Editing Mikis Theodorakis (section)

== Studies in Paris ==
[[File:Mikis Theodorakis in Paris.jpg|thumb|upright|In Paris, 1957]]
In 1953, Theodorakis married Myrto Altinoglou.<ref name=":0" /> The following year, they travelled to Paris, where he entered the Conservatory and studied musical analysis under [[Olivier Messiaen]]<ref>Jean Boivin, 'Messiaen's Teaching at the Paris Conservatoire: A Humanist Legacy', in Siglind Bruhn, ''Messiaen's Language of Mystical Love'' (New York, Garland, 1998), p.10</ref> and conducting under [[Eugene Bigot]].<ref>George Giannaris, op. cit., p. 90 sq</ref>

His symphonic works: a [[Piano concerto]], his first [[suite (music)|suite]], his first [[symphony]], and his scores for the [[ballet]]: ''Greek Carnival, Le Feu aux Poudres, Les Amants de Teruel'', received international acclaim. In 1957, he won the Gold Medal in the Moscow Music Festival.<ref name=Kath /> In 1959, after the successful performances of Theodorakis's opera ''Antigone'' at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] in London, the French composer [[Darius Milhaud]] proposed him for the ''American Copley Music Prize'' – an award of the "William and Noma Copley Foundation",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0n39q01q/ |title=Inventory of the William and Noma Copley Foundation and Collection Records, 1954–1980 |website=Oac.cdlib.org |access-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> which later changed its name to "Cassandra Foundation" as the "Best European Composer of the Year". His first international scores for the film ''[[Ill Met by Moonlight (film)|Ill Met by Moonlight]]'' and ''[[Honeymoon (1959 film)|Honeymoon]]'' (aka ''Luna de Miel''), directors: [[Michael Powell]] and [[Emeric Pressburger]], were successful: ''The Honeymoon Song'', title song of the later, became part of the repertoire of [[The Beatles]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=16 March 2008|title=The Honeymoon Song|url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/the-honeymoon-song/|access-date=3 September 2021|website=The Beatles Bible|language=en-GB|archive-date=2 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902164710/https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/the-honeymoon-song/|url-status=live}}</ref>