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    History of Rempetika

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    angeliki1992
    Rembetika are small simple, songs sang by plain people. The history of rembetiko is quite short (30-40years) but this kind of music played a very important role to the development of Greek songs and it is referred as the connecting point of 19th century music with 20th century music in Greece.

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    History of Rempetika

    Uploaded by

    angeliki1992
    151 views4 pages
    Rembetika are small simple, songs sang by plain people. The history of rembetiko is quite short (30-40years) but this kind of music played a very important role to the development of Greek songs and it is referred as the connecting point of 19th century music with 20th century music in Greece.

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    Rembetika are small simple, songs sang by plain people. The history of rembetiko is quite short (30-40years) but this kind of music played a very important role to the development of Greek songs and it is referred as the connecting point of 19th century music with 20th century music in Greece.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    151 views4 pages

    History of Rempetika

    Uploaded by

    angeliki1992
    Rembetika are small simple, songs sang by plain people. The history of rembetiko is quite short (30-40years) but this kind of music played a very important role to the development of Greek songs and it is referred as the connecting point of 19th century music with 20th century music in Greece.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    History of Rempetika

    Rembetika Songs
    Rembetika are small simple, songs sang by plain people. The history of rembetiko is quite short
    (30-40years) but this kind of music played a very important role to the development of Greek songs
    and it is referred as the connecting point of 19th century music with 20th century music in Greece.

    Many factors have lead to the creation of rembetiko and its formation during its short life span. Folk,
    Byzantine, Balkan, Turkish and eastern music and many factors of social content such as the way of
    life (prison, crimes etc) and big historical events such as the destruction of Smyrna in '22, the
    industrial revolution and the wars were only a few of the reasons which formed this kind of music.

    The three periods of Rembetiko


    Rembetiko is divided in three time periods and these divisions are very important since they follow
    the history of Greece. Thus, Rembetiko is divided in the three following ten-year periods:

    First Period: 1922-1932

    Rembetiko is influenced by the music of Smyrna and the eastern style. The destruction of Smyrna
    enrich the Greek music with different types of songs, amanedes, taximia, singers from Smyrna and
    eastern musical instruments (sandouri, outi, kanonaki, sazi). Caf Aman is the main provider of this
    kind of music and the first recordings take place.

    Second Period: 1932-1942

    The second decade of Rembetiko is the purest. The musical instruments from the east get replaced
    by bouzouki, baglama and guitar. At this point rembetiko is a way of life for the outlaws, the poor, the
    unappreciated from society, the drug addicts and the prisoners.

    Third Period: 1942-1952

    During the third decade the style of the songs changes and musical geniuses make their
    appearances such as Tsitsanis, Chiotis, Mitsakis and many more. Music becomes more and more
    complicated and difficult to be performed. This is a difficult time for the Greek people.
    The times before rembetiko... the beginning
    It is obvious that it took some time for rembetiko to make its appearance and that a series of factors
    helped its creation. What was happening in Greece before the appearance of rembetiko?

    After the revolution of 1821 the fist Greek state is formed in 1829 including Sterea Ellada,
    Peloponnese and the Cyclades. Meanwhile the Greeks inhabit other areas such as Macedonia, the
    Dodecanese and Minor Asia. During 1833-1863 during the reign of Othonas Syros develops and it
    becomes a center of commercial transactions. During the decade of 1870-1880 the port of Piraeus
    develops and this coincides with the industrial revolution in Greece that never reached the levels of
    Europe. From 1890 till the beginning of the 20th century people start migrating to America. The
    Greeks of America are the ones who will record Greek songs for the first time (1910-1934). They
    record songs from Smyrna, folk songs and rembetika written till then from unknown lyrists in prisons
    and in tekedes, the places where the rembetes went to smoke their forbidden cigarettes. These
    songs were becoming known from word of mouth.

    These songs make their appearance in the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
    and they are songs of the lower social ranks and the big urban centers-ports (Smyrna,
    Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Piraeus). Rembetiko was developed by the simple people of the cities,
    the poor, the socially rejected, prisoners and outlaws. A group of such people were the
    "koutsavakides", a group of outlaws who were rembetes as well, with their own way of life (songs,
    habits, interests). Rembetiko was born because of them from 1867-1897 but later on they were
    eliminated by Bairakataris

    The most important event that affected rembetiko after the Balkan wars (1912-13) and the first world
    war (1917), was the destruction of Smyrna in 1922) and population exchange. Thjis way there is a
    mix of the two kinds of rembetika songs, the one created by otlaws in prison and the one from
    Smyrna. Important composers of the time were: Dragatsis, Karipis, Tountas, Semsis, Yovan Tsaous,
    Paul and the singers: Rosa Eskenazi, Rita Abatzi, Marika Papagika, Antonis Ntalgas and Nouros.
    Although the first recordings took place abroad in 1907-1910, organized recordings take place in
    Greece as well after 1931 with the help of big record companies.
    The Rembetes
    The word rembetis comes from the Turkish word rembet which means naughty and restless. As
    we have already said the rembetes were outlaws and people rejected by society and that's why
    they had invented their own way of life but that didn't mean that they were dangerous or criminals.
    Their difference was that they had developed habits that were conflicting with the laws such as the
    smoking of hashish and fighting which was leading them to prison very often. Many famous
    rembetes had served time for small or bigger crimes. Inside the prisons they made their own musical
    instruments but they usually used the baglamas which was a small, easily hidden musical
    instrument. Their songs were about the injustice of society, their pain and their life. Prisons were the
    main subject for rembetika.

    The second most important location was the "tekes". There, the rembetes of the cities had the bad
    habit of smoking hashish. In the beginning of the 20th century they were gathered there in groups to
    smoke the water pipe with Turkish hashish. Many times musicians were there to play music. Markos
    Vamvakaris, in his biography mentions that he started his career from "tekedes" where the use of
    hashish was of course illegal but laws were not followed. During the dictatorship of Metaxas hashish
    users were chased and put to prison so the rembetes kept smoking on the hills or in caves. Of
    course, in this world there were other kinds of drugs too that many of the rembetes had decided to
    try, such as Anestos Delias who died from a heroine overdose when he was 28.

    As we have already mentioned the rembetes had their own lifestyle, dress code or even language
    and their love lives were tempestuous. Most of them were working and music was a way of
    expression for them in order to share their problems with others. Although their lives were different
    they had ideals, honor and dignity were their first concerns, they loved women and especially their
    mothers, they valued friendship, togetherness and kindness.
    Not only the outlaws from Piraeus were involved with rembetiko. Greek refugees from Smyrna
    maintained their own style in rembetiko. Women singers of rembetiko are an important part of this
    music. They also lead a different life than the women of high society or country women. Women
    such as Stella Haskil, Ioanna Georgakopoulou, Sotiria Bellou (after the war), Daisy Stavropoulou
    (recorded only 28 songs) and women such as Abatzi, Eskenazi, Papagika and Politissa who have
    sung the rembetika of Smyrna have left their mark on the history of music.

    Names such as Sotiria Belou, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Markos Vamvakaris and Giannis Papaioannou are
    still heard and admired today and they will always be remembered for their music.

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