The polyphonic song of
EpirusEpirus is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe, currently divided between the periphery of Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, Berat, and Korçë in southern Albania.-Name & Etymology:...
constitutes one of the most interesting musical forms, not only for the east Mediterranean and the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, but also for the worldwide repertoire of the
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
polyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
. The music is mainly found among
AlbaniansAlbanians are a people from southeast Europe who live in Albania and neighboring countries. They speak the Albanian language. About half of them live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro...
,
GreeksThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
,
AromaniansAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
& Slavs in southern Albania and northwestern Greece.This polyphonic singing is also attested in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
in
yodelingYodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound...
songs of the region of
MuotatalSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
Although the research hasn’t reached certain conclusions, this polyphonic form is considered to be very old.
The polyphonic song of
EpirusEpirus is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe, currently divided between the periphery of Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, Berat, and Korçë in southern Albania.-Name & Etymology:...
constitutes one of the most interesting musical forms, not only for the east Mediterranean and the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, but also for the worldwide repertoire of the
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
polyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
. The music is mainly found among
AlbaniansAlbanians are a people from southeast Europe who live in Albania and neighboring countries. They speak the Albanian language. About half of them live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro...
,
GreeksThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
,
AromaniansAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
& Slavs in southern Albania and northwestern Greece.This polyphonic singing is also attested in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
in
yodelingYodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound...
songs of the region of
MuotatalSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
Origin
Although the research hasn’t reached certain conclusions, this polyphonic form is considered to be very old. The melodies of polyphonic songs, including some more songs of Epirus and
ThessalyThessaly is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. The capital of the periphery and traditional geographical region is Larissa. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Thrace, it is often referred to unofficially as Northern Greece...
, are the only ones in Greece that have preserved the pentatonic scale without semitones (a scale consisted of five tones without semitones). According to some musicologists, this scale is identified with the
DoricDue to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales.- Greek Dorian mode :...
way of the ancient Greek Dorians, the par excellence
HellenicAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
harmony. Except from its scale, what pleads for the very old origin of the kind is its vocal, collective, rhetorical and modal character. The tradition of Polyphonic singing has being contested and used by both sides of the Greek and Albanian border in a nationalistic manner.
Polyphonic Music in Greece and Albania
These days, polyphonic song is found in northwestern Greek region of
IoanninaIoannina is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a metropolitan population of approximately 100,000, and lies at an elevation of 600 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus, lying on the western side of lake Pamvotis...
(villages of Pogoni, Parakalamos and some villages north of
KonitsaKonitsa is a town in Epirus, Greece, near the Albanian border located at Mertzani near Melissopetra. It lies amphi-theatre shaped on a mountain slope of the Pindos mountain range, overlooking the valley where the river Aoos meets the river Voidomatis. The valley is used for farming...
), in very few villages in northeastern
ThesprotiaThesprotia is one of the prefectures of Greece in the periphery of Epirus. Its capital is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is bounded by Albania to the north, the prefecture of Ioannina to the east and Preveza prefecture in the south. It is one of the smallest Greek prefectures in terms of area and...
(
TsamantasTsamantas is a village located in Epirus. Tsamantas lies near the border with Albania in northern Greece, in the prefecture of Thesprotia.-References:***...
,
LiasLias may refer to:* Lias , a troll drummer in the book Soul Music by Terry Pratchett* Lias Group, a stratigraphic group found in large parts of Europe, formed during the Early Jurassic epoch* Lias, Gers, a commune of the Gers département, in France...
, Vavouri, Povla) and, mainly, in
Northern EpirusNorthern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albanian state. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
some significant examples are the villages and towns were recognized Greek populations reside in southern Albania (Northern Epirus) (
DelvineDelvinë is a small town in Vlorë County in Southern Albania, 16 km northeast of Saranda. Delvinë is the principal place of the Delvinë District. Delvinë has lost over a third of its citizens since 1990, leaving a population of 4,200 .The city is on a mountain slope...
,
DropullDropull is a region in Gjirokastër District in southern Albania. The region is stretching from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek-Albanian border, along the Drinos river. The region's villages are part of the recognized by the Albanian government "minority zone", in which live...
, Upper Pogoni, Polichani, Vuthroto, Himara and others). Also found in to varying degree in the rest of Greece & the islands.
Structure
Polyphonic groups of Epirus consist of four members at least. There are four distinct roles that compound the group.
Voices
"Πάρτης" (partis) or "σηκωτής" (sikotis) is the voice that sings the main melody, beginning, "παίρνοντας" (pernontas, taking) or "σηκώνοντας" (sikonontas, lifting) the song. The second voice answers, "γυρίζει" (yirizei, turns) or "τσακίζει" (tsakizei, crimps) the song; that’s why it is called the "γυριστής" ("yiristis", the turner). Sometimes, instead of "yiristis", or according to some musicologists parallel with it, we find the role of "κλώστης" (klostis, spinner), which makes peculiar yodels, "κλώθοντας" (klothontas, spinning) the song between the tonic and subtonic of the melody, a technique that reminds the movement of the hand which holds the spindle and spins the thread.
A role that is often, but not always, found is the one of "rihtis", who "ρίχνει" (drops) the song in the end of the introduction of "partis", singing an exclamation (e.g. "αχ ωχ ωχ" (ah oh oh), "άντε βρε" (ante vre) a fourth lower than the tonic of the melody, resting "partis" and uniting its introduction with the entrance of "ισοκρατές" (isokrates).
The rest members of the polyphonic group, "isokrates", keep the "ίσο" (iso, vocal drone), namely the sound of the tonic of the melody, creating the modal base of the song. The isokrates' role is particularly important; the louder the «ισοκράτημα» (isokratima, keeping of the vocal drone) is, the more "βρονταριά" (vrontaria) the song goes (i.e. the better).
The perfection of the rendition of the polyphonic song presupposes the existence and the unity of the several voices–roles of the polyphonic group. As a result, polyphonic song presupposes the collectiveness of expression and the firm distinction between the roles it reflects, and the unwritten hierarchy in the composition of the group and the distribution of the roles.
Further reading
- World Music: The Rough Guide by Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham - 1999 - ISBN 1858286352
- Greek Folk Dances by Rickey Holden, Mary Vouras – 1965
- Engendering Song: Singing and Subjectivity at Prespa by Jane C. Sugarman,1997,ISBN 0226779726
External links