Upcoming release: The Music of Cyprus

Description

“This world we now inhabit was once held by others; now it is ours, and others are waiting for it.”
This folk couplet vividly captures the concept of tradition as a bridge between past, present, and future. In antiquity, too, the Muses symbolically connected past and future, as they were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the Goddess of Memory) and companions of Apollo, the god of Music, Light, and Divination, who foretold what was to come.

In a similarly fitting way, the two brothers, Petros and Michalis Kouloumis, function as “bridges” through time, in difficult and transitional periods, making a decisive contribution to the research and documentation, promotion and dissemination, and ongoing evolution of Cypriot music.

Representing the third generation of their musical family, they were initiated from a very young age into the tradition of their homeland and carry vivid memories and experiences from the feasts of the Kokkinochoria, where they followed their father and grandfathers, as well as from the wounds and displacements of refugees.

They did not, however, limit themselves to the role of local instrumentalists. They continued to expand their musical knowledge and experience through systematic academic studies and ongoing training, radiating outward from Cyprus to Greece, to Constantinople, to the Mediterranean, and to the wider world. They created their own ensembles and engaged in creative dialogue with significant fellow musicians from other musical cultures, discovering and revealing affinities and differences alike.

Thus, having traveled a fertile path from the local to the trans-local, from folk and popular music to art and scholarly traditions, and from oral transmission to academic knowledge, Petros and Michalis Kouloumis have now reached the maturity needed to organize and offer to the collective treasury the fruits of their art.

Their goal is a recording “trilogy” that consciously bridges past and future. With respect for the original style and ethos, it documents the core repertoire of Cypriot dances as well as the most characteristic Cypriot “voices” and songs, while at the same time boldly extending into a personal, contemporary musical creation rooted in traditional primary material.

We therefore welcome with great pleasure this first part of the “trilogy,” which focuses on dances. It constitutes a precious “ark,” bringing together in a representative reference collection the rich and multifaceted musical and dance tradition of Cyprus, which has also been included in UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Listeners to these exceptionally well-crafted recordings will enjoy the clear and restrained violin playing, free of foreign or unnecessary ornamentation. Likewise, the traditional style of accompaniment on the laouto is distinguished by absolute respect for the modal structure of folk modes and scales, avoiding Western-style harmonies that often distort the style and ethos of the melody. Both Michalis’s bowing and Petros’s plucking reveal their long service as active folk musicians in Cypriot dance gatherings. They are the result of that remarkable relationship between the skilled musician and the accomplished dancer, where each observes, inspires, and “converses” with the other—the dancer assuming the role of “conductor,” and the melodic motifs standing in counterpoint to the dance steps.

At a time when traditional dances (and folk culture more broadly) are threatened by folkloristic flattening, when a shared cultural good is turned into a consumer product, initiatives such as this heartfelt “offering” by the Kouloumis brothers are especially welcome. With knowledge and respect, they serve the dance as a living ritual, not merely as a staged re-enactment. Lambros Liavas