Greece mourns Communist composer, 72

Greece mourns Communist composer, 72

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norman lebrecht

December 29, 2019

The Greek Communist Party has announced the death of composer Thanos Mikroutsikos, a prolific musician who succeeded Melina Mercouri as minister of culture in 1994.

Much of his music was agit-prop, though not without charm.

Comments

  • Gery says:

    Not sure why you label him as communist
    Thanos was a composer and musician respected by all Greeks
    His music touched all Greeks from all spectrum of life
    His political beliefs has nothing to do

  • Judith A Davis says:

    Is this Milva singing?

  • takis says:

    The correct spelling is Mikroutsikos.
    Thanos was a lovely person to all Greeks and not only communists. His work contains also much classical music-opera, electronic music, chamber etc, and is not at all agit-prop, rather social sensitive, human and caring. He will be missed….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf9bAmegas0&list=PLw3Mt4FUg5YTB1c92I_n9a7AILhdKzXMR&index=2

  • Petros Linardos says:

    As far as I can tell, the announcement of Mikroutsikos’ death came from his family, not the Communist Party. The latter was quick to issue a tribute, since he was indeed a communist.

    But he was also a widely respected, indeed beloved, prolific and original composer, so we can expect tributes to come from the entire political spectrum, and from many walks of life.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      I wonder what part of communism he admired? Was it the torture and death squads, the naming and shaming of neighbors, the Gulag, the millions who died under Stalin……what? Pick a card.

      Intelligence isn’t a prerequisite.

      • Petros Linardos says:

        I can try to approximate your question. If you have further questions, please articulate them rationally.

        More than once, I’ve read or heard Mikroutsikos quote Karl Marx. I believe he was first and foremost a Marxist.

        Otherwise, between some of his choices of lyrics and other statements, he seems to have looked at Greece’s 1940s civil war from a leftist viewpoint. (Greece was and to some extent still is very polarized about its civil war.)

        Mikroutsikos had been a member of the Greek Communist Party, which has been traditionally oriented towards Russia. I have no idea where they currently stand. Even in the 1990s they seemed to me like a bizarre relic of the past; I left Greece 16 years ago.

        As a composer, however, he appealed across the Greek population. This has been stressed also elsewhere in this discussion. Personally I have a lot of respect for his work as a musician, although I cannot relate to his political beliefs.

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