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Mikis Theodorakis

Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (Greek: Μιχαήλ (Μίκης) Θεοδωράκης [ˈmicis θeoðoˈɾacis]; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist who has contributed to contemporary Greek music with over 1000 works.[1][2][3][4][5]

He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and possibly his best work.[6] He is viewed as Greece's best-known living composer.[2][4][7] He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.[8]

Politically, he is associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece. He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Nevertheless, in 1989 he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party, in order for the country to emerge from the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou,[9] and helped 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 continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq.[10][11] He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.[12]

Biography
Early years

Mikis Theodorakis was born on the Greek island of Chios and spent his childhood years in different provincial Greek cities such as Mytilene,[13] Cephallonia,[13] Patras,[14][15] Pyrgos,[16][17] and Tripoli.[17][18] His father, a lawyer and a civil servant, was from the small village of Galatas on Crete[19] and his mother, Aspasia Poulakis, was from an ethnically Greek family in Çeşme, in what is today Turkey.[7][20][21][22][23] He was raised with Greek folk music and was influenced by Byzantine liturgy; as a child he had already talked about becoming a composer.[24][25]

His fascination with music began in early childhood; he taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. He took his first music lessons in Patras[14] and Pyrgos,[16] where he was a childhood friend of George Pavlopoulos,[26] and in Tripoli, Peloponnese,[18] 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, and led a troop in the fight against the British and the Greek right in the Dekemvriana.[27] During the Greek Civil War he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria[28] and then deported to the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured and twice buried alive.[29]

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.[30] In 1950, he finished his studies and took his last two exams "with flying colours".[31] He went to Crete, where he became the "head of the Chania Music School" and founded his first orchestra.[32] At this time he ended what he has called the first period of his musical writing.[citation needed]
Studies in Paris
In Paris, 1967

In 1954 he travelled with his young wife Myrto Altinoglou to Paris where he entered the Conservatory and studied musical analysis under Olivier Messiaen[33] and conducting under Eugene Bigot.[34] His time in Paris, 1954–1959, was his second period of musical writing.

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",[35] 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.
Notable works up to 1960

Chamber Music: Four String Quartets; Trio for 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 Pressburger); Faces in the Dark (David Eady).

Back to Greek roots
Mikis Theodorakis shortly after his return to Greece, 1961, with Nicholas G. Constantin, Athanasios G. Konstantinopoulos, and Bill Vanech on his right, in his club called MYRTIA

In 1960, Theodorakis returned to Greece and his roots in Greek music: With his song cycle Epitaphios he started the third period of his composing and contributed to a cultural revolution in his country.[36] His most significant and influential works are based on 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. He developed 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 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.[37] 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.[38] 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.[39]

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 by old Cretan traditional dances.[citation needed]
Main works of this period

Song cycles: Epitaphios (Yannis Ritsos); Archipelagos (Songs of the Islands), Politia A & B (Songs of the City), Epiphania (Giorgos Seferis, Nobel Prize 1963), Mikres Kyklades (Odysseas Elytis), Chrysoprasino Fyllo (Golden-green leaf), Mauthausen (Iakovos Kambanellis), Romiossini (Yannis Ritsos), Thalassina Feggaria (Moons of the Sea)
Oratorio: To Axion Esti[40] (Odysseas Elytis, Nobel Prize 1979), cf. Theodorakis on Axion Esti[41]
Music for the Stage: The Hostage (Brendan Behan); 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: Phaedra (Jules Dassin), The Lovers of Teruel (Raymond Rouleau), Five Miles to Midnight (Anatole Litvak), Electra and Zorba the Greek (Michalis Cacoyannis), To Nisi tis Afroditis (Harilaos Papadopoulos)
The "Mauthausen Trilogy" also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", a series of songs with lyrics based on poems written by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis. It has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and as "an exquisite, haunting and passionate melody that moves Kambanellis' affecting words to an even higher level". It has also been described as possibly Theodorakis's best work.[6][42]

During the dictatorship
Photo of Mikis Theodorakis
M. Theodorakis (1971)

On 21 April 1967 a junta (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 was arrested on 21 August,[43] 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.[44] Later he was interned in the concentration camp of Oropos.[45]

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 secretly from an Onassis-owned private airport outside Athens. He arrived at Le Bourget Airport where he met Costa Gavras, Melina Mercouri and Jules Dassin. Theodorakis was immediately hospitalized, as he suffered from tuberculosis.[46] His wife and children joined him a week later in France, having travelled from Greece via Italy on a boat.[47]
Main works under the dictatorship

Song cycles: Ta Laïka (The Popular Songs, Manos Elefteriou);[48] 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 Seferis, State of Siege (Marina = Rena Hadjidakis), March of the Spirit (Angelos Sikelianos), Raven (Giorgos Seferis, after Edgar Allan Poe);
Film score: Z (Costa-Gavras).

Resistance in exile

While in exile, Theodorakis fought during four years for the overthrow of the colonels. He started his world tours and gave hundreds of concerts on all continents as part of his struggle for the restoration of democracy in Greece.
Mikis Theodorakis at a concert in Caesarea, Israel, in the 1970s.

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,[49] Olof Palme and Willy Brandt became his friends. For millions of people, Theodorakis was the symbol of resistance against the Greek dictatorship.[50]
Main works written in exile

Song cycles: 18 lianotragouda tis pikris patridas (18 Short Songs of the Bitter Land, Yiannis Ritsos), Ballades (Manolis Anagnostakis), Tis exorias (Songs of the Exile)
Oratorio: Canto General, Sections 3 to 6 only (Pablo Neruda)
Film scores: The Trojan Women (M. Cacoyannis); State of Siege (Costa-Gavras); Serpico (Sidney Lumet)

Return to Greece
Theodorakis on a visit in East Germany, May 1989

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.[51] 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)[52] 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.[53]

He was committed to raise international awareness of human rights, of environmental issues and of the need for peace and, for this reason, he initiated, along with the Turkish author, musician, singer, and filmmaker Zülfü Livaneli the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society.[54]

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. During this period, he also wrote the five volumes of his autobiography: The Ways of the Archangel (Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου).[citation needed]

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 1991), 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.

For a period of 10 years, Alexia Vassiliou teamed up with Mikis Theodorakis and his Popular Orchestra. During that time, and as a tribute to Theodorakis' body of work, Vassiliou recorded a double album showcasing some of the composer’s most consummate musical creations, and in 1998, Sony BMG released the album titled Alexia–Mikis Theodorakis.[citation needed]

Theodorakis is Doctor honoris causa of several universities, including Montreal, Thessaloniki, and Crete.[citation needed]
Theodorakis holding hands with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou

Now he lives in retirement, reading, writing, publishing arrangements of his scores, texts about culture and politics. On 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[55] (cf also: Homepage of the Art and Exhibition Hall Bonn).[56] In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the distribution of the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.[57]

A final set of songs titled: Odysseia was composed by utilizing poetry written by Costas Kartelias for lyrics. In 2009 he composed a Rhapsody for Strings (Mezzo-Soprano or Baryton ad lib.). Created on 30 January 2013, Theodorakis achieved the distinction of producing one of the largest works by any composer of any time.[58]

On 26 February 2019, Theodorakis was hospitalized due to heart problems.[59] On 8 March 2019, Theodorakis underwent surgery to place a pacemaker at an undisclosed Athens hospital.[60] On 2 September 2021 Theodorakis died at 96 years old.
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: Orestia (dir.: Spyros Evangelatos); Antigone (dir.: Minos Volanakis); Medea (dir.: Spyros Evangelatos)
Film scores: Iphigenia (M. Cacoyannis), The Man with the Carnation (Nikos Tzimas)
Oratorio: Canto General in 13 Sections, completed in 1981 (Pablo Neruda)
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 (dedicated to Otto Sauter, 2008); Rhysody for Strings (Mezzo-Sopran or Baryton ad lib.)
Operas: "The Metamorphosis of the Dionysus" (Kostas Karyotakis); Medea; Elektra; Antigone; Lysistrata.

Political views
Israel and Jews

Theodorakis has spoken out against Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. He condemned Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for establishing closer relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was guilty, he said, of "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."[61] Theodorakis is also a vocal critic of Zionism, and refers to himself as an “anti-Zionist.”[62][63][64][65] In 2003, he stated, "Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists … American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece as well." He has described himself as "anti-Israel and anti-Semite," because "this small nation (Israel) is the root of evil".[66] Theodorakis later apologized for the comments, stating in a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Greece that they only applied to policies of the Israeli government and its ally the US, also stating that he "loves the Jewish people".[67][68] In 2013, he condemned Golden Dawn for Holocaust denial.[69]
Views of the United States

Theodorakis is a long-time critic of the United States. During the invasion of Iraq, he called Americans "detestable, ruthless cowards and murderers of the people of the world". He said he would consider anyone who interacted with "these barbarians" for whatever reason as his enemy.[70] Like many Greeks, Theodorakis greatly opposed the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars. He participated in a charity concert protesting the bombing in 1999.[71]
2010–2011: Non-political movement

On 1 December 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 of its economic crisis.[72] On 31 May Mikis Theodorakis gave a speech attended by approximately 10,000 people in the center of Athens, criticising the Greek government for the loan debt it has taken from the International Monetary Fund.[73]
Work

His song cycles are based on poems by Greek authors, as well as by García 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).[74]
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 Solomos; Constantine P. Cavafy; 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 (for Piccolo Trumpet, 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 Elytis)
1969: The March of the Spirit (text: Angelos Sikelianos)
1971–82: Canto General (text: Pablo 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 García Lorca, translated by Odysseas Elytis)
1992: Canto Olympico, for voice, solo piano, choir, and orchestra (texts: Dimitra Manda, Mikis Theodorakis)
1999: Requiem (text: St. John Damascene)

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 Šparemblek)
1959: Antigone (choreography: John Cranko)
1972: Antigone in Jail (choreography: Micha van Hoecke)
1979: Elektra (choreography: Serge Kenten)
1983: Sept Danses Grecques (choreography: Maurice Béjart)
1987–88: Zorba il Greco (choreography: Lorca Massine)

Operas

1984–1985: Kostas Karyotakis (The Metamorphosis of Dionysos)
1988–1990: Medea
1992–1993: Elektra
1995–1996: Antigone
1999–2001: Lysistrata

Music for the stage
Classical tragedies

1959–1960: Phoenician Women (Euripides)
1960–1961: Ajax (Sophocles)
1965: Trojan Women (Euripides)
1966–1967: Lysistrata (Aristophanes)
1977: The Suppliants (Aeschylus)
1979: The Knights (Aristophanes)
1986–1988: Oresteia: Agamemnon, Choephorae, Eumenides (Aeschylus)
1987: Hecuba (Euripides)
1990: Antigone (Sophocles)
1992: Prometheus Bound (Aeschylus)
1996: Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
2001: Medea (Euripides)

Modern plays

1960–1961: To Tragoudi tou Nekrou Adelfou (Ballad of the Dead Brother), Musical Tragedy (text: Mikis Theodorakis)
1961–1962: Omorphi Poli (Beautiful City), revue (Bost, Dimitris Christodoulou, Christofelis, et al.)
1963: I Gitonia ton Angelon (The Quarter of Angels), Music-drama (Iakovos Kambanelis)
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 Kazantzakis)
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 Behan)
1963: The Chinese Wall, drama (Max Frisch)
1975: Das Sauspiel, tragicomedy (Martin Walser)
1979: Caligula, drama (Albert Camus)
1978: Polites B' Katigorias (Second-Class Citizens), drama (Brian Friel)
1980: Perikles, tragedy, (William Shakespeare)
1994: Macbeth, tragedy (William Shakespeare)

Principal film scores

1957: Ill Met by Moonlight (Director: Michael Powell)
1960: Honeymoon (Luna de miel) (Director: Michael Powell, Choreography: Léonide Massine)
1960: Faces in the Dark (Director: David Eady)
1961: Shadow of the Cat (Director: John Gilling)
1961: Phaedra (Director: Jules Dassin)
1962: The Lovers of Teruel (Director: Raymond Rouleau)
1962: Five Miles to Midnight (Director: Anatole Litvak)
1962: Electra (Director: Michael Cacoyannis)
1964: Zorba the Greek (Director: Michael Cacoyannis)
1966: A Bullet Through the Heart (Director: Jean-Daniel Pollet)
1967: The Day the Fish Came Out (Director: Michael Cacoyannis)
1969: Z (Director: Costa-Gavras)
1971: Biribi (Director: Daniel Moosman)
1971: The Trojan Women (Director: Michael Cacoyannis)
1972: State of Siege (Director: Costa-Gavras)
1973: The Battle of Sutjeska (Director: Stipe Delić)
1973: Serpico (Director: Sidney Lumet)
1974: The Rehearsal (Director: Jules Dassin)
1976: Actas de Marousia (Director: Miguel Littín)
1977: Iphigenia (Director: Michael Cacoyannis)
1980: The Man with the Carnation (Director: Nikos Tzimas)
2013: Recycling Medea (Director: Asteris Kutulas)

Andreas Kapsokavadis born 1994 December 16 aka Kaps 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.
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 (Phaedra)
Λιποτάκτες
Θαλασσινά φεγγάρια
Ασίκικο πουλάκη
Romancero Gitano (για πιάνο - φωνή)
Τα Λυρικά
Ταξίδι μέσα στη νύχτα
Μικρές Κυκλάδες
Διόνυσος (Dionysus)
Επιφάνια (Epiphany)
Επιτάφιος (Epitaph)
Μπαλάντες. Κύκλος τραγουδιών για πιάνο και φωνή
Χαιρετισμοί. Κύκλος τραγουδιών για πιάνο και φωνή
Ένα όμηρος

Internationally available CD releases

Mikis Theodorakis & Zülfü Livaneli — Together (Tropical)
Mikis Theodorakis — First Symphony & Adagio (Wergo/Schott)
Maria Farantouri — Poetica (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina)
Mikis Theodorakis — Mikis (Peregrina)
Mikis Theodorakis — Symphony No. 4 (Wergo/Schott)
Maria Farantouri — Asmata (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina)
Mikis Theodorakis — Symphony No. 7 (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — Requiem: For soloists, choir and symphonic orchestra (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — Symphonietta & Etat de Siege (Wergo/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) (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — Resistance (historic recordings) (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — First Songs (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — Antigone/Medea/Electra (3-Opera Box) (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — The Metamorphosis of Dionysus (Opera) (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — Rhapsodies for Cello and Guitar (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis — East of the Aegean (for cello and piano) (Wergo/Schott)
Mikis Theodorakis & Francesco Diaz — Timeless (Wormland White)

Written works

Books in Greek by Theodorakis:

Για την ελληνική μουσική (About Greek music)
Το τραγούδι του νεκρού αδελφού
Το μανιφέστο των Λαμπράκηδων
Ζητείται αριστερά
Δημοκρατική και συγκεντρωτική αριστερά
Οι μνηστήρες της Πηνελόπης
Περί τέχνης (Essays and articles about art)
Πού πάμε; (Where are we going?, Gnosis Publishing House, Athens 1988)
Ανατομία της μουσικής (Anatomy of the Music, 1983)
Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου Ι–V (Mikis Theodorakis, Paths of the Archangel (Autobiography), Kedros Publishing House, Athens 1986–88)
Αντιμανιφέστο (Antimanifest, Gnosis Publishing House, Athens 1998)
Μελοποιημένη Ποίηση Ι–III (Poetry and texts of his musical works)
Πού να βρω την ψυχή μου... A' - Γ' (Where can I find my soul (Essays & Articles), Livanis Publishing House, Athens 2002)
Να μαγευτώ και να μεθύσω
Μάνου Χατζιδάκι εγκώμιον (About Manos Hatzidakis, Ianos Publishing House, Thessaloniki 2004)
I had Three Lives (Poetry by Mikis Theodorakis in English, translated by Gail Holst)
Σπίθα. Για μια Ελλάδα ανεξάρτητη και δυνατή, Ianos Publishing House, Thessaloniki, 2011

References

John Chrysochoos, Ph.D. (17 November 2010). Ikaria - Paradise in Peril. Dorrance Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4349-8240-7. Retrieved 1 November 2012. "Theodorakis the internationally renowned Greek composer"
Maura Ellyn; Maura McGinnis (1 August 2004). Greece: A Primary Source Cultural Guide. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-8239-3999-2. Retrieved 1 November 2012. "Considered Greece's greatest living composer, Theodorakis has written many scores."
Athensnews Interview: Theodorakis' call to arms Famous composer Theodorakis addresses protesters during a rally against a new austerity package, outside the University of Athens, in 2011 Archived 3 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
Mike Gerrard (3 March 2009). National Geographic Traveler: Greece, 3rd Edition. National Geographic Society. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-1-4262-0396-1. Retrieved 1 November 2012. "The most famous Greek musician of contemporary times is undoubtedly Mikis Theodorakis (born 1925), best known for"
Embassy of Greece International conference honors renowned composer Mikis Theodorakis' 80th birthday An international conference dedicated to the work of famous music composer Mikis Theodorakis in honor of his 80th birthday, kicked off on Friday in Hania, Crete. Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Αντωνης Μποσκοιτης (2 February 2015). "Αφιέρωμα στη Μπαλάντα του Μάουτχάουζεν του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη και του Ιάκωβου Καμπανέλλη Το ωραιότερο μουσικό έργο για το Ολοκαύτωμα που γράφτηκε ποτέ". Lifo.gr. Retrieved 27 December 2015. "Google translation: "A Tribute to Ballad of Mauthausen Mikis Theodorakis and Iakovos Kambanellis The finest musical work about the Holocaust ever written.""
Dimitris Keridis (28 July 2009). Historical Dictionary of Modern Greece. Scarecrow Press. pp. 150–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5998-2. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Moscow: Sovetskaya Enciklopediya. 1983
Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου V / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume V, p. 331 sq
"Official Website". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 27 July 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Official Website". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance
Γιωργος ΑρΧιμανδριτης (2007). Σε πρωτο προσωπο: Μικης Θεοδωρακης. Ελληνικα Γραμματα. ISBN 978-960-442-911-0. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου Ι / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume I, p. 72 sq.
Mikis Theodorakis (1997). Μελοποιημενη ποιηση. Υψιλον/Βιβλια. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 82 sq.
Μικης Θεοδωρακης; Γιαννης Κουγιουμουτζακης; Ιδρυμα ΤεΧνολογιας και Ερευνας (Greece) (2007). Συμπαντικε αρμονια, μουσικη και επιστημη: στον Μικη Θεοδωρακη. Πανεπιστημιακες Εκδοσεις Κρητης. ISBN 978-960-524-253-4. Retrieved 8 November 2012. ... Σύρος και Αθήνα (1929), Γιάννενα (1930- 1932), Αργοστόλι (1933-1936), Πάτρα (1937-1938), Πύργος (1938-1939), Τρίπολη
Theodorakis, op. cit., Chapter II, p. 95 sq.
George Giannaris (1972). Mikis Theodorakis: music and social change. Praeger. Retrieved 3 November 2012. "For nearly six months, Mikis remained on the island of Crete trying to put the past behind, and become a human being ... For too long, he had been a drain on hisfather who was finding it difficult to practice his profession in the tiny village of KatoGalata, or even the larger town of Cha- nia. There was no dearth of lawyersestablished in the area for years, and even though Yiorgos had been born there, his"
The New York Times Biographical Service. New York Times & Arno Press. April 1970. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
Bernard A. Cook (2001). Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 939–. ISBN 978-0-203-80174-1. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
Sir Compton Mackenzie; Christopher Stone (2005). The Gramophone. C. Mackenzie. Retrieved 3 November 2012. "MIKIS THEODORAKIS AT 80 Mikis Theodoralris celebrated his 80th birthday on July 29 this year. ... His mother had moved to the Greek islands from Asia Minor just before the Lausanne Peace Conference in 1923 obliged 1.5 million other"
Journal of Modern Hellenism. Hellenic College Press. 2001. Retrieved 3 November 2012. "While there is no record of a young Mikis Theodorakis being subjected to any serious direct personal physical or psychological trauma, he did grew up in ... His mother, Aspasia Poulakis, was a refugee form Tsemes, a coastal city in Asia Minor"
"Schott Music - Mikis Theodorakis - Profile".
Mikis Theodorakis (1973). Journals of resistance. Hart-Davis McGibbon. ISBN 978-0-246-10597-4. Retrieved 3 November 2012. "29 July 1925 Mikis Theodorakis is born on the island of Chios. ... Theodorakis learns to sing Byzantine hymns and, since his father is from Crete and his mother from the Greek colony in Asia Minor, he also gets to know the very varied tradition="
Levi, Peter. (1980) The Hill of Kronos.
Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου II / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume II, Ch. 3, p. 11 sq; cf. also p. 174sq; Mikis Theodorakis, Τα δικά μου Δεκεμβριανά / My December '44, 1944: Ο Μοιραίος Δεκέμβριος / The Fateful December, special supplement of newspaper 'Vima', Sunday, 5 December 2010, p. 54.
Theodorakis, op. cit., Ch. 4, p. 95 sq.
Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου III / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography: Read the complete, deeply moving Volume III ("The Nightmare")
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - About the Trio". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 30 July 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
George Giannaris: Mikis Theodorakis. Music and Social Change, p. 81
Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου IV / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume IV, p. 259 sq
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
George Giannaris, op. cit., p. 90 sq
"INVENTORY OF THE WILLIAM AND NOMA COPLEY FOUNDATION AND COLLECTION RECORDS, 1954-1980". Oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
George Giannaris, op. cit., p. 118 sq
Gail Holst. Mikis Theodorakis. Myth & Politics in Modern Greek Music, p. 74 sq
Mikis Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance, (Dictionary), p. 328
Gail Holst, op. cit., p. 78
cf. http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=34445
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - On "Axion Esti"". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
Stephen Wigler, Sun Music Critic (8 May 1994). "Theodorakis writes the music of history".
Mikis Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance, p. 71 sq
Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 169 sq
Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 263 sq
Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit, p. 280sq
The story of this rescue in French, cf. Guy Wagner: Mikis Theodorakis. Une vie pour la Grèce, p. 387 sq.; in German, cf. Guy Wagner: Mikis Theodorakis. Ein Leben für Griechenland, p. 420 sq
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - Manos Eleftheriou". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
François Mitterrand: Je peux me dire son ami (Preface to: Mikis Theodorakis: Les Fiancés de Pénélope
Gail Holst, op. cit, p. 206 sq
Gail Holst, op. cit, p. 271 sq
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - "I Gitonies tou Kosmou"". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - 1988-1996". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Mikis Theodorakis profile". Loizidis.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
Composer Mikis Theodorakis Awarded Korngold PrizeComposer Mikis Theodorakis Awarded Korngold Prize 1 July 2002 archived from http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=17497
"Art and Exhibition Hall - International Biennal For Film". .kah-bonn.de. 28 June 2002. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Mikis Theodorakis - The Home Page - 20.10.07: Lifetime Achievement Award". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 23 September 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-03-20". Hri.org. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Zorba composer Mikis Theodorakis in hospital with 'heart problem'". France24. 7 March 2019.
"Famed Greek Composer Theodorakis, Now Anti-SYRIZA, Hospitalized". The National Herald. 10 March 2019.
"'Zorba the Greek' composer: I'm anti-Semitic". Jpost.com. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
A. Makris (10 February 2011). "'Zorba' Composer Declares Himself an Anti-Semite".
"Zorba' composer declares himself an anti-Semite". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 9 February 2011. "Oddly, during the television interview he said that "I’m an anti-Semite but I love Jews.""
Robert S. Wistrich (1 June 2012). From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel. U of Nebraska Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-8032-4083-4.
Jonathan Rynhold (23 February 2015). The Arab-Israeli Conflict in American Political Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-107-09442-0.
Droumpouki, Anna Maria (2016). "Shaping Holocaust memory in Greece: memorials and their public history". National Identities. 18 (2): 199–216. doi:10.1080/14608944.2015.1027760.
"Greece: a news reviews from the embassy in Greece".
"Deutsche Welle". "Those statements horrified not only people in Israel. In a later apology, Theodorakis explained his position in a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Greece. What he had meant by "root of evil" was the "unfortunate policies" of the state of Israel and its ally, the US. Had he once described himself as "anti-Semitic," he had misspoken after a very long and tiring interview. "I love the Jewish people, I love the Jews!" said Theodorakis."
Congress, World Jewish (24 June 2013). "World Jewish Congress". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
A NATION AT WAR: PROTEST; Anti-Americanism in Greece Is Reinvigorated by War New York Times 7 April 2003
"Mikis Theodorakis - About the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 16-6-2013". Youtube. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
gravity.gr - interactive web. "Κίνηση Ανεξάρτητων Πολιτών - Επίσημη ιστοσελίδα". Mikis-theodorakis-kinisi-anexartiton-politon.gr. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
"Η ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΙΚΗ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΑΚΗ ΣΤΑ ΠΡΟΠΥΛΑΙΑ 31-5-2011". YouTube. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2012.

Theodorakis Discography at folkways.si.edu; accessed 7 December 2017.