Pontic Greek music

Cultural role#

When Pontian refugees came from the Pontos to Greece in the 1920s, they brought traditions of music and folklore with them. Between the 1950s and the 1980s, Pontian clubs used music, dance, and folklore to portray themselves as both patriotic Greeks and as a distinct group unto themselves. At the time, Pontian singers tended to censor songs with Turkish verses in order to assimilate into Greek society. In the 1980s, as the original generation of Pontian refugees began to die off, Pontian musicians focused on remembering the original refugees and their experience. Musicians began to openly perform Pontian songs with Turkish verses, such as “Tsambasin.” A , or , is an important form of social get-together for Pontians in the 21st century, describing “a banquet where music is the main activity.” gatherings feature music, including , or “tabletop melodies.” Tablemates go back and forth, singing original or remembered rhyming couplets to one another. The couplets are in iambic meter or trochaic meter. The provides instrumental support. The goal of a performance is to express emotions through the use of remembered verses, and to share these feelings with one’s community. Couplets may be used to communicate sorrow, to express longing, or to flirt. Scholar Ioannis Tsekouras argues that gatherings first emerged among refugees as ways to discuss their memories of genocide and deportation.

Instruments#

Pontian musicians utilize a variety of instruments. One of the most commonly played instruments is the lyra, also called the Pontic kemençe or simply the kemençe. Pontians use their own language, Romeika, to describe instruments and their parts. For example, the soundholes on a lyra are called , literally “nostrils.”

Lyra#

The lyra is a three-stringed instrument made of dense wood. The instrument is tuned in fourths, typically from the highest string to the lowest string. Lyras come in three different sizes: the largest, about 60 cm in long, is called the and has the lowest pitch. The smallest, the , is 45 cm in long, and it has the highest pitch. The falls in the middle, both with regards to size and pitch. Trills and mordents are common in lyra playing. The player, or , holds the instrument in their non-dominant hand, using their fingers to manipulate the strings. Like in violin, the presses down on the strings vertically. They hold the bow () in their dominant hand to play the lyra. The instrument is not held against the musician’s chin, as with the violin; rather, the body () may rest in the musician’s lap, or the neck () may rest against their shoulder. The may sing or lead a dance while playing. To produce polyphonic sounds, the presses down two strings with the same finger. There are four different hand positions for lyra playing, with first position being the most common. The origin of the lyra is unknown. It may have ties to the Persian kamancheh or to other Byzantine or medieval European instruments. The lyra is shared with other cultures in the area, including Lazes and Turks. In rural parts of the Black Sea region, Islamic preachers have decried the lyra as a , a “giaour (infidel) instrument.” There is some stigma associated with the lyra; in Turkey, stereotypes exist of lyra players as promiscuous, irreligious alcoholics. Some devout Muslims in the Black Sea area believe that playing the lyra is a sin. Nevertheless, it is an important part of the local folk culture.

Daouli#

The daouli is a percussion instrument used by Pontians.

Touloum#

The touloum is a bagpipe, also played by Laz people and Hemshins. The bag itself is typically made of goatskin or sheepskin, while the two pipes are made of cane. The bagpipe has five fingerholes, some of which may be plugged with wax to achieve different sounds. By manipulating the fingerholes, it is possible for musicians to produce double sounds, so they can play polyphonically. the touloum is undergoing a revival in Turkey. Some Turkish artists, including Laz and Hemshin musicians, released albums with touloum music in the 2010s and 2020s.

Other instruments#

Another Pontian instrument is the zourna, also called (literally “the rooster”). The is a woodwind instrument related to the oboe. They come in various sizes, ranging from 22-60 cm in . The has seven airholes, and a thumbhole on which the (zourna player) places their thumb. Additionally, Pontians from certain regions have traditionally played the kemane, the oud, and the violin. The violin, however, is played upright in the musician’s lap, as if it were a lyra. Pontians in Georgia may use the accordion rather than the lyra. Vocals are also part of Pontian music. Singers tend to use vibrato. Often, a leader will sing a line, and then a chorus of other singers will repeat that line. Sometimes singers duet with one leading.

Byzantine period#

Some Romeika-language Acritic songs date back to the Byzantine Empire and Empire of Trebizond. These songs depict , soldiers who defended the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire. The Acritic songs featured folk heroes such as Digenes Akritas. Acritic songs were first collected in Trabzon in the 1870s. One song, , (“Marandos received a letter”) depicts a legendary soldier named Marandos, who goes to war for seven years and leaves his young wife. Upon his return, his wife fails to recognize him. The homecoming theme is reminiscent of nostos from classic Greek literature. The song follows Akrítas, literally “frontiersman,” who speaks to a small bird. The bird sits on his ploughshare while he works and sings to him. It says, Birds, including the eagle, are a common motif in Pontian folklore. One song, (“An eagle flew high”), describes an eagle carrying the arm of an unknown soldier in its claws. The fallen soldier himself lies dead on the mountainside. Many Acritic songs from the Pontos are allegorical, referencing struggles against outsiders and conquerors. Another Acritic song, (“The castle of the sun”), dates from the 1400s. The song is also known as , (“Beauty’s Castle”). The ballad centers on a Byzantine castle with a young woman living inside. Turkish soldiers had tried and failed to take the castle for years. However, a young Pontian who had defected to the Turkish side deceived the people living in the castle into opening the gate.

Early modern#

Ioannis Parharidis, a Pontian Greek teacher born in Trabzon in 1858, did field work studying Romeika-language musical traditions around the Black Sea region. In Christian villages near Trapezounta, he found that people sang traditional folk songs. These related to historical events and had a patriotic character. Greek Orthodox Pontians also sang , or mourning songs, for the recently deceased. In the Ophis region, which had a population of Sunni Muslim Romeika speakers, Parharidis found that the locals tended to improvise songs rather than sing well-known folk songs. Additionally, villagers participated in dialogs called , literally meaning “battle of words.” During the dialog, two singers joked, argued, and attempted to outsmart one another using rhyming lyrics. Muslim Romeika speakers also sang . Their lyrics mixed Romeika and Turkish. Many Pontian folk songs have survived through to the 21st century. There are a variety of subjects: historical events, warfare, romantic love, fantastic situations, and sorrowful events. Slow, sad songs are known as . Some surviving folk songs include (“Mother is like cold waster”), a song about mother’s love, and (“Come my bird from far away”). There are CD recordings of numerous Pontian folk songs. Some are love songs, such as (“The maid climbed up to the summer pasture”) and (“Let’s go gather chestnuts”). Some are traditionally played at weddings, such as (“I wait for you”). Still other songs are religious and are sung during various Christian holidays. For example, the song (“Easter couplets”) references the tradition of dyeing eggs red for Easter. Some songs were written in response to the Greek genocide and the subsequent population exchange. Some distichs used in singing also center on the genocide: “Many Romiyi Greeks lost their lives on the way to Erzurum. / May these years go away and never come back.”

Folk music in the modern day#

The Greek Orthodox population of the Pontos had to leave their traditional lands during the Greek genocide and subsequent population exchange in the 1910s and 1920s. Most resettled in Greece. As a result, their musical styles naturally diverged from those of the Muslim Pontic Turks, who remained in the area.

In Turkey#

Some Black Sea Turks speak Romeika and use traditional Black Sea instruments. For example, Merve Tanrıkulu, a Turkish singer from Trabzon, released an original Romeika-language lullaby in 2019. The title is , literally “Romeika lullaby.” Sinan Karlıdağ accompanied her, playing the (). Tanrıkulu told a local news outlet that she recorded the lullaby in order to keep the culture of her region alive. She speaks the highly endangered Ophitic dialect of Romeika. Apolas Lermi is a singer and guitarist from Trabzon. His birth name is Abdurrahman Lermi, but he goes by the stage name Apolas, for the Greek god of music Apollo. His albums include music in both Turkish and Romeika. Lermi says he received death threats after including Romeika-language songs on his 2011 album . He continued to perform music in Romeika afterward. In 2016, Lermi released an album titled Romeika, composed entirely of Pontic Greek songs. He has also performed duets with Greek singers such as Pela Nikolaidou.

In the diaspora#

Some lyra players who emigrated from Pontos during the population exchange went on to record music while in Greece. Many were from Trabzon and the surrounding area. They preserved Pontian musical tradition and publicized it for a larger audience. While the lyra is historically played outdoors, in the 21st century, playing indoors is more common. As a side effect, lyras are becoming larger to produce music that is lower in pitch compared to historical lyras. Modern Pontic music in Greece has been heavily influenced by traditional Greek music styles, such as rebetiko. Some prominent lyra players, such as Giorgos “Gogos” Petridis, also learned to play the bouzouki, which influenced their lyra playing. Musicians in the diaspora continued to write new songs in Romeika. One such song is , in English I Lost My Homeland. The song title refers to the sense of loss refugees felt after the population exchange in the early 1920s. Since the 1970s, the genre has emerged. This Neopontic music emerged from the nightclub scenes; it combines traditional Pontian instruments like the lyra with other instruments, like synthesizers, drum kits, and electric guitars. Neopontic has become a catch-all term for Pontian music that is not traditional.

In popular culture#

Some radio stations, mostly in Greece, play Pontian music. * Radio Akrites 102.3 FM, based in Thessaloniki, Greece * Radio Alexios Komninos 105.8, based in Alexandroupolis, Greece * Radio Lelevose 101.3 FM, based in Kavala * Radio Pontos Stockholm, based in Stockholm, Sweden * Radio Trapezounta, based in Boston, USA Kostas Ageris, winner of the second season of The Voice of Greece, performed the Romeika song to lyra accompaniment on Greek national television in 2015. Ageris’ family is Pontian.

Lyra#

• Matthaios Tsahouridis (1978–), born in Veria, Greece

Composers#

• Iovan Tsaous (1893–1942), from Kastamonu

Singers and songwriters#

• Stelios Kazantzidis (1931–2001), singer and guitarist, born in Greece to refugee parents from Pontos and Asia Minor
• Chrysanthos Theodoridis (1934–2005), singer-songwriter, born in Greece to a family from Kars
• Apostolos Nikolaidis (1938–1999), born in Greece to refugee parents
• Lefteris Hapsiadis (1953–), songwriter of both traditional and pop music
• Apolas Lermi (1986–), Turkish singer from Trabzon who performs in both Turkish and Romeika

Popular and classical music#

These Pontic Greek musicians make popular music, classical music, or Greek folk music rather than Pontic Greek folk music. Their music is typically in Greek, rather than in Romeika. They tend not to use folk instruments. * Odysseas Dimitriadis (1908–2005), Georgian conductor born to Pontic Greek parents * Pavlos Sidiropoulos (1948–1990), Greek rock musician born to a Pontian father * Diamanda Galás (1955–), American singer-songwriter and avant-garde musician; some Pontian ancestry. Her album Defixiones: Will and Testament focused on the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides. * Lefteris Pantazis (1955–), Greek skiladiko and laïkó singer