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Manos Hadjidakis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Manos Hadjidakis, also written Hatzidakis, was a Greek composer and thinker about Greek music, born in Xanthi in 1925. His father died in 1931 and his mother took him to Athens, where the family lived in poverty. He studied music theory with Menelaos Pallandios and philosophy at the university, but did not finish that course. He became friends with poets and painters, among them Odysseas Elytis and above all Nikos Gatsos, and took part in the Resistance through the youth organisation EPON, where he got to know Mikis Theodorakis.

Music and breakthrough

His first song was Paper Moon for a Greek staging of A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1947 his piano piece Για μια μικρή λευκή αχιβάδα appeared, and in 1948 he set poems by Gatsos to music. In 1949 he gave a controversial lecture on rembetika, the urban folk music of the Greek port cities. Together with Theodorakis he was one of the founders of éntekhno, in which poets such as Gatsos and folk music come together. In 1960 he won an Oscar for Best Song with Never on Sunday from the film of the same name. He refused the prize because he felt that Athens was wrongly portrayed in the film. He founded the Orchestra of Colours and wrote a great deal for radio and theatre.

Influence

His songs connected folk music with Western form and became internationally known. He died in 1994.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Never on Sunday and notice the bouzouki and the danceable Greek rhythm. Can you hear how the song acquires a folk sound without being a traditional song?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists