Musical Travelogue with Domna Samiou – Euboea, Kymi

“Musical Travelogue with Domna Samiou” (“Musiko Odiporiko me ti Domna Samiou”) was a television series researched and presented by Domna Samiou and broadcast by Greek National Television in 1976-1977. Each episode was dedicated to the music and dance tradition of a different area of Greece.

In Kymi, a group of locals sing the song I Am a Fisherman’s Son.

A group of women sing and dance to the tune of the love song Grass From the Meadow.

In Kymi, a group of men and women sing and dance to the tune of a typical wedding song Blessed Time. This dance, known as “klistos” (closed, sealed) or “nyfiatikos” (bridal) is danced at weddings and formal engagements, without instruments, the lyrics consisting of couplets praising the bride and groom.

A local tradition in Kymi is the “mariniarika” songs, sung by seamen in the past. Their rhythm is slow and the lyrics consist of marine or love couplets. Should You See a Vessel Pass is one of these songs, sung by Assinou Bounia and a group of women. Based on this recording, Domna Samiou performed the song in her album Songs of Dame Sea.

In the Kalimeriani village, Vassilis Stamatiou sings the songs Wake Up, You Slept a Lot and Long Narrow Passageway.

In the village Taxiarches, the musicians Yiorgos Katrakos and his son Vassilis Katrakos play two well-known tunes from the area, Kavodorítikos and Tell Me, My Carnation. Kavodorítikos or Dance From Kavodoro is a typical local dance. Kavodoro (Cavo D’Oro) is a cape on the southeastern tip of Euboea in the Aegean Sea.

In south Euboea, the musical tradition of the western coast of Asia Minor musical tradition was transported either by the seamen or by the refugees from Asia Minor who settled there, after the 1922 catastrophy. In the village of Aliveri, Dimitris Mallios, a former barber who plays the violin and his old friend Vassilis Leventis who always accompanies him with the lute, play the Asia Minor tune Aptalikos.

The same musicians continue with the instrumental tune from Epirus Himariotiko. They also accompany Domna Samiou who sings A Brunette.

In the village of Vitalo, three veteran musicians who have stopped playing for many years, gathered at the village barbershop, with their musical instruments at hand and played the instrumental tune Wire Netted Anchor.

In the village of Agios Ioannis, Domna Samiou meets Yiorgos Papageorgiou, a carpenter and a manufacturer of folk musical instruments who plays the violin (as well as the lute). His regular accompanist and friend Mr. Vassilis plays the lute.

Credits

Research and presentation: Domna Samiou
Director: Andreas Thomopoulos