Greece Culture: Music and Dance Intro Page 2
Sadly, television, radio, the cassette and CD, along with the massive invasion of commercial western music, have
lessened the frequency of spontaneous musical events in villages and towns, all over the Balkans, as it has the hiring of
bands for live music at weddings and other important celebrations. Perhaps response to all this, a public school program
has been established in Greece in recent years , with official musical 'gymnasia' (middle school or junior high schools)
and 'lykeia' (high schools), and there are also some higher level schools which are government financed, and are dedicated
to traditional music study and instrument making. In addition there are quite a few 'odeia' (conservatories), with very
affordable programs of study for both Greek traditional and western classical music, and 'syllogi' (associations)
involved in the teaching and performance of traditional Greek music and dance.
In all of the Balkans, as well as in Greece, most songs are in dance rhythms, the songs sung either a cappella, or with one instrument which holds a drone note (the bagpipe known as gaida, for example) and which may also play instrumental interludes between verses, or, alternatively, the singer(s) may be also a musician who plays instrumental breaks between verses, with one or more other musicians (e.g. the island pair who play violin and laouto, with one of the musicians also the singer). Lastly, the singers may constitute an entire chorus (the Greek word 'horos' used in ancient times for both 'dance' and chorus', indicating their close connection). Such choruses, may also dance as they sing, as is witnessed in contemporary performances of singers in traditional costumes dancing while they sing. In the past, costumes sometimes reflected the status of the dancer within her/his community, and also had an influence on what kind of steps were possible.
Before sketching some of the regional kinds of Greek music and dance, a few comments on some common aspects might be helpful to the uninitiated. Besides dance music (both purely instrumental or songs as well), there are many types of songs for various occasions, such as 'nanourismata' (lullabies), 'miroloyia' (laments or dirges sung after deaths), 'epitrapezia' or 'kathistika' (slow, highly embellished table songs), 'kleftika' (historical or epic songs, especially dealing with the 'klephts', or brigand like freedom fighters in the mountains ), 'rizitika' (similar to the 'klephtika', though they can be simple eulogies to the beauty of the mountains or to a table set with finery for ones most beloved friends), 'pedika' (children's songs), 'kalanda' (carols for Christmas, Epiphany and Easter), 'xenitia' (songs of exile).
