme, since then, exists as a trademark for Greece. It is also known as 'Syrtaki dance'; inspired from old Cretan traditional dances.
Main works of this period
- Song cycles: Epitaphios (Yannis Ritsos); Archipelagos (Songs of the Islands), Politia A & B (Songs of the City), Epiphania (Giorgos SeferisGiorgos SeferisGiorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
, Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
1963), Mikres Kyklades (Odysseas ElytisOdysseas ElytisOdysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
), Chrysoprasino Fyllo (Golden-green leaf), Mauthausen (Iakovos Kambanellis), Romiossini (Yannis Ritsos), Thalassina Feggaria (Moons of the Sea) - Oratorio: To Axion Esti (Odysseas ElytisOdysseas ElytisOdysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
, Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
1979), cf. Theodorakis on Axion Esti - Music for the Stage: The Hostage (Brendan BehanBrendan BehanBrendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
); Ballad of the Dead Brother (Theodorakis); Omorphi Poli (Beautiful City); Maghiki Poli (Magical City); I Gitonia ton Angelon(The Angels' Quarter, Iakovos Kambanellis) - Film scores: PhaedraPhaedra (film)Phaedra was a 1962 motion picture directed by Jules Dassin as a vehicle for his wife Melina Mercouri, after her world-wide hit Never on Sunday.The film was the fourth collaboration between Dassin and Mercouri, who took the title role...
(Jules DassinJules DassinJulius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
), The Lovers of Teruel (Raymond Rouleau), Five Miles to MidnightFive Miles to MidnightFive Miles to Midnight is a 1962 French-Italian-American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak...
(Anatole LitvakAnatole LitvakAnatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
), ElectraElectraIn Greek mythology, Electra was an Argive princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon...
and Zorba the GreekZorba the GreekZorba the Greek is a 1964 film based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film was directed by Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis and the title character was played by Anthony Quinn...
(Michalis Cacoyannis), To Nisi tis Afroditis (Harilaos Papadopoulos)
During the dictatorship
On 21 April 1967 a right wing juntaMilitary dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
(the Regime of the Colonels) took power in a putsch. Theodorakis went underground and founded the "Patriotic Front" (PAM). On 1 June, the Colonels published "Army decree No 13", which banned playing, and even listening to his music. Theodorakis himself was arrested on 21 August, and jailed for five months. Following his release end of January 1968, he was banished in August to Zatouna
Zatouna
Zatouna is a Greek settlement in the west-southwest of Arcadia. It is in the municipal unit of Dimitsana in the Peloponnese. Zatouna is connected with the road linking Dimitsana as well as the Karytaina-Dimitsana Road. Zatouna had a 2001 population of 75 for the village and 203 for the municipal...
with his wife Myrto and their two children, Margarita and Yorgos. Later he was interned in the concentration camp of Oropos
Oropos
Oropos is a small town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece.-Geography:It is situated on the southern Euboean Gulf, opposite Eretria. Oropos is located N of Avlona and Athens, E of Thebes and SE of Chalcis. Oropos is linked with the road linking Nea Palatia and Sikamino...
. An international solidarity movement, headed by such personalities as Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, and Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
demanded to get Theodorakis freed. On request of the French politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber
Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber
Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, often referred to as JJSS was a French journalist and politician. He co-founded L'Express in 1953 with Françoise Giroud, and then went on to become president of the Radical Party in 1971...
, Theodorakis was allowed to go into exile to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 13 April 1970. Theodorakis's flight left very secretly from an Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
owned private airport outside Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. Theodorakis arrived at Le Bourget Airport
Le Bourget Airport
Paris – Le Bourget Airport is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, north-northeast of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation as well as air shows...
where he met Costa Gavras, Melina Mercouri
Melina Mercouri
Melina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
and Jules Dassin
Jules Dassin
Julius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
. Theodorakis was immediately hospitalized because he suffered from lung tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
.
Myrto Theodorakis, Mikis's wife and two children joined him a week later in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. They arrived from Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to France via Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on a boat.
Main works under the dictatorship
- Song cycles: Ta Laïka (The Popular Songs, Manos Elefteriou); O Ilios ke o Chronos (Sun and Time, Theodorakis); Songs for Andreas (Theodorakis); Arcadies I-X; Nichta Thanatou (Nights of Death, Manos Elefteriou);
- Oratorios: Ephiphania Averoff Giorgos SeferisGiorgos SeferisGiorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
, State of Siege (Marina = Rena Hadjidakis), March of the Spirit (Angelos SikelianosAngelos SikelianosAngelos Sikelianos was a Greek lyric poet and playwright. He wrote on national history, religious symbolism, and universal harmony in poems such as The Light-Shadowed, Prologue to Life, Mother of God, and Delphic Utterance...
), Raven (Giorgos SeferisGiorgos SeferisGiorgos or George Seferis was the pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs . He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate...
, after Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
); - Film score: ZZ (film)Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(Costa-GavrasCosta-GavrasCosta-Gavras, is a Greek filmmaker, who lives and works in France, best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller, Z...
).
Resistance in exile
While in exile, Theodorakis fought during four years for the overthrow of the colonels. He started his world tours and gave thousands of concerts on all continents as part of his struggle for the restoration of democracy in Greece.He met Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
and Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
and promised them to compose his version of Neruda's Canto General
Canto General
Canto General is Pablo Neruda's tenth book of poems. It was first published in Mexico in 1950, by Talleres Gráficos de la Nación. Neruda began to compose it in 1938....
. He was received by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
and Tito, Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, and acting Prime Minister of Israel, and was a member of the Knesset and government minister from the 10th through the...
and Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, while François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
and Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
became his friends. For millions of people, Theodorakis was the symbol of resistance against the Greek dictatorship.
Main works written in exile
1. Song cycles: 18 lianotragouda tis pikris patridas (18 Short Songs of the Bitter Land, Yiannis RitsosYiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos was a Greek poet and left-wing activist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II.-Early life:...
), Ballades (Manolis Anagnostakis
Manolis Anagnostakis
Manolis Anagnostakis was a Greek poet and critic at the forefront of the Marxist and existentialist poetry movements arising during and after the Greek Civil War in the late 1940s. Anagnostakis was a leader amongst his contemporaries and influenced the generation of poets immediately after him...
), Tis exorias (Songs of the Exile)
2. Oratorio: Canto General
Canto General
Canto General is Pablo Neruda's tenth book of poems. It was first published in Mexico in 1950, by Talleres Gráficos de la Nación. Neruda began to compose it in 1938....
(Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
)
3. Film scores: The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women
The Trojan Women is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos and the subsequent slaughter and subjugation of its populace by the Athenians earlier in 415 BC , the same year...
(M. Cacoyannis); State of Siege
State of Siege
State of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
(Costa-Gavras); Serpico
Serpico
Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...
(Sydney Lumet)
Return to Greece
Constantine Mitsotakis
Constantine Mitsotakis , a Greek politician, was born in Chania, Crete. He came from a political family: his father and grandfathers were members of parliament, and the great liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos was his uncle...
. After his resignation as a member of Greek parliament, he was appointed General Musical Director of the Choir and the two Orchestras of the Hellenic State Radio (ERT), which he reorganised and with which he undertook successful concert tours abroad.
Theodorakis has always combined an exceptional artistic talent with a deep love of his country. He is also committed to heightening international awareness of human rights, of environmental issues, and of the need for peace. It was for this reason that he initiated, together with the renowned Turkish author, musician, singer, and filmmaker Zülfü Livaneli
Zülfü Livaneli
Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...
, the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society.
From 1981, Theodorakis had started the fourth period of his musical writing, during which he returned to the symphonic music, while still going on to compose song-cycles. His most significant works written in these years are his Second, Third, Fourth and Seventh Symphony, most of them being first performed in the former German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
between 1982 and 1989. It was during this period that he received the Lenin Peace Prize
Lenin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
. He composed his first opera Kostas Kariotakis (The Metamorphoses of Dionysus) and the ballet Zorba the Greek
Zorba the Greek
Zorba the Greek is a 1964 film based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film was directed by Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis and the title character was played by Anthony Quinn...
, premièred in the Arena of Verona during the Festival Verona 1988, a ballet which has a tremendous success worldwide. During this period, he also wrote the five volumes of his autobiography: The Ways of the Archangel (Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου).
In 1989, he started the fifth period, the last, of his musical writing: He composed three operas (lyric tragedies) Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
, first performed in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
(1 October 1981), Elektra, first performed in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
(2 May 1995) and Antigone
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
, first performed in Athens' Megaron Moussikis (7 October 1999). This trilogy was complemented by his last opera Lysistrata
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
, first performed in Athens (14 April 2002): a call for peace... With his operas, and with his song cycles from 1974 to 2006, Theodorakis ushered in the period of his Lyrical Life.
Theodorakis is Doctor honoris causa of several universities, including Montreal, Thessaloniki, and Crete, and was nominated by the Greek people for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2000.
Now he lives in retirement, reading, writing, publishing arrangements of his scores, texts about culture and politics. On important occasions he still takes position: in 1999, opposing NATO's Kosovo war
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
and in 2003 against the Iraq War. In 2005, he was awarded the Sorano Friendship and Peace Award, the Russian International St.-Andrew-the-First-Called Prize, the insignia of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, and the IMC UNESCO International Music Prize, while already in 2002 he was honoured in Bonn with the Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
Prize for film music at the International Film Music Biennial in Bonn (cf also: Homepage of the Art and Exhibition Hall Bonn). In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the distribution of the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.
A final set of songs entitled: Odysseia was composed by utilizing poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
written by Costas Kartelias for lyrics. Created in 2007, Theodorakis achieved the distinction of producing one of the largest works by any composer of any time.
Main works after 1974
- Song cycles: Ta Lyrika; Dionysos; Phaedra; Beatrice in Zero Street; Radar; Chairetismoi (Greetings); Mia Thalassa (A Sea Full of Music); Os archaios Anemos (Like an Ancient Wind); Lyrikotera (The More-Than-Lyric Songs); Lyrikotata (The Most Lyric Songs); Erimia (Solitude); Odysseia;
- Music for the Stage: OrestiaOrestiaOrestia may refer to:* Orestis ancient region of Epirotic Macedonia.* The old name for Edirne* The Oresteia* Orestia , a genus of flea beetles...
(dir.: Spyros Evangelatos); AntigoneAntigoneIn Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
(dir.: Minos VolanakisMinos VolanakisMinos Volanakis was a Greek theatre director and translator.He studied with Carolos Koun, for whom he translated American plays into Greek, and first made his name for his translations of the dramas of his friend Jean Genet, as well as for productions of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and...
); MedeaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
(dir.: Spyros Evangelatos) - Film scores: Iphigenia (M. Cacoyannis), The Man with the Carnation (Nikos Tzimas)
- Oratorios: Liturgia 2; Missa Greca (Thia Liturgia); Requiem;
- Symphonic music and cantatas: Symphonies no 2, 3, 4, 7; According to the Sadducees; Canto Olympico; Guitar Rhapsody; Cello Rhapsody; Trumpet Rhapsody;
- Operas: "The Metamorphosis of the Dionysus" (Kostas KaryotakisKostas KaryotakisKostas Karyotakis is considered one of the most representative Greek poets of the 1920s and one of the first poets to use iconoclastic themes in Greece. His poetry conveys a great deal of nature, imagery and traces of expressionism and surrealism...
); MedeaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
; Elektra; AntigoneAntigoneIn Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
; LysistrataLysistrataLysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
.
Political views
Theodorakis is well-known for his support of left-liberal causes worldwide. He has spoken out against the Iraq and Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. Theodorakis has blasted Greek Prime Minister George PapandreouGeorge Papandreou
Georgios A. Papandreou , commonly anglicised to George and shortened to Γιώργος in Greek, is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election...
for establishing closer relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, who was guilty, he said, of "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."
2010-2011: Calling for revolution
In December 1, 2010, Mikis Theodorakis founded "Spitha: People's Independent Movement", a non-political movement which calls people to gather and express their political ideas. The main goal of "Spitha" is to help Greece stay clear off its economical crisis. On May 31, Mikis Theodorakis gave a speech among 10.000 Greeks in the centre of Athens, criticising the Greek government for the loan debt it has taken from the International Monetary Fund. It was also the first time he called everyone to revolutionize.Songs and song cycles
Theodorakis has written more than 1,000 songs and song-cycles, whose melodies have become part of the heritage of Greek music: Sto PerigialiDenial (poem)
Denial is a poem by Giorgos Seferis published in his collection Turning Point in 1931. After the coup that overthrew the Greek government in 1967, Seferis went into voluntary seclusion and many of his poems were banned, including the musical versions which Mikis Theodorakis had written and...
, Kaimos, Aprilis, Doxa to Theo, Sotiris Petroulas, Lipotaktes, Stis Nichtas to Balkoni, Agapi mou, Pou petaxe t'agori mou, Anixe ligo to parathiro, O Ipnos se tilixe, To gelasto pedi, Dendro to dendro, Asma Asmaton, O Andonis...
His song cycles are based on poems by famous Greek authors, as well as by Lorca
Lorca
Lorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
and Neruda
Neruda
- People :* Jan Nepomuk Neruda , Czech journalist, writer and poet* Johann Baptist Georg Neruda , Bohemian composer* Josef Neruda , Moravian organist...
: Epitaphios, Archipelagos, Politia A-D, Epiphania, The Hostage, Mykres Kyklades, Mauthausen, Romiossini, Sun and Time, Songs for Andreas, Mythology, Night of Death, Ta Lyrika, The Quarters of the World, Dionysos, Phaedra, Mia Thalassa, Os Archaios Anemos, Ta Lyrikotera, Ta Lyrikotata, Erimia, Odysseia.
Theodorakis released two albums of his songs and song cycles on Paredon Records and Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
in the early seventies, including his Peoples' Music: The Struggles of the Greek People (1974).
For a complete discography, see the Official Homepage of the composer.
Symphonic works
- 1952: Piano Concerto "Helikon"
- 1953: First Symphony ("Proti Simfonia")
- 1954–1959: 3 Orchestral Suites
- 1958: Piano Concerto
- 1981: Symphony No 2 ("The Song of the Earth"; text: Mikis Theodorakis) for children's choir, piano, and orchestra
- 1981: Symphony No 3 (texts: Dionysios SolomosDionysios SolomosDionysios Solomos was a Greek poet from Zakynthos. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty , of which the first two stanzas, set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros, became the Greek national anthem in 1865...
; Constantine P. CavafyConstantine P. CavafyConstantine P. Cavafy, also known as Konstantin or Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, or Kavaphes was a renowned Greek poet who lived in Alexandria and worked as a journalist and civil servant...
; Byzantine hymns) for soprano, choir, and orchestra - 1983: Symphony No 7 ("Spring-Symphony"; texts: Yannis Ritsos; Yorgos Kulukis) for four soloists, choir, and orchestra
- 1986–1987: Symphony No 4 ("Of Choirs") for soprano, mezzo, narrator, choir, and symphonic orchestra without strings
- 1995: Rhapsody for Guitar and Orchestra
- 1996: Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra
- 2008: Rhapsody for Trumpet and Orchestra (orchestrated by Robert Gulya)
- 2010: "Andalusia" for Mezzo and Orchestra
Chamber music
- 1942: Sonatina for piano
- 1945: Elegy No 1, for cello and piano
- 1945: Elegy No 2, for violin and piano
- 1946: To Kimitirio (The Cemetery), for string quartet
- 1946: String Quartet No 1
- 1946: Duetto, for two violins
- 1947: Trio, for violin, cello and piano
- 1947: 11 Preludes, for piano
- 1947: Sexteto, for piano, flute and string quartet
- 1949: Study for two violins and cello
- 1952: Syrtos Chaniotikos, for piano and percussion
- 1952: Sonatina No 1, for violin and piano
- 1955: Little Suite, for piano
- 1955: Passacaglia, for two pianos
- 1959: Sonatina No 2, for violin and piano
- 1989: Choros Assikikos, for violoncello solo
- 1996: Melos, for piano
- 2007: East of the Aegean, for cello and piano
Cantatas and oratorios
- 1960: Axion Esti (text: Odysseas ElytisOdysseas ElytisOdysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
) - 1969: The March of the Spirit (text: Angelos SikelianosAngelos SikelianosAngelos Sikelianos was a Greek lyric poet and playwright. He wrote on national history, religious symbolism, and universal harmony in poems such as The Light-Shadowed, Prologue to Life, Mother of God, and Delphic Utterance...
) - 1971–82: Canto GeneralCanto GeneralCanto General is Pablo Neruda's tenth book of poems. It was first published in Mexico in 1950, by Talleres Gráficos de la Nación. Neruda began to compose it in 1938....
(text: Pablo NerudaPablo NerudaPablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
) - 1981–82: Kata Saddukaion Pathi (Sadducean-Passion; text: Michalis Katsaros) for tenor, baritone, bass, choir and orchestra
- 1982: Liturgy No 2 ("To children, killed in War"); texts: Tassos Livaditis, Mikis Theodorakis) for choir
- 1982–83: Lorca, for voice, solo guitar, choir, and orchestra (based on Romancero Gitano, text: Federico Garcia LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
, translated by Odysseas Elytis) - 1992: Canto Olympico, for voice, solo piano, choir, and orchestra (texts: Dimitra Manda, Mikis Theodorakis)
Hymns
- 1970: Hymn for Nasser
- 1973: Hymn for the Socialist Movement in Venezuela
- 1973: Hymn for the Students. dedicated to the victims of Polytechnical School in Athens (18.11.)
- 1977: Hymn of the French Socialist Party
- 1978: Hymn for Malta
- 1982: Hymn of P.L.O.
- 1991: Hymn of the Mediterranean Games
- 1992: "Hellenism" (Greek Hymn for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games of Barcelona)
Ballets
- 1953: Greek Carnival (choreography: Rallou Manou)
- 1958: Le Feu aux Poudres (choreography: Paul Goubé)
- 1958: Les Amants de Teruel (choreography: Milko Sparembleck)
- 1959: Antigone (choreography: John CrankoJohn CrankoJohn Cyril Cranko was a choreographer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet....
) - 1972: Antigone in Jail (choreography: Micha van Hoecke)
- 1979: Elektra (choreography: Serge Kenten)
- 1983: Sept Danses Grecques (choreography: Maurice BéjartMaurice BéjartMaurice Béjart was a French born, Swiss choreographer who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He was the son of the French philosopher Gaston Berger.- Biography :...
) - 1987–88: Zorba il Greco (choreography: Lorca Massine)
Operas
- 1984–85: Kostas Karyotakis (The Metamorphosis of Dionysos)
- 1988–90: Medea
- 1992–93: Elektra
- 1995–96: Antigone
- 1999–01: Lysistrata
Classical tragedies
- 1959–60: Phoenician WomenPhoenician WomenThe Phoenician Women is a tragedy by Euripides, based on the same story as Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes. The title refers to the Greek chorus, which is composed of Phoenician women on their way to Delphi who are trapped in Thebes by the war...
(EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
) - 1960–61: AjaxAjax (Sophocles)Sophocles's Ajax is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BC. The date of Ajax's first performance is unknown, but most scholars regard it as an early work, circa 450 - 430 B.C....
(SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
) - 1965: Trojan Women (Euripides)
- 1966–67: LysistrataLysistrataLysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
(AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
) - 1977: The SuppliantsThe Suppliants (Aeschylus)The Suppliants is a play by Aeschylus. It was probably first performed sometime after 470 BC as the first play in a tetralogy, sometimes referred to as the Danaid Tetralogy, which probably included the lost plays The Egyptians , and The Daughters of Danaus , and the satyr play Amymone...
(AeschylusAeschylusAeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
) - 1979: The KnightsThe KnightsThe Knights was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient form of drama known as Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War and in this respect it is typical of all the dramatist's early plays...
(AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
) - 1986–88: Oresteia: Agamemnon, Choephorae, Eumenides (Aeschylus)
- 1987: HecubaHecuba (play)Hecuba is a tragedy by Euripides written c. 424 BC. It takes place after the Trojan War, but before the Greeks have departed Troy . The central figure is Hecuba, wife of King Priam, formerly Queen of the now-fallen city...
(Euripides) - 1990: AntigoneAntigoneIn Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
(Sophocles) - 1992: Prometheus BoundPrometheus BoundPrometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. In Antiquity, this drama was attributed to Aeschylus, but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca. 415 BC. Despite these doubts of authorship, the play's designation as Aeschylean has remained...
(Aeschylus) - 1996: Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
- 2001: MedeaMedeaMedea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
(Euripides)
Modern plays
- 1960–61: To Tragoudi tou Nekrou Adelfou (Ballad of the Dead Brother), Musical Tragedy (text: Mikis Theodorakis)
- 1961–62: Omorphi Poli (Beautiful City), revue (Bost, Dimitris Christodoulou, Christofelis, et al.)
- 1963: I Gitonia ton Angelon (The Quarter of Angels), Music-drama (Iakovos KambanelisIakovos KambanelisIakovos Kambanelis or Kampanellis was a Greek poet, playwright, lyricist, and novelist. Born 2 December 1922 in Hora in the island of Naxos, Kambanelis appears as one of the most prominent Greek artists of the 20th century...
) - 1963: Magiki Poli (Enchanted City), revue (Mikis Theodorakis, Notis Pergialis, Michalis Katsaros)
- 1971: Antigoni stin Filaki (Antigone in Jail), drama
- 1974: Prodomenos Laos (Betrayed People), music for the theatre (Vangelis Goufas)
- 1975: Echtros Laos (Enemy People), drama (Iakovos Kambanelis)
- 1975: Christophorus Kolumbus, drama (Nikos KazantzakisNikos KazantzakisNikos Kazantzakis was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus...
) - 1976: Kapodistrias, drama (Nikos Kazantzakis)
- 1977: O Allos Alexandros ("The Other Alexander"), drama (Margarita Limberaki)
- 1979: Papflessas, play (Spiros Melas)
International theatre
- 1961: Enas Omiros (The Hostage), drama (Brendan BehanBrendan BehanBrendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
) - 1963: The Chinese Wall, drama (Max FrischMax FrischMax Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...
) - 1975: Das Sauspiel, tragicomedy (Martin WalserMartin WalserAt first the speech did not cause a great stir. Indeed, the audience present in Church of St. Paul received the speech with applause, though Walser's critic Ignatz Bubis did not applaud, as confirmed by television footage of the event...
) - 1979: Caligula, drama (Albert CamusAlbert CamusAlbert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
) - 1978: Polites B' Katigorias (Second-Class Citizens), drama (Brian FrielBrian FrielBrian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
) - 1980: Perikles, tragedy, (William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
) - 1994: Macbeth, tragedy (William Shakespeare)
Principal film scores
- 1960: Ill Met by Moonlight (Director: Michael PowellMichael Powell (director)Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
) - 1960: Honeymoon (Luna de miel) (Director: Michael PowellMichael Powell (director)Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
, Choreography: Leonide Massine) - 1960: Faces in the DarkFaces in the DarkFaces in the Dark is a 1960 British thriller film directed by David Eady and starring John Gregson, Mai Zetterling and John Ireland. A blind inventor is convinced he is going mad, but it soon becomes apparent it is a deliberate attempt by someone else....
(Director: David EadyDavid Eady (film director)David Eady is a British film director and producer. He was born in London in 1924.-Filmography:* Bridge of Time * Three Cases of Murder * The Heart Within * In the Wake of a Stranger * The Crowning Touch...
) - 1961: Shadow of the CatShadow of the CatShadow of the Cat is a 1961 British horror film directed by John Gilling for Hammer Film Productions. It stars André Morell and Barbara Shelley...
(Director: John GillingJohn GillingJohn Gilling was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was chiefly known for his horror films, especially for Hammer Films, for whom he directed Shadow of the Cat , The Plague of the Zombies , The Reptile and The Mummy's Shroud, among others...
) - 1961: PhaedraPhaedra (film)Phaedra was a 1962 motion picture directed by Jules Dassin as a vehicle for his wife Melina Mercouri, after her world-wide hit Never on Sunday.The film was the fourth collaboration between Dassin and Mercouri, who took the title role...
(Director: Jules DassinJules DassinJulius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
) - 1961–62: Les Amants de Teruel (Director: Raymond Rouleau)
- 1961–62: Five Miles to MidnightFive Miles to MidnightFive Miles to Midnight is a 1962 French-Italian-American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak...
(Director: Anatole LitvakAnatole LitvakAnatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
) - 1961–62: Electra (Director: Mihalis Kakogiannis)
- 1964: Zorba the GreekZorba the GreekZorba the Greek is a 1964 film based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film was directed by Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis and the title character was played by Anthony Quinn...
(Director: Mihalis Kakogiannis) - 1967: The Day the Fish Came OutThe Day the Fish Came OutThe Day the Fish Came Out is a 1967 Greek- British comedy film directed and written by Michael Cacoyannis who also designed the film's costumes...
(Director: Mihalis Kakogiannis) - 1969: ZZ (film)Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(Director: Constantin Costa-Gavras) - 1971: BiribiBiribiBiribi, or cavagnole, a French game of chance similar to Lotto, Lottery, played for low stakes, that prohibited by law in 1837. It was played on a board on which the numbers 1 to 70 are marked. The players put their stakes on the numbersthey wish to back...
(Director: Daniel Moosman) - 1972: State of SiegeState of SiegeState of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
(Director: Constantin Costa-Gavras) - 1973: SerpicoSerpicoSerpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...
(Director: Sidney LumetSidney LumetSidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
) - 1974: The RehearsalThe Rehearsal (film)The Rehearsal is a 1974 film produced by Jules Dassin that is a cinemagraphic indictment of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.-Cast:*Jules Dassin*Olympia Dukakis*Stathis Giallelis*Lillian Hellman*Melina Mercouri...
(Director: Jules DassinJules DassinJulius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
) - 1976: Actas de MarousiaLetters from MarusiaLetters from Marusia is a 1976 Mexican film directed by Chilean Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Gian Maria Volonté...
(Director: Miguel LittinMiguel LittinMiguel Ernesto Littín Cucumides is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides....
) - 1977–78 Iphigenia (Director: Mihalis Kakogiannis)
- 1980: The Man with the Carnation (Director: Nikos Tzimas)
See the complete list on the Official Homepage of Mikis Theodorakis
Reference: Guy Wagner. Chairman of the International Theodorakis Foundation FILIKI.
List of works based on the research of Asteris Koutoulas
Asteris Koutoulas
Asteris Koutoulas was born in Oradea on 5 April 1960. He is a Berlin-based Greek-German event and music producer, publicist, translator, filmmaker and author...
, published in O Mousikos Theodorakis.
Scores
- Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra
- March of the spirit (Oratorio, Full Score)
- Axion esti (Oratorio Full Score)
- Zorbas Ballet (Suite - Ballet, Full Score)
- Carnaval (Suite - Ballet Full, Score)
- Adagio (Full Score) & Sinfonietta (Full Score)
- Epiphania Averof (Cantata)
- Canto Olympico (Oratorio)
- Les Eluard
- Ο κύκλος
- 20 τραγούδια για πιάνο και αρμόνιο
- Η Βεατρίκη στην οδό Μηδέν
- Μια θάλασσα γεμάτη μουσική
- Τα λυρικώτερα
- Τα λυρικώτατα
- Τα πρόσωπα του Ήλιου
- Φαίδρα
- Λιποτάκτες
- Θαλασσινά φεγγάρια
- Ασίκικο πουλάκη
- Romancero Gitano (για πιάνο - φωνή)
- Τα Λυρικά
- Ταξίδι μέσα στη νύχτα
- Μικρές Κυκλάδες
- Διόνυσος
- Επιφάνια
- Επιτάφιος
- Μπαλάντες. Κύκλος τραγουδιών για πιάνο και φωνή
- Χαιρετισμοί. Κύκλος τραγουδιών για πιάνο και φωνή
- Ένα όμηρος
(for the whole list see Schott Music
Schott Music
Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...
)
Important internationally-available CD releases
- Mikis Theodorakis & Zülfü Livaneli — Together (Tropical)
- Mikis Theodorakis — First Symphony & Adagio (Intuition/Schott)
- Maria Farantouri — Poetica (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Mikis (Peregrina)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Symphony No. 4 (Intuition/Schott)
- Maria Farantouri — Aemata (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Requiem: For soloists, choir and symphonic orchestra (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Symphonietta & Etat de Siege (Intuition/Schott)
- Maria Farantouri & Rainer Kirchmann — Sun & Time: Songs by Theodorakis (Lyra)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Mauthausen Trilogy: In Greek, Hebrew and English (Plaene)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Carnaval — Raven (for mezzo and symphonic orchestra) (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Resistance (historic recordings) (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — First Songs (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Antigone/Medea/Electra (3-Opera Box) (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — The Metamorphosis of Dionysus (Opera) (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — Rhapsodies for Cello and Guitar (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis — East of the Aegean (for cello and piano) (Intuition/Schott)
- Mikis Theodorakis & Francesco Diaz — Timeless (Wormland White)
Selected Bibliography
- Jean Boivin, Messiaen's Teaching at the Paris Conservatoire: A Humanist Legacy, in Siglind Bruhn, Messiaen's Language of Mystical Love (New York, Garland, 1998), 5-31: 10
- George Giannaris: Mikis Theodorakis. Music and Social Change, Foreword by Mikis Theodorakis. G. Allen, London, 1972
- Gail Holst: Myth & Politics in Modern Greek Music, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1980
- Mikis Theodorakis: Journals of Resistance. Translated from the French by Graham Webb, Hart-Davis MacGibbon, London, 1973
- Mikis Theodorakis: Music and Theater, Translated by George Giannaris, Athens, 1983
- Asteris KoutoulasAsteris KoutoulasAsteris Koutoulas was born in Oradea on 5 April 1960. He is a Berlin-based Greek-German event and music producer, publicist, translator, filmmaker and author...
: O Mousikos Theodorakis / Theodorakis the Musician (in Greek). "Nea Synora - A. A. Livami, 1998. ISBN 960-296-216-7 - Guy Wagner: Mikis Theodorakis. Mia Zoi yia tin Ellada. Typothito - Giorgos Dardanos, 2002. ISBN 960-402-008-0 (The biography exists also in French: Mikis Theodorakis. Une Vie pour la Grèce. Editions Phi, Luxembourg, 2000; and in German: Mikis Theodorakis. Ein Leben für Griechenland. Editions Phi, Luxembourg, 1995)
- George Logothetis: Mikis Theodorakis: the Greek soul, translated from the Greek by Phillipos Chatzopoulos, Agyra editions 2004, ISBN 960-422-095-0. The Chinese version has been published by Shanghai Baijia Publishing House in 2008, ISBN 978-7807038610.
- Asteris Kutulas: Mikis Theodorakis. A Life in pictures (in German), Coffee-table book with 1 DVD & 2 CDs. Schott Music, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-7957-0713-2
External links
- Official Web Site
- Official Site (Schott Music) with non-proprietary audio files, discography, recent performances and news
- Lilian Voudouri Library
- Alexia - Mikis Theodorakis MySpace page
- Nicolas Mottas, Mikis Theodorakis: A Legend for Greece - American Chronicle, July 28, 2009.
- Mikis Theodorakis speech against International Monetary Fund and greek government, May 31 2011