The Canto General is one of the most important works of Latin American poetry. With the music of Mikis Theodorakis, it also became popular in Europe and is still considered a symbol of a peaceful and just world today. The poem by Chilean Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda first appeared officially in Mexico and illegally in Chile in 1950. Between 1971 and 1974, while in exile in France, Mikis Theodorakis composed some parts of it. Further parts were composed between 1980 and 1981, which were then performed for the first time in the GDR at the end of March 1981.
The songs of the world-famous Greek composer Theodorakis have been part of the QUIJOTE trio's regular repertoire since 2001. Sabine Kühnrich and Ludwig Streng have written German adaptations for seven parts of the Canto General. The work was accompanied by extensive research in order to provide a historical context between the musical parts and information about the time when the poem and the oratorio were composed. To this end, they also visited Mikis Theodorakis in the summer of 2013, with whom they spoke about his encounters with Neruda and the work on this piece.