Greek folk music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greek folk music includes a variety of styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, the United States and elsewhere.
Apart from the common music found all-around Greece, there are distinct types of folk music, sometimes related to the history or simply the taste of the specific places.
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[edit] Ionian Islands
Main article: Music of the Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands were never under Turkish control, and their kantádhes (traditional songs) are based on the popular Italian style of the early 19th century. Kantádhes are performed by three male singers accompanied by mandolin or guitar. These romantic songs developed mainly in Kefallonia in the early 19th century but spread throughout Greece after the liberation of Greece. An Athenian form of kantádhes arose, accompanied by violin, clarinet and laouto. However the style is accepted as uniquely Ionian.
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.
[edit] Aegean Islands
Main article: Music of the Aegean Islands
The Aegean islands of Greece are known for nisiótika songs; characteristics vary widely. Although the basis of the sound is characteristically secular-Byzantine, the relative isolation of the islands allowed the separate development of island-specific musics. Most of the Nisiótika songs are accompanied by lira, clarinet, guitar and violin. Modern stars include Effi Sarri and the Konitopoulos clan; Mariza Koch is credited with reviving the field in the 1970s. Folk dances include the chiotikos, stavrotos, ballos syrtos, trata and ikariotikos.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. Kosta Moundakis is probably the most widely-respected master of the lýra, which is often accompanied by the 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, pentozalis and laziotikos.
[edit] Peloponnesos
Main article: Music of Peloponnesos
Folk dances from Peloponnesos include the kariatidon, tsakonikos and Kalamatianos syrtos.
[edit] Epirus
Main article: Music of Epirus
In Epirus, Albanian and Slavic 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.
[edit] Macedonia
Main article: Music of Macedonia
Folk dances in Macedonia include samarinas, akritikos, baidouska, gaida, macedonikos antikristos, leventikos, mikri eleni, partalos, kastorianos and sirtos macedonias. Note: The term "Macedonia(n)" is also claimed by the Slavic population of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Ottoman province of Macedonia, ecompassing regions of the ancient Macedonia, Paeonia, and Thrace was divided between Greece, Serbia(Yugoslavia), and Bulgaria respectively in 1918.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Thrace
Main article: Music of Thrace
Instruments used in ancient Thracian music such as Bagpipes (gaida) and lyra are still the ordinary instruments of folk music in Thrace. Folk dances include the tripati, sfarlis, souflioutouda, zonaradikos, kastrinos, syngathistos, baintouska and apadiasteite sto xoro.
In Thrace there is also a Muslim, mainly Turkish and Gypsy, minority. The dominant music of Turkey, Halay, had been banned in Turkey because of its Middle East origins in the past. Thus the traditional music of the minority in Greece is usually seen as more genuine Turkish (Halay) than the folk music found in Turkey itself.Halay is a famous dance in the Middle East. It is a symbol for the tempestuous way of life in its place of origin, Anatolia. It is a national dance in Armenia and Turkey. The traditional form of the Halay dance is played on the Zurna, supported by a Davul. The dancers form a circle or line, while holding each other with the little finger. From Anatolia the Halay has spread to many other Regions, like Armenia or the Balkans.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] İzmir/Smyrna
Main article: Music of İzmir
İzmir, formerly known by the Greek name Smyrna, is a city in modern Turkey, in İzmir 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.
[edit] Pontian
Main article: Music of Pontos / (Music of Laz) / (Music of Georgia)
Pontos is a region in Turkey on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. It was inhabited by ethnic Greeks until 1924. With the exchange of nations between Greece and Turkey that followed World War I Pontian music has spread to the regions were refugees fled. The Pontian dance style uses unique techniques like shoulder tremors and knee bends. However, the characteristics of Greek dance are retained. Characteristics like the circular formations and the synchronization as well as the similarity of steps between Pontian and its Greek cousins. A few examples of Pontian folk dances include the gerasari, trygona, kots, omal, serra, kotsari and tik. There are a total of 86 distinct Pontian dances, called horoi(Hora) (Grk.Χορος).
