Μάνα μ’ ήρτεν η άνοιξη ⬥ Mother, spring is here, full summer A thousand workers they came out, Out they came, they need a thousand hands. Work, dear stranger, work, Work, dear stranger, work and I will marry you. The stranger’s working, he’s working again, Working so he can get [...]
SongPontusFable Song (Ballad), Sea and Sailors Song
Κάτω σην Άσπρην Θάλασσαν ⬥ Somewhere in the Aegean Sea, oh, my heart, my heart, so distant, so far away, my heart is fit to burst. A vessel richly fitted out, set out for ports in Frankish lands. It was manned by Pontic Greeks, by Greeks from ancient lands, They bent their [...]
Ακρίτας πάει και σο κυνήγ’ ⬥ Out hunting, on the way to the hunting grounds, Akritas met Charon at a crossroads. – Charon, what’ve you got against me that you’ll always following me? They call me Akritas, and God have mercy on your warrior’s soul. – Hush thy boasting, my [...]
Domna Samiou was born on October 12th 1928, in the Kaisariani neighborhood in Athens and died on March 10th 2012. Her parents were refugees from the village of Baindir in the Smyrna (Izmir) area. Her mother came to Greece in 1922, whilst her father, who was a prisoner of war, […]
Simon Karas (1903-1999) was a musicologist and researcher of the Greek music tradition and heritage. His lifelong research is considered by many as a key factor in the preservation of traditional music, which he recorded throughout Greece. He was born in 1903 in the village of Lepreon (former Strovitsi), of [...]
(1890-1983) A renowned kanun virtuoso, he also played the oud and the Constantinopolitan lyra. Born in Aksehir (Akşehir), Konya Province, Turkey, and died in Nea Ionia, Athens. He came to Greece after the Asia Minor catastrophe. During the German occupation, in 1941, he met Simon Karas; when the war […]
In 1971, in the midst of the military Junta period in Greece, Dionysis Savvopoulos convinced Domna to sing at the club “Rodeo”. In the following years, she performed at “Kyttaro” and “Rizes”.
Invited by Lina Lalandi, founder of the English Bach Festival and clavichordist, Domna Samiou made five appearances in the festival, presenting, in what could be the first time, the authentic traditional music of Greece to the English audience.
1977 ⬥ Domna Samiou is a nice person and, I am sorry to say that, be careful how you treat her, because she’s a sensitive thing and needs special treatment. And anyone who knows her closely can understand what I’m about to say: she has this strange quality, that is, [...]
