Music of Cyprus

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The music of Cyprus includes a variety of traditional, Western classical and Western popular genres. Cypriot traditional music is similar to the

.

History

Medieval music

.

Renaissance music

A key-figure of that era was Ieronimos o Tragodistis (Hieronymus the Cantor), a Cypriot student of Gioseffo Zarlino, who flourished around 1550-1560 and, among others, proposed a system that enabled medieval Byzantine chant to correspond to the current contrapuntal practices via the cantus.

Byzantine music

The music of the island is influenced also by the Byzantine music. Athanasios Demetriadis, also known as Kasavetis, was a Cypriot deacon in Constantinople when Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was his uncle Yerasimos (1794–1797). A secular song lamenting Death's preference for the young, written and set to music by him survives in a collection by Nikiforos Naftouniaris. Chrysanthos of Madytos, Gregory the Protopsaltes, and Chourmouzios the Archivist were responsible for a reform of the notation of Greek ecclesiastical music. Essentially, this work consisted of a simplification of the Byzantine musical symbols which, by the early 19th century, had become so complex and technical that only highly skilled chanters were able to interpret them correctly.

Recent and current music scenes

Traditional music

Traditional music on Cyprus is similar to the traditional music of Greece and includes dances like the

. The traditional music of Cyprus is also greatly influenced from the music of the Greeks of Asia Minor.

Attempts to either popularize or fuse traditional music with other genres have taken place since the 1970s. For example, the famous singer and composer, in Cyprus and Greece, of traditional Cypriot and popular music is

Western classical music

The

Cypriot musicians and performers of classical music include the

.

Notable composers include:

Western popular music

Rock and heavy metal music

First era: 1970s to 1990s

The history of Cyprus' rock and heavy metal music begins a few years after the war of 1974, during the late 1970s. This period is known as the First Rock Era of Cyprus. One of the pioneers of the rock/metal scene in Cyprus is Kim Nicolaou founder of the band known as Kimstyle TR (TR standing for Teenage Revolution). This band was the first to bring and introduce live rock shows to the Island. The band's first pop/rock single was called "The Lady & The Parrot" which was so ahead of its time, for the standards of Greece and Cyprus, that the lyrics were found offensive; therefore, it was banned by CyBC TV and copies of the single were burnt by the customs authorities. This spawned many teenagers to start forming bands & that brought competitions amongst them in the movie theatres. Kimstyle and Kim Nicolaou's Rock & Reggae show (first of its kind broadcast by CyBC), who later influenced the group Armageddon in the mid-1980s, with their traditional heavy metal sound are considered to have taken rock music on the Island one step further. The longest-running band to date, they have managed to be synonymous to the Cyprus metal scene throughout the years, with quality releases and a few visits abroad. Nowadays, they have moved more into the progressive side of metal.

In the early 1990s, Godblood started the local Black metal scene, acting firstly as a school-band, and later on continuing with their small record label 'Throne Productions'. They have disbanded and only some can recall some shows they had in Cyprus with bands from the Greek scene like Rotting Christ and an international festival in Israel in the late 1990s. In Heavy/Power metal there were bands of great quality such as Diphtheria and later Arryan Path leading the genre.

There were also a couple of active Thrash metal bands during that era giving great live shows such as Regicide (supporting Epidemic) and then Scotoma. Eventually, the 1990s were a very active period for the scene in general.

After 2000

Some popular rock bands in Cyprus were Akoustikoi Epivates (founded by lead singer Vyronas Potsos), lopodytes, savvas isovitis(solo singer/guitar), by accident, Katadotes (Καταδότες), Full Volume, Quadraphonic, Johnny & the Liars (Punk/Alternative rock), Maenads, Forty Plus, Triple Jam and Krokes (both are

bands), Ophiochus (Instrumental Funk/Rock), Isaac's Cello (Psychedelic/experimental).

Active bands, with releases and/or live shows of the 2000s (some appeared also in magazines and websites around the globe):^[5]

During this decade, there was an uprising of concerts of different sizes and musical directions across the island. This led to number of greek metal bands like Rotting Christ, SepticFlesh, Crossover, Nightfall, Ravencult, and W.E.B., as well as international acts like Anathema and Sepultura visiting and performing in Cyprus.

World musics

One of the most successful and recognised world music groups in Cyprus is

that hit the island and the corrupted political system. Monsieur Doumani was nominated for "Best Newcomer" in Songlines Music Awards 2014 and participated in acclaimed festivals around the globe such as WOMAD Charlton Park^[11] 2014, Sommarscen Malmö, Songlines Encounters Festival etc.

Electronic/world music

In 2008 the electronic/world music group Mikros Kosmos ("small world") arrived in Cyprus and recorded their first album in

, with performances at New York City's Golden Festival and elsewhere in the United States. Mikros Kosmos's full-length original album moves away from the classic rebetika with an affection for minimal arrangements and a lyrical abstraction which is uncommon in the history of Greek music.

Festivals

• Kypria Festival [1]
• Pafos Aphrodite Festival (an international
  Pafos) [2]
• International Music Festival at the Kourion Amphitheatre. [3]
• During the spring months of April and May
  Lusignan Monastery in Kyrenia
  ) hosts celebrated musicians from all over the world.
• Salamis in Famagusta is another such Cyprus historic site used for concerts.
• Reggae Sunjam festival with local and international artists (taking place once a year during the summer)..

See also

• Culture of Cyprus
• Music of Greece
• Greek culture
• Ars Subtilior
• Music history of France
• Music history of Italy
• Middle Eastern music
• Music of Europe
• Nicosia Music Society

References

Further reading

• Brewin, Christopher (2000). European Union and Cyprus. Eothen Press.
  ISBN 0-906719-24-0
  .
• Kiliaris, Nikos (2013). Secondary Music Education in Cyprus: A Historical and Philosophical perspective since 1960. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
  ISBN 978-3-659-41083-3
  .
• Samson, Jim; Demetriou, Nicoletta, eds. (2015). Music in Cyprus. Ashgate Press.
  ISBN 978-1-4094-6573-7
  .

External links

• "Gemma Florens/Hec est Dies" form the Torino manuscript
• "Hodie Puer Nascitur/Homo mortalis" form the Torino manuscript
• Listen to Cypriot Music
• Cyprus Music Information Centre
• Secondary Music Education in Cyprus
• A site for the Cyprus HipHop Scene
• A site for cyprus' rock community