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The music of Crete (Greek: Κρητική μουσική) is a traditional form of Greek folk music, also called κρητικά (kritika). Although the lyra is the dominant instrument for the genre, it is often accompanied by the Mandolin, askomandoura (Greek: ασκομαντούρα) and the laouto (Greek: λαούτο).
Origins
Cretan music, like most traditional Greek music, began as product of ancient, Byzantine and western inspirations. The first recorded reference to lyra was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911); in his lexicographical discussion of instruments, he cited the lyre (lūrā) as the typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the (organ). The lyra spread widely via the Byzantine trade routes that linked the three continents; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lyra interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. Descendants of the Byzantine lyra have continued to be played in post-Byzantine regions until the present day with few changes, for example the Calabrian Lira in Italy, the Cretan Lyra, the Gadulka in Bulgaria, and thePontian lyra (Πολίτικη λύρα) in Istanbul, Turkey.
Following the Crusades, however, the Franks, Venetians and Genoese dominated the island and introduced new instruments and styles of music. In particular the three-stringed lira da braccio was introduced. By the end of the 14th century, a poetic form called mantinada became popular, a rhyming couplet of fifteen syllables.
Mandinádes
Mandinádes (singular mantinada, Greek: μαντινάδα, μαντινάδες) are improvised rhyming couplets that are sung frequently in Cretan music. The couplets are fifteen syllables long, and are reminiscent of the Byzantine era poetry of the region such as the long romance the Erotokritos.
Origins
Cretan music, like most traditional Greek music, began as product of ancient, Byzantine and western inspirations. The first recorded reference to lyra was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911); in his lexicographical discussion of instruments, he cited the lyre (lūrā) as the typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the (organ). The lyra spread widely via the Byzantine trade routes that linked the three continents; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lyra interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments. Descendants of the Byzantine lyra have continued to be played in post-Byzantine regions until the present day with few changes, for example the Calabrian Lira in Italy, the Cretan Lyra, the Gadulka in Bulgaria, and thePontian lyra (Πολίτικη λύρα) in Istanbul, Turkey.
Following the Crusades, however, the Franks, Venetians and Genoese dominated the island and introduced new instruments and styles of music. In particular the three-stringed lira da braccio was introduced. By the end of the 14th century, a poetic form called mantinada became popular, a rhyming couplet of fifteen syllables.
Mandinádes
Mandinádes (singular mantinada, Greek: μαντινάδα, μαντινάδες) are improvised rhyming couplets that are sung frequently in Cretan music. The couplets are fifteen syllables long, and are reminiscent of the Byzantine era poetry of the region such as the long romance the Erotokritos.