A Lifetime's Work
Mikis Theodorakis has written more than 1000 songs and song-cycles, unforgettable melodies that have become part of the immortal 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", as for individual songs, "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"... as for song cycles.
He has composed:
Symphonic Works:
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 4 soloists, choir and orchestra; 1986-87: Symphony No. 4 ("Of Choirs") for soprano, mezzo, narrator, choir and symphonic orchestra without strings); 1996: Rhapsody for Guitar and Orchestra; 1996: Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra... and a lot of Chamber Music.
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 a cappella; 1982-83: "Lorca" for voice, solo guitar, choir and orchestra (based on "Romancero Gitan"), 1992: "Canto Olympico",
Ballets:
1953: "Greek Carnival", 1958: "Le Feu aux Poudres"; 1958: "Les Amants de Teruel"; 1959: "Antigone"; 1963: "Elektra", 1985: "Sept Danses Grecques" (chor.: Maurice Béjart), 1987-88: "Zorba",
Operas:
1984-85: "Kostas Karyotakis"; 1988-90: "Medea"; 1992-93: "Elektra"; 1995-96: "Antigone", 1999-2001: "Lysistrati".
Music for the stage:
Classic tragedies:
1979 "Ippies" (Aristophanes); 1986-88: "Orestie": "Agamemnon" - "Choephores" - "Eumenides" (Aeschylus); 1987: "Hekabe" (Euripides); 1990: "Antigone" (Sophocles); 1992: "Promithefs Desmotis" (Aeschylus); 2001: "Midea"(Euripides) - 1960-61: "To Tragoudi Tou Nekrou Adelfou" (Ballad of the Dead Brother), Musical Tragedy (Text: Mikis Theodorakis).
Modern plays:
1961-62: "Omorphi Poli" (Beautiful City), Revue (Bost, Christodoulou, Christofelis e.a.); 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); 1975: "Das Sauspiel", Tragicomedy (Martin Walser); 1978: "Polites B' Katigorias" (Second Class Citizens), Drama (Brian Friel); 1979: "Caligula", Drama (Albert Camus); 1980: "Perikles", Tragedy, (William Shakespeare); 1994: "Macbeth", Tragedy (William Shakespeare).
Film scores:
"Ill Met by Moonlight" (1960), "Honeymoon" (1960), "The Shadow of the Cat" (1961), "Five Miles to Midnight" (1961), "Elektra" (1962), "Phaedra" (1962), "Les Amants de Téruel" (1964), "Zorba the Greek" (1964); "Z" (1969), "Stage of Siege" (1972), "Serpico" (1973), "Iphigenia" (1977/78) and &The Man with the Carnation" (1980).
© Guy Wagner. List of works based on the researches of Asteris Kutulas
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