If you are planning to enjoy your holidays to Crete, visit some of the quaint towns and communities that are all around the island. During your exploration, you may find a fascinating scene: a group of townspeople playing a mandolin-like bouzoki and singing some sort of song that involves a lot of Turkish names. You are witnessing a performance of tabachaniotika.
The tabachaniotika is an urban collection of songs that belong to a wide family of music such as the music of Cafe-aman and rebetiko. Tabachaniotika music beautifully merges together East European and Greek music, resulting in a style that represents the result of the Cretan-Minor Asia’s Greek cultural syncretism in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Immigrants from Smyrna improved on the music during their immigration in 1922 so much so that it became more practiced than the local rebetiko. Tabachaniotika is thought to have been performed while people roll and smoke hashish, or tobacco.
Tabachaniotika songs all share several major features. First, the songs are performed with a set of melody types called dromoi, which typically features modal types designated with Turkish names. Second, the songs are typically preceded by an instrumental wherein the player plays Greek dromos. Third, classic Mediterranean stringed musical instruments such as the bouzouki, boulgari, and Banglamas are used to provide the melody. Fourth, the songs are characterized by a Tsifteteli rhythm.
The other major characteristic of tabachaniotika songs is that they feature political verse, which are fifteen syllable lines split into two hemistichs, or half-line of a verse. These hemistichs are normally composed as mandinades, which are actually couplets. The lyrics of tabachaniotika songs mainly depict lost love and existential grief. However, there are also happier songs, particularly narrative pieces, dialogue-like pieces performed in duets, or songs that make fun of Turks. Unlike rebetiko, tamachaniotika songs are only meant to be sung, not danced.
When you are planning to have your cheap holidays abroad, don’t forget to look for places where you can listen to these beautiful songs. Book your trip through Travel Republic.
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