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Cretan ebullience and 17th century French beauty, hand in hand One of the most important opera composers in history is the Frenchman Jean-Philippe Rameau: 35 operas! 35 operas, composed in the 17th century, and almost all with librettos based on Greek tragedies or comedies. The emotions, passion and tragedy of these classic stories were evidently an unprecedented source of inspiration for Rameau. This was the reason for NBE to link a number of Rameau’s fabulous opera overtures to traditional Greek music, which is still relevant today and is played almost daily by young and old in villages and cities, on the mainland and on the islands. Our phenomenal guests are father and sons Giorgos, Nikos and Adonis Xylouris, tremendous heroes in Crete. Cretan traditional music is different from the music of the mainland. The rhythms are wilder and more unpredictable and the influence of the East is never far away. The laouto, the Cretan precursor of the guitar and the Lyra, a pear shaped, three-stringed instrument made from mulberry wood, both play an important role in Cretan music. The Lyra is held on the knee. The tones are formed by pushing the fingernail against the strings, rather than by pressing the strings onto the fret board. A viola da Gamba avant la letter… COMPOSITION: JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU & TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC Contents
Sometimes the best programmes and the most exciting connections originate by accident. Whilst in Greece, jazz pianist and arranger Julian Schneemann played his father the music that he was listening to a lot at that moment. An opera overture of the French baroque composer Jean Philippe Rameau was followed by a rousing piece from the Cretan folk hero Giorgos Xylouris, in whose work centuries old folk music plays an important role. Father and son looked at each other, and the seed for Rameau and the Greeks was sown. “It is a magical combination” says Julian Schneemann whose arrangements of both the songs of the Cretan musicians and Rameaus works were tailored to suit the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble and the Cretan guest musicians. “Rameaus work is dance music at its core,” explains Julian Schneemann. “Furthermore he utilised certain effects very roughly to create an atmosphere or to imitate nature. Those elements also play a role in the music of Giorgos Xylouris and his ensemble.” |
