Greek Music

The Western tendency to place melody at the center of musical experience has meant that the music of ancient Greece, which survives only in a few disjointed fragments of an imperfectly understood notation, has been written off for lost. But of course it's not lost. Greek instruments have come down to museum collections here and there, and many of the missing pieces related to their construction can be filled in by examining the numerous representations of instruments in Greek art.

Eleni Karaindrou – “Greece’s most eloquent living composer” in the words of Time magazine – was born in Teichio, a mountain village in central Greece. She still retains vivid memories of the sound world of her childhood: "the music of the wind, rain on the slate roof, running water. The nightingale's singing. And then the silence of the snow." Sometimes the mountains would echo to the sound of flutes and clarinets played at village festivals. “I still have a strong memory of the Byzantine melodies I heard in church and the continuous voices of the men accompanying the chanter," she has said. Resonances of this sound world, imbued with the history and suffering of her native land, have found their way into the many scores she has composed for film, TV and theatre in the past four decades.

Greek-Cypriot composer Solon Michaelides’s evocative Dawn at the Parthenon is infused with impressionist elements whereas Manolis Kalomiris, the leading figure in Greek national music, turns more to the voluptuous richness of Rimsky-Korsakov in his Island Pictures. Yannis Constantinidis’s two suites are notable for their subtle dance rhythms and expert orchestration while Nikos Skalkottas’s ingenious Greek Dances, one of his most popular works, are heard here in an edition for string orchestra by his friend, the conductor and composer Walter Goehr.

I through-listened to this CD, although I did take a few breaks for a mince pie and a cup of tea. I consider this to be a ‘concept’ album, so popular with progressive rock enthusiasts in the 1970s. By this, I mean an album where the sum is greater than the several parts.

Mikis Theodorakis is legendary Greek composer, born in Chios, Greece on 29th July 1925. He has worked for the Greek as well as international music industry for the last 70 years, contributing close to a thousand songs along the way. He has mostly centered his compositions to 20th century classical Greek music, working in a wide setting of genres. In a career that has been marred by rich musical taste, he has worked in various dimensions of production such as symphonic works, chamber music, cantatas, hymns, operas, stage plays and film scores. His work, in addition to featuring classical Greek poems and literature, is also influenced by his political leanings and struggles which were shaped throughout his life.

Ringo and His 10th All-Starr Band performed their last show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on August 2, 2008…