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Όμορφη που ’ν’ η νύφη μας
Our bride is beautiful and I’ve no need of words;
her sweet cheeks are red as roses.
I’m telling you, so hear my words,
take joy and pride in them.
Don’t pinch your pennies, groom, make a little cage,
and put our bride in there, who’s not yet of age.
Slap me hard with your hand,
go fetch a wedding band.
Best man, who joined the cypresses with wedding crowns,
may God make you worthy to buy the christening gowns.
I’m singing this song to you, it’s ours;
so whack me with the flowers.
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
Ταραϊτά, ταραϊρά, ταρατα…
Όμορφη που ’ν’ η νύφη μας κι εγώ δεν θέλω λόγια
—ωχ, κι εγώ δεν θέλω λόγια—,
κι είναι τα μαγουλάκια της κόκκινα σαν τα ρόδα
— ωχ, κόκκινα σαν τα ρόδα.
Άντε, σε τα λέγω κι άκουγέ τα,
χαίρου και καμάρωνέ τα.
Γαμπρέ, μη λυπηθείς φλουριά και κάν’ ένα κλουβάκι,
και βάλε τη νυφούλα μας, που ’ναι κοπελουδάκι.
Άντε, μαστραπά* μου με το χέρι,
τό ’βρες το δικό σου ταίρι.
Κουμπάρε, που στεφάνωσες τα δύο κυπαρίσσια,
να σ’ αξιώσει ο Θεός να ’ρθεις και στα βαφτίσια.
Άντε, σέν’ τα λέγω τα τραγούδια,
μαστραπά με τα λουλούδια.
*μαστραπάς: πολυτελές κανάτι από μέταλλο, πορσελάνη ή γυαλί (τουρκ. maşrapa)
In Erythraea, Asia Minor, the wedding blessings and praises were primarily sung by women, with pride of place given to one who was sweet-voiced and possessed a rich memory of couplets —whether improvised or long-formulated— drawn from the vast oral repertoire of the local Erythraean community. In this case, the village of Kato Panagia, renowned for the abundance and variety of its songs. These performances were typically accompanied by the goblet drum (toumbeleki), the “dava” (a frying pan), or the tambourine (defi), especially when no other instruments were available.
The wedding songs stand out for their lyricism, poetic imagination, and grace, brimming with allegory, metaphor, simile, and vivid imagery. They accompanied every stage of the wedding: from the dowry display, to the bathing of the bride, the groom’s shaving, and the dressing of the couple. Through these songs, the community praised and celebrated, while also offering heartfelt advice, blessings, and best wishes to the new couple — the emerging family unit being woven into the fabric of the local society. Yet these “songs of praise” were not addressed only to the bride and groom: parents and in-laws, best men and women, even wedding guests, were also honoured with dedicated couplets. And once the ceremonial part was complete, it was to yet more couplets, now set to dance rhythms —syrtos, balos, or karsilamas— that the newlyweds and guests would dance at the wedding feast.
In this particular song from Kato Panagia, the fifteen-syllable couplets praise the bride’s beauty, urge the groom to cherish her, wish the couple a long life, and anticipate the best man and woman assuming the roles of godfather and godmother to their firstborn. The eight-syllable choruses —epigrammatic and poetic— urge the bride to heed the songs’ words and take joy in her wedding day.
Referring to the “tralala, lalala…” phrases often sung after each verse in many Erythraean songs, Simon Karas aptly notes —commenting on a balos from Reisdere (a village near Kato Panagia), included on the album Songs from Mytilene and Asia Minor (SDNM 125, B5)— that:
“A characteristic feature here is the sung gyrisma, ‘Trialarela, rela, relala’, a vocal imitation of instrumental timbres, similar to that achieved in ecclesiastical music through the use of drones”.
A related song, also from Kato Panagia, entitled Ποιος ήταν ο προξενητής (Who Was the Matchmaker?), appears on the Lyceum Club of Greek Women’s album Songs and Dances from Smyrna and Erythraea, Asia Minor (LCGW 113, B4).
Theodor Kondaras (2022)
Live recording from the concert Songs of Asia Minor with Domna Samiou, held on 8 March 2005 at the Megaron — the Athens Concert Hall. Based on Domna Samiou’s 1978 field recording of the song in Kato Panagia, Kyllini (Peloponnese), with refugees from Kato Panagia, Erythraea (Asia Minor).
Kato Panagia, Peloponnese, 1978
© Domna Samiou Archive
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