Songs
An instrumental dance tune. Played by: Charilaos Rodanos, violin – Kostas Zafeiriou, santouri – Stavros Rodanos, guitar.
- 1 POTAMIOTIKO SYRTO
- 2 OLD KARSILAMAS
- 11 TA XYLA (‘PIECES OF WOOD’) or KIOURTIKO
- 15 PHOKIANOS
- 22 TSANDARMAS
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- artist:Various (Musicians from Lesbos Island, Greece)
- featured artist:Various
- region:Lesbos Island
- release year:1996
- style(s):Greek, Traditional
- country:Greece
- formats:Book, CD (Compact Disc)
- record posted by:Crete University Press
- label:Crete University Press
- publisher:Crete University Press
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Links
Lesbos (or Mytilene), along with the other islands of the Aegean, has always been a place closely connected culturally, historically and and geographically, with the coast of Asia Minor. The links are severed after the Asia Minor disaster and the unity of the space was violently disrupted. It was then that Lesbos ‘becomes an island’ and turns its face to Greece. However, the old links have left strong marks on the dancing and musical tradition of eastern Aegean. Today, the echo of this glory is most vivid in the island of Lesbos. The edition contains a selection of melodies and songs which are the result of a ten-year musical research project undertaken by Nikos Dionyssopoulos and his group. Delightful melodies, manedes and familiar songs, allude to recordings of the beginning of the 20th century made in Smyrna and Instanbul. There are also local songs, which belong exclusively to the local repertory; the dominant rhythms are those of the karsilamas, syrtos and zeibekiko. The orchestras, besides violins, santouria and guitars, include clarinets and brass wind instruments; there are also bands with fusera which were very common on the island until the post-war years. There are also recordings of ‘gaida’ –perhaps the only instances from the Aegean. This tasteful editio is accompanied by a bilingula booklet in colour, containing rare old photographs, musical analysis, maps, lyrics and commentary.