“It is with deep emotion and respect that we say goodbye to Yannis Markopoulos, one of our greatest composers, whose great and special work was a milestone in the course of our musical culture,” says the KKE in a statement and then emphasizes:

“Yiannis Markopoulos did not imitate our musical tradition, nor did he return to it with reminiscence and nostalgia. He transformed it into a living reality of our time. In this fruitful utilization of the evolving elements of tradition lies the quintessence of his art, the secret of its specificity and originality. With his work, he showed us the way to creatively interpret our inherited spiritual and fighting values, the need to rid them of their dead elements, to rearrange them, to regenerate them and to make them speak to today and for today.

Yannis Markopoulos has always been sensitive to the edicts of the time, he was warmed by its vital interests and had the ability to embrace the spirit and needs of the broad popular strata. These elements made him loved by the mainly student audience during the harsh years of the dictatorship. An audience that, ignoring the bans of the junta, created inseparability in the boites where young performers, among them Nikos Xylouris, presented the composer’s works.

Justifiably, immediately after the post-colonial revolution, he conquered the hearts of the broad public, who adored him at his concerts, such as at the KNE Festivals from the very first in 1976.

The unique “Chronicle” of the passions, struggles and ideals of our tormented people in its recent history, expressed its new desires, pushed “with the voice of the teacher the hand of the worker” to write new songs for freedom. The circles Free Besieged, Immigrants, Citizenship, Tenure, Thessalian Cycle and a series of new songs by the composer were on everyone’s lips, but above all “we are the workers”, in which the class consciousness of the working class found an incomparable in its simplicity and popularity musical expression. With his new musical outlook, songs such as “Pote tha faa xasteria” or “Agrimia ki agrimakia mou” were turned into popular anthems against social oppression of all kinds and forms, not only during the years of the dictatorship, but up to the present day. Great folk singers such as the unforgettable Nikos Xylouris and Maria Dimitriadis, as well as Lakis Chalkias and Charalambos Garganourakis, marked these special moments with their performances.

Verse and music in the work of Yannis Markopoulos are in complete harmony, in a perfect match that connects the past, the present and the future of a just and happy life. It is truly fortunate that Solomos’ free thought, deep poetic reflection, lively language and plastic, musical verse met with the rich artistic temperament of Yiannis Markopoulos, his deep knowledge of the content of Solomos’ work and his immersion in popular music. us delivery in the particularly demanding work of “Free Besiegers”.

His art unites the oppressed social strata against their oppressors and that is why it is political art: A pilgrimage to the grace of the people, a bow to their suffering and an immense admiration for their works: the small ones, in the midst of their daily life struggle, but and big in his critical class struggles, as he expresses it in his song “I worship your grace my people” which the composer dedicated to the Communist Youth of Greece in 1980 at its 6th Festival.

Markopoulos’ work – always far from the sirens of convenience and compulsions of commercialization – is not simply a passive receiver of the weather’s messages. It is an energetic transmitter that turns into a social act, that affects life with the ideals it expresses and serves the demands of a brighter and more beautiful life for the wronged everywhere. And that is why it is certain that it will continue with its undiminished power throughout time to warm human hearts. Every new generation that will come will rediscover it, because it will also express its own desires, needs and visions”.

The KKE expresses its deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

KNE: The art of Yannis Markopoulos is a resource for young men and women, a trigger on the path of struggle, of the high ideals of the struggle for a better world, without exploitation and injustice

The Central Council of the KNE, with its announcement, expresses its deep sadness for the death of the great Greek composer, Yiannis Markopoulos, and then states:

“The art of Yannis Markopoulos is a resource for young men and women, a trigger on the path of struggle, of the high ideals of the struggle for a better world, without exploitation and injustice.

His music, flooded with “colors and aromas”, which carry the memory and power of the popular struggles of our country’s recent history, managed to take root in young hearts.

His first two albums were released during the difficult years of the dictatorship, with the song “Pote tha faena xasteria” from his second album “Rizitika” becoming synonymous with the Polytechnic uprising in 1973, giving chills to students who sing it to this day on every competitive anniversary of the Polytechnic, running away from time.

The songs of Yiannis Markopoulos have accompanied generations and generations of KNE members, young activists, not only from the wide position it has acquired in the popular consciousness and culture of Greece, but also from the presence of the composer himself at the KNE-Odegitis Festival, from the beginning of its course until today.

Already, at the 4th KNE – Odegititi Festival, in 1978, Yiannis Markopoulos is on the stage of the Festival in Peristeri, together with Yiannis Ritsos, Mikis Theodorakis, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Christos Leontis, Nikos Xylouris and other great artists.

At the 6th KNE Festival, in 1980, in ‘Alsos Peristeriou, Yiannis Markopoulos presented his new work “I worship your grace, my people”, dedicating it to the KNE.

The presence of his music at the KNE Festival was constant, while the 42nd KNE-Odegitis Festival, in 2016, stands out from its recent history, where at the peak of its events a large concert dedicated to his work was held, which he conducted himself.

As the verse of the song he dedicated to KNE 43 years ago says “and I admire your works, my people”, so the music of Yiannis Markopoulos belongs among the wonderful works of our people. Today, all of us young communists admire it, since it still pierces through our hearts, we pledge that it will continue to be heard loudly at the KNE – Odejiti Festivals, in every struggle of the youth.

We express our deepest condolences to his family.”