“Zaranikas” music house has released the first issue of the book “ “KanunTechnique”which was supervised by M. Karpathios in cooperation with Christos Chalkias.
It’s the first time that a book with music exercises and melodies that refer to the kanun is published in Greece.
Writers of the book are two well known musicians M. Karpathios and Christos Chalkias.
The innovation in this book is the registration of exercises and melodies in both musical notation systems: in the European (stave)and the Byzantine parasemantic system.
It is prefaced by the professor of ethnomusicology in the University of Athens, Lambros Liavas.
The book is published by the publishing house of Christos Zaranikas who is both an editor and a musician. Zaranikas’ publishing house is inaugurating a series of publications on the music of the Greek East.
Pages from this book with basic exercises, written in european music writing.
“KANUN TECNIQUE” |
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preface to the book |
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The kanun is one of the most ancient musical instruments . Its name seems to have originated from Pythagoras kanon, the monochord (one string) experimental instrument with the movable bridge on which the ancient mathematician and philosopher determined for the first time the numerical relations that decide the music spaces .of the stave The instrument was known in ancient Greece under other names and variations (triangle epigonio, magadis etc- a whole family of instruments with many strings, which have significantly contributed to the evolution and development of the theory and virtuosity in Greek music).During the Byzantine era it was known as psalterion. King David is pictured in miniatures and murals playing this instrument. It was spread in Medieval West under other relative names(psalterion, kanon, metzkanon etc) also in the Arab countries of North Africa, Middle East and Turkey (qanoun) and through Spain to North America (salterio). It was distinguished as a basic instrument of instruction because of its movable bridges which allow it to render all the microspaces of the traditional modal scales. It was also distinguished as a solo instrument, an accompaniment to a song and also as a member of a traditional instrument orchestra. This long progress of the instrument in the course of the centuries in Greek music seems to be threatened around the middle of the 80s when Nikos Stefanidis, the last great virtuoso of the instrument and a primary conveyor of traditional music of the Greeks of the East, passed away.. It’s comforting though that a new generation of musicians appeared. These musicians picked up the thread again, starting from the multinational tradition of Constantinople (which combines Greek-Byzantine, Armenian, Ottoman and Balkan elements and which were passed on to the modern Greek song (D. Savvopoulos , N. Xydakis and others) In recent years the kanun students are increasing, despite the difficulties in the playing technique and in the acquisition of creditable instruments and experienced makers. For this reason initiatives and efforts for systematization and dissemination of the teaching of the instrument such as this belonging to Manolis Karpathios and Christos Chalkias are especially welcome. This effort is also welcome because of the fact that there is complete absence of such books in this domain. The use of both Byzantine music notation and Western music notation allows access for a bigger percentage of teachers and students who will benefit from the knowledge and experience of the two writers, as one can proceed gradually from basic exercises and studies of the instrument to a carefully selected repertoire representative of the various traditions which the kanun covers in its long history: from the learned tradition of the Byzantine and post Byzantine music and the Greek composers of Constantinople to the traditional, popular and modern Greek song. In an era which is marked by the transition from the oral tradition to the written instruction, publications such as this are absolutely necessary and most valuable.
LAMBROS LIAVAS PROFFESSOR OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY IN THE |
Pages from this book with basic exercises, written in byzantine music writing. |
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