New York Folklore: Volume 14, No.3-4: Survival of Greek Folk Music in New York

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NEW YORK FOLKLORE
Vol. 14, Nos. 3-4, 1988
Folk and Traditional Music in New York State
Ray Allen and Nancy Groce, Guest Editors

SURVIVAL OF GREEK FOLK MUSIC IN NEW YORK
by Sotirios (Sam) Chianis

Introduction
The folk music of Greece is related to both classical Greek and Byzantine church music. Certain folk dances as well as poetic and musical meters are directly related to classical traditions, while certain modes (scales), melodic characteristics, and ornamental devices are clearly derived from Byzantine ecclesiastic music. It would be erroneous, however, to speak of a specific type or style of folk music which can be considered common to the whole of Greece. Over the centuries, several stylistically distinct musical traditions have developed as a result of Greece’s geographic position in relation to the other Balkan cultures and to those bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Music is found in every region and island of Greece and is a vital part of every event in village life. The bride and groom are taken to church with the sounds of processional music provided by local musicians. During the reception, the newlyweds are praised with songs of long life and prosperity. Villagers sing traditional road songs as they return home from a long day in the nearby fields or after a night of celebrating in the local coffeehouse. Mothers lull their babies to sleep with lullabies; the dead are mourned with laments. For village people, music not only serves as a means of self-expression, but is truly an inseparable part of daily life.

In general, Greek folk music may be divided into two main classifications: the music of the mainland, and of the islands. The mainland regions of Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly Roumeli, and the Peloponnesus are each considered distinct musical areas set apart from one another by regional customs, dialects, types and categories of folk songs and dances, modes (scales), accompanying rhythms, musical and poetic meters, melodic ornamentation, structural forms, and types and uses of folk musical instruments....

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