Manos Hatzidakis Μάνος Χατζιδάκις | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Emmanouil Hatzidakis (1925-10-23)23 October 1925 Xanthi, Greece |
| Died | 15 June 1994(1994-06-15) (aged 68) Athens, Greece |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1944–1994 |
| Website | hadjidakis |
Manos Hatzidakis (also spelledHadjidakis;Greek:Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely regarded as one of the greatest Greek composers of all time.[1] He was one of the main proponents of the "éntekhno" form of music, along withMikis Theodorakis, and he is credited as the founder of theOrchestra of Colours, an ensemble performing lesser-known works and the music of Greek composers, and influenced a broad swathe of Greek culture through his writings and radio broadcasts. With his theoretical and compositional work, he is considered to be the first to connectpost-war the worded music with traditional music.[2]
In 1960, Hatzidakis won anAcademy Award for Best Original Song for "Never on Sunday" from the filmNever on Sunday, but he refused the award because he felt that Athens was misrepresented in the film.[3]
Emmanouil Hatzidakis (Greek:Εμμανουήλ Χατζηδάκης) was born on 23 October 1925 inXanthi, Greece, to lawyer Georgios Hatzidakis, who came from the village of Myrthios,Agios Vasileios, in theRethymno prefecture inCrete; and Aliki Arvanitidou, who came fromAdrianoupolis.[4] The family prospered from sales oftobacco grown locally, but the boy's father died in 1931 and his mother took him to live in Athens in comparative poverty.[5]
Hatzidakis studied music theory with Menelaos Pallandios, in the period 1940–1943. At the same time, he studied philosophy at theUniversity of Athens. However, he never completed this course.[1] He met and connected with other musicians, writers, and intellectuals includingGeorge Seferis,Odysseas Elytis,Angelos Sikelianos,Yannis Tsarouchis and especially the poetNikos Gatsos who became a close friend.[5] During the last stages of theAxis occupation of Greece, Hatzidakis was an active participant in theGreek Resistance through membership of theUnited Panhellenic Organization of Youth (EPON), the youth branch of the major resistance organisationEAM, where he metMikis Theodorakis with whom he soon developed a strong friendship.
Hatzidakis's first composition was the tune for the song "Paper Moon" ("Χάρτινο το Φεγγαράκι"), fromTennessee Williams'A Streetcar Named Desire staged byKarolos Koun's Art Theatre of Athens. His first piano piece, "For a Little White Seashell" ("Για μια Μικρή Λευκή Αχιβάδα"), came out in 1947, and in 1948 he set a collection of Gatsos poetry to music:Blood Wedding.[6] In 1949, Hatzidakis shook the musical establishment by delivering an influential lecture onrembetika, the urban folk songs that flourished in Greek cities, mainlyPiraeus, after theAsia Minor refugee influx in 1922.[5] Hatzidakis focused on the economy of expression, the deep traditional roots and the genuineness of emotion displayed in rembetika, and exalted the likes of composers likeMarkos Vamvakaris andVassilis Tsitsanis. Putting theory to practice, he adapted classic rembetika in his 1951 piano work,Six Popular Pictures (Έξι Λαϊκές Ζωγραφιές), which was later also presented as a folk ballet. Also in 1949 he co-founded the Greek Dance Theatre Company with the choreographerRallou Manou.[7]
At this point he began writing immensely popular songs and movie soundtracks alongside more serious works, such as 1954'sThe C.N.S. Cycle (O Kyklos tou C.N.S.), a song cycle for piano and voice. In 1955 he wrote the score forMichael Cacoyannis' filmStella, with actressMelina Mercouri singing the movie's trademark song "Love that became a double-edged knife" ("Αγάπη που 'γινες δίκοπο μαχαίρι").
He composed the score for the 1955 film Laterna, ftoxia kai filotimo "Λατέρνα, φτώχεια και φιλότιμο"
In 1958, Hatzidakis metNana Mouskouri, his first "ideal interpreter". It was 1960 that brought him international success, as his song "Never on Sunday" ("Τα παιδιά του Πειραιά"), fromJules Dassin's filmNever on Sunday (Ποτέ την Κυριακή), won him anAcademy Award and became a worldwide hit. Hatzidakis did not attend the Academy Award ceremony in 1961, and refused to collect his award. He said that the filmNever on Sunday with a prostitute as its protagonist reflected negatively on Athens.[3]
In 1962, Hatzidakis founded a music competition to encourage Greek composers, with the first award going toIannis Xenakis in 1963.[5] Also in 1962, Hatzidakis produced the musicalStreet of Dreams (Οδός Ονείρων)[8] and completed his score forAristophanes'Birds (Όρνιθες), another Art Theater production which caused an uproar over Koun's revolutionary direction. The score was also used later byMaurice Béjart'sBallet of the 20th Century. He also wrote the music for a song whichArthur Altman added English lyrics to and gave toBrenda Lee. The song was "All Alone Am I". In 1964, he released the album15 Vespers (Δεκαπέντε Εσπερινοί) with the famous song "Mr Antonis ("Ο Κυρ Αντώνης").[9]
In 1965, hisLPGioconda's Smile (Το Χαμόγελο της Τζιοκόντας)[10] was released on Minos-EMI. The album was re-released in 2004, digitally remastered as an audiophile LP and aCD in theEMI Classics collection. In 1966, Hatzidakis travelled toNew York City for the premiere ofIllya Darling, a Broadway musical based onNever on Sunday, which starred Mercouri.
Hatzidakis lived in the United States from 1966 to 1972,[1] during which he completed several more major compositions, includingRhythmology (Rythmologia) for solo piano, his compilation,Gioconda's Smile (produced byQuincy Jones), and the song cycle,Magnus Eroticus (Megalos Erotikos), in which he used ancient (Sappho,Euripides), medieval (stanzas from folk songs andGeorge Hortatzis' romanceErophile) and modern (Dionysios Solomos,Constantine Cavafy,Odysseus Elytis,Nikos Gatsos) Greek poems, as well as an excerpt from the Old Testament book "Song of Songs". He released the albumReflections, a collaboration with theNew York Rock & Roll Ensemble.[5]
Hatzidakis returned to Greece in 1972 and recordedMagnus Eroticus with opera-trained alto Fleury Dantonaki and singer Dimitris Psarianos. Following theGreek junta's overthrow in 1974, he became active in public life and assumed a number of leadership positions in theAthens State Orchestra (KOA), theGreek National Opera (ELS/GNO), and theHellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).[11] In 1985 he launched his own record company "Seirios", named after Sirius, the hunting dog of mythicalOrion. In 1989 Hatzidakis founded and directed the Orchestra of Colours, an ensemble performing lesser-known works and the music of Greek composers.[5][12]
Although he said Greece must enter theEuropean Economic Community (EEC, later theEuropean Union) for economic reasons, he believed that Greece would be culturally assimilated.[13][14]
In the later years of his life, Hatzidakis explained that his work was meant not to entertain but to reveal. Further, he disclaimed part of his work, written for the Greek cinema and theater, as unrepresentative.[15][16]
Hatzidakis died from aheart attack on 15 June 1994 in Athens at the age of 68.[6] In 1999 the city of Athens dedicated the museumTechnopolis in his memory.[17] He was buried inPaiania.
