Aaaand the Iranian musicologist of our heart, Farya Faraji is back....!!! Once again with his alias, the ancient but totally modernized Greek Aristoxenos, this time he analyzes Byzantine music and sets the record straight when he oughts to. Keep in mind that Farya, ehm Aristoxenos I mean, is greeking very hard in this one so there's nearly an hour of English with a hardcore Greek accent... If you are not acquainted with Farya's Greek alter ego Aristoxenos, it's just a character ok...
The content and the information Faraji is providing is once more invaluable. His research - as usual - is impeccable. I won't expand here, I will just say the points that I learned, which I didn't know and surpised me personally and maybe one detail I would like to provide some feedback for:
It never, not once occured to me up to this point in my life that the organ comes from Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire!!! Which is kinda stupid because "organ" is a Greek word (όργανο - órgano) and it has various meanings, including the relevant one here; instrument. As Farya notes this might be surprising to us because from the Byzantine Empire it was then used by Charlemagne and the Pope and got popularized in the West while in the East it died out, so this is why most people have no idea it came from Greece. It should be taken into account however that in its original form the Byzantine organ was much smaller than the modern gigantic ones, it was man sized at most.
THE SYRINX AKA THE PAN FLUTE WAS POPULAR IN GREECE AND ANATOLIA UP TO THE 18TH CENTURY?!?!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?!? fgeuyrulshdawohohafhwdiiffjeihfehfiehffal I should have realised it though... Christodoulos Halaris' reinterpretation of Erotokritos in late Byzantine music features something that sounds a lot like pan flute...
I knew that King Charles of the UK used Byzantine imperial chanting in his coronation but Farya analyzes this music piece in the video and it was apparently an acclamation, a court Byzantine acclamation praising the emperor and wishing him to reign for many years.... So okay Charles has some Greek cultural background from his father, prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (Elizabeth's husband), but it is a little funny that he was like "yeah sing me the Byzantine imperial acclamations as I get crowned". I don't mean ill by saying this, just a little funny, that's all.
Now, the point I want to talk about a little more. Farya once more talks about what he is most passionate when it comes to Greek music; correcting the misconception that Greek music suddenly became oriental after the Ottoman conquest, instead of the actuality that Greek music is intrinsically eastern since the foundations of the Greek civilisation and, on the contrary, started westernizing itself after the independence, as one of the measures with which the Modern Greek state tried to distance itself from Turkey and everything that could by proxy be associated with it and the savage East (as it was considered and still is considered by some in the West), even if this choice made it lose also parts of its own identity in the process. So, he explains how the urban music of Modern Greece and the major Greek composers of the 20th century essentially were trained and composed in the fashion of western music. The laiko genre, he says, is western, Theodorakis is western, Hatzidakis is western. So, I understand what he is saying but I think in his passion to explain the situation and correct the misconception he exaggerates a bit the proportion of western identity in this music, to a point that it can create new misunderstandings amongst foreign people who might not be well acquainted with Greek music or music theory. Laikó is indeed way more western than folk music but we should not forget that it derived from rebetiko, which is a blend of Byzantine and Ottoman music with western harmony. Laiko was essentially the further westernization of rebetiko but as such, there is still an eastern part in it. So if someone listens to a pure old laiko song, there is resolutely not a chance he will mistaken it for music of western or northern Europe. Then again, Farya admittedly speaks mostly about music modality and not other elements that define a music piece like the instruments, the cultural context, the message passed through the music, the rhythm etc But I am making this distinction because it is important to understand that besides the modality there are more things that define the western or eastern character of music, and people without thorough musical education (such as myself) might perceive music as western or eastern based on such criteria rather than modality alone, and based on those other criteria laiko will probably be immediately perceived as eastern by west European or American people.
Funny thing is how he tries not to say that he hates Zorbas' music but he totally hates it and I do dislike it too tbh and mind you, Theodorakis is my favourite composer! But Zorbas is simply not anywhere near his best work - good and cheerful and uplifiting and genius as it is, it is nowhere near his masterpieces and it is very annoying that it is considered the quintessential Greek song, because it's not. So I get why he is seething about it. But I still think he overdid the western argument, for example, he could choose a different performance of Ta Paidia Tou Peiraia than an operatic one sung by a Greek American with an English accent, you know? Ta Paidia tou Peiraia is a westernized laiko but it is not opera level of western, come on! Again, I know it's about modality and music theory but when you give someone an operatic interpretation of it, which is not its original interpretation, then you kind of mislead the level of western tradition the average non-musician foreign viewer perceives in it. That's my only criticism because everything else is greatly researched, this is his weakness and he gets too passionate about it and perhaps he has in his mind that he speaks to people that are knowledgeable in music theory.
I am however eternally grateful to him because he added a song in the video that I had been searching its name FOR AGES. Bless this good Iranian that helps us out when we can't find our own songs! For anyone wondering, it's the old Icarian music and I have been blasting it on repeat since yesterday... Farya uses this music in the video as an example of the eastern, Byzantine descended, modern Greek folk music.
By the way, what must the tourists (and the locals) in Santorini have thought, seeing him like that?
In the following thread you can find all posts I have made or reblogged in regards or with references to Farya Faraji's excellent work on Greek music:
https://gemsofgreece.tumblr.com/search/farya+faraji
