Music of Cyprus 2

Music of Cyprus

“Music of Cyprus” is an album of traditional Cypriot music composed by Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot musicians. Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, a Turkish Cypriot musician born in Istanbul, and Theodoulos Vakanas, a Greek Cypriot musician born in Nicosia, cooperated with two more musicians from the mainlands Turkey and Greece in this album.
The title “Music of Cyprus” completely reflects the content of this album: traditional music Cyprus. What motivated Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol to create such an album was an attempt to archive Cypriot music with the bi-communal collaboration of musicians.
The colourful diversity in Cypriot music is reflected by the wide variety of instruments used in recording the album such as ud, reed flute, lauto, horn, flageolet, tambourine, violin, fiddle, drums and percussions... Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol who is also an ethnomusicologist says that throughout the last century both Turkish and Greek Cypriots have played the violin as their main instrument. The instruments mentioned above have been played in the album in various arrangements.
The repertoire of the album includes such categories as “Wedding Songs”, “Love Songs”, “Sacred Music”, “Village”, “Reconstruction of Cyprus”, “Folk Dance” and “Music of Cyprus”. This categorization clearly shows that Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol's approach to this album is thoroughly scientific for the purpose of better understanding the Cypriot cultural identity.

“In the morning at sunrise”...
The album opens with “Wedding Songs”. The first song is “Kozan Marşı / Syrtos” sung by both Turkish and Greek Cypriots and in which almost all the instruments mentioned are played. The second track titled “To Tragoui Tou Gamou” is a Greek Cypriot wedding song. The lyrics "May this time be blessed in gold / and this ceremony be powerful / Today the sky and the day are shining bright / Today is the day an eagle marries a dove" depicts a Greek Cypriot wedding ceremony.
The third song is from the section "Love Songs”. “Sabahın Seher Vahdında” is one of the most emotional songs of the album. The lyrics goes as follows: “In the morning at sunrise / She sits reading the Bible / I don’t understand her language / So I thought a nightingale”. The song is sung by Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol who also plays the ud. This song highlights the conception of the album quite well by reflecting the view of the “other”, the struggle to understand the different and the joy of living together with the other and the different.
After this emotional love song, the same ud melodies carries us to a more joyful song: “Dolama / Na Sou Goraso Mihanin". Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol sings the lyrics "Dolama dolama / Bring over the bağlama / How did you learn / to dance like this?...”. Theodoulos Vakanas replies in Greek accompanied by violin melodies played by him: “I will buy you a sewing machine / To sew, you proud one / So that you need no one’s help / In this very neighbourhood”...

“The sema is joy, and it is good for body and soul"...
After a short Byzantine sacred music, the Greek Cypriot religious song “Ta’i Giorki” opens the section “Sacred Music in Cyprus”. Dedicated to Aya Giorgis, this epic song tells the story of a religious hero.
The sixth song is an Anatolian chant “Şem-i Ruhuna”. “Listen to what I’m saying, it’s about another way / What a dervish needs is the love of God / What the lover possesses is sacrificed for the Beloved / The sema is joy, and it is good for body and soul...” This mystic chant is important because it represents the importance for the Turkish Cypriots of the Mevlevi belief system.
“The Village” section opens with drums and horns. “Abdal Zeybeği /Aptalikos” is followed by the section “Cyprus Reconstructed”. This section displays the more traditional instruments used before the violin took its place in the Cypriot tradition as the main instruments of the islanders.
The tenth song of the album opens the “Dance Songs” section. The album presents two great dance songs that represent not only the Turkish and Greek Cypriot culture, but also the Aegean culture: "Varys Zeybekikos" and "Sarhoş Zeybeği / Ime Tze Ganomatzis".
The final section which has the same title with the album, “Music of Cyprus", presents more familiar and popular melodies. "Agapisa Tin Pou Karkias", "Feslikan/Syrtos", "Orak/To Mashairin" and "Dillirga/Tillyrkotissa” are the songs in this section that reflect the warmth of a Mediterranean island.

Listen to the music of Cyprus...
“Music of Cyprus” presents the multicultural diversity of identities on this beautiful Mediterrranean island. The name of the album itself is totally reflective of its true message: The music of Cyprus is neither Turkish or Greek. Any cultural and artistic endeavour in the name of “Cyprus” must tell the story of the bicommunal identity of the island. This is what you will hear if you listen to the music of Cyprus.

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