| Like many of the other Dodecanese islands, Kasos has a rich musical tradition that stretches back for many centuries. It has found inspiration for both music and song in the land itself, the way of life and the challenges presented to the island people. Influences have come from the nearby islands of Karpathos and Crete as well as from periods in time, such as the Byzantine era.
Today the tradition is kept alive at formal and informal gatherings of local musicians. The instruments of choice were always the lyra and laouto and sometimes the violin but nowadays they may also include a guitar. Popular occasions for such musical unions include weddings and feast days. Less formal gatherings take place at Tavernas and in the home, perhaps late in the evening or after a hard day's work. More often than not there will be a vocal accompaniment with impromptu mantinades thrown in for good measure.
Kasos still has close links with Karpathos and Crete and it is quite common to find Karpathian and Cretan musicians at Taverna Emborios with everyone joining in to make the evening last until the small hours of the morning. Of course Kasos has various celebrated musicians of its own, some of whom are quite widely known throughout Greece. One such person is Savvas Perselis shown in the photographs below (click into them for more detail) fetching and playing his lyra at his home in Agia Marina.
In the summer of 2005, Kasos hosted a Lyra Festival. This attracted musicians not only from Karpathos and Crete but also from as far away as
Cyprus, Thrace and
Turkey. It brought with it different influences and new instruments. It had been ten years since the last such gathering and everyone involved in organising the event felt a great sense of achievement. The Kasiot players started the proceedings, which were held in the Plateia Dimarchiou, and the band included three members of the intensely musical Perselis clan. The Thracian group introduced the audience to a couple of wind instruments rarely heard in Kasos – a traditional flute and the bagpipe – while the Cypriot ensemble rounded off the first night with a singer whose diminutive size was in direct contrast to the power of his voice.
On the second night of the Festival musicians from Rhodos, Halki, Karpathos and Crete all displayed skills of a musical style that the audience loved and hence they were met with an enthusiastic response. The Turkish ensemble gave the evening a distinctly eastern and less familiar sound, which was just as much appreciated and warmly applauded. Whilst their presence made the Festival a truly international one it was the Kasiotes who rounded off the evening with a second appearance, accompanied by the young folk dancers of the island in their elegant traditional dress. Fortunately we had our photographer there on both nights so we have plenty of pictures for you to see, some are above and some are in our lyra festival gallery. |
