On April 13, 1947, 77 years ago in Patras, Thanos Mikroutsikos was born who was to develop into one of the greatest composers in the history of Greek music.

Where did you lose him, where did you find him, from a young age he was obsessed with music and poetry and very quickly realized that this deep love would become a profession. His first complete appearance in the world of Greek discography took place in 1975, with the album “Political Songs”, indirectly declaring early on that he was strongly politicized.

At the end of his career he carried out admirable collaborations with numerous and great artists and great poets. Haris Alexiou, Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Dimitra Galani, Dimitris Mitropanos, Miltos Paschalidis and Christos Thivaios are some of the names with which he made history in the Greek pentagram, leaving an indelible mark. At a time when it was considered impossible to set some poets (such as Kavadias) to music, Thanos Mikroutsikos was the one who stubbornly managed to breathe life into important poems, thus investing our musical heritage with lyrical masterpieces.

On the occasion of his birthday, we remember some of the most important moments of his recording career, as well as collaborations that left an era.

  • Cantata on Makronisos/ Study in Poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky (1976)

Thanos Mikroutsikos has always been deeply politicized. The opinions, ideologies and political messages he embraced, he never missed an opportunity to channel them both in the songs and in the revolutionary style of the music he composed. Thus, after the first album, Political Songs, which had caused a lot of reactions in the then conservative social and political current affairs, came Cantata for Makronisso and Study in Poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky. In Cantata, Mikroutsikos invests with his musical composition the radical poetry of Yannis Ritsos, while Maria Dimitriadis sings. Die-hard fans also remember the delightful guest appearance by Sakis Boulas on the song “Dick”, in one of the strongest moments of the album.

“”Cantata for Makronissos” is a work that does not belong only to its creators. It belongs to those who struggled and fought through the lines of the Party but also alongside it in dark times. To those who were executed, tortured, imprisoned and resisted. To those who fought for a just society”he declared in 2018 in an interview with Rizospastis.

  • Trophies for Murderers (1978)

A year later, the Troparia for Foniades come. An original and… “bloody” venture in collaboration with Manos Eleftheriou. An iconic record in the course of which the horror of real crimes unfolds. Murders of real persons. The poet’s sharp lines almost chillingly reflect the darkness of the murders, while Mikroutsikos once again does not fail to express what the poet and the idea represent to the fullest. This is a masterpiece album, undoubtedly one of the best and most important in the composer’s multi-year career.

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