Canto General

Political, socially conscious, decisive, pervaded by suff ering and lamentation – and yet full of hope: Mikis Theodorakis created a setting of Pablo Neruda’s cycle of poems of the same name on the creation of South America, its peoples, conquests and the struggle for freedom. ‘Among all its peoples’, the composer comments, ‘the Chileans are closest to us Greeks – in their temperament and character’. Both nations not only have an affinity through their mentality, but also in their fight against injustice and oppression paired with a belief in art as a weapon. In a departure from his other vocal compositions, Theodorakis created his setting of Canto General using the original Spanish rather than his own native language. The sound of Spanish pervaded the music and became fused with Greek folklore with Theodorakis incorporating the powerful triads and rhythms of Greek dances. The exhilarating oratorio is the idiosyncratic epitome of the impassioned cry for freedom and has lost none of its topicality in our current day and age.