#4125: Music from Greece

Listen to music from Greece for this New Sounds. There’s traditional music of the Mediterranean (France, Greece and the near East) featuring a quartet called Thrace, consisting of cello, lyra, and percussion. Listen to a dance in 7/8 from their record Sunday Morning Sessions. Then, hear operatic powerhouses Jesse Norman and Kathleen Battle on music from Vangelis’ Mythodea, written for the NASA mission to Mars. Also, listen to music by composer Eleni Karaindrou, who has scored a number of films. 

Move on to the music from the island of Crete, with trio music from Efren Lopez, Stelios Petrakis, Bijan Chemirani, “To Katehon," from the record, Taos. There’s new music by electroacoustic music composer and instrument maker Tasos Stamou from his latest, Musique con Crète. (Good one!) It’s built of field recordings taken from the Greek island of Crete, performing with local musicians, producing electronic compositions and gathering old records and tapes of traditional music of the region.

Then, hear the lute and drums duo of Xylouris White, from their most recent record, Mother. (The duo also recorded a set in-studio for our Soundcheck Podcast.) Plus, music from the region of Epiros, and more. - Caryn Havlik

ARTIST: Halkias Family Orchestra
WORK: Skaros [7:00]
RECORDING: Songs & Dances of Epiros
SOURCE: Cassette release via Ethnic Folk Arts Center, now the Center for Traditional Music and Dance.
INFO: Out of print, but Library of Congress has a listing. 

ARTIST: Kitsos Harisiadis
WORK: Skaros [3:13]
RECORDING: Lament in a Deep Style 1929-1931
SOURCE: Third Man Records
INFO: thirdmanrecords.com

ARTIST: Vangelis
WORK: Mythodea, Part 9 [5:31]
RECORDING: Mythodea
SOURCE: Sony Classical #89191
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Eleni Karaindrou
WORK: Backwards To Their Sources (Chorus I) [3:41]
RECORDING: Medea
SOURCE: ECM 2376
INFO: ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Efren Lopez, Stelios Petrakis, Bijan Chemirani
WORK: To Katehon [3:16]
RECORDING: Taos
SOURCE: Buda Musique
INFO: budamusique.com

ARTIST: Jean-Guihen Queyras, Sokratis Sinopoulos, Bijan Chemirami and Keyvan Chemirami
WORK: Dance in 7/8 [7:29]
RECORDING: Thrace Sunday Morning Sessions
SOURCE: Harmonia Mundi HMC 902242
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Tasos Stamou
WORK: A Call [6:02]
RECORDING: Musique con Crète
SOURCE: Discrepant Records
INFO: discrepant.net

ARTIST: Xylouris White
WORK: Lullaby [4:13]
RECORDING: Mother
SOURCE: Bella Union
INFO: bellaunion.com

ARTIST: Petroloukas Chalkias
WORK: Mariola [4:58]
RECORDING: World Routes - On The Road
SOURCE: Nascent NASCE 001
INFO: Available at Amazon.com or iTunes