Mikis Theodorakis: The Global Greek
Mikis Theodorakis, who was born on the island of Chios on July 29, 1925 and hails from Galatas, Chania, on the island of Crete, on his father’s side, and from the coastal city of Cesme, Asia Minor, on his mother’s side, is, based on the quality of his work and the international impact of his name, perhaps the leading figure of Greek culture and certainly of Greek music since the establishment of the Greek state on February 3, 1830, with the London Protocol.
Mikis Theodorakis was active in many genres of music. However, it should be noted that he also dealt with classical music, writing symphonies, operas, ballets, oratorios, chamber music and music for solo piano.
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He also composed the most internationally recognizable Greek rhythm, the syrtaki, for the film “Zorba the Greek” (1964), based on the novel “The Life and State of Alexis Zorba” by the leading Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, and directed by Greek director Michael Cacoyannis, starring Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates and Irene Pappas.
Poetry set to music is also a very important work of his. That is, he used poems by great poets as lyrics to create songs. Specifically, poems by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, the Greek poet Giorgos Seferis, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963, the Greek poet Odysseas Elytis, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1979, the Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos, who won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1976, and the Greek poet Kostas Varnalis, who won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1959.
He also wrote music for other well-known films, in addition to the film “Zorba the Greek”, such as “Phaedra” (1962) starring Anthony Perkins and Melina Mercouri and “Serpico” (1973) starring Al Pacino.
In 1970, he was awarded the British Academy Film Award, known as BAFTA, for the music in the film “Z”, based on the novel of the same name by the writer Vasilis Vasilikou and which won two Oscars for best foreign language film and best editing, starring Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Irene Pappas, directed by Costas Gavras, who won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1982. In 1983, Mikis Theodorakis was also honored with the Lenin Peace Prize.
His compositions have also been performed by world-renowned artists, such as the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Joan Baez and Edith Piaf.
Mikis Theodorakis, however, also had political, resistance and activist activities. He served as a member of parliament and minister. During the years of the German Occupation of Greece, he was organized in the resistance army “ELAS” and the resistance youth organization “EPON” and in July 1947 he was arrested and exiled to Ikaria. He was imprisoned by the Dictatorship of April 21, 1967. He was an ardent fighter for peace and friendship of peoples with an active contribution to corresponding international and Greek movements. He died in Athens on September 2, 2021 at the age of 96.
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On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mikis Theodorakis, I decided to write a poem entitled “Hymn to Mikis Theodorakis”, in order to honor this leading Greek composer who is also one of the great figures of world music. This poem was set to music by Nikos Karagiannis and Nandia Karagianni and is interpreted by Nandia Karagianni and Nikos Karagiannis.
By Isidoros Karderinis
