Music of Greece
The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originated in the Byzantine period and Greek antiquity; there is a continuous development which appears in the language, the rhythm, the structure and the melody. Music is a significant aspect of Hellenic culture, both within Greece and in the diaspora.
Greek musical history
Greek musical history extends far back into ancient Greece, since music was a major part of ancient Greek theater. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire changed the form and style of Greek music. In the 19th century, opera composers, like Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas and Spyridon Samaras and symphonists, like Dimitris Lialios and Dionysios Rodotheatos revitalized Greek art music.Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, men usually performed choruses for entertainment, celebration, and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed aulos and the plucked string instrument, the kanonaki, 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 Eastern and Western religious music and classical music.
Roman era
Due to Rome's reverence for Greek culture, the Romans borrowed the Greek method of 'enchiriadic notation' to record their music, if they used any notation at all.Byzantine era
The tradition of eastern liturgical chant, encompassing the Greek-speaking world, developed in the Byzantine Empire from the establishment of its capital, Constantinople, in 330 until its fall in 1453. It is undeniably of composite origin, drawing on the artistic and technical productions of the classical Greek age, of Jewish religious music, and inspired by the monophonic vocal music that evolved in the early Christian cities of Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus. In his lexicographical discussion of instruments, the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih cited the lūrā as a typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the urghun, shilyani, and the salandj. Other instruments used in the folk Byzantine-era music, were kanonaki, oud, laouto, santouri and other instruments that are still played in post-Byzantine regions today.Ottoman era
The Greeks were familiar, in this period that stretched from the 15th century to the time of Greek war of independence, with the traditional Greek folk music, elements of the Ottoman music, such as with surviving Byzantine music and more specifically, hymns: Church music. These genres have certainly reached a high degree of evolution. They were forms of monophonic music that had many elements of ancient Greek origin, but also, they had nothing to do with Western polyphonic music.By the beginning of the 20th century, live music cafés were popular in cities such as Constantinople and Smyrna, where small groups of musicians from Greece played. The bands were typically led by a female vocalist and included a violin. The improvised songs typically exclaimed amán amán, which led to the name amanédes or café-aman – as opposed to the more Westernized café-chantants. Greek musicians of this period included Marika Papagika, Rosa Eskenazi and Rita Abatzi. This period also brought in the rebetiko movement, which had local Smyrniote, Ottoman and Byzantine influences.
Folk music (dimotiká or demotic)
traditions are said to derive from the music played by ancient Greeks. There are said to be two musical movements in Greek folk music : acritic songs and klephtic songs. 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.Dimotika tragoudia are only from the mainland and accompanied by clarinets, tambourines, laouto, violins and lyras, and include dance music like syrtó, kalamatianó, tsámiko and hasaposérviko, as well as vocal music like kléftiko. The lyrics are based on dimotiki poetry and popular themes are love, marriage, humor, death, nature, water, sea, religious, about klephts, armatoloi, various war fighters or battles, etc. Some notable instrumentalists include clarinet virtuosos like Petroloukas Chalkias, Giorgos Gevgelis and Yiannis Vassilopoulos, as well as laouto and fiddle players like Nikos Saragoudas, Vasilis Kostas and Giorgos Koros.
Greek folk music is found all throughout Greece, Cyprus, and several regions of Turkey, as well as among communities in countries like the United States, Canada and Australia. The island of Cyprus and several regions of Turkey are home to long-standing communities of Greeks in Turkey with their own unique styles of music.
Nisiótika
Nisiotika is a general term denoting folk songs from the Greek islands, especially the Aegean Islands. Among the most popular types of them is Ikariótiko tragoúdi, "song from Ikaria".Ikariótikos
Ikariótikos is a traditional type of dance, and also the name of its accompanying type of singing, originating in the Aegean island of Ikaria. At first, it was a very slow dance, but today Ikariotikos is a very quick dance. Some specialists say that the traditional Ikariotikos was slow and the quick "version" of it is in fact Ballos. Music and dancing are major forms of entertainment in Ikaria. Throughout the year, Ikarians host baptisms, weddings, parties and religious festivals where one can listen and dance to live traditional Ikarian Music.Modern nisiótika
Singer Mariza Koch was largely responsible for the revival of interest in Nisiótika in the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s and 2000s, singers such as Yiannis Parios and Stella Konitopoulou helped this music gain occasional mainstream popularity.Cretan music
The Cretan lyra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed bowed instrument similar to the Byzantine Lyra. It is often accompanied by laouto, guitar, violin and mandolin. Nikos Xylouris, Psarantonis, Thanassis Skordalos, Kostas Moundakis, Ross Daly, Nikos Zoidakis and Vasilis Skoulas are among the most renowned players of the lýra. The violin is also used in Cretan music. The most renowned player of the violin is Antonis Martsakis who is also a dancer. Mandolin is also used in Cretan music. Loudovikos ton Anogeion is a well-known mandolin player from Crete. The bass in that music is coming from the laouto. Giannis Haroulis and Michalis Tzouganakis are notable artists of the instrument.Cretan music in media
The Cretan music theme "Zorba's Dance" by Mikis Theodorakis, which appears in the 1964 Hollywood movie Zorba the Greek remains the best-known Greek song abroad.Other folk traditions
Other major regional musical traditions of Greece include:- Music of the Heptanese
- Music of Epirus
- Music of Macedonia
- Music of Thrace
Notable artists
- Ross Daly
- Giorgos Konitopoulos
- Dimitris Lagios
- Alkinoos Ioannidis
- Kostas Mountakis
- Psarantonis
- Dionysis Savvopoulos
- Chronis Aidonidis
- Yiannis Parios
- Xanthippi Karathanasi
- Mariza Koch
- Domna Samiou
- Michalis Violaris
- Nikos Xylouris
Classical music
Ionian school
It was through the Ionian islands that all the major developments of the Western European classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The region is notable for the birth of the first school of modern Greek classical music, established in 1815. Prominent representatives of this genre include Nikolaos Mantzaros, Spyridon Xyndas, Spyridon Samaras, Dionysius Rodotheatos and Pavlos Carrer.The Church music of the islands is also different from the rest of Greece, with significant western and Catholic influences on the Orthodox rite.
Greek national school
was the founder of the Greek national school of music. Born in Smyrna, he attended school in Constantinople and studied piano and composition in Vienna. His work drew influences also from the Greek folk music, poetry and myth, aiming to combine the German Romanticism with Greek motives. In 1919, he founded the Hellenic Conservatory and in 1926 the National Conservatoire. Representatives are also Nikos Skalkottas, who drew his influences also from Greek folk tradition, Emilios Riadis and the conductor Dimitris Mitropoulos.Popular music
Greek operetta and early popular songs
The Heptanesean kantádes are based on the popular Italian music of the early 19th century and became the forerunners of the Greek modern song, influencing its development to a considerable degree. For the first part of the next century, several Greek composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style.The most successful songs during the period 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades, and the songs performed on stage in revues, musical comedies, operettas and nocturnes that were dominating Athens' theatre scene. Notable composers of operettas or nocturnes were Spyridon Samaras, Kostas Giannidis, Spyridon Kaisaris, Dionysios Lavrangas, Nikos Hatziapostolou, while Theophrastos Sakellaridis' The Godson remains probably the most popular operetta. Despite the fact that the Athenian songs were not autonomous artistic creations and despite their original connection with mainly dramatic forms of Art, they eventually became hits as independent songs. Notable actors of Greek operettas, who also made a series of melodies and songs popular at that time, include Orestis Makris, Kalouta sisters, Petros Epitropakis, Vasilis Avlonitis, Afroditi Laoutari, Rena Vlahopoulou, Eleni Papadaki, Aris Maliagros, Marika Nezer, Marika Krevata and others. Italian opera also had a great influence on the musical aesthetics of the modern Greeks. Some popular operettas include:
- Kritikopoula
- The Godson
- I want to see the Pope
- Oi Apachides ton Athinon
- Beba