2. Folk Songs (Dimotiko Tragoudi)
• Greek folk song sees its origins coming
from the time of ancient Greek poetry and
music
3. Folk Songs (Dimotiko Tragoudi)
• It can be divided into two musical
movements: the akritic and the klephtic.
4. Folk Songs (Dimotiko Tragoudi)
• The akritic style dates from the 9th century
AD and it was created to express the life
and struggles of the frontier guards of the
Byzantine Empire, the "akrites".
5. Folk Songs (Dimotiko Tragoudi)
• The klephtic style was born between the
end of the Byzantine period and the
beginning of the Greek Revolution that led
to the Greek Independence in 1821. This
style was created by the "kleftes", the
heroes who left to live in the mountains,
leading a revolutionary action against the
Ottoman tyranny.
6. Kantada
• Originated from Kefalonia island and
created at the beginning of the 19th
century, it is a style of romantic serenade
music, sung with three male voices in
chorus, accompanied by guitar or
mandolin.
7. Kantada
• This style had been influenced by the
Italian music and soon gained all the
Ionian Islands and the rest of Greece.
8. Nissiotika
• This kind of songs was born in the Greek
islands. Every island has its own nissiotiko style
and its own way of dancing it. Violin, lira, clarinet
and guitar accompany the high-pitched women
voices or the low voice of a single man.
Nissiotika are still easy to listen in every festival
on any Greek island.
9. Cretan music
• The roots of Cretan traditional music lie in the past –
according to the myth in which the birth of Zeus was
accompanied by the dances of the Kouretes, who beat
their shields to cover up the cries of the new-born
godling and so protect him from Kronos. The practice of
music in Crete was influenced by Byzantine music, by
that of the Venetians and of the Eastern Mediterranean:
it continues to live and breathe today by exploring
contemporary musical elements.
10. Rebetiko
• Rebetiko briefly can be described as the
urban popular song of the Greeks,
especially the poorest, from the late 19th
century to the 1950s
11. Late 20th century music
• In the 1980s, modern artists rehabilitated
the rembetiko music and mixed it with rock
music, bringing to life a new, passionate
and interesting kind of music. Their lyrics
were about personal or political freedom ,
or about aspects of everyday life, pain and
sorrow, and drugged generation.
12. Entehno
• Éntekhno arose in the late 1950s.
Éntekhno (meaning 'art song') is
orchestral music with elements from
Greek folk rhythm and melody; its lyrical
themes are often based on the work of
famous Greek poets.
