THE GREEK KAI BALKAN TRADITION FOCUSING ON THE DUPLE RHYTHMIC FORMATIONS OF “HORA” AND “MAKELARIKO” (KNOWN AS “HASAPOSERVIKO”)

Abstract

One of the benefits of the folklore revival is the enrichment of information about the folk instruments andthe and dances of the Greek tradition and their evolution both morphologically and musically. Many times, thedefinition of the Greek tradition divided intellectual people who tried to detect the basic characteristics thatdifferentiate the Neo-Greek culture from the cultures of other peoples. Moreover, traditional dances are part of thespirit of observance, as one of its main means of expression..In this particular study, the aim is to demonstrate thecharacteristics of the Greek tradition and the tradition of the Balkan people with the traditional instrument santourias a reference point. The santouri plays an important role in the Greek tradition as well as in the tradition of theBalkans. It is remarkable that it is one of the few instruments where we find variations of the instrument that bringroots from other countries. Due to the significant influences during the Renaissance period, the study is focused onthe „Hora“ dance and how it was interpreted in the traditions of Greek and Balkan music. The “Hora” is mentionedto identify a Romanian dance and music genre that shows diversity according to the tempo and the timesignatures.This of course has an influence on Greek traditional dance music where influences from the culture ofother Balkan peoples and Eastern Europe are noticeable, such as "Μakelariko", what we know today ashasaposerviko.. The research is focused on two main aspects: a) the comparison of the two musical dance genres"Hora" and "makelariko" (known as hasaposerbiko) and b) is there a difference in the way of performance in thefield of Greek traditional dances and the corresponding Balkan dances of “two beats” time signatures focusing onthe two dances of the study? The method used is qualitative-bibliographic and the sample concerns archival materialrelated to Greek and Balkan traditional dances. Regarding the santouri, in both Greek and Balkan origin, althoughthere is not a wide range of literature on the santouri by academic historians who have dealt with the specificinstrument, the bibliographical sources come from important players or from specialized instrument makers.