March of the Spirit & Oedipus Tyrant

POLYDOR 2383023 (1970)

Live recording at the Albert Hall in London. Theodorakis composed the March of the Spirit in the winter of ’69, in the mountainous Zatouna in Arcadia, exiled by the dictatorial regime. In his diary he describes the situation, when in a house arrest, he invites his guards to accompany him: It is snowing outside. I’m alone. The guards are freezing. I call them. It’s warm inside. I give them tsikoudia, walnuts and figs. They take off their greatcoats. I sit at the piano and compose. They look at me goggle-eyed. -Play it again … I take it again from the beginning and move on. I offer them tsikoudia. The snow covered the walnuts. I stop and write on paper. It is getting dark. -Won’t we go to the cafe? … We enter the cafe. -Yannis, I buy drinks for everybody. -What happened to you; Are you marrying anyone? Chronis tells me – I married my music to Sikelianos. -Help raise the sun, says the guard!

Oedipus Tyrant is an ode for String Orchestra, composed by Theodorakis in Paris between 1956 – 1958.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Aggelos Sikelianos

Maria Farantouri, Antonis Kalogiannis, Yannis Theocharis: singing
London Symphony Orchestra
New Opera London Choir
Male Miners’ Choir of Wales
Conducted by Mikis Theodorakis

March of the Spirit – poetry by Aggelos Sikelianos
I. As I threw the last torch – M. Farantouri
II. Giant Thoughts – Ant. Kalogiannis
III. And I said – G. Theocharis
IV. Come on, help! – M.Farantouri
V. Come on the creators – M.Farantouri
VI. The new Logos – Ant. Kalogiannis
VII. So, as I threw the last torch – M. Farantouri

Oedipus Tyrant

Other Release
POLYDOR 511058-2 (1994)

Theodorakis conducts Theodorakis Vo2

POLYDOR 2393025 (1971)

After their collaboration in the Cyclades Minor and Axion Esti, Theodorakis and Elytis continue with the Romancero Gitano. Odysseas Elytis proceeds to a free adaptation of the poetry of the Spaniard Lorca in Greek and Theodorakis’ setting to music was the last one shortly before the imposition of the dictatorship in Greece. Andreas’s Songs are written for Andreas Lentakis, a key member of Lambrakis Youth and PAM. A partition separates the cells of the two competitors who communicate with Morse code, hitting the wall. The music for the four poems from Mythistorima by George Seferis takes place in January 1968 in Averof Prison, where Theodorakis is being held. In her book about Theodorakis, G. Holst, referring to the song In my chest the wound opens again writes: And this is a song that fits especially in the excellent quality of Farantouri’s voice, who interprets the last verse so intensely that the paradoxical image of Seferis stays in our minds for a long time, after her voice has ceased to be heard.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Federico García Lorca / Odysseas Elytis, Mikis Theodorakis, George Seferis

Romancero Gitano – poetry by F. G. Lorca / Odysseus Elytis)
01. Antonito El Camborio I – M.Farantouri
02. La morte por el amor – M.Farantouri
03. Antonito El Camborio II – M.Farantouri
04. The gypsy nun – M.Farantouri
05. Soledad – M.Farantouri

Andreas’s songs – lyrics by Mikis Theodorakis
06. What you were – Ant. Kalogiannis
07. We are two – Ant. Kalogiannis
08. They lied to you – M. Farantouri / Ant. Kalogiannis
09. At noon – Ant. Kalogiannis

Mythistorima – poetry by Yorgos Seferis
10. Now that you will leave – M. Farantouri
11. The wound in my chest – M. Farantouri
12. Sleep has embraced you – M. Farantouri
13. A little further – M. Farantouri

Other Release
POLYDOR 527105-2 (1994)

Songs and Guitar Pieces by Theodorakis, John Williams - Maria Farantouri

CBS 72947 (1971)

Analyzing Romancero Gitano musically, Gail Holst, in her book about Theodorakis, writes, among other things: If one were looking for the song that would best suit Farantouri’s rich, erratic voice, this could not be other than Pantermi (Soledad).

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Federico García Lorca / Odysseas Elytis, Brendan Behan / Vassilis Rotas, Mikis Theodorakis, Manos
Eleftheriou

Maria Farantouri: voice
John Williams: classical guitar
Stephen Dodgson: transcription for voice and guitar

Romancero Gitano in poetry by F.G.Lorca
01. Of the Bitter one
02. Antonio Torres Heredia I
03. Antonio Torres Heredia II
04. Loss of love
05. The gypsy nun
06. Preciosa and the Wind
07. Soledad

Epitaph
08. Epitaph No 2
09. Epitaph No 3
10. Epitaph No 4
11. Epitaph No 5

12. The Smiling Boy
(Br.Behan / V.Rotas)
13. Sylva
(M. Theodorakis)
14. Men came
(M. Eleftheriou)

Other Releases
CBS 53688 (1972)
SONY SMK 62266 (1995)

Songs of Strife

POLYDOR 2393024 (1971)

The album includes songs and song cycles with a common theme: the sacrifice in the fight against the military junta in Greece. Theodorakis composes these songs from November 1969 until April 1970, in Vrachati – under house arrest, in Zatouna – in exile, then imprisoned in Oropos Camp and finally free in London, where the present recording is carried out. The Arcadia IV cycle consists of three Odes by Andreas Kalvos (1792-1869), inspired by the Greek Revolution (1821), and the connection with the struggle against the dictatorship is obvious.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Alekos Panagoulis, Mikis Theodorakis, Yeorgia Deligianni-Anastasiadis, Notis Pergialis, Manos
Eleftheriou, Andreas Kalvos

Mikis Theodorakis: piano, singing, arrangements
Maria Farantouri, Maria Dimitriadi, Lakis Karalis: singing
Andreas Michalakis: bouzouki
Carl Arnold, Rose Simpson, Lakis Karalis: guitar
Andy Preston: bass

Three songs in poetry by Aleko Panagouli
01. Greece today
02. To Nikiforos Mandilaras
03. The first deads

04. When you will knock at my door
(Mikis Theodorakis)
05. Lamentation
(Georgia Deligianni – Anastasiadis)
06. Do not forget Oropos
(Mikis Theodorakis)
07. For non-obedience to the instructions
(Mikis Theodorakis)
08. The valiant
(Notis Pergialis)

Bouboulinas Street in poetry by Manos Eleftherios
09. The letter
10. The court-yard
11. Who pursues my life
12. Close the window

Arcadia IV in poetry by Andreas Kalvos
13. The Volcanoes
14. To Samos
15. The wishes

Other Releases
MINOS 217 (1974)
MINOS 4803142 (1994)
POLYDOR 527501-2 (1996)

18 Little Songs of the Bitter Homeland

MINOS 193 (1973)

18 quatrains by Yannis Ritsos, 16 of them written on 16/9/1968 in Partheni of Leros, where the poet is in exile from the dictatorial regime, and after receiving a secret message from Theodorakis asking him to set to music unpublished poems of his. Next year, in Karlovassi of Samos, Ritsos writes two more and edits them all.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Yannis Ritsos

Singing: Maria Farantouri, Petros Pandis, Aphrodite Manou, Achilleas Kostoulis
Popular orchestra under the direction of Mikis Theodorakis:
Yannis Didilis: piano, santouri
Achilleas Kostoulis, Thanasis Sarelas: bouzouki
Nikos Moraitis, Nikos Maniatis: guitar
Υannis Petropoulakis: bass
Gérard Berlioz: drums

01. Rebaptism
02. Chat with a flower
03. Patience
04. People
05. Memorial
06. Dawn
07. It is not enough
08. Green day
09. Common liturgy
10. The water
11. Cyclamen
12. Lean girls
13. The white chapel
14. Tombstone
15. Here’s the light
16. The building
17. The devoted one
18. Do not cry for Romiosini

Other Releases
MINOS 4801902 (1994)
FM Records 1673

Arcadia 6-8

ΜΙΝΟΣ MSM 219 (1974)

Four songs written in the form of a flow-song which Theodorakis creates during his years of exile in Zatouna in mountainous Arcadia. Long poems, such as those included in this album and for which the couplet-refrain form is not offered are set to music by Theodorakis with an inner flow and development, following, in essence, the structure of the poem.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Manolis Anagnostakis, Mikis Theodorakis

Song: Maria Farantouri
Popular Orchestra under the direction of Mikis Theodorakis
Choir under the direction of Terpsichore Papastefanou

Arcadia 6
01. Thourion (Paean)
(M.Theodorakis)
02. To the Unknown Poet
(M.Theodorakis)

Arcadia 8
03. I speak
(M. Anagnostakis)
04. Haris 1944
(M. Anagnostakis)

The Greece of Mikis Theodorakis

POLYDOR 2310275 (1974)

Songs by Mikis Theodorakis with Maria Farantouri and a folk orchestra under the direction of the composer in poetry of his own or of Greek poets. Songs 9, 10 & 11 are sung by George Kapernaros.

01. Denial
(Yorgos Seferis)
02. Glory to God
(Iakovos Kampanellis)
03. My mother and Madonna
(Tassos Livaditis)
04. April
(Mikis Theodorakis)
05. Rosewater
(Nikos Gatsos)
06. Marina
(Odysseus Elytis)
07. Of the little North Wind
(Odysseus Elytis)
08. Sotiris Petroulas
(Mikis Theodorakis)
09. Margarita-Margaro – Y. Kapernaros
(Mikis Theodorakis)
10. Rock by rock – Y. Kapernaros
(Dimitris Christodoulou)
11. A boat on the shore – Y. Kapernaros
(Mikis Theodorakis)
12. It is getting dark
(Dimitris Christodoulou)

Canto General

MINOS 252/3 (1975)

Theodorakis composed Canto General in 1972 in France, when the ambassador of Chile in Paris is Pablo Neruda, who attends some of the rehearsals with his wife. In September 1973, the composer is touring in Latin America and plans to present the work at the Estadio Chile in Santiago but, while in Venezuela, he receives the news of the Pinochet military coup and the mass extermination at this pace which later will be renamed as Estadio Victor Jara. This album includes selected recordings from the four concerts at the Karaiskaki Stadium and the Panathinaikos Stadium of Athens -after the fall of the dictatorship- between 13 to 16/8/1975 – concerts attended by a total of 125,000 people.

Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Poetry: Pablo Neruda

Maria Farantouri, Petros Pandis: song
Manos Katrakis: speech
Alberto Newman, Dora Bakopoulou: piano
Evaggelos Asimakopoulos: classical guitar
Lisa Zoi: twelve-string guitar
Lakis Karnezis, Christos Konstantinou: bouzouki
Percussions de Strasbourg
Popular orchestra under the direction of Yannis Didilis
French National Choir under the direction of Jacques Grimbert

01. Algunas Bestias – M.Farantouri
02. Voy a vivir (1949) – P. Pandis
03. Los Libertadores – M.Farantouri
04. La United Fruit Co – P. Pandis
05. Vienen los Pájaros – Μ.Φαραντούρη
06. Vegetaciones – M.Farantouri
07. América Insurrecta 1800 – P.Pandis / M.Farantouri

Other Releases
RCA PFL 2-8072 (1975)
BMG / RCA ND 74883 (1991)

The Negro Songs

MINOS 261 (1975)

Manos Loizos composed music for The Negro Songs by Yannis Negrepontis in the beginning of 1967. In February he presented them in student concerts with Maria Farantouri and Yorgos Zografos and in April, shortly before the military coup, with Maria and Dionyssis Savvopoulos. The recording and release of the vinyl takes place after the fall of the dictatorship with the participation of Manolis Rassoulis in the song If you are white – I am black.

Music: Manos Loizos
Poetry: Yannis Negrepontis

Maria Farantouri: voice
Manolis Rassoulis: voice
Tasos Karakatsanis: piano
Costas Ganoselis: piano
Dave Grunstein: guitar, banjo
Costas Nikolopoulos: guitar, banjo
Toulis Magkafas: guitar, banjo
Yannis Zouganelis: tuba
Theofilos Kardamis: clarinet
Michalis Tripolitsiotis: bass
Takis Govostis: percussion
Tasos Diakogiorgis: drums
Kimon Vassilias: accordion
Manos Avarakis: ocarina
Tasos Poulimenos: flute
George Katsikakis: cello

01. The Negro painter
02. Old Negro Jim
03. What do they have to separate
04. Prayer
05. Joe during the war
06. Shame to you Negro-Big
07. For two dollars
08. Jane, the prostitute
09. Judge Byrd
10. And if you are white – I am black

Other Releases
MINOS 4800072 (1993)
MINOS 7243 538555 2 9 (2002)

The Absurd

NOTOS 3904 (1976)

A note by Manos Hadjidakis with his characteristically trenchant style: “The Absurd is a cycle of folk songs for silent and private listening. The theme of the songs is the immortal Greece throughout its glorious journey and for this requires from the listeners devotion, religiosity and if possible fasting – however this does not mean that The Absurd should be heard only on Good Friday. Needless to say, the involvement of so many national assets in the performance of the work makes the album genuinely patriotic without questioning its ethos and goals”.

Vocals: Maria Farantouri, Elias Liougkos, Mikis Theodorakis, Melina Mercouri, Dionysis Savvopoulos
Choir under the direction of Elli Nikolaidi
Orchestra under the direction of Manos Hadjidakis
Spyros Reggios: flute
Nikos Ginos: clarinet
Evaggelos Skouras: horn
Vassilis Tenidis: guitar
Yerasimos Pylarinos guitar
Pantelis Despotidis: lute
Dimitris Vraskos: mandolin, violin
Tassos Diakogiorgis: metallophone, vibraphone, santouri
Aliki Krithari: harp
Lefteris Psomiadis: piano
Yorgos Lavranos: percussion
Fita Valenti: cello
Andreas Rodousakis: double bass

01. Emergency entrance – Orchestra
02. The Nightmare of Persephone – M. Farantouri
03. In the mountains of Aetolia – Orchestra
04. The horse of Omer Vryonis – D. Savvopoulos / M. Mercouri
05. Magda – M. Farantouri
06. The dance of poets – Orchestra
07. The Lamb of God – M. Farantouri
08. Kountou Luna Vini – M. Farantouri / El. Liougkos
09. Spells of Sibylla – M.Farantouri
10. The knight and death – El. Liugos
11. The prayer of the Virgin – M. Mercouri
12. Helladography – M.Theodorakis & Choir

Other Releases
NOTOS 1101 (1990)
LYRA MN3904 (1998)