Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis (Μίκης

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", and many other songs.

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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".

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Symphonic works

• 1952: Piano Concerto "Helikon"
• 1953: Symphony No 1 ("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: D. Solomos; K. Kavafis; byzantine hymns) for soprano, choir, and orchestra
• 1983: Symphony No 7 ("Spring-Symphony"; texts: Yannis Ritsos; Yorgos Kulukis) for four soloists, choir, and orchestra
• 1986–87: 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

Chamber music

• 1942: Sonatina for piano
• 1945: Elegy No 1, for cello and piano
• 1945: Elegy No 2, for violin and piano
• 1946: To Kimitiro (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 (Galant Dances) for violoncello solo

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 Gitan")
• 1992: "Canto Olympico"

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 Sparembleck)
• 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

• 1984–85: "Kostas Karyotakis"
• 1988–90: "Medea"
• 1992–93: "Elektra"
• 1995–96: "Antigone"
• 1999–2001: "Lysistrata"

Music for the stage

Classical tragedies

• 1959–60: "Phinisses" (Euripides)
• 1960–61: "Ajax" (Sophocles)
• 1965: "Troades" (Euripides)
• 1966–67: "Lysistrata" (Aristophanes)
• 1977: "Iketides" (Aeschylus)
• 1979: "Ippies" (Aristophanes)
• 1986–88: "Oresteia": "Agamemnon", "Choephores", "Eumenides" (Aeschylus)
• 1987: "Ekavi" (Euripides)
• 1990: "Antigone" (Sophocles)
• 1992: "Prometheus Desmotis" (Aeschylus)
• 1996: "Oedipus Tyrannos" (Sophocles)
• 2001: "Medea" (Euripides)

Modern plays

• 1960–61: "To Tragoudi tou Nekrou Adelfou" ("Ballad of the Dead Brother"), Musical Tragedy (text: Mikis Theodorakis)
• 1961–62: "Omorphi Poli" ("Beautiful City"), revue (Bost, Christodoulou, Christofelis, et al.)
• 1963: "I Gitonia ton Angelon" ("The Quarter of Angels"), Music-drama (Iakovos Kabanellis)
• 1963: "Magiki Poli" ("Enchanted City"), revue (Theodorakis, Pergialis, Katsaros)
• 1971: "Antigoni stin Filaki" ("Antigone in Jail"), drama (Yannis Ritsos)
• 1974: "Prodomenos Laos" ("Betrayed People"), music for the theatre (Vangelis Goufas)
• 1975: "Echtros Laos" ("Enemy People"), drama (Iakovos Kabanellis)
• 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

• 1960: "Ill Met by Moonlight"
• 1960: "Honeymoon"
• 1960: "Faces in the Dark"
• 1961: "The Shadow of the Cat"
• 1961: "Phaedra"
• 1961–62: "Les Amants de Téruel"
• 1961–62: "Five Miles to Midnight"
• 1961–62: "Elektra"
• 1964: "Zorba the Greek"
• 1967: "The Day the Fish came out"
• 1969: "Z"
• 1972: "State of Siege"
• 1973: "Serpico"
• 1974: "The Rehearsal"
• 1976: "Actas de Marousia"
• 1977–78 "Iphigenia"
• 1980: "The Man with the Carnation"

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

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