![]() Politicians such as Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat welcomed him. He used his global platform to denounce dictatorships of all colors and to promote the resistance against the military dictatorship in his homeland. His music had already been banned in June 1967, but the rebellious composer traveled around the world and gave more than 1,000 concerts. Only an international solidarity movement that included celebrities of music and film such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Miller and Harry Belafonte, allowed him to go into exile in France in 1970. After founding the leftist Patriotic Front party, he was again arrested, tortured and banished to a concentration camp. On Apthe military junta again took power in Greece and Theodorakis went underground. Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates dance the Sirtaki in the iconic sequence from "Zorba the Greek" Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN In creating a musical monument to his idol, he was clearly again inspired by Greek folklore. When Grigoris Lambrakis, the left-wing member of parliament he adored, was murdered in 1963, Theodorakis wrote the film music for the political thriller Z about the Greek military dictatorship. While in Greece his music fired the people's search for their own modern cultural identity, the composer continued the political struggle as a member of the Greek parliament. The soundtrack to the Hollywood epic Zorba the Greek and The Ballad of Mauthausen, a series of arias about the Holocaust written by Greek poet and Mauthausen concentration camp survivor Iakovos Kambanellis, finally brought Mikis Theodorakis world fame. Internationally successful, banned at home But he increasingly focused on the folk music traditions of his homeland, setting the socially critical texts of the poet Yannis Ristos, among many others, to the sounds of a folk instrument that was frowned upon at the time: the bouzouki. The Greek up-and-comer soon celebrated successes and won prizes as a classical composer. ![]() ![]() Read more: Coronavirus pandemic sparks house-hunting frenzy in Greece among foreigners He completed his studies in Athens and later in Paris - with distinction. He was tortured and was twice buried alive, being saved only by chance.Īfter his release from the Makronisos labor camp, Theodorakis was physically broken but his passion for music remained strong. The young Mikis dreamed of a career as a musician and enrolled as a student at the Athens Conservatory. But fate would soon derail his plans.ĭuring the occupation of Greece by German troops, Theodorakis fought in the resistance against the Nazis. During the Greek Civil War (1946-49), the budding composer was arrested several times as a communist opponent of the regime. Particularly fond of classical music, he wrote his first compositions at the age of 13, and gave his first concert at 17. Mikis Theodorakis was born on the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on July 29, 1925. Resistance fighter and cultural revolutionary Read more: Iconic Italian composer Ennio Morricone dies at 91 He has also composed numerous symphonies and operas, as well as chamber, ballet and film music. The accompanying dance, the Sirtaki, is regarded by many non-Greeks as the epitome of Greek folk dance, though the step sequence was invented especially for the film.īut Theodorakis has composed much more than traditional music, penning over 1000 songs, many based on the works of Greek poets, which have long become part of the folk heritage of his homeland. Many associate the name Mikis Theodorakis with the music from the triple Oscar-winning cult film Zorba the Greek, which made him a global star in the mid-1960s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |