The social role of parea in the musical traditional of Crete is the tenth episode of Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape, a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED.
Ioannis Papadatos has been a long‐term participant‐observer during a fieldwork in the island of Crete to prepare his dissertation about the local performances of Cretan traditional music for the University of Kent’s degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He participated and enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of social gatherings called parees in which music plays a pivotal role, mostly in Heraklion where he resided in 2012 and 2013.
These meetings are very inclusive, because at the same time are a social space where sharing the passion for music and singing or playing, independently from the technical level and the knowledge of the repertoire, and where learning the unspoken rules that govern the musical sequences of the performances while improving one’s own ability.
The key concept of meraklís (enthusiast, fan, aficionado, devotee, lover, buff) reveals this inclusive and participatory kind of gatherings where people socialize through music, and the parees open performances keep alive the original musical traditions of this big Greek Mediterranean island.
Listen to The social role of parea in the musical traditional of Crete
About Ioannis Papadatos
Ioannis Papadatos is an ethnomusicologist in the field of Greek studies and the Cretan musical tradition. He lives in Athens and has conducted a long-term ethnographical fieldwork in the island of Crete as part of his doctorate research at the University of Kent.
Episode’s musical sources list
Disclaimer Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.
Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012
Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012
Agrimia ki agrimakia mou (My beasts and little beasts)
Arranged by Yannis Markopoulos, singer Nikos Xilouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG6WZoVfGao
Htikiaris (Sickly person)
Karolos Kouklakis and Irini Derebei – Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2011
Ta vasana mou (I rejoice in my sorrows)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013
Pentozalis
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013
Ki an mou ‘heis kapsei tin kardia (Even if you’ve burnt my heart)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012
Staras – apo to 1968 Lefkogiani parea – kalamatiana, (parea at Lefkogia of Rethymnon prefecture) Nikos Petrakis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0EDlimpNwk)
Courtesy of the Staras Family to Ioannis Papadatos
Όla gia séna ta ’pexa (I risked everything for you)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012
Ksirosterianos
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013
Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012
Mmono ekeinos p’agapa (Only the one who loves)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2012
Kastrinos
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013
Pote tha kanei xasteria (When will the skies clear again)
Nikos Xilouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSjGLAVQpY
and Polytechnic students’ street protest of November 1973 where they sang Pote tha kanei xasteria https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&app=desktop&v=8Qa9C2YFmes
