Rebetiko
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Rebetiko, plural rebetika, (Greek ρεμπέτικο and ρεμπέτικα respectively) is the name for a type of urban Greek music.
Rebetika were the songs of the Greek underground, sung by the so-called rebetes (Greek: ρεμπέτης). Rebetes were unconventional people who lived outside the social order. They first appeared after the Greek War of Independence of 1821.
The songs, often compared to genres like American blues, are full of grief, passion, romance, and bitterness. They are generally melancholic songs telling of the misfortunes of simple ordinary men. Many early rebetic songs were about drugs, especially Hashish which led Rebetiko to be criminalized. Not until 1947, when Manos Hadjidakis introduced Rebetika to the upper classes, were these songs accepted as a music style. Damianakos Stathis noted that the rebetic songs of the first period were mostly the singing expression of lumpenproletariat. A lot of the rebetika songs are for dancing, zeibekiko and chasapiko being very common but they also include tsifteteli, karsilamas and other dance styles.
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[edit] History
See also: Timeline of Rebetika
Elias Petropoulos, one of the principal historians of the rebetic style, divides the history of the style into three periods:
- 1922–1932 — the era when rebetika emerged from its roots in the music of Smyrna
- 1932–1942 — the classical period
- 1942–1952 — the era of discovery, spread, and acceptance.
[edit] Prehistory
The roots of rebetic song may be found in the music of the coastal settlements of Asia Minor, or Mikr'asia in Greek, Anatolia in English or Anadolu in Turkish, that of Constantinople or Istanbul, and also in the prisons; the existence of which is attested from the middle of the nineteenth century.
At the end of the 19th century the Cafe Aman arrived in Greece and Asia Minor. These were coffeehouses in which the habitués amused themselves with lively music. These rooms constituted one of the cradles of rebetic song — along with the prison, the tavern, and the hashish den.
[edit] The mastery period & its Smyrnian roots
1922 was the year of the Asia Minor Disaster, which was followed by population exhanges in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne. Many Asia Minor Greeks were settled in the larger cites of Greece, bringing with them their traditional music.
From the admixture of the music of Asia Minor with elements from Greece proper, the rebetic style came into being. In this period, the themes of the rebetika revolved mainly around love songs and songs with references to illicit activities (such as narcotics). The influences of the music of Smyrna or İzmir were profound, given their unrivalled pathos, and at certain times it is difficult to distinguish the rebetic song from the Smyrnian.
[edit] The classical period
Gradually the rebetic variety acquired its own peculiar character. In 1932, the first recordings of rebetika arrived, made by Markos Vamvakaris. In 1936 began the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas and with it, the onset of censorship.
Consequently the album was sanitized and the references to narcotics, opium, etc. vanished from the recordings. Yet the recording of illicit themes continued, for in that period a great number of Greeks emigrated to the United States, and with the emigrants went their rebetika. Many noteworthy songs were recorded, while a synthesis of Greek and foreign music produced many new musical varieties.
[edit] Instruments
The basic instruments for the performance of rebetic song are the bouzouki, baglamas (or baglama in Turkish) and whatever similar instruments one might care to include (e.g. the tzouras). Additional instruments used include the tambourine (or tambur in Turkish), violin, accordion, guitar, tonbak, finger-cymbals (comparable to castanets). In a few older recordings, something like clattering glass may be heard. It is a matter of some debate whether the sound is possibly produced by the striking of worry beads against a drinking glass. Some manges are in the habit of making the sound in their music with that method, a practice which was passed on and occurs in some modern recordings.
[edit] Famous performers
Some of the main rebetiko singers and creators include Panagiotis Tountas, Vaggelis Papazoglou, Giannis Eitziridis and Manolis Chrisafakis. The next generation included Markos Vamvakaris, Kostas Skarvelis, Giannis Papaioannou and Vassilis Tsitsanis.
- Rita Abatzi
- Grigoris Asikis
- Apostolos Chatzikhristos
- Manolis Chrisafakis
- Anna Chrisafi
- Yiorgos Batis
- Sotiria Belou
- Loukas Daralas
- Roza Eskenazi
- Mikhalis Genitsaris
- Babis Goles
- Dimitris Gogos (Bayanderas)
- Antonios Katinaris
- Marika Ninou
- Marika Papagika
- Yiannis Papaioannou
- Vangelis Papazoglou
- Stratos Payoumtzis
- Stelios Perpiniadis
- Kostas Roukounas
- Kostas Skarvelis
- Yovan Tsaous
- Prodromos Tsaousakis
- Michalis Jenitzaris
- Vassilis Tsitsanis
- Markos Vamvakaris
- Maria Katinari
- Georgios Ksintaris
- Marika Kanaropoulou (Tourkalitsa, Brousalia)
[edit] See also
- Rebetiko (film) — a film by Costas Ferris
- Rebetes
- List of rebetic songs
- List of dances
- List of dances sorted by ethnicity
[edit] Further reading
- Damianakos Stathis, Κοινωνιολογία του Ρεμπέτικου 2nd Edition. Athens, Plethron, 2001.
- Gauntlett Stathis, Rebetika, Carmina Graeciae Recentoris. Athens, D. Harvey and Co., 1985.
- Hadjidakis Manos, Ερμηνεία και θέση του ρεμπέτικου τραγουδιού. 1949.
- Holst-War, Road to Rembetika: Music of a Greek sub-culture, songs of love, sorrow and hashish, Athens, Denise Harvey, 1989
- Kotarides Nikos, Ρεμπέτες και ρεμπέτικο τραγούδι. Athens, Plethron, 1996.
- Kounades Panagiotis, Εις ανάμνησιν στιγμών ελκυστικών. Athens, Katarti, 2000.
- Petropoulos Elias, Ρεμπέτικα τραγούδια. Athens, 1968.
[edit] External links
- Se Xrono Rebetiko Kai Laiko (Audio file) A weekly syndicated Greek radio show on Rebetika music hosted by Photi Sotiropoulos and written by Vlassis Kokonis
- Rembetika and Greek Popular Music Extensive article by Matt Barrett
- Rebetiko On-lineThere you can read a brief introduction in Greek and English, see many photos and listen 24h a day live rebetika music
