Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis
(Μίκης Θεοδωράκης)
Mikis Theodorakis in 2004
Mikis Theodorakis in 2004
Background information
Born July 29, 1925 (1925-07-29) (age 84)
Origin Flag of Greece Chios, Greece
Genre(s) 20th century classical music (Greek)
Occupation(s) Composer Politician
Website http://www.mikis-theodorakis.net

Mikis Theodorakis (Greek: Μίκης Θεοδωράκης) (b. July 29 1925, Greek island of Chios) is one of the most popular Greek composers. He is known internationally for his scores in the films, Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973).

Politically, until the late 1970s he identified with the left; in 1990 he became a member of parliament with the centre-right New Democracy party, a move which he has since said he regretted but asserts that was needed in order for the country to come out of the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals. He continues identifying himself with the left and speaking out against any aggressor and oppressor. See his statements on Palestine Official Web Site or the War in Iraq Official Web Site, or Greece - Turkey - Cyprus Official Web Site. He has consistently opposed oppressive regimes and was a key voice against the Greek Junta 1967-1974. He has been mentioned as a candidate for election as President of Greece, but he has refused to be considered.

Contents

Biography

The early years, World War II, and first works

He was born on the island of Chios and spent his childhood years in different provincial Greek cities such as Mytilene, Cephallonia, Pyrgos, Patras, and Tripolis. His father was from Crete and his mother from Asia Minor.

Theodorakis' fascination with music began in early childhood; he taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. In Pyrgos and Patras he took his first music lessons, and in Tripolis, Peloponnese, he formed a one person choir (himself) and gave his first concert at the age of seventeen before a mirror.

Later he studied at the Athens Conservatoire under Philoktitis Economidis, and at the Conservatory of Paris where he briefly[1] studied musical analysis under Olivier Messiaen as well as conducting under Eugene Bigot. His time in Paris, 1954–1959, was a period of intense artistic creation for him.

His symphonic works of this period, a piano concerto, his first suite and his first symphony, received international acclaim. In 1957 he won the Gold Medal in the Moscow Music Festival. In 1959, Darius Milhaud proposed him for the American Copley Music Prize as the Best European Composer of the Year, after the successful performances of his ballet Antigone at Covent Garden in London.

Notable works up to 1960

  1. Chamber Music: Trio four piano, violin, cello; Sonatina for piano ; Sonatines n° 1 et 2 for violin and piano ;
  2. Symphonic music: Assi-Gonia (symphonic movement); Symphony n° 1 (Proti Simfonia); Piano Concerto "Helicon"; Suites n° 1, 2 et 3 for orchestre; La Vie et la Mort / Live and Death (for voice and strings); Œdipus Tyrannos (for strings); Piano Concerto (1958);
  3. Ballets: Greek Carnival; Le Feu aux Poudres; Les amants de Téruel; Antigone.

Back to Greek roots — recognition

Mikis Theodorakis sometime after his return to Greece, 1961.

Theodorakis returned to Greece and his roots in genuine Greek music, and with his song cycle "Epitaphios" he contributed to a cultural revolution in his country. With his most significant and influential works based on the greatest Greek and world poetry – "Epiphania", "Little Kyklades", "Axion Esti", "Mauthausen", "Romiossini", and "Romancero Gitan"… – he attempted to give back to Greek music a dignity which he said it had lost. In developing his concept of metasymphonic music, 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, and gave many concerts. He became involved in the politics of his home country, and after the assassination of Gregoris Lambrakis in 1963 he founded the Lambrakis Democratic Youth and was elected its president. Following the 1964 elections, he became a member of the Greek Parliament, associated with the left-wing party EDA. Because of his radical political ideas, Theodorakis 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 1963, he wrote the basic music theme for the Michael Cacoyiannis film "Zorba the Greek" which, since then, exists as a trademark for Greece in the world art. This music is also known as 'Syrtaki dance'; taken and edited by Theodorakis from an old Cretan traditional dance.

Main works of this period

  1. Song cycles: "Epitaphios" (Yannis Ritsos); "Archipelagos", "Politia A & B", "Epiphania" (George Seferis, Nobel Prize 1963), "Mauthausen" (Yakovos Kabanellis), "Romiossini" (Yannis Ritsos)
  2. Music for the Stage: "The Hostage" (Brendan Behan); "Ballad of the Dead Brother" (Theodorakis); "Maghiki Poli (Magical City)"; "I Gitonia ton Angelon" (The Angels' Quarter, Kabanellis)
  3. Film scores: "Electra" and "Zorba the Greek" (Michalis Cacoyannis)
  4. Oratorio: "Axion Esti" (Odysseas Elytis, Nobel Prize 1979)

The junta — going underground — imprisonment — banishment

On 21 April, 1967 a right wing junta (the Regime of the Colonels) took power in a putsch. Theodorakis went underground and founded the Patriotic Front. The Colonels published Army decree No 13, which banned playing, and even listening to his music. Theodorakis himself was arrested on 21 August, 1967 and jailed for five months. Following his release in 1968, he was banished 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 figures as Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Miller, and Harry Belafonte managed to get Theodorakis freed. On request of the French politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, Theodorakis was allowed to go into exile on 13 April, 1970. He arrived to Paris by a aeroplane rented by a French Reforming Movement politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber. Theodorakis's flight left very secretly from a Onassis owned private airport outside Athens. Theodorakis arrieved to 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 sons joined him a week later in France. They arrived from Greece to France via Italy by a boat.

Main works under the dictatorship

  1. Song cycles: "O Ilios ke o Chronos" ("Sun and Time", Theodorakis); "Ta Laïka"("The Popular Songs", M. Elefteriou); Arcadies I-X; Songs for Andreas (Theodorakis); "Nichta Thanatou" ("Nights of Death", M. Elefteriou)
  2. Oratorios: "Ephiphania Averoff" (Seferis), "State of Siege" (Marina-Rena Hadjidakis), "March of the Spirit" (Angelos Sikelianos), "Raven" (Seferis, after Edgar Allan Poe)
  3. Film score: "Z" (Costa-Gavras).

Exile — resistance

In exile in Paris, He fought for four years for the overthrow of the colonels and for his own interest he gave thousands of concerts worldwide as part of his struggle for the restoration of democracy in Greece, met Pablo Neruda and Salvador Allende, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Tito, Igal Alon and Yasser Arafat, François Mitterrand and Olof Palme. For millions of people, he became a universal symbol of resistance against dictatorship.

Main works written in exile

  1. Song cycles: "Lianotragouda" ("18 Songs for the Bitter Fatherland", Yannis Ritsos); "Ballades" (Manolis Anagnostakis)
  2. Oratorio: "Canto General" (Pablo Neruda)
  3. Film scores: "The Trojan Women" (M. Cacoyannis); "State of Siege" (Costa-Gavras); "Serpico" (S. Lumet)

Return to Greece — activism — prolific writing

After the fall of the Colonels, Theodorakis returned to Greece on 24 July, 1974 to continue his work and his concert tours, both at home and abroad. At the same time he participated in public affairs. He was 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. He was then appointed General Musical Director of the Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of Hellenic Radio and Television for another two years.

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 musician and singer Zülfü Livaneli, the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society. Theodorakis is Doctor honoris causa of several universities, including Montreal, Thessaloniki, and Crete, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2000. Currently he lives in retirement, publishing on music, culture, and politics. But on important occasions he never hesitates to take a position, as in 1999, opposing NATO's Kosovo war, and in 2003 against the Iraq War. In 2005, he was awarded the "Russian International St Andrew the First Called Prize" and the "IMC UNESCO International Music Prize".

Main works after 1974

  1. Song cycles: "Ta Lyrika", "Dionysos", "Phaedra", "Beatrice in Zero Street", "Heretismi" (Greetings), "Mia Thalassa" ("A Sea Full of Music"), "Os archeos Anemos" ("Like an Ancient Wind"), "Lyrikotera" ("The More-Than-Lyric Songs"), "Lyrikotata" ("The Most Lyric Songs"), "Erimia" ("Solitude"), "Odysseia" (2006/2007)
  2. Music for the Stage: "Orestia" (dir.: Spyros Evangelatos); "Antigone" (dir.: M. Volanakis); "Medea" (dir.: Spyros Evangelatos)
  3. Film scores: "Iphigenia" (M. Cacoyannis), "The Man with the Carnation" (N. Tzimas)
  4. Oratorios: "Missa Greca", "Liturgia 2", "Requiem"
  5. Symphonic music and cantatas: Symphonies no 2, 3, 4, 7, "According to the Sadducees", "Canto Olympico", Guita Rhapsody (1996), Cello Rhapsody (1997)
  6. Operas: "Kostas Karyotakis", "Medea", "Elektra", "Antigone", "Lysistrata".

A lifetime's work: synopsis

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 Perigiali", "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", "O Andonis", "Protos o Hlios", and many other songs.

His song cycles are based on poems by famous Greek authors, as well as by Lorca and Neruda: "Epitaphios", "Archipelagos", "Politia", "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", "Ta Lyrikotera", "Ta Lyrikotata", "Erimia", "Odysseia".

Symphonic works

Chamber music

Cantatas and oratorios

Hymns

Ballets

Operas

Music for the stage

Classical tragedies

Modern plays

International theatre

Principal film scores

Reference: Guy Wagner. Chairman of the International Theodorakis Foundation FILIKI. List of works based on the research of Asteris Koutoulas.

Political views

The following parts of the Theodorakis-Page are not from the author of the article above. So the lack of citations for the following comments doesn't depend on him.

Theodorakis was well known for his left-wing views, which he has expressed openly (including, notably, during the junta dictatorship). He has campaigned for numerous human rights and peace causes, such as in the Cyprus dispute, the tensions between Turkey and Greece due to the Aegean dispute, NATO attacks against Yugoslavia, the kidnapping and treatment of Abdullah Öcalan, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict He has, however turned into more right-wing ethnicist and conservative ideologies during the last decade.

On Jews

No one ever said that Thedorakis has ever spoken in politically correct terms about anything and of course we all know that Theodorakis will always come to the rescue of those that need help. The Palestinians now need help the same way the Jews needed help during the second world war. HE ANSWERED THE CALL WHEN THE JEWS NEEDED IT HE COULD NOT HAVE FAILED BUT ANSWER THE CALL OF THE PALESTINIANS NOW.

The points Theodorakis was making are very simple. 1) The policies of Israel against the palestinians are Barbaric and should be condemned by all freedom loving people. Indeed many jews are opposing those policies. 2) There is an organized effort to silence opposition and the tactics Theodorakis describes are on target.

   Many examples are available, in academia, in political world and in business.

The activities of "Campus Watch", or, "Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America" or, of the well-known Harvard law professor (Alan Dershowitz), etc.

The charge of anti-semitism is used to silence views expressing criticism of Israeli policy with respect to the Palestinian's or invasions of Lebanon, etc. IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE Wikipedia should not become an instrument of these groups

This entry bellow needs to be balanced with hyperlinks to the names of Ariel Sharon, Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein and others.

On November 11th 2003, Mikis Theodorakis held a press conference to present his new book "Pou Na Vro Tin Psychi Mou" (Where can I find my soul?). After the conference, Theodorakis, in a private exchange of views, said that Greeks and Jews "are two peoples without kin, but they (the Jews) had fanaticism and self-knowledge and managed to prevail. "We, the Greeks, are very calm and did not turn aggressive like them is because we have more history. They (the Jews) only have Abraham and Jacob, who were shadows, while we have Pericles. Imagine what would happen in Greece if we were as aggressive as the Jews." Theodorakis added "Today it is possible to say that this small nation is at the root of evil. It is full of self-importance and evil stubbornness."[2].

His comments caused uproar in Israel and among Jews in Greece, prompting complaints from the Israeli embassy in Athens to the Greek Government. Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a public protest: "The Israeli public is utterly repulsed by Theodorakis's anti-Semitic comments." The statement expressed regret that the comments were spoken by someone of Theodorakis's stature. "We do not believe that the comments reflect the position of the Greek government, and therefore expect Greek leadership and cultural figures to denounce them".

Following a public outcry, Theodorakis published the following official statement:

"My opinion of the Israeli people, as on all things, has always been known and I am frankly at a loss as to why such a great commotion was made this time, as if it was heard for the first time. Maybe some people judged this to be the right time to launch an attack on me. I was always on the side of the weak, of those struggling for the Justice of People. And among them were the Israeli People. I sang their suffering as well as I could. I was always in favor of the peaceful coexistence of peoples. And I showed this in practice, when, among other things, I undertook a mediatory role between Alon and Arafat in the incidents of 1972. But, precisely for these reasons, I am totally opposed to Sharon's policy and I have stressed this repeatedly, just as I have repeatedly condemned the role of prominent American Jewish politicians, intellectuals and theorists in the shaping of today's aggressive Bush "policy". Only through a conscious effort can anyone confuse the Israeli People, for whom I have shown my respect and wonder in practice and these negative phenomena which are what truly blacken the image of Israel and play a genuine "anti-Semitic" role. It is these which are on the side of Evil, the root of Evil, as I stated recently.
"Personally, I am happy because I know that there are many Israelis all over the world and within Israel who agree with me and are striving for the true Justice of their People and can coexist with the Justice of other People as well, who are struggling for Peace in their region and the whole world. I am happy that we have been together in these joint struggles for decades now. And I know that they know me well through these struggles and they are not waiting for the mud of some in order to get to know me.
"But perhaps this is the aim of those who suddenly "discovered" my ideas and slander me as an alleged "anti-Semite."
Athens, 12 November 2003

For all details: Official Web Site

During an interview for Ha'aretz, August 2004 (see external link), Ari Shavit asked about this and Theodorakis answered thus:

"I must clarify, I didn't say that Jews are the root of evil. I said that they are at the root of evil. Jews want to feel that they are victims. They want to console themselves by saying: We are in the right, we are victims again, let's build another ghetto. This is a masochistic reaction. There is a masochistic mentality in Jewish tradition. I am sure that when Jews of the diaspora speak amongst themselves, they feel satisfaction. They think - now, when we are so close to the world's biggest nation, no one can harm us. We can do whatever we like. This is why their claim about renewing antisemitism is not only sick. It is devious. It allows the Jews to do whatever they will. It serves as an excuse politically as well as psychologically. (...) There is no antisemitism in Europe today."
Later in the interview Theodorakis says that the force behind the existence of the Jews is "Your feeling that you are the children of god. That you are a chosen people." Shavit then asks, do the Jews appear patronizing and aggressive to you? Do they control the music establishment, global economy, mass media, America's foreign policy? To each of these questions Theodorakis replies individually with a "Yes". When asked if, by his account, the great nation of America is actually ruled by Jews, Theodorakis says "Yes".

Ari Shavit asked: So today's globalized capitalism is controlled very much by the Jews? and Theodorakis answered:

"Since we speak frankly, I will tell you something else. The Jewish people control most of the big symphonic orchestras in the world. When I wrote the Palestinian national anthem, the Boston Symphony was planning a production of my work. It is controlled by Jewish people. They didn't allow the concert to go on. Since then I cannot work with any great orchestra. They refuse me." "Wherever there are Jews. Wherever there are orchestras controlled by Jewish people, they boycott my work." "Campus Watch", or, "Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America" or Norman Finkelstein and others

On 9/11

In an article in Eleftherotypia (14 April 2002):

September 11 was characterized by an incredibly high degree of organization and technological means—higher I'd say than that possessed by the current superpower, the US.... As far as physical perpetrators are concerned there is still no tangible evidence and that's why no arrests have been made. There were only moral perpetrators, who have been sought in Afghanistan—but it would be hard to convince anyone of their level of technological and organizational capabilities.

On Religion

On 29 March 2007 (www.in.gr), he stated: "We have two great institutions in Greece. The President of the Democracy and the Head of the Greek Orthodox Church. I rebel when I see that there are people who do not respect these institutions. When you talk about the President or the Archbishop you should wash your mouth first." And, later on: "We must have roots. We must be proud of our generation, of our nation. Of the exquisite marriage of hellenism with the essence of Christianity. All these people don't know what Greek Orthodox means. They say that the Secret School (Kryfo Scholeio) never existed. But in the churches the priests read the Gospels, which were written in Greek."

On German Music

"Germany never had great composers, ...except these 20-30 composers of classical music": Interview on Greek TV (NET) with Nassos Athanassiou.

Controversy with the Greek Ministry of Culture

On November 2006, the decision of the Greek Ministry of Culture to cut the funding for most of Theodorakis' 17 upcoming concerts at the Benaki Museum provoked the composer's angry reaction. In a public statement, Theodorakis criticized the government for its decision, announced his decision to withdraw his concerts from Ministry's funding. Moreover, the composer declared that "during the last years, in our country, there is a dominant negative environment in all sectors of our national life, which day by day becomes worse" and he added that his aim was always to "show the essence of Greekness (of being Greek)" as a tool of resistance against globalization. Theodorakis' statement provoked both support[3] and criticism towards his expressed opinion, within the Greek media.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 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), p.10
  2. ↑ Konstandaras, Nikos. "Greeks and Jews". Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
  3. ↑ Nikolaos Mottas, About Mikis Theodorakis. The disgracefulness of the State, Makedonia Newspaper (Greek).

Bibliography

External links

Bibliography - His own published written works