A N G E L I Q U E M O U Y I S
M i k i s T h e o d o r a k i s :
F i n d i n g G r e e c e i n H i s M u s i c
This book interrogates the construction of modern Greek identity in Theodorakis’ music. After examining the composer’s musical and political life in connection with Greece’s modern history and culture, the author focuses on characteristic works of varying genres − from Axion Esti and The Song of the Dead Brother to Lysistrata – discussing Theodorakis’ unique re-interpretation of modern Greek identity through them, and concludes with the phenomenon of Zorba as the all-encompassing representation of the modern Greek.
In the words of Cornell University professor Gail Holst-Warhaft, this book “is an important contribution to the understanding of Theodorakis’ music, a subject which has been largely neglected by musicologists in his own country, and which deserves to be better known in all its brilliance and abundance by music lovers all over the world”.
F E A T U R E D R E V I E W S
“...Angelique Mouyis' oeuvre is an important addition to our understanding of his music.
And of course, a book about Mikis is also a voyage into modern Greek history and modern Greek culture..”
Nick Papandreou, author of Mikis and Manos: A Tale of Two Composers
"Angelique Mouyis has performed a valuable service to the composer and to serious lovers of Greek music by writing about the "other" Theodorakis, a man whose large and impressive body of work in many different genres deserves better recognition. Her study is an important contribution to the understanding of Theodorakis' music, a subject which has been largely neglected by musicologists in his own country, and which deserves to be better known in all its brilliance and abundance by music lovers all over the world"
Gail Holst-Warhaft, Cornell University
"A meditation on the perplexity of Greece, the oldest nation but the youngest state,
examined through the lenses of a polymechanous artist, a genuine Odysseus."
Dr. Maria Hnaraki, Ethnomusicologist and Director of Greek Studies, Drexel University
"As a South African of Greek descent, Angelique Mouyis finds herself drawn into the heart of modern Greek cultural identity, an identity that has been created, crafted and passionately theorized by Mikis Theodorakis. While she gives due credit to the composer's much loved Zorba the Greek music, Mouyis also pays homage to the composer's lesser known oeuvre, bred of an outstanding creative force immersed in Greek history, thinking and myth. Mouyis' book has the energy and resonance of Theodorakis' own project and also the rigour of modern musicology."
Mary Rorich, Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
