Mikis Theodorakis
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (mixaˈil ˈmicis θeoðoˈracis; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He was a three-time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z. For the score in Serpico, he earned Grammy nominations.
Also recorded as Michael "Mikis" Theodorakis · Michael Theodorakis · Mikis Michel Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis

Heinrich Klaffs · originally posted to Flickr as Mikis Theodorakis Fabrik 070004 · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Birth Name
- Michail Theodorakis
- Born
- 29 July 1925
- Birthplace
- Chios, Greece
- Died
- 2 September 2021
- Place of death
- Athens, Greece
- Occupation
- * Composer
- Full name
- Μιχαήλ Θεοδωράκης.
- Nationality
- Greece.
- Fields
- film score, music, political activity and singing.
- Education
- Conservatoire de Paris and Athens Conservatoire.
- Teachers
- Olivier Messiaen, Eugène Bigot and Filoktitis Εkonomidis.
- Known for
- Zorba the Greek, Axion Esti, Mauthausen Trilogy, Pneumatiko Emvaterio and Canto General.
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Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (mixaˈil ˈmicis θeoðoˈracis; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He was a three-time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z. For the score in Serpico, he earned Grammy nominations.
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wikidata · Q151976 · wikipedia · Mikis Theodorakis
In this article
Biography
Biography
Furthermore, for the score to Zorba the Greek, with its song "Zorba's Dance", he was nominated for a Golden Globe. 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. Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this, however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party in 1989, for the country to emerge from the political crisis created by the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou. He 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 Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and fought against drugs and terrorism and in favor of culture and education. He continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.
Mikis Theodorakis studied at Conservatoire de Paris and Athens Conservatoire. Training under Olivier Messiaen, Eugène Bigot and Filoktitis Εkonomidis is recorded. The recorded working language is Greek and Modern Greek. The field of work recorded is film score, music and political activity. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera, symphony, laïko and éntekhno. Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Rachmaninoff are recorded as an influence. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris and Athens. Positions recorded include member of the Hellenic Parliament and Minister of State (Greece). Works named in the authority record are Zorba the Greek, Axion Esti, Mauthausen Trilogy, Pneumatiko Emvaterio and Canto General. Distinctions recorded are Commander of the Legion of Honour, grand officier de l'ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, Lenin Peace Prize and BAFTA Award for Best Original Music.

Porträt Mikis Theodorakis, Oktober 2004 -
Guy Wagner · http: original uploader: de:user:Gwagner1000 29 March 2005

Η εκδήλωση «Μίκης Θεοδωράκης: "Όμορφη Πόλη"» στο Μέγαρο Μουσικής Αθηνών.
StrangeTraveler
Key facts
Key facts
• Birth Name — Michail Theodorakis • Born — 29 July 1925 • Birthplace — Chios, Greece • Died — 2 September 2021 • Place of death — Athens, Greece • Resting Place — Galatas Cemetery, Chania, Crete • Occupation — * Composer • political activist • Children — 2, including Yorgos Theodorakis • Political Party — KKE • Other Party — New Democracy (1989–1993) • Website — https: www.mikistheodorakis.gr/
Early life
Early life
Theodorakis was born on the Greek island of Chios and spent his childhood years in provincial Greek cities including Mytilene, Cephallonia, Patras, Pyrgos, and Tripoli. His father, a lawyer and a civil servant, was from the small village of Galatas on Crete and his mother, Aspasia Poulakis, was from an ethnically Greek family in Çeşme, in what is now Turkey. He was raised with Greek folk music and was influenced by Byzantine liturgy; as a child he had already talked about becoming a composer. 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 and Pyrgos, where he was a childhood friend of George Pavlopoulos, and in Tripoli, Peloponnese, 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. He led a troop in the fight against the British and the Greek right in the Dekemvriana. During the Greek Civil War he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria and then deported to the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured and twice buried alive. 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. In 1950, he finished his studies and took his last two exams "with flying colours". He went to Crete, where he became the "head of the Chania Music School" and founded his first orchestra.
Studies in Paris
Studies in Paris
• Illustration — In Paris, 1957 In 1953, Theodorakis married Myrto Altinoglou. The following year, they travelled to Paris, where he entered the Conservatory and studied musical analysis under Olivier Messiaen and conducting under Eugene Bigot. 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. 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", 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 Honeymoon (aka Luna de Miel), directors: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, were successful: The Honeymoon Song, title song of the later, became part of the repertoire of The Beatles.
Back to Greek roots
Back to Greek roots
• Illustration — Mikis Theodorakis shortly after his return to Greece in 1961 In 1960, Theodorakis returned to Greece and his roots in Greek music. With his song cycle Epitaphios, he contributed to a cultural revolution in his country. His most significant and influential works are based on Greek and world poetry – Epiphania (Giorgos Seferis), Little Kyklades (Odysseas Elytis), Axion Esti (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 Athens Little Symphony Orchestra and gave many concerts in the country, trying to familiarize people with symphonic music. After the assassination of Gregoris Lambrakis in May 1963 he founded the Lambrakis Democratic Youth ("Lambrákides") and was elected its president. 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. 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. 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.
During the dictatorship
During the dictatorship
• Illustration — Mikis Theodorakis in 1972 On 21 April 1967 the Regime of the Colonels took power in a putsch. Theodorakis was a symbol of resistance to the military regime. He went into hiding, issued the first call for resistance against the dictatorship on 23 April. and founded the Pan-Hellenic Anti-Dictatorship 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, and jailed for five months. He was released at the end of January 1968, and then deported in August to Zatouna with his wife, Myrto, and their two children, Margarita and Yorgos Theodorakis. Later he was interned in the concentration camp of Oropos. 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' 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 with tuberculosis. His wife and children joined him a week later in France, having travelled from Greece via Italy on a boat. He would compose, alongside Pagani, the anthem of the French Socialist Party, in 1977.
Resistance in exile
Resistance in exile
• Illustration — Mikis Theodorakis at a concert in Caesarea, Israel, in the 1970s In 1971, Mikis Theodorakis was invited to Chile by then-president Salvador Allende. In Valparaíso, he listened to a group of young people who introduced him to part of the work of the poet Pablo Neruda. Theodorakis loved it and promised to give Chile his musical opinion on the Canto General. Back to Paris, in 1972 Theodorakis met Pablo Neruda when the Greek composer was rehearsing the musicalization of Canto General. Neruda was impressed and asked him to include poems such as "Lautaro" and "A Emiliano Zapata". He was received by Gamal Abdel Nasser and Tito, Yigal Allon and Yasser Arafat, while François Mitterrand, Olof Palme and Willy Brandt became his friends. For millions of people, Theodorakis was the symbol of resistance against the Greek dictatorship together with Melina Mercouri.
Return to Greece
Return to Greece
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. His return was in triumph, with huge crowds and his music playing on the radio. 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 (Greece)—which had grown out of the National Liberation Front—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) 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. He was committed to raising international awareness of human rights, environmental issues, and the need for peace. For this reason, he initiated, along with the Turkish author, musician, singer and filmmaker Zülfü Livaneli, the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society. • Illustration — Theodorakis on a visit in East Germany, May 1989 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). 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 Concert Hall (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. In March 1997, gave a concert at the Berlin Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Afterwards he was hospitalized due to respiratory difficulties and it was when he declared that this was his last concert. Theodorakis was Doctor honoris causa of several universities. • Illustration — Theodorakis holding hands with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, May 2010
Later life and death
Later life and death
He later lived in retirement, reading, writing, publishing arrangements of his scores, texts about culture and politics. On occasions he took 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 (cf also: Homepage of the Art and Exhibition Hall Bonn). In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the distribution of the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent. A final collection of songs titled Odysseia set poetry by Kostas Kartelias. In 2009 he composed a Rhapsody for Strings (mezzo-soprano or baritone ad lib.). Created on 30 January 2013, this was one of the largest works by any composer of any time. On 26 February 2019, Theodorakis was hospitalized with heart problems. On 8 March, he underwent surgery for a pacemaker. He died of cardiopulmonary arrest at his home in Athens on 2 September 2021, at the age of 96. The Greek Prime Minister declared three days of national mourning to honour him, and his body lay in state in the chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, with thousands of people, including artists, as well as political leaders from all Greek parties paying their last respects. Epitaphs were delivered by the president of the Hellenic Republic, Aikaterini Sakellaropoulou, and the general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitrios Koutsoumbas. Afterwards, according to his will, his body was transferred by boat overnight to be buried in his hometown of Galatas, near Chania, Crete, where his parents and brother Giannis Theodorakis were buried.
Israel and Jews
Israel and Jews
Theodorakis opposed Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. He criticised 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." Theodorakis was a vocal critic of Zionism, and referred to himself as an "anti-Zionist." 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 was accused of saying that "this small nation (Israel) is the root of evil". Theodorakis later clarified his comments, stating in a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Greece that what he had said was: "Unfortunately the state of Israel supports the United States and their foreign policy, which is the root of the Evil and, therefore, it is close to the root of the Evil." He was also accused of having admitted his anti-Semitism during an interview on Greek TV on 8 February 2011. His controversial statement on television had been: "I should clarify that I am anti-Semite. Essentially, I love the Jewish people, I love the Jews, I have lived long with them but as much as I hate anti-Semitism, I hate Zionism even more so", being "I am anti-Semite" an obvious slip of the tongue for "anti-Zionist". In 2013, he condemned Golden Dawn for Holocaust denial.
Views of the United States
Views of the United States
Theodorakis was a long-time critic of the United States foreign policy. 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. Theodorakis greatly opposed the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars. He participated in a charity concert protesting the bombing in 1999.
2010–2011: Non-political movement
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. On 31 May 2011, 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.
Positions on Macedonia
Positions on Macedonia
In 1997 Mikis Theodorakis stated on the Macedonian issue that "The name does not matter so much, as long as the peoples live in peace". Later, in an interview, he stressed "In fact, this country is being pushed towards improving relations with Greece. So why shouldn't it be possible for our relations to prosper at all levels and whatever comes up? The Customs Union, confederation, etc. are just conditions. In any case, I think that the name issue will be overcome when the relations between the two peoples reach such a point that the name will not matter at all". Theodorakis was one of the main speakers at the Rally for Macedonia in Athens, which took place on 4 February 2018. In his speech, he stated that "Macedonia is one, was, is and will always be Greek." The statements garnered support from parties in parliament, while even Golden Dawn MPs welcomed Mikis Theodorakis' shift on the name of Macedonia. Members of SYRIZA and Yiannis Boutaris commented negatively on Theodorakis' statements. Also, the day before the rally, a group of anarchists threw paint at the entrance of his house and then wrote threatening messages, such as: "Your story starts from the mountain and ends in the national swamp of Syntagma Square.
Works
Works
Source: 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).
Symphonic works
Symphonic works
• 1945: The Apocalypse (Ode to Beethoven) • 1947: Festival of Asi Gonia • 1952: Piano Concerto "Helikon" • 1953: First Symphony ("Proti Simfonia") • 1954–1959: 3 Orchestral Suites • 1958: Piano Concerto No 1 • 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 • 1995: Sinfonietta • 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 Source:
Chamber music
Chamber music
• 1942: Sonatina for piano • 1945: Elegy No 1, for cello and piano • 1945: Elegy No 2, for violin and piano • 1946: String Quartet No 1 • 1946: String Quartet No 2 "To Kimiterio" • 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
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) • 2009: tis dikaiosunis hlie nohte
Hymns
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" (A song for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics, later used again during the 2004 Summer Olympics)
Ballets
Ballets
• 1953: Carnaval (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
Operas
• 1984–1985: Kostas Karyotakis (The Metamorphosis of Dionysos) • 1988–1990: Medea • 1992–1993: Elektra • 1995–1996: Antigone • 1999–2001: Lysistrata
Classical tragedies
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
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
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)
Scores
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
Written works
Written works
Books in Greek by Theodorakis: • Το χρέος (The Debt), ed. Terradia tetradias tis Democracy 1970–1971. • Μουσική για τις μάζες (Music for the masses), ed. Olkos, 1972. • Στοιχεία για μια νέα πολιτική» (Elements for new politics), ed. Papazisis, 1972. • Δημοκρατική και συγκεντρωτική αριστερά (Democratic and centralized left), ed. Papazisis, 1972. • Οι μνηστήρες της Πηνελόπης (The suitors of Penelope), ed. Papazisis, 1976. • Περί Τέχνης (On Art), ed. Papazisis, 1976. • Η αλλαγή. Προβλήματα ενότητας της Αριστεράς (Change. Problems of Unity of the Left), 1978. • Μαχόμενη Κουλτούρα (Fighting Culture), 1982. • Για την ελληνική μουσική (For Greek Music), 1983. • Ανατομία της σύγχρονης μουσικής (Anatomy of Contemporary Music), ed. Synchroni Epochi, 1983. • Star System, ed. Kaktos, 1984. • Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου (The Roads of the Archangel), autobiography, ed. Cedros, 1986–1995. • Ζητείται Αριστερά (The Left is Wanted), ed. Sideris, 1989. • Αντιμανιφέστο (Antimanefesto), ed. Gnoseis. • Πού πάμε (Where are we going?), ed. Gνoseis, 1989. • Ανατομία της Μουσικής (Anatomy of Music), ed. Alpheios, 1990. • Να μαγευτώ και να μεθύσω (To be enchanted and drunk), ed. Livani, 2000. • Το μανιφέστο των Λαμπράκηδων (The Lambrakis Manifesto), ed. Helleniki Grammata, 2003. • The trilogy Πού να βρω την ψυχή μου... (Where to find my soul...), ed. Livani, 2003. • Μάνου Χατζηδάκι εγκώμιον (Praise of Manos Hadjidakis), ed. Janos, 2004. • Σπίθα για μια Ελλάδα ανεξάρτητη και δυνατή (Spark for an independent and strong Greece), ed. Janos, 2011. • Διάλογοι στο λυκόφως-90 συνεντεύξεις (Dialogues in the twilight-90 interviews), ed. Janos, 2016. • Μονόλογοι στο λυκαυγές (Monologues in the twilight), ed. Janos, 2017. • "The Dialectics of Harmony (Στη Διαλεκτική της Αρμονίας), co-authored with Kostas Gouliamos, Gutenberg, 1918
Poems
Poems
• Το τραγούδι του νεκρού αδελφού (The Song of the Dead Brother). • Ο Ήλιος και ο Χρόνος (The Sun and Time). • Αρκαδία Ι (Arcadia I). • Αρκαδία VI (Arcadia VI). • Αρκαδία X (Arcadia X). • Τραγούδι της γης (Song of the Earth) from Symphony No. 2.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Mikis Theodorakis was recorded at birth as Μιχαήλ Θεοδωράκης. The authorities additionally record the headings Michael "Mikis" Theodorakis, Michael Theodorakis and Mikis Michel Theodorakis. His recorded languages were Greek and Modern Greek. His recorded confession was Eastern Orthodoxy. He married Myrto Altinoglou. 2 children are recorded: Giorgos Theodorakis and Margarita Theodorakis. Work and production. Works recorded as notable number 5: Zorba the Greek, Axion Esti, Mauthausen Trilogy, Pneumatiko Emvaterio and Canto General. His recorded genres are opera, symphony, laïko, éntekhno and vocal music.
Career and activity
Career and activity
Mikis Theodorakis worked in film score, music, political activity and singing. Recorded positions include member of the Hellenic Parliament and Minister of State (Greece). He belonged to National Liberation Front, Academy of Arts of the GDR and Academy of Athens. He worked at Paris and Athens.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1970–2021
The full dated record · 3 entries
1970
Receives BAFTA Award for Best Original Music.
2013
Receives honorary member of the Athens Academy.
2021
Mikis Theodorakis died at Athens.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Chios.
Birth place
Athens.
Death place
Works documented in more than one form
Catalogued output
Works documented in more than one form
5 titles are catalogued under more than one form, which is to say the registers hold them both as a work and as a distinct object, score, recording or edition. Where a title is documented in several forms the evidence behind it is correspondingly wider, and the article treats those forms as separate records of the same work rather than as separate works.
Zorba the Greek
1964 — catalogued as film and album
Canto General
1980 — catalogued as musical work/composition and album
The Trojan Women
1971 — catalogued as film and theatrical production
Zorbas
1965 — catalogued as song and single
Axion Esti
1961 — catalogued as musical work/composition and album
Compositions, 1931–1999
Catalogued output
Compositions, 1931–1999
The entries below are works composed by the subject, as the institutional registers catalogue them; later performances and commercial recordings of the same music are listed separately. The 1960s are the densest part of the run, with 3 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. They belong to a run of 14 titles in all, from 1931 to 1999.
10 compositions carry dates between 1931 and 1999
The run opens with Denial and closes with Antigóni
Denial
1931
The Honeymoon Song
1959
Eimaste Dyo, Eimaste Treis, Eimaste Hilioi Dekatreis!
1968
The Slaughterhouse
1968
Un fiume amaro
1970
Beyond Tomorrow
1974
Périclès
1980
Antigóni
1999
Compositions without a settled date
Catalogued output
Compositions without a settled date
4 further compositions are catalogued under Theodorakis's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it.
Works, 1961–2005
Catalogued output
Works, 1961–2005
These are texts written by the subject, distinct both from writings about the subject and from printed editions of other people's work. 12 works carry dates between 1961 and 2005. They belong to a run of 104 titles in all, from 1961 to 2005.
The run opens with A hostage and closes with Le Dernier Seigneur des Balkans
A hostage
1961
Sirtaki
1964
A month in the country
1964
Manto Mavrogenous
1974
The Other Alexander
1977
Second class citizens
1978
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
1980
Macbeth
1994
Oedipus Tyrannus
1996
Medea
2001
Le Dernier Seigneur des Balkans
2005
Works without a settled date
Catalogued output
Works without a settled date
92 further works are catalogued under Theodorakis's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it. A selection is set out below and the complete run may be opened beneath it. Act II: IX. Antigone: "My Sun and beloved light,..". Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, AST 108 — 3 catalogued parts. J' ai le pouvoir d' exister sans destin. ‘De Gijzelaar’ van Brendan Behan — 4 catalogued parts. If Only I Had the Water of Life. Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra "Helikon": II. Antigone: Act I: II. Oedipus: "I who solved the famous riddle..". I arrived in Hades..". Draw Dros y Don. Act I: XIV. Creon: "Cease now your lamentations;..". Act I: XIII. Antigone: "With my hair exposed..". Karos Has Strange Dreams. Act II: III. Creon: "Yet I would have you know..". You Have Set, My Star. Act II: IV. Creon: "My son, have you come in rage..". Got Lost (In the Streets). Act I: V. Choir: "Their army is let loose!". Act I: XI. Coryphaeus: "Your sister's sons are no longer alive..". Act I: III. Oedipus: "O scheming gods,..". Act I: VII. Polynices: "The guards swiftly drew..". Act II: I. Creon: "How dared you dsobey the Law?".
Entre les lignes, entre les mots
Die Reise ohne Wiederkehr
Clever People and Grocers
Het laatste uur
Ode to Apollo
Act I: VIII. Jocasta: "Oh, my son, my dearest child.."
Dans les parages de son lit
End Title from Serpico
Andante ma non troppo
Act II: VI. Aemon: "O dearest one!
Act I: IV. Coryphaeus: "O Great King.."
De klokken van de hel
The complete catalogue · 54
Entre les lignes, entre les mots
Die Reise ohne Wiederkehr
Clever People and Grocers
Het laatste uur
Ode to Apollo
Act I: VIII. Jocasta: "Oh, my son, my dearest child.."
Dans les parages de son lit
End Title from Serpico
Andante ma non troppo
Act II: VI. Aemon: "O dearest one!
Act I: IV. Coryphaeus: "O Great King.."
De klokken van de hel
Act I: IX. Choir: "And see, Etocles comes here."
A Day in May
Je te l' ai dit pour les nuages
Aischylos "Die Wohlwollenden/Eumenides"
Euripedes " Die Phoinikerinnen/Phonecian Women"
Ode to Zeus
Alone in the Apartment
Antonio Torres Heredia II (Ο θάνατος του Αντώνιο Τόρες Χερέντια)
In the Fields
Act I: X. Choir: "Oh Athena, daughter of Zeus."
Adagio for Solo Flute, String Orchestra and Percussion
Karos Island Gets a Face Lift
Act II: II. Antigone: "Die I must, I knew that well."
Act II: VIII. Aemon: "Alone, withour friends.."
Als je terug zult komen
En sång om frihet
At the Window
Act I: XII. Choir: "On their dark path to Hades."
East of the Aegean
Karos, 1972 A.D. America Insurrecta (Ξεσηκωμένη Αμερική)
Act I: XV. Antigone: "Oh, no!
For I will not let go.."
De Mauthausen‐liederen: Hooglied (Asma Asmaton)
Act I: VI. Eteocles: "Your shouts do not help."
Act II: V. Chorus: "Love, invincible in battle"
Always Look for Trouble
If you seek joy from the sun
Act II: VII. Antigone: "Love, invincible in battle,.."
A mi partido (To My Party)
Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra "Helikon"
Elle va s' eveiller d' un reve noir et bleu
Ich hab' die Liebe geseh'n
Den 18 november
Computers and Bouzoukis
10 του Δεκέμβρη
Antonio Torres Heredia I (Ο Αντώνιο Τόρες Χερέντια στο δρόμο της Σεβίλιας)
Du bist so klein
Algunas Bestias (Μερικά ζωντανά)
"The Sonic Boom"
Act I: I. Oedipus: "May you be pure man."
Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra "Helikon": I. Allegro con fuoco
En dag i maj
Books and published writings
Catalogued output
Books and published writings
These are catalogued publications carrying the name — editions and printings, distinct from the works they contain and from writing about the subject. The 1970s are the densest part of the run, with 9 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself.
22 editions carry dates between 1960 and 2007
The run opens with Hēlios kai chronos and closes with Hellēnikotēta kai dianoēsē
The entries follow Open Library
Hēlios kai chronos
1960
To chreos
1971
Mousikē gia tis mazes
1972
Stoicheia gia mia nea politikē
1975
Axion esti: oratorio populaire
1975
Hoi mnēstēres tēs Pēnelopēs
1976
Dēmokratikē kai synkentrōtikē Aristera
1976
Peri technēs
1976
Hē monē diexodos
1977
The complete catalogue · 25
22 editions carry dates between 1960 and 2007
The run opens with Hēlios kai chronos and closes with Hellēnikotēta kai dianoēsē
The entries follow Open Library
Hēlios kai chronos
1960
To chreos
1971
Mousikē gia tis mazes
1972
Stoicheia gia mia nea politikē
1975
Axion esti: oratorio populaire
1975
Hoi mnēstēres tēs Pēnelopēs
1976
Dēmokratikē kai synkentrōtikē Aristera
1976
Peri technēs
1976
Hē monē diexodos
1977
Hē allagē
1978
Anatomia tēs mousikēs
1983
Liederbuch = Tragoudia
1983
Gia tēn Hellēnikē mousikē
1986
Meine Stellung in der Musikszene
1987
Hōla ta tragoudia
1987
Pou pame?
1989
Zēteitai aristera
1990
Pou na vrō tēn psychē mou
2003
I had three lives
2004
Mikēs Theodōrakēs
2005
Mikē Theodōrakē histories
2005
Hellēnikotēta kai dianoēsē
2007
Editions and issues
Primary material
Editions and issues
The discography assembled here is a record of how Theodorakis's music has been published, not of what Theodorakis composed. 47 sound issues are catalogued, carrying dates from 1971 to 2017. An issue is a published recording, distinct from the composition it carries, from a printed score of that composition and from any single performance of it; none of the entries below is counted in the catalogue of works above, and several of them carry the same work in different readings. The 1990s are the densest decade of publication, with 15 issues. The performers and issuing labels are as the discographic register states them; where it names no performer the article names none.
18 λιανοτράγουδα της πικρής πατρίδας, dated 1973. Φως: Το Επίσημο Άλμπουμ Των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων Αθήνα 2004
2004
Requiem
1999
Electre (Ηλέκτρα O.S.T.)
1988
Resistance
2005
Arja Saijonmaa & Mikis Theodorakis
1972
Litany
1997
Romancero Gitano
1978
Mauthausen Trilogy, dated 2000. Το μονόγραμμα του Οδυσσέα Ελύτη με φόντο το Adagio του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη
1999
Oracle
1995
Mikis Theodorakis & traditional songs, dated 2001. Οκτώβρης '78, dated 1978. Αρκαδία II & III
1976
I Veatriki Stin Odo Miden
1994
The Greek Sound
1976
Iphigenia, dated 1996. Μίκης Θεοδωράκης 4, dated 1974. Ιππείς Του Αριστοφάνη - 20 Λαϊκά Χορικά
2010
Songs Of Freedom
1974
3η Συμφωνία
2003
Symphony Nº 7
1994
Les bouzoukis de Mikis Theodorakis
1988
Opera in Two Acts
2006
Litany II
2002
Canto Olympico
1996
From Athens to Ibiza
2015
Café De L'Art Volume III
2002
Güneş Topla Benim İçin
1985
Paijaa mua
1993
Antigone
2000
Poetica
1996
Mikis Theodorakis - Spring Symphony No.7 »Εαρινη«
1984
1 / Adagio
1997
4 of the Choral Odes
1998
Olympia
2002
Symphonic Works I Carnaval Ballet Suite / Συμφωνικη Μουσική Ι Ελληνική Αποκριά Σουίτα Μπαλέτου
2007
Principal film scores
Principal film scores
Source: • 1952–53: Eva (Director: Maria Plyta) • 1953: The Barefoot Battalion (Director: Gregg G. Tallas) • 1953: The Golgotha of an Orphan (Director: Dimis Dadiras, Spiros Nikolaidis) • 1957: Ill Met by Moonlight (Director: Michael Powell) • 1960: Honeymoon (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 Moosmann) • 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)
Films and moving-image works
Catalogued output
Films and moving-image works
These entries are catalogued as moving-image works.
36 films carry dates between 1953 and 2022
The run opens with Eva and closes with Recycling Medea
Eva
1953
Barefoot Battalion
1954
Ill Met by Moonlight
1957
Faces in the Dark
1960
A Neighborhood Named 'The Dream'
1961
Shadow of the Cat
1961
Five Miles to Midnight
1962
Electra
1962
Phaedra
1962
The Lovers of Teruel
1962
The complete catalogue · 36
36 films carry dates between 1953 and 2022
The run opens with Eva and closes with Recycling Medea
Eva
1953
Barefoot Battalion
1954
Ill Met by Moonlight
1957
Faces in the Dark
1960
A Neighborhood Named 'The Dream'
1961
Shadow of the Cat
1961
Five Miles to Midnight
1962
Electra
1962
Phaedra
1962
The Lovers of Teruel
1962
The Roundup
1965
Von Griechenland
1965
They're a Weird Mob
1966
A Bullet Through the Heart
1966
The Day the Fish Came Out
1967
The Sea Gull
1968
Punisher
1969
Biribi
1971
State of Siege
1972
The Battle of Sutjeska
1973
Serpico
1973
A Bunch Of Violets
1973
The Story of Jacob and Joseph
1974
The Rehearsal
1974
The Secret Carrier
1975
Murder Makarios!
1975
Letters from Marusia
1976
Iphigenia
1977
The Man with the Carnation
1980
Les Clowns de Dieu
1986
Mist
1988
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
2002
Dance Fight Love Die
2018
Recycling Medea
2022
Legacy
In 2025, the Greek government declared 2025 the “Year of Mikis Theodorakis” to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. As part of this, ERTFLIX International launched a tribute with concerts abroad and archives of interviews and rare performances becoming more accessible. Also in 2025, his childhood home in Galatas, Chania, Crete was officially made a modern monument. The house and adjacent donated properties will be restored with joint funding to become a cultural centre for exhibitions and research. In September 2025, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) held cross-border centenary concerts titled “Bir Asır Theodorakis”, (Theodorakis for a century) first on Chios and then at İzmir’s Bostanlı Democracy Square. The İzmir concert drew a large audience, where TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan and KKE Political Bureau member Nikos Sofianos emphasized Theodorakis’ role as both a patriot and an internationalist. Sofianos highlighted that his music and political life were inseparable, rooted in his early membership in the KKE and lifelong communist identity, while also carrying a message of solidarity across peoples. He noted that Theodorakis’ works, inspired by poets such as Yannis Ritsos, Pablo Neruda, and Nâzım Hikmet, continue to inspire struggles against imperialism and for social justice. Okuyan, in turn, placed Theodorakis among a global tradition of communist artists like Dmitri Shostakovich, Víctor Jara, and Paul Robeson, arguing that his absence would leave a void in twentieth-century culture. The event concluded with Turkish and Greek musicians performing his songs together, including a bilingual rendition of “We Will Not Die Fighting” (Dövüşmeden Ölmeyiz).
Internationally available CD releases
Internationally available CD releases
• Mikis Theodorakis & Zülfü Livaneli — Together (Tropical), 1997. • Mikis Theodorakis — First Symphony & Adagio (Wergo/Schott) • Mikis Theodorakis — Mikis (Peregrina) • Mikis Theodorakis — Symphony No. 4 (Wergo/Schott) • 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) Source: • Maria Farantouri — Poetica (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina) • Maria Farantouri — Asmata (Songs by Theodorakis) (Peregrina) • Irene Papas — Songs of Theodorakis (RCA Records, 1968)
Issued recordings
Primary material
Issued recordings
These are published sound issues catalogued under the name. Most postdate the works they carry, and an issue is never counted here as a work of composition. 8 issues carry dates between 1966 and 2007.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Mikis Theodorakis”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q151976: Mikis Theodorakis
Unverified · Wikidata
Awards and decorations
Awards and decorations
• Lenin Peace Prize, USSR (1983). • Order of the Phoenix, Greece (1995). • Officer of the Legion of Honour, France (1996). • Doctor honoris causa of the University of Athens (1996). • Doctor honoris causa Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2000). • "Erich Korngold" prize, Germany (2002). • Honorary citizen of Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro (2004). • 2005 International Music Prize, UNESCO International Music Council (2005). • Legion of Honour, France (2007). • Honorary member of the Academy of Athens (2013). • Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, Greece (2021). • A picture of Theodorakis was included in the "In Memoriam" segment of the 94th Academy Awards Ceremony. • Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. • A major road in Thessaloniki, Greece, was renamed to Mikis Theodorakis Avenue in 2025.
Honours and awards
Where the work is held
Honours and awards
They run from 1970 to 2013. Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. List of orders, decorations, and medals of Serbia.
13 honours stand against the name
Lenin Komsomol Prize. Honorary doctor of Tel Aviv University. Honorary doctorate of Salzburg University. Honorary doctor of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Order of Friendship. Honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal. Honorary doctor of Istanbul University
Order of Honour
Order of the Phoenix
BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, dated 1970. Honorary member of the Athens Academy
2013
Authority records
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.John Chrysochoos, Ph.D. Ikaria – Paradise in Peril. Dorrance Publishing. 24. 17 November 2010. 978-1-4349-8240-7.
- 2.The Rosen Publishing Group. Greece: A Primary Source Cultural Guide. 86. 1 August 2004. 978-0-8239-3999-2.
- 3.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
- 4.Mike Gerrard. National Geographic Traveler: Greece, 3rd Edition. National Geographic Society. 47–. 3 March 2009. 978-1-4262-0396-1.
- 5.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.
- 6.BAFTA - Mikis Theodorakis. 13 September 2021.
- 7.Mikis Theodorakis. Grammy.com.
- 8.Mikis Theodorakis. Goldenglobes.com.
- 9.Αφιέρωμα στη Μπαλάντα του Μάουτχάουζεν του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη και του Ιάκωβου Καμπανέλλη Το ωραιότερο μουσικό έργο για το Ολοκαύτωμα που γράφτηκε ποτέ. Lifo.gr. 2 February 2015.
- 10.Dimitris Keridis. Historical Dictionary of Modern Greece. Scarecrow Press. 150–. 28 July 2009. 978-0-8108-5998-2.
- 11.Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Moscow: Sovetskaya Enciklopediya. 1983
- 12.Theodorakis: / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume V, p. 331 sq
- 13.Official Website. En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 27 July 2004.
- 14.Official Website. En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 15 September 2005.
- 15.Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance
- 16.Γιωργος ΑρΧιμανδριτης. Σε πρωτο προσωπο: Μικης Θεοδωρακης. Ελληνικα Γραμματα. 2007. 978-960-442-911-0.
- 17.Mikis Theodorakis. Μελοποιημενη ποιηση. Υψιλον/Βιβλια. 1997.
- 18.Πανεπιστημιακες Εκδοσεις Κρητης. Συμπαντικε αρμονια, μουσικη και επιστημη: στον Μικη Θεοδωρακη. 2007. 978-960-524-253-4.
- 19.George Giannaris. Mikis Theodorakis: music and social change. Praeger. 1972.
- 20.New York Times & Arno Press. The New York Times Biographical Service. April 1970.
- 21.Bernard A. Cook. Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 939–. 2001. 978-0-203-80174-1.
- 22.C. Mackenzie. The Gramophone. 2005.
- 23.Hellenic College Press. Journal of Modern Hellenism. 2001.
- 24.Mikis Theodorakis. Journals of resistance. Hart-Davis McGibbon. 1973. 978-0-246-10597-4.
- 25.Theodorakis: Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου Ι / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume I, p. 72 sq.
- 26.Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 82 sq.
- 27.Levi, Peter. (1980) The Hill of Kronos.
- 28.Theodorakis, op. cit., Chapter II, p. 95 sq.
- 29.Theodorakis: / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume II, Ch. 3, p. 11 sq; cf. also p. 174sq; Mikis Theodorakis, / My December '44, 1944: / The Fateful December, special supplement of newspaper 'Vima', Sunday, 5 December 2010, p. 54.
- 30.Theodorakis, op. cit., Ch. 4, p. 95 sq.
- 31.Theodorakis: / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography: Read the complete, deeply moving Volume III ("The Nightmare")
- 32.Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – About the Trio. En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 30 July 2004.
- 33.George Giannaris: Mikis Theodorakis. Music and Social Change, p. 81
- 34.Theodorakis: / The Ways of the Archangel, Autobiography, Volume IV, p. 259 sq
- 35.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
- 36.George Giannaris, op. cit., p. 90 sq
- 37.Inventory of the William and Noma Copley Foundation and Collection Records, 1954–1980. Oac.cdlib.org.
- 38.The Honeymoon Song. The Beatles Bible. 16 March 2008.
- 39.George Giannaris, op. cit., p. 118 sq
- 40.Mikis Theodorakis: Music, politics, passion. Greek News Agenda. 29 July 2019.
- 41.Λάδης, Φώντας (2005). Μίκης Θεοδωράκης το χρονικό μιας επανάστασης 1960–1967. Αθήνα. σελ. 20–250.
- 42.Gail Holst. Mikis Theodorakis. Myth & Politics in Modern Greek Music, p. 74 sq
- 43.Mikis Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance, (Dictionary), p. 328
- 44.Gail Holst, op. cit., p. 78
- 45.Mikis Theodorakis: Greek Patriot, Renowned Composer Dead at 96. Greek Reporter. 2 September 2021.
- 46.Trousas, Fondas. Ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης τις ημέρες του Πολυτεχνείου: το παράδοξο της απαγόρευσης των τραγουδιών, αλλά όχι του βιβλίου του. Lifo. 16 November 2018.
- 47.Mikis Theodorakis: Journal of Resistance, p. 71 sq
- 48.Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 169 sq
- 49.Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 263 sq
- 50.Mikis Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 280 sq
- 51.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
- 52.Ina.fr, Institut National de l'Audiovisuel-. 1977 : Mikis Theodorakis présente l'hymne du PS, "Changer la vie" – Archives vidéo et radio Ina.fr. Ina.fr.
- 53.Gaffney, J. Political Leadership in France: From Charles de Gaulle to Nicolas Sarkozy. Springer. 9 April 2010. 978-0-230-27478-5.
- 54.La fascinante historia de la amistad entre Mikis Theodorakis y Pablo Neruda que llevó al compositor griego a musicalizar el poemario "Canto General". BBC in Spanish. 2 September 2021.
- 55.Gail Holst, op. cit., p. 206 sq
- 56.François Mitterrand: Je peux me dire son ami (Preface to: Mikis Theodorakis: Les Fiancés de Pénélope)
- 57.D. McFadden, Robert. Mikis Theodorakis, 'Zorba' Composer and Marxist Rebel, Dies at 96. The New York Times. 2 September 2021.
- 58.Gail Holst, op. cit., p. 271 sq
- 59.Theodorakis Expresses Joy on Return to Athens. The New York Times. 26 July 1974.
- 60.Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – "I Gitonies tou Kosmou". En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 24 August 2004.
- 61.Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – 1988-1996. En.mikis-theodorakis.net.
- 62.Mikis Theodorakis profile. Loizidis.com.
- 63.McFadden, Robert D. Mikis Theodorakis, Greek Composer and Marxist Rebel, Dies at 96. The New York Times. A20. 3 September 2021. 0362-4331.
- 64.Kutulas, Asteris. Mikis Theodorakis, without a partner in dialogue. Neos Kosmos. 3 September 2021.
- 65.Mikis Theodorakis: Greece's poet of freedom. Deutsche Welle. 2 September 2021.
- 66.Jonathan, Stéphane C. Mikis Theodorakis, figure des arts et de la politique en Grèce, est mort. Sud Ouest. 9 February 2021.
- 67.classical music – andante – news. 11 January 2003.
- 68.Art and Exhibition Hall – International Biennal For Film. 2.kah-bonn.de. 28 June 2002.
- 69.Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – 20.10.07: Lifetime Achievement Award. En.mikis-theodorakis.net. 23 September 2007.
- 70.Athens News Agency: News in English, 07–03–20. Hri.org.
- 71.Zorba composer Mikis Theodorakis in hospital with 'heart problem'. France24.com. 7 March 2019.
- 72.The National Herald. Famed Greek Composer Theodorakis, Now Anti-SYRIZA, Hospitalized. 10 March 2019.
- 73.BBC News. Mikis Theodorakis, composer of Zorba the Greek, dies aged 96. 2 September 2021.
- 74.Nation mourns a great Greek. Ekathimerini.com. 3 September 2021.
- 75.Theodorakis' remains depart Piraeus for Crete. Ekathimerini.com. 8 September 2021.
- 76.100 Years of Mikis Theodorakis Tribute on ERTFLIX International. Hellenic News of America. 28 July 2025.
- 77.Greece declares Mikis Theodorakis' childhood home a monument. Kathimerini. 29 July 2025.
- 78.Crete residence of famed Greek composer Theodorakis gains monument status. GTP Headlines. 30 July 2025.
- 79.Halkların ezgileri Ege'nin iki yakasında yankılandı: TKP ve YKP 100. yaş gününde Theodorakis'i andı. soL Haber. 21 September 2025.
- 80.'Zorba the Greek' composer: I'm anti-Semitic. Jpost.com. 15 February 2011.
- 81.A. Makris. 'Zorba' Composer Declares Himself an Anti-Semite. Greece.greekreporter.com. 10 February 2011.
- 82.Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Zorba' composer declares himself an anti-Semite. 9 February 2011.
- 83.Robert S. Wistrich. From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel. University of Nebraska Press. 16. 1 June 2012. 978-0-8032-4083-4.
- 84.Jonathan Rynhold. The Arab-Israeli Conflict in American Political Culture. Cambridge University Press. 26. 23 February 2015. 978-1-107-09442-0.
- 85.Droumpouki, Anna Maria. Shaping Holocaust memory in Greece: memorials and their public history. National Identities. 18. 2. 199–216. 2016. 10.1080/14608944.2015.1027760.
- 86.Mikis Theodorakis' response to Central Jewish Council of Greece. Newpost. 10 May 2011.
- 87.World Jewish Congress. Worldjewishcongress.org. 24 June 2013.
- 88.A Nation at War: Protest; Anti-Americanism in Greece Is Reinvigorated by War , The New York Times, 7 April 2003
- 89.YouTube. Mikis Theodorakis – About the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 16-6-2013. 16 June 2013.
- 90.gravity.gr – interactive web. Κίνηση Ανεξάρτητων Πολιτών – Επίσημη ιστοσελίδα. Mikis-theodorakis-kinisi-anexartiton-politon.gr.
- 91.YouTube. Η ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΙΚΗ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΑΚΗ ΣΤΑ ΠΡΟΠΥΛΑΙΑ 31-5-2011. 31 May 2011.
- 92.Demetis, Christos. Όταν ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης έδινε συναυλία φιλίας στα Σκόπια. News247.gr. 5 February 2018.
- 93.Proto Thema. Μίκης: Δεν θα δώσουμε ποτέ το όνομα Μακεδονία – Μας κυβερνούν εθνομηδενιστές. 4 February 2018.
- 94.Huffington Post. «Ομιλία Μίκη Θεοδωράκη: Μας κυβερνούν εθνομηδενιστές. Με κανέναν τρόπο ο όρος Μακεδονία στο νέο όνομα της ΠΓΔΜ». 4 February 2018.
- 95.Kathimerini. Επίθεση με μπογιές και συνθήματα στο σπίτι του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη. 3 February 2018.
- 96.Mikis Theodorakis. Schott Music. 29 July 1925.
- 97.Theodorakis Discography at folkways.si.edu; accessed 7 December 2017.
- 98.Soundtracks. Official site.
- 99.Mikis Theodorakis discography in Allmusic. Allmusic.
- 100.Recycling Medea (Special screening) – by Asteris Kutulas. Thegreekfilmfestivalinberlin.com.
- 101.WorldCat. Together! : Mikis Theodorakis & Zülfü Livaneli in concert. 872505711.
- 102.Mikis Theodorakis discography. Discogs.com.
- 103.Ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης με δικά του λόγια. Kathimerini. 2 September 2021.
- 104.Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Moscow: Sovetskaya Enciklopediya. 1983.
- 105.Почасни грађани Града Новог Сада. skupstina.novisad.rs.
- 106.Znate li ko su počasni građani Novog Sada?. 021.rs. 19 May 2022.
- 107.Παρασημοφορήσεις από την ΠτΔ - Στον Μ. Θεοδωράκη ο Μεγαλόσταυρος του Τάγματος της Τιμής. Naftemporiki.gr. 23 July 2021.
- 108.Τα Oscars 2022 τίμησαν τη μνήμη του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη. Athensvoice.gr. 28 March 2022.
- 109.Παυλού, Σμαρώ. Μετονομάστηκε η οδός Λαγκαδά σε λεωφόρο Μίκη Θεοδωράκη. ertnews.gr. 5 January 2025.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 10
- 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), 5–31: 10
- George Giannaris: Mikis Theodorakis. Music and Social Change, Foreword by Mikis Theodorakis. G. Allen, London, 1972
- Gail Holst: Myth & Politics in Modern Greek Music, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1980
- Mikis Theodorakis: Journals of Resistance. Translated from the French by Graham Webb, Hart-Davis MacGibbon, London, 1973
- Mikis Theodorakis: Music and Theater, Translated by George Giannaris, Athens, 1983
- Asteris Koutoulas: O Mousikos Theodorakis / Theodorakis the Musician (in Greek). "Nea Synora – A. A. Livami, 1998.
- Guy Wagner: Mikis Theodorakis. Mia Zoi yia tin Ellada. Typothito – Giorgos Dardanos, 2002. (The biography exists also in French: Mikis Theodorakis. Une Vie pour la Grèce. Editions Phi, Luxembourg, 2000; and in German: Mikis Theodorakis. Ein Leben für Griechenland. Editions Phi, Luxembourg, 1995)
- George Logothetis: Mikis Theodorakis: the Greek soul, translated from the Greek by Phillipos Chatzopoulos, Agyra editions 2004, . The Chinese version has been published by Shanghai Baijia Publishing House in 2008, .
- Asteris Kutulas: Mikis Theodorakis. A Life in pictures (in German), Coffee-table book with 1 DVD & 2 CDs. Schott Music, Mainz 2010,
- Arja Saijonmaa: En ung naken kvinna : mötet med Mikis (A young naked woman – the meeting with Mikis), (bound) Stockholm : Piratförlaget, 2011 Swedish 443 pages, [16] picture pages + 1 CD with four songs by Mikis Theodorakis.
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Mikis Theodorakis studied at Conservatoire de Paris and Athens Conservatoire. He trained under Olivier Messiaen, Eugène Bigot and Filoktitis Εkonomidis. His recorded influences include Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
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