Mikis Theodorakis
In the streets of Rethymnon, Crete, even the tourist couldn’t miss the news: local people, shop owners, vendors, deliverers, everybody spoke about it: Mikis Theodorakis passed away at the age of 96. One of the most emblematic figures in the modern history of Greece, the most important composer, is no longer alive, spreading unspeakable sadness, as people told me, when questioned.
Having lived an exceptional life in every way, he experienced persecutions, political and social struggles, prestige, love, exile, success, friendships, and other struggles, but also distinctions, recognition, and became a popular composer, even though much of his music is not easy to listen to.
« A symbol of social struggles, a political activist, a thinker of the Left, this man cannot die… », somebody said this morning.
Mikis Theodorakis, so we were told, « leaves behind much more than his diverse, majestic and famous music. He leaves us the example of his life. Beyond ideological differences and attitudes, Mikis bequeaths to us the example of (his) thirst for life. »
Be it Zorba the Greek, the Mauthausen Trilogy, the ballet Antigone his first choral-symphonic work Apocalypse, songs, quartets, several symphonies, his work is extensive and varied. Beyond national mourning in Greece he will be remembered as the greatest Greek composer. Remy Franck, Rethymnon, Crete
