Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Lamentation and the search for the afterlife, from rizitika* dirges to the rational worship of the Byzantines. The separation of the soul from the body and the quest for life’s continuation beyond the conventional limits of time is an issue inherent to the creation of mankind. The exact period of time immediately after expiration and before burial has been sung in various ways through folk poetry and ecclesiastical hymnography. A common feature of the two manifestations of the same culture is the communal nature of human behavior. In rizitika dirges, the Underworld and elements of Nature are personified, the honor of the deceased is praised, and the relatives are comforted for the loss of a loved one. On the other hand, Byzantine hymnographers subject every element of creation to the worship of the Word of God. Creation laments the Passion of the Creator. The hope for coexistence in perpetuity becomes the new horizon. In this quest, the voice serves as a guide, engaging in a dialogical relationship with the breath of the flutes and their interplay with the Ottoman tambour, all in an effort to highlight the universality of the primordial needs of human existence.

* Dirges originating from the Lefka Ori (White Mountains) region in Chania, Crete

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

John Papatzanis

He is considered one of the most important performers of traditional music in Greece. He is characterized by his virtuoso ability in playing instruments (traditional percussion instruments of Crete and the southeastern Aegean), focusing on Cretan music, while approaching musical idioms from the rest of Greece. At the same time, he develops the techniques of the Aegean traditional percussion (toumbaki/daoulaki), while using percussion instruments from other traditions (Persian tombak, African udu with Indian ghatam technique, Middle Eastern frame drums and Spanish cajon). He has collaborated for many years with musicians from Greece and abroad, such as: Ross Daly, George Xylouris, Vasilis Stavrakakis, Psarantonis, Zacharias Spyridakis, Dimitris Sgouros, Achilleas Persidis and Haik Giazitzian, playing percussion and singing. He has composed original music for theater, cinema, dance theater, documentaries and television productions. He has held rhythm and percussion masterclasses in Greece and abroad.

Nikos Katritzidakis

Born in Rethymno, he began his music studies at the Municipal Philharmonic. He began his flute studies with Stella Gadedi in Athens, continuing in Paris with Jean Ferrandis and Christine B. Bres. He has been a member of the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra since 1999, and collaborated with the Orchestra of Colours from 1993 until its discontinuation in 2011. He participated in recording productions of the Orchestra of Colours and composers such as Manos Hadjidakis, Nikos Mamagakis, George Kyriakakis, Fani Kosona, Panagiotis Lefteris, Kostas Grigoreas, as well as in productions of traditional Cretan music. He is active in musical projects that utilize traditional forms and improvisation. He has been teaching the flute at the Pangrati Attic Conservatory since 2000.

Nikos Papageorgiou

He has been involved in music since childhood, studying civil lute with Evgenios Voulgaris and church music with his father, Georgios Papageorgiou. His first contact with the tambour took place in the seminars of the music workshop “Labyrinth”, under Murat Aydemir. He is a graduate of the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education (University of Patras). He has been a permanent resident of Istanbul, where he continues his musical-musicological study and research, since 2018. He participates in various groups and artistic projects, playing the tambour and civil lute. He began postgraduate studies at the Department of Ethnomusicology of MIAM (Istanbul Technical University) in 2020, and postgraduate studies at the Department of Turkish Art History (Istanbul University) in 2024.

Dimos Papatzalakis

Graduate of the Department of Music Science and Art (University of Macedonia) and the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology of the School of Theology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). He holds a master's degree in Byzantine musicology and the art of chanting. He is currently working on a doctoral thesis at the Department of Music Studies of the School of Fine Arts (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). He teaches Greek traditional music in public secondary education schools. He chants at the Cathedral of the Holy Forerunner of Neapolis in Thessaloniki.