Greek music is a mixture of influences from its own indigenous culture with Western and Middle Eastern cultures. Turkish and Ottoman elements can be most clearly heard in the traditional songs, dhimotiká, as well as the modern bluesy rembétika music.

Cypriot music has many similarities to traditional Greek music, and their modern music scenes remain well-integrated. Ethnic Greeks have long been the largest ethnic group on the island.

Classical music

Greek written history extends far back into Ancient Greece, and was a major part of ancient Greek theater. Later, influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed Greek music.

In the 19th century, opera composers like Nikolaos Mantzaros (1795 - 1872), Spyridion Xyndas (1812 - 1896) and Spyros Samaras (1861 - 1917) helped revitalize Greek classical music.

Ancient Greece

Main article: Music of ancient Greece

In ancient Greece, mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the lyre, especially the special kind called a kithara.

Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development; Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, which eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music.

Folk music

Greek folk traditions are said to derive from the music played by ancient Greeks. There are said to be two musical movements in Greek folk music: akritic and klephtic . Akritic music comes from the 9th century akrites, or border guards of the Byzantine Empire. Following the end of the Byzantine period, klephtic music arose before the Greek Revolution , developed among the kleftes, warriors who fought against the Ottoman Empire. Klephtic music is monophonic and uses no harmonic accompaniment.

Traditional dhimotiká are accompanied by clarinets, guitars, tambourines and violins, and include dance music forms like syrtó , kalamatianó , tsámiko and hasaposérviko , as well as vocal music like kléftiko . Many of the earliest recordings were done by Arvanites (ethnic Albanian) like Yiorgia Mittaki and Yiorgios Papasidheris . Instrumentalists include clarinet virtuosos like Yiorgos Yevyelis , Vassilis Saleas and Yiannis Vassilopoulos , as well as oud and fiddle players like Nikos Saragoudas and Yiorgos Koros .

Greek folk music is found all throughout Greece, as well as among communities in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. The island of Cyprus and several regions of Turkey are or have recently been home to long-standing communities of ethnic Greeks with their own unique styles of music.

Aegean Islands

Main article: Music of the Aegean Islands

The Aegean islands of Greece are known for nisiótika songs; characteristics vary widely, showing a range of mainland, Italian and Turkish influence. Nisiótika songs are accompanied by lira, clarinet, guitar and violin. Modern stars include Effi Sarri and the Konitopoulous clan; Mariza Koch is credited with reviving the field in the 1970s. Folk dances include the chiotikos , stavrotos , ballos syrtos , trata and ikariotikos.

Crete

Main article: Music of Crete

The Greek islands of Kárpathos , Khálki , Kássos and Crete form an arc where the lýra is the dominant instrument. It is a three-stringed fiddle similar to the Turkish kemençe . Kosta Moundakis is probably the most widely-respectedmaster of the lýra, which is often accompanied by the oud-like laoúto , which resembles a mandolin. Bagpipes are often played on Kárpathos .

Crete has a well known folk dance tradition, which includes swift dances like syrtos , maleviziotikos , haniotikos , pentozali and laziotikos .

Cyclades

Main article: Music of the Cyclades

In the Aegean Cyclades, the violí is more popular than the lýra, and has produced several respected musicians, including Nikos Ikonomidhes , Nikos Hatzopoulos and Stathis Koukoularis .

Cyprus

Main article: Music of Cyprus

Cyprus is an independent country, currently contested between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Cyprus' folk traditions include dances like the sousta, syrtos, zeimbekikos, dachas, and the kartsilamdhes.

Dodecanese Islands

Main article: Music of the Dodecanese Islands

There are prominent elements of Cretan music on the Dodecanese Islands, developing from Cretans that fled there from the Turks. Dodecanese folk dances include the trata , ballos , syrtos , issos and syrtos rodou .

Epirus

Main article: Music of Epirus

In Epirus, Albanian and Macedonian influences are common, and folk songs are polyphonic and sung by both male and female singers. Distinctive songs include mirolóyia (mournful tunes) vocals with skáros accompaniment and tis távlas (drinking songs). The clarinet is the most prominent folk instrument in Epirus, used to accompany dances, mostly slow and heavy, like the menousis , fisouni , podhia , sta dio , sta tria , zagorisios , kentimeni , koftos , yiatros and tsamikos .

Ionian Islands

Music of the Ionian Islands]]

The Ionian Islands were never under Turkish control, and their kantádhes (traditional songs) are Italian in origin. These romantic songs developed in Kefallonia in the early 19th century. Kantádhes are performed by three male singer accompanied by mandolin or guitar. Later, after spreading throughout Greece, an Athenian form of kantádhes arose, accompanied by violin, clarinet and laouto .

The island of Zakynthos has a diverse musical history with influences from Venice, Crete and elsewhere. The island's music heritage is celebrated by the Zakynthos School of Music , established in 1815 [1].

Folk dances include the tsirigotikos , ballos , ai yiogis , kerkyraikos and kato sto yialo .

Lesbos

Main article: Music of Lesbos

Lesbos has a distinctive Turkish sound (and Greece's only brass bands), and acts as a melting pot for influences from all over Greece.

Macedonia

Main article: Music of Macedonia

Macedonia is a historic region, now divided between Greece, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. Folk dances in the Greek regions of Macedonia include samarinas , akritikos , baidouska , gaida, macedonikos antikristos , leventikos , mikri eleni , partalos , kastorianos and sirtos macedonias .

Peloponnesos

Main article: Music of Peloponnesos

Folk dances from Peloponnesos include the kariatidon and tsakonikos .

Pontos

Main article: Music of Pontos

Pontos is a region in Turkey on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. It was inhabited by ethnic Greeks until 1924, and elements of Greek music remain. The region's dance style uses unique techniques like odd shoulder tremors and knee bends. Folk dances include the gerasari , trgona , kots , omal , serra, kotsari and tik.

Izmir/Smyrna

Main article: Music of Izmir

Izmir, formerly known by the Greek name Smyrna, is a city in modern Turkey, in Izmir province . The city was ethnically Greek until the 1920s, when the Greek population was expelled. The city's musical heritage include the songs of these people, similar in style to rebetiko; they are sad tales of burning and loss, and are called Smyrnaiika .

Thessaly

Main article: Music of Thessaly

There is a long-standing tradition of a cappella music in Thessaly, including in dance music. Folk dance from Thessaly is slow and stately, and includes dances like the klistos , tai-tai , pilioritikos , svarniara , sta tria and karagouna .

Thrace

Main article: Music of Thrace

Thrace is known for its well-represented Turkish influence, owing from a wave of immigrants after 1923. Thracian music is often more traditionally Turkish than music found in Turkey. Bagpipes (gaida) and lyra are common instruments. Folk dances include the tripati , sfarlis , souflioutouda , zonaradikos , kastrinos , syngathistos , baintouska and [apadiasteite sto xoro]].

Popular music

Rembétika was Greece's first popular music, arising in the urban areas of Greece. Its popularity has waxed and waned, as has its relationship with the government. Newer forms of popular music include laïkó and éntekhno .

Rembétika

Rembétika evolved from traditions of the urban poor. Refugees and drug-users, criminals and the itinerant, the earliest rembétika musicians were scorned by mainstream society. They sang heartrending tales of drug abuse, prison and violence, usually accompanied by the boxoúki , a sort of lute derived from the Byzantine tambourás and related to the Turkish saz.

Turkish origins

By the beginning of the 20th century, music-cafés were popular in Istanbul and Smyrna, primarily owned by Greeks, alongside Jews and Armenians. The bands were led by a female vocalist, typically, and included a violin and a sandoúri . The improvised songs typically exclaimed aman aman, which led to the name amanédhes or café-aman. Musicians of this period included Marika Papagika , Agapios Tomboulis , Rosa Eskenazi and Rita Abatzi .

In 1923, many ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor fled to Greece as a result of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). They settled in poor neighborhoods in Pireás , Thessaloníki and Athens. Many of these immigrants were highly educated, and included songwriter Vangelis Papazoglou and Panayiotis Toundas , composer and leader of Odeon Records' Greek subsidiary.

One Turkish tradition that came with the Greek migrants was the tekés, or hashish dens. Groups of men would sit in a circle and smoke hashish from a hookah, and improvised music of various kinds was common. Out of this music scene came two of the earliest legends of modern Greek history, Artemis and Markos Vamvakaris . They played in a quartet with Batis and Stratos Payioumtzis . Vamvakaris became perhaps the first star of Greek music after beginning a solo career.

Popularization

With the coming of the Metaxas dictatorship, rembétika was repressed due to the uncompromising lyrics. Hashish dens and bouzoúkis were banned. Many songs from this period were composed in prison, where musicians made instruments out of scavenged equipment.

After World War 2, rembétika had become a calmer form of music, and was soon popularized further by stars like Vassilis Tsitsanis. His "Synefiazmeni Kyriaki" became an anthem for the oppressed Greeks after it was composed in 1943, though it wasn't recorded until 1948. He was followed by female singers like Marika Ninou , Ioanna Yiorgakopoulou and Sotiria Bellou . In 1953, Manolis Khiotis added a fourth pair of strings to the bouzoúki , which allowed it be tuned tonally and set the stage for the electrification of rembétika.

Rembétika was revived during the 1967-1974 coup, which banned the music. Ironically, the banning meant that the dispossessed of Greece were attracted to the music and its messages of subversion. Revival groups included Opisthodhromiki Kompania , Rembetiki Kompania , Agathonas Iakovidhis and Ta Pedhia apo tin Patra .

Éntekhno

Drawing on rembétika's Westernization with Tsitsanis, éntekhno arose in the late 1950s. Éntekhno is orchestral music with elements of Greek folk rhythm and melody. Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis were the most popular early performers. By the 1960s, innovative albums made éntekhno mainstream, and also led to its appropriation by the film industry for use in soundtracks, often watering-down the music in the process.

Laïkó

Laïkó was the pop music of the 50s and 60s. It was criticized from all quarters for its apoliticism and decadence, and its unpure Turkish roots. The influence of oriental music on laïkó can be most strongly seen in 1960s indoyíftika , Indian filmi with Greek lyrics. Manolis Angelopoulos was the most popular indoyíftika performer, while pure laïkó was dominated by superstar Stelios Kazantzidhis .

Other popular trends

Folk singer-songwriters first appeared in the 1960s, with Dhionysis Savvopoulos ' 1966 breakthrough. Many of these musicians started out playing néo kýma , a mixture of éntekhno and chansons from France. Savvopoulos mixed American musicians like Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa with Macedonian folk music and politically incisive lyrics. In his wake came more folk-influenced performers like Arletta , Mariza Koch and Kostas Hatzis .

Another of Savvopoulos' pupils was Nikos Xydhakis, who revolutionized laïkó by using orientalized instrumentation. His most successful album was 1987's Konda sti Dhoxa Stigmi , recorded with Eleftheria Arvanitaki.

Samples

• Amaxas.ogg - "Amaxas" Greek song from the Library of Congress' Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections; performed by Charles M. Brown, Louis Peronis (fiddle), Charylaos Perris (santouri) and George Kafezio (mandola) on August 26, 1939 in Tarpon Springs, Florida

External link

• Kithara.vu (in Greek). An collection of some 11,000 Greek songs, with lyrics and chords.

References

• Dubin, Marc and George Pissalidhes. "Songs of the Near East". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 126-142. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
• Folk dances of the Greek regions