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mikis theodorakis
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was
born on the island of Chios on 29 July 1925. During the occupation of
Greece (1941–44) by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops, he joined the
resistance. In 1943, when he was 18, Theodorakis was captured for the
first time and tortured. In the same year, he began his composition
studies at the Athens Conservatory. Following the withdrawal of German
troops, Theodorakis worked against Great Britain’s intervention in
Greece and joined the political Left during the civil war that followed
(1946–49). Arrested many times, he was exiled to the islands of Icaria
and Makronisos, where he was brutally tortured and nearly killed
several times.
In the 1950s, Theodorakis was able to complete his musical studies with distinction with Philoktitis Economidis in Athens and with Eugène Bigot and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. His symphonic works, ballets, and theater music were regularly performed in Paris, London, Athens, and Italy. He became known to a wider pub- lic through his film music (among others, Zorba, the Greek, Z, and Serpico).
From 1960 on, he focused for nearly 20 years on song composition; his works, based almost exclusively on texts by Greek poets, unleashed a cultural revolution in Greece during this period.
On 21 April 1967, a military coup led to the Regime of the Colonels. For four months, Theodorakis fought as the founder of the Patriotic Front in the under- ground against the junta. In August, he was captured, tortured, and placed under house arrest in the mountain village of Zatouna, and later moved to a concentration camp in Oropos. An international solidarity campaign, led by artists such as Dimitri Shostakovitch, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Miller, and Harry Belafonte lobbied for his release. Sent into exile in Paris in 1970, Theodorakis resumed his fight against the military junta with concert tours featuring his songs and oratorios. As a result, he became internationally recognized as a symbol of resistance against every kind of dictatorship. In 1974, following the fall of the junta, Theodorakis was active in Greek politics, and worked for the renewal of educational and cultural institutions, as well as for a reconciliation between Greece and Turkey.
From the end of the 1970s, he devoted himself with new intensity to the composition of symphonic works, also writing five operas between 1984 and 2000. His complete works include, in addition to his operas, some 1000 songs, as well as numerous cantatas, church music, chamber music, piano concertos, oratorios, and five symphonies.
In the 1950s, Theodorakis was able to complete his musical studies with distinction with Philoktitis Economidis in Athens and with Eugène Bigot and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. His symphonic works, ballets, and theater music were regularly performed in Paris, London, Athens, and Italy. He became known to a wider pub- lic through his film music (among others, Zorba, the Greek, Z, and Serpico).
From 1960 on, he focused for nearly 20 years on song composition; his works, based almost exclusively on texts by Greek poets, unleashed a cultural revolution in Greece during this period.
On 21 April 1967, a military coup led to the Regime of the Colonels. For four months, Theodorakis fought as the founder of the Patriotic Front in the under- ground against the junta. In August, he was captured, tortured, and placed under house arrest in the mountain village of Zatouna, and later moved to a concentration camp in Oropos. An international solidarity campaign, led by artists such as Dimitri Shostakovitch, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Miller, and Harry Belafonte lobbied for his release. Sent into exile in Paris in 1970, Theodorakis resumed his fight against the military junta with concert tours featuring his songs and oratorios. As a result, he became internationally recognized as a symbol of resistance against every kind of dictatorship. In 1974, following the fall of the junta, Theodorakis was active in Greek politics, and worked for the renewal of educational and cultural institutions, as well as for a reconciliation between Greece and Turkey.
From the end of the 1970s, he devoted himself with new intensity to the composition of symphonic works, also writing five operas between 1984 and 2000. His complete works include, in addition to his operas, some 1000 songs, as well as numerous cantatas, church music, chamber music, piano concertos, oratorios, and five symphonies.