Music of Greece
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.
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.
By the beginning of the 20th century, music-cafés (καφέ-σαντάν) were popular in cities like Constantinople and Smyrna, where small groups of musicians from Greece played.
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.
The lyrics are based on dimotiki (folk) poetry (usually by anonymous lyricist) and popular themes are love, marriage, humor, death, nature, water, sea, religious, about klephts, armatoloi, various war fighters or battles etc.
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.
It was through the Ionian islands (which were under Venetian rule and influence) that all the major advances of the western European classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks.
Representatives are also Nikos Skalkottas, who drew his influences also from Greek folk tradition, Emilios Riadis and the conductor Dimitris Mitropoulos.
: καντάδα) 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.
Notable actors of Greek operettas, who made also 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.
Giorgos Mouzakis was a prominent virtuoso trumpeter (borrowed latin jazz elements), while Attik and Michalis Souyioul were also among the most succeeded and popular composers.
Notable singers of this style include also Fotis Polymeris, Sofia Vembo (a star of the era), Mary Lo, Danaë Stratigopoulou, Stella Greca and Tony Maroudas.
Rebetiko was initially associated with the lower and poor classes, but later reached greater general acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and polished.
Many of these immigrants were highly educated, such as songwriter Vangelis Papazoglou, and Panagiotis Toundas, composer and leader of Odeon Records' Greek subsidiary, who are traditionally considered as the founders of the Smyrna school of rebetiko.
Other popular rebetiko songwriters and singers of this period (1940s) include: Dimitris Gogos (better known as Bayandéras), Stelios Perpiniadis, Spyros Peristeris, Giannis Papaioannou, and Apostolos Hatzichristos.
His song Συννεφιασμένη Κυριακή - Synnefiasméni Kyriakí became an anthem for the oppressed Greeks when it was composed in 1943 (during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II), despite the fact that it was not recorded until 1948.
In 1953, Manolis Chiotis added a fourth pair of strings to the bouzouki, which allowed it to be played as a guitar and set the stage for the future 'electrification' of rebetiko.
This final era of rebetiko (mid 1940s–1953) also featured the emergence of night clubs (κέντρα διασκεδάσεως) as a means of popularizing music.
As opposed to other forms of Greek urban folk music, éntekhno concerts would often take place outside a hall or a night club in the open air.
Among the most significant songwriters and lyricists of this period are considered George Zambetas, Manolis Hiotis and Vassilis Tsitsanis; of course the big names of this kind are still in Greek business.
[15] Other significant songwriters and lyricists of this category are considered George Zambetas, Akis Panou, Apostolos Kaldaras, Giorgos Mitsakis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Lefteris Papadopoulos and Eftichia Papagianopoulos.
The genre's sound was an imitation of the then contemporary Cuban and Mexican folk music,[16] but also had elements from the early Athenian popular songs.
Artists, such as Kostas Martakis, Panos Kalidis, Ioakim Fokas, Stella Kali, Stan, Katerina Stikoudi, Demy and X-Factor contestants such as Konstantinos Argyros, Eleftheria Eleftheriou and Ivi Adamou.
[17] Despite its popularity, the genre of modern laïká (especially laïko-pop) has come under scrutiny for "featuring musical clichés, average singing voices and slogan-like lyrics" and for "being a hybrid, neither laïkó, nor pop".
Critics of this genre relate it with modern laïká, mentioning the low quality and the indispensable common part of the pista (πίστα, pl.
Savvopoulos mixed American musicians like Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa with Macedonian folk music and politically incisive lyrics.
In his wake came more folk-influenced performers like Arleta, Mariza Koch, Mihalis Violaris, Kostas Hatzis and the composer Giannis Spanos.
Classic éntekhno composers associated with this movement include Mikis Theodorakis, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Giannis Markopoulos, and Manos Loïzos.
A popular trend since the late 1980s has been the fusion of éntekhno (urban folk ballads with artistic lyrics) with pop / soft rock music (έντεχνο ποπ-ροκ).
Most of them were short-lived and never gained mainstream popularity but the most prominent artists/bands of these scenes are critically acclaimed today and are considered among the pioneers of independent Greek music (each one in their own genre).
