Ethimo of Greece

Geographical Disclamer

For villages such as Xanthi, Serres, and Drama: A majority of these traditions and songs come from smaller surrounding villages. However, over the past century, many village people have moved to the larger villages. Bringing their rural tradition with them to the municipality of, for example, Xanthi, Serres, or Drama.

Symphonia: the idea of agreement in Greek Music

The Greek word "symphono" translates to I agree, similarly, symphonia means "agreement". In Greek music, music the idea of agreement is the building blocks of all forms of Greek music. In many cases, this agreement is found through the use of a drone note. The drone not can be found in all Greek instruments. For example: the drone for the gaida (the long pipe holding one note), the Lyra is also often played with the middle string as a drone note, and the zourna is almost always played with two musicians; one to create harmony and one to play the melody.

The idea of symphonia is also a key part of Orthodox Christian music. The melody of the chant is almost always accompanied by an ison (drone note, see an example  here) .

This concept is also proven to have ancient origins. Many depictions of classical Greek music display two-sided pipes and many other co-sonat instruments. (See the image below)

There isn't much or any written music recovered from classical Greek times. But looking at the remaining musical traditions found in Greece today and supporting ancient texts, organologists believe that the aulos would be played with one side as a harmonizing note and the other as a melody. Thereby, creating symphonia.

British Author Kathleen Schlesinger writes on symphonia in her article "Researches into the Origin of the Organs of the Ancients"(Feb 1901):

"The Greek word symphonia is old and is found in many of the classics. In Homer, for instance, the adjective σύμφονος (symphonos) formed from it is used with the meaning of co-sonant, harmonious; most writers indeed used the name σύμφονία (symphonia) as a concert of voices, or simply as harmony. I feel tempted to quote Plato on the subject for his definitions are so striking: "In the harmony of song which is termed concord (σύμφονία)" and again: For harmony is a symphony and symphony is an agreement" (Schlesinger, 26).

Schlesinger shortly after says that it is very rare to find an ancient instrument that alone could produce Symphonia, except for the aulos or bagpipe. The bagpipe in question is thought to be an ancestor of the tsambouna, tulum, and gaida found in: Island, Pontian, and Thracian music respectively. (See this representation of all three instruments by Panos Zikidis  https://www.facebook.com/zikidispanos/videos/1108158122528797 )

The tulum and tsambouna use a reeded double chanter to create the harmonizing sounds while the gaida implements one chanter and one drone. Despite their differences, symphonia is paramount to the sound of their music.

Also, see this journal article which entirely covers the history of symphony. The article begins with the Greek idea of symphonia: Keys, A. C. “Symphony: What Does It Mean?” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 2, 1972, pp. 235–41. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/741304. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.<

Works cited:

Schlesinger, Kathleen. “Researches into the Origin of the Organs of the Ancients.” Sammelbände Der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, vol. 2, no. 2, 1901, pp. 167–202. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/929087. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.