Eleni Karaindrou facts for kids

Eleni Karaindrou (Greek: Ελένη Καραΐνδρου; born November 25, 1941) is a Greek composer. She is famous for writing music for movies. She is especially known for her work with the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos.

Her Life and Music

Early Years and Studies

Eleni Karaindrou was born in a place called Teichio, in Greece. When she was eight years old, her family moved to Athens. There, she started learning to play the piano. She also studied music theory at the Hellenic Conservatory. Besides music, she was interested in history and archaeology at the university.

Time in Paris

During a time when Greece had a military government (from 1967 to 1974), Eleni lived in Paris. While in Paris, she learned about ethnomusicology. This is the study of music from different cultures around the world. She also studied how to arrange music for an orchestra, which is called orchestration. She even played jazz music with other musicians and started writing her own popular songs.

Returning to Greece and Film Music

In 1974, Eleni came back to Athens. She created a special place to study traditional musical instruments. She also had a radio show about music from different cultures. In 1976, she started working with a music company called ECM Records. This was a very busy time for her. She wrote a lot of music for plays and movies.

Eleni says that she found her own unique music style while working on film soundtracks. She felt that the connection between images and movements in a movie helped her express feelings in a new way.

Her first movie soundtrack album came out in 1979. It was for a film called Periplanissi. In 1982, she won an award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. There, the director Theo Angelopoulos noticed her work. Eleni worked with Theo Angelopoulos on his last eight films. Their collaboration lasted from 1984 to 2008.

Amazing Achievements

Eleni Karaindrou has written a lot of music! By 2008, she had composed music for 18 full-length movies. She also wrote music for 35 theater plays and 11 TV shows or movies. She has worked with other famous directors like Chris Marker and Margarethe von Trotta.

In 1992, she received the Premio Fellini award for her work. You might have even heard her music in a big movie! Her songs "Elegy for Rosa" and "Refugee's Theme" were used in the 2015 action film Mad Max: Fury Road.

In 2012, a special concert was held in Thessaloniki. It featured her music and songs from Theo Angelopoulos's films. In 2021, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ghent Festival's World Soundtrack Awards. This award honored her amazing career in music.

Discography

• Tous des Oiseaux - ECM 2019
• David - ECM 2016
• pothoi kato apo tis leukes; gliko pouli tis niotis - mikri arktos 2016-2017
• Music for the Small Screen - Original Recordings [1976-1989] - Mikri Arktos 2014
• Medea - ECM 2014
• Concert in Athens (live) - ECM 2013
• Dust of Time - ECM 2009
• The 10 (Greek TV: "το 10") - Mikri Arktos/ECM 2008
• Elegy of the Uprooting (live) - ECM 2005; Also released as DVD
• The Weeping Meadow - ECM 2004
• Trojan Women (album) - ECM 2001
• Eternity and a Day - ECM 1998
• Rosa, Wandering - Lyra 1996
• Ulysses' Gaze - ECM 1995
• The Suspended Step of the Stork - ECM 1992
• Music for Films - ECM 1991
• The Suspended Step of the Stork - Minos 1991
• Unreleased Recordings - Minos 1991
• L'Africana - Minos 1990
• Herod Atticus Odeon (live) - Minos 1988
• Landscape in the Mist - Milan 1988
• The Beekeeper - Minos 1986
• Happy Homecoming, Comrade - ECM 1986
• Voyage to Cythera - Minos 1984
• The Price of Love - Minos 1983
• Music and songs for the theater, mikri arktos, 1983 -1993
• The Great Vigil - Minos 1975