Music Ecology, Music Sociology, Music Locality - the case of Epirus by Mpiliax Mpiliens

This master’s thesis investigates and interprets locally produced music and particular music traditions of the world that have strong aesthetics and characteristic sounds. Through the concepts of music ecology, music sociology, and music locality, it identifies the link of the music with its place of origin, in an attempt to find the tools to understand how the world works when it comes down to the tiny but hugely important matter of music traditions. Through music examples from different countries, and with a special focus on the music of Epirus, Greece, music ecology, sociology, and locality become the lenses through which answers are sought to crucial questions, such as: How natural and built environments affect, almost dictate locally produced music; what kinds of tools do music traditions become in the hands of communities; and how can communities express, come together, and function through music traditions? Additionally, this thesis explores the effects on music traditions when they are relocated from one environment to another. Finally, this thesis investigates how immersion into any music tradition can affect ones’ personal musical identity, and how this enhances the development of an individual’s personal style, always taking into consideration the aspects of music ecology, sociology, and locality. In the Case of Epirus, Greece I attempt to answer these questions by visiting the birthplace of the music during my field work, which allows me to immerse myself in the environment as well as the music, communicate with the carriers of the tradition, and learn the music directly from them. Findings emerge in terms of a deep connection between music traditions and the triptych of music ecology, sociology and locality, in the example of the music of Epirus but also in general. These triptych influences, shapes and guides locally produced music, to the extent that one, when researching, should acknowledge its connection to local music to deepen the understanding of why things happen as they happen within a music tradition. Awareness of this connection would also be a powerful tool of an individual’s immersion process into new music traditions, empowering them to come to a deeper understanding of it.

In the wide area of Epirus one can come across a wide variety of natural and built sites.
Epirus is in the north-western part of Greece and the southern part of Albania. The Greek part of Epirus consists of the counties of Thesprotia, Arta, Ioannina and Preveza.
In other cases we have coastal towns, such as Parga, Sivota, Igoumenitsa and Preveza, and in other cases we have village complexes such as Zagorochoria, Pogoni, Tzoumerka and more. Each place has its collective identity as part of Epirus but also a very strong personal identity. The whole area of Epirus is embroidered with seashores, rivers, lakes, gorges, high mountains, where the tops are covered with snow both in winter and summer, valleys and consequently very diverse flora and fauna.

The way of life of the people who live within Epirus, varies according to the location and of course according to the local morphology of each place. As a result, there have been created many different musical idioms that are under the umbrella of music of Epirus but are distinct and different, one from the other.

iv) Thematics:
According to the earliest collection that I could get my hands on (Collection of the folk songs of Epirus, G.C. Tafariki, 1886 )

-Lullabies
- Celebratory (religious thremmatology)
- Of the wedding (Stories of weddings or the beauty of the bride and groom)
- Of the dance (Songs about dancing or the beauty of dancing or the dancers)
- emigration and foreign lands (the pain of the one that stays behind or the one that has to leave , family loved ones and roots)
- Kleftika (songs of the bravery and life of Kleftes, outlaws and resistance fighters)
- Love songs (songs about fulfilled and unfulfilled love due to social and other reasons)
- Of Death (about people who have died or have been killed, their fate stories and achievements)
-Laments (pain and suffering for the people who have passed)

The more one reads the lyrics of any kind of song from Epirus, one will notice that the overwhelming majority of metaphors, parallelisms and pictures given in the lyrics draw their thremmatology from the natural scenes, flora and fauna of Epirus.

Combining some of the above tools gives the means to describe feelings, mental states and the environment (social and natural). The music becomes a mirror with a very clear image. The player is the one who can define the clarity of these images according to feeling, skill and knowledge, but most importantly experience.

i) Dominant Music styles

- Polyphonics, mainly flourishing in the area of Pogoni

- Pentatonics, all over Epirus, but more elaborate in the area of Pogoni, as a transmission from vocal tradition to the instruments

- Modal, all over Epirus, but especially in the area of Zagori, the City of Ioannina and other urban and commercial centres, and the coastal line of Epirus.

ii) Rhythms

In terms of rhythms there is a complete quantitative research of Kostas Mpalogiannis
that categorises the repertoire of Epirus in the following main rhythms

free rhythm (laments, polyphonics)

2/4 sugathistos Hpeirou

3/4 Sta tria

3/4 Tsamikos Hpeirou

4/4 Pogonisio

4/4 tsifteteli and syrtokageli

5/4 Zagorisios

6/4 Eksasimo tsamiko

7/8 Ximariotikos

8/4 Metsovitikos Sugathistos

8/4 Mperati

8/8 Syrtos

9/8 Karsilamas

It seems that in attempting to ‘’play’’ their natural environment the people of Epirus ended up with a plethora of tools, rhythmic and melodic. These tools either were invented locally, or they were brought to Epirus through commerce, trade roots or the musicians movement all the way from the ancient years through Byzantine times, Ottoman times and to the present.

In an attempt to explain the variety of sounds and wealth of the music of Epirus that depict the natural environment and the way of life of people from different areas of Epirus, we have utilised four large categories:

i) Dominant music styles
ii) Rhythms
iii) Scales
iv) Thremmatology of lyrics

iii) Scales

In terms of scales we come across the following in the repertoire of Epirus.
Georgios Floudas in his book The scales, has collected them beautifully

- Rast

- Nikriz

- Hicaz

- Hicascar

- Niavent

- Neveser

- Saba

-Usak

- Kiourdi

- Karsigiar

- Susinak

- Segiah