Greek folk songs of Roumeli [Sterea Hellas] region of mainland Greece.
Authentic 78 rpm recordings 1927 - 1957

With the exception of a low, fertile strip of land between the city of Agrinion and the southwestern corner of the region, and a few other scattered small plains, Roumeli is very mountainous. Travelling to the interior, one encounters some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in all of Greece. High slopes covered with thick growths of coniferous trees and brush.
Up to the Second World War, Rourneliotes lived by herding sheep and goats. Now, with so many people having left the villages, there are much fewer flocks in the area.
Greeks tend to create stereotype characters of persons originating from different parts of the country. The rest of the Greeks consider the Boumeiiotes as being honest and stable, and stubbornly resistant to subjugation.
In song-type and style of performance, the songs of Roumeli are quite similar to those of the Peloponnesos. There are the 'Table Songs' in free rhythm, and the livlier and rhythmic road songs and dance songs. Song texts relate htstorica! events and heroic acts, others are appropriate for singing at weddings, at Easter, at carnival, or in the Spring (. And still others are sung as love songs, or songs of seperation, or as a propitiatory song to induce nature to release her beneficial rain.
Songs on this disc, and the other known songs of Roumeli, are of three modal types - First Mode, with the melody ranging within the tetrachord d - g and c below the tetrachord. First Mode Plagal, with the melody ranging over the entire scale. And Fourth Mode Plagal chromatic, with the melody ranging within the pentachord c - g.
The pipiza, either played in pairs or singly to the accompaniment of the deou!i, continues to be heard in the region. Whereas, the more refined group of instruments is still considered the violin, clarinet, and teouto, and in addition, the santouri , when there has been someone to play it.
In the past, itinerant gaida (bagpipe with drone) players from the very poor villages, Kravaritohoria, of the region of Nafpactos, went from village to village in the province, or further to the Peloponnesos or elsewhere, to play melodies suited to the occasions and emotions of villagers' lives. When they had earned enough money, they retu rned home.
The flute continues to be the indispensable companion of the shepherds who roam the mountains tending their flocks.

The traditional dances of Roumeli are the tsamiko (beat of 6), danced flamboyantly by the men, and in contrast, modestly, by the women. There are two kinds of syrtos (beat of 4); the one 'in three' danced in a deliberate style, and the other, like the ordinary syrtos. The kalamatianos syrtos (beat of 7) is called the kangeli (side A, band 3) in Eastern Houmell: it is a mixed-dance type, evolving into the ordinary syrtos (beat of 4). Probably originating from the dltficultly accessible mountain area of the Agrafa, is the klestos dance .
In village celebrations, a great open circle of men, women and children, linked arm in arm, alternate in two groups to sing the lyrics of the song to accompany their dancing.