The fundamental concepts of contemporary Greek folk music are a highly complex synthesis of melody, verse (poetry), and dance. Greek folk songs are not only a reflection of basic philosophies of village life, regional traditions and beliefs, and social complexities, but they also symbolically describe the many beauties of nature, of life, love, happiness, profound sorrow, and even death. Brides and grooms are escorted to church with the sounds of processional music provided by local musicians, and praised with songs of long life and prosperity. Mothers sing lullabies to their newly born; the dead are mourned with laments. Among village people, songs and dances truly serve as a means of self-expression and constitute an indispensable part of daily life.
Greek folk music has a long tradition, and is related to both classical Greek music and Byzantine ecclesiastic music. Some folk dances and their musical meters, poetic forms, and modes (scales) undoubtedly stem from ancient ones, while melodic styles are largely derived from the musical traditions inherent in Byzantine chant. Over the centuries, the neighboring cultures of Italy, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and other nations bordering the eastern Mediterranean have exerted their musical influences on Greek folk music. In recent years, Western music and musical instruments have managed to penetrate even the most remote villages and islands of Greece.
Because different kinds of music developed in the various mainland regions and islands, it would be erroneous to speak of a specific type or style of folk music that can be considered common to the whole of Greece. Greece folk music can, however, be categorized into two main classifications: the music of the mainland and that of the islands.
The mainland regions of Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly, Roumelia, and the Peloponnesus are each considered distinct musical areas set apart from one another by regional customs, dialects, types and categories of folk songs and dances, modes, accompanying rhythms, structural forms of both music and texts, poetic and musical meters, and musical instruments.
Island folk music, though generally of lighter vein, is quite varied. One of the richest sources of music is found on the island of Crete where dance music is very lively and the instrumental duo of lyra (a three-stringed rebec) and laouto (a long-necked fretted lute) is highly characteristic. Rhymed couplets, known as kondylies, are popular in eastern Crete while the mantinadha tradition is found along the northern coastal areas. From western Crete come the songs known as rizitika. These ancient song forms use the fifteen-syllable text line, and their highly ornate and melismatic melodies are sung in antiphonal style.
Typical of the Ionian Islands, located along the west coast of Greece, is the cantadha (serenade) sung in three- and four-part harmony, and accompanied by violins, guitars, and mandolins. Some of the finest examples of instrumental music and folk dances are found on the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, and the eastern Aegean islands of Chios and Lesvos (Mytilene) where the characteristic instrumental ensemble consists of the violin, the laouto, and at times the santouri, a type of hammered dulcimer.
The Northern Sproades Islands of Skopelos, Skiathos, Alonissos, and Skyros are located north of
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