Many of the songs we play come from the island of Mytilene. For a sample, click here.

During the opening decades of the twentieth century, Mytilene (or Lesbos, as it is formally known) became an island; not literally, of course. While it was never physically connected to the western coast of Anatolia, Mytilene was for centuries politically, economically, and culturally tied to Asia Minor. Mytilene was incorporated into modern Greece only in 1912. Prior to that, Mytilene constituted part of the Ottoman Empire, its orientation eastward towards Asia Minor and the port city of Smyrna (Izmir), in particular.

The formal ties gradually began to dissolve first with the joining of Mytilene to Greece in 1912 and later, to an even greater extent, following the destruction of Smyrna by Atatürk’s army in 1922. At the same time, the subsequent expulsion of Asia Minor’s entire Greek population only served to strengthen the cultural impact of Asia Minor upon places, like Mytilene, that absorbed large numbers of Anatolian refugees.

The traditional music of Mytilene bears witness to its once close connection to Smyrna. Prior to its destruction in 1922, Smyrna was a cosmopolitan commercial center whose sizeable non-Turkish population caused the city to be known among the Turks as Gâvur Izmir, or “Infidel Smyrna.” The Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks, and Westerners who made their home in Smyrna all left their imprint upon its music, a tradition that came to be known as “Smyrnëika.” Often performed in a cabaret setting known as the “Café Aman,” Smyrnëika was a predominantly urban tradition, though it also incorporated elements from the Anatolian interior and the neighboring Aegean islands.

Likewise, the influence of Smyrnëika was felt throughout the Aegean, especially on Mytilene, where it blended with the indigenous musical idiom to produce a distinct “Mytilinëika” style, as local musicians, some of whom traveled regularly between Mytilene and Asia Minor, reinterpreted existing melodies. What resulted were distinct versions of songs known elsewhere, sometimes by other names. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mytilinëika continued to evolve, drawing upon elements imported not only from Smyrna, but also from Constantinople, Aïvali, Pergamum, the Thracian coast, the neighboring islands, and the West.

What are some of these elements? The sandouri-violin combo is one of the most important and recognizable parts of Mytilene’s distinctive musical idiom. Perhaps nowhere else in the Greek-speaking world does this particular piece of Smyrna’s musical legacy survive with as much vigor as it does on Mytilene. Similarly, the outi and darbouka, understood as having been introduced by refugees from Asia Minor, serve as a reminder of Mytilinëika’s oriental roots. On the other hand, the guitar reveals the assimilation of Western musical traditions and the more refined European-style entertainment favored by Mytilene’s urban elite. This is also true of the piano. Originally an instrument of the wealthy upper classes, it eventually joined the family of instruments on which traditional music was played. While Skordalia doesn’t often include a piano in our arrangements, we are grateful to the legacy of the late Nicholas Kereakoglow, whose instrument of choice for teaching and simply enjoying the old Mytilinëika he learned from his father was the piano.

Of course, while much of the music we play belongs to the musical tradition of Mytilene, our repertoire represents only one portion of the island’s rich and amazingly diverse musical heritage. For a more thorough exploration of Mytilinëika, we recommend the double CD set, Lesbos Aiolis: Songs and Dances of Lesbos.

Likewise, Mytilinëika constitutes only one portion of our repertoire. We also perform dimotika, rembetika, and traditional dance tunes from throughout the Aegean and Greek mainland.