Μια μάνα έχει ένα γιο ⬥ A mother has a son, the apple of her eye, and the neighbourhood would have him, ’tis a wonder the very mountains do not crumble, and Roula, a priest’s daughter, desired him, too. His mother would have him, the bitch that nursed him would [...]
Ένας άγουρος κι ένας καλός στρατιώτης ⬥ A young and gallant soldier Sought a citadel, a citadel. He sought a citadel, a village to stop at. He found none, no citadel. He found neither citadel nor village to stop at; He found, he found a tree. He found a tree, [...]
Στρατιώτης και δεντρί ⬥ A young man, a fine young lad went off in search of a castle, Greek lass of mine. And though he found no castles and no villages to stay in, he found a tree, Greek lass of mine. – Oh, tree of mine, dear cypress so [...]
Αλέξαντρος κι βασιλιάς ⬥ Alexander, bré amán amán, Alexander and the king, Alexander brave and strong and little Constantine. They ate together, bré amán amán, they ate and drank together, Alexander brave and strong, and feasted and revelled together. And as they ate and as they drank and as they revelled they [...]
Ο Διγενής ψυχομαχάει ⬥ Digenes, Digenes is giving up the ghost, my eyes, Digenes is dying my eyes are black, Digenes is dying. All the lords on learning of it, all hasten by. with apples and with plums, with fresh grapes. To his fair one he speaks, to his fair one he says: [...]
Ο Διγενής ψυχομαχάει ⬥ Digenis is dying and the mountains are trembling, and all the lords that heard it set out to visit him, they set out, bringing apples, plums and sweet grapes. And Digenis spoke and said to his beloved: – Lay out the carpets, my dearest, for the [...]
Κάτου στ’ς Μπαρμπαριάς τουν κάμπου ⬥ Down, moré, down on the Barbary plane, the fish are getting married down on the Barbary plane. The ants, moré, the ants are celebrating, the ants are celebrating, for the best man –me– they are a-waiting. But to spite them, I did not show, [...]
Η Ευγενούλα η μοσχονιά ⬥ Evgenoula, the fair maid beloved by all, went and boasted she had no fear of death, that she had houses tall and a sweetheart brave and strong and nine brothers to man the castle walls. And when Charon heard her words, they pleased him not [...]
Σαράντα παλικάρια ⬥ Forty brave lads and an old man took up arms and dressed for war. Slinging their muskets, the mountains light up, buckling on their swords, oceans shine. They set off on their way, along the coast to their mother, her blessing to receive: ‘May Fate smile on [...]
Εσείς βουνά, ψηλά βουνά ⬥An instrumental tune with “gaida”. Gaida is a three-tube bagpipe, not very different from the Scottish or Italian variety. The first tube (chanter or fingering tube) has seven openings in the front and one in the back for the thumb. The second tube is for the [...]
Βλέπω καράβια πο ’ρχοντι ⬥ I see ships a-coming from Constantine’s City with four hundred maids and sixty brave lads, and mine in there amidst them singing of love, singing of our love. [– I curse the day I came here to these folk who, lying, said a girl they [...]
Ξένος ήμαν κι ήρθα τώρα ⬥ I was far away, but now I'm back from foreign lands with diamonds and fresh-struck gold and silver coins for you. – What use is gold to me, what good is silver, when my heart is locked tight shut two and forty times. Money [...]
Θ’ ανέβω σε ψηλό βουνό ⬥ With golden adz and silver saw I climb a mountain high, up where the best trees grow. To cut boughs of laurel and apple and orange my lyre and silver bow to carve, and to sing as I know how. The girls dance so [...]
Να ‘μαν πουλί να πέταγα ⬥ I would I were a bird to fly high up above the hill-tops, and so survey what lies below in distant foreign countries that I might see my well-beloved, might see the man I’ll marry, the kind of lodgings where he stays… Translated by [...]
Να 'μαν πουλί να πέταγα ⬥ I would I were a bird to fly high up above the hill-tops, and so survey what lies below in distant foreign countries that I might see my well-beloved, might see the man I’ll marry, the kind of lodgings where he stays… Translated by [...]
Στην Πόλη ήμουν κι έμαθα ⬥ I was in the City and heard my fairest was to wed, that she had exchanged vows with another. Mounting my horse, I set off home. And half way there, at the dragon’s well, I came upon a weeping maid clad all in black. [...]
Τώρα τις Πασχαλιόημιρις ⬥ It’s Eastertime, my lithe and lissome one, my lithe and lissome one, the greatest of all feasts, you fair-haired ones, you fair-haired ones with heavy plaits. I climbed a height and caught a view of Alexis’ palaces. So I could see his daughters and what they [...]
Μοναχογιός ο Κωσταντής ⬥ Kostantis the only son, young and cosseted, his mother’s only son, her precious darling. She’d scrub him, comb his hair and send him off to school and the teacher would teach him, teach him to read and write. Kostantis grew up into a man, into a [...]
Ο Κωνσταντής ⬥ Instrumental variation of the akritic song “Kostantis the Only Son”, recorded in 1974. Nikos Stefanidis on the kanun and Aristides Vassilaris on the flute.
