Ηρακλής Οικονόμου

2000. Two dear friends of Thanos Mikroutsikos, Alexandros Myrat and Haris Alexiou, propose to the composer to orchestrate some of his songs for a symphony orchestra, so that they can be presented in a concert at the Athens Concert Hall. Despite his initial reservations, the creator gives in to the pressure....

Composer Ilias Andriopoulos notes: “I introduced the symphonic orchestra for a reason. I didn't do it superficially to play songs that don't lend themselves to such treatments by big orchestras. I don't want to mention now neither colleagues, nor singers who do this simply to show off. In art, things a...

In his lavishly scored oratorio The Liturgy of Orpheus, Yannis Markopoulos combines fragments of Orphic poems with a narrative text by Panos Theodoridis to create a work brimming with melodies, rhythms and instrumental tone colours. The latter include those of guitar, lute, kanonaki, lyre, harp and...

Today,  we shall be listening to a very powerful live recording of a concert of Dionysis Savvopoulos titled Savvorama. Savvopoulos, one of the few "revolutionaries" of the Greek music scene, gave a series of concerts in December 2000 at the Athens Concert Hall. Savvorama is a panorama of Savvopoulos...

Lena Pappa’s songs have been set to music by the Katsimihas brothers and Yiannis Nikolaou, among others. Pappa notes: “This is something that I consider important because composing music has an educational effect on the general public, through the marriage of two sensibilities, poetry and music”. As fo...

Nikiforos Vrettakos was a Greek poet whose literary career spanned nearly sixty years, along which he published several collections of poetry, prose works, and a long series of articles and literary essays. David Connolly, who has translated several of Vrettakos’ works, writes that his poems are “firmly roo...

Napoleon Lapathiotis is one of the cursed figures of Greek literature, considered an important poet of the neo-symbolist and neo-romantic schools. In his early poems he is influenced by aestheticism and sensualism, while in his last poems he ends up in desperate and melancholic tones, dominated by the...

Karyotakis influenced many of the poets who came after him and created a literary fashion, Karyotacism, which flooded modern Greek poetry. Going against the sentimentality of his era, Karyotakis conveys a sense of the futile. He writes sarcastic poems about the inglorious and the insignificant as a...

Kostas Karyotakis was born in 1896 and died in 1928, committing suicide at the age of just 32. He is considered one of the most representative Greek poets of the 1920s, with his poetry adding a tragic dimension to the neo-Symbolist and neo-Romantic poetry of his time. Today, we are listrening poetry...

Today, our track list includes songs about seagulls – these lovely seabirds that have inspired several Greek music artists. Primarily, seagulls symbolise freedom, flight, departure, adventure, unconventional behaviour. Gulls are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent, demonstrating complex methods o...

From antiquity and the Greek mythology, horses were associated with military might and prestige. However, in Greek music horses also become symbols of speed and dynamism, while also being humans’ faithful friends.  From the Red Horse of Dynameis tou Aigaiou band to the Twelve Horses of Costas T...

Greece is a dog-friendly country and Greek song has been dog-friendly too! From Foivos Delivorias’ Dog in Kolonaki neighborhood to Stathis Drogosis’ Kanellos, there is a massive list of songs where dogs are the protagonists. And by the way, did you know that Ancient Greeks gave to the world not onl...

Today, we celebrate World Radio Day with a collection of songs that include references to our favourite medium. UNESCO writes: “For many generations, radio has remained the most far reaching, easily accessible communication medium that informs and entertains all sectors of society. While in some regions i...

This week, we shift our focus to animals and songs about animals, starting with …cats. In Greece, cats are everywhere, including music! Sensitive songwriters such as Arleta and Afroditi Manou, rock creators such as Lakis Papadopoulos and Vaggelis Germanos, and seasoned vocalists such as Vassilis Papakonstantinou a...

International Greek Language Day International Greek Language Day is celebrated annually on the 9th of February. This day highlights the fundamental role and contribution of the Greek language in the development of art and science globally. In the context of the International Greek Language Day,...

When exploring the music for films of director Nikos Panagiotopoulos, we unavoidably come across his long-standing collaboration with Stamatis Kraounakis. Afti I nyhta menei, I’m tired of Killing Your Lovers and Dying in Athens are three of the many films of Panagiotopoulos for which Kraounakis wrote t...

Nikos Perrakis has directed some of the most hilarious comedies of Greek cinema, including Arpa Colla and Loafing & Camouflage. His …partner in crime was Nikos Mamagakis, a pioneering composer who excelled in various genres, from avant-garde to art-folk and film music. As for Giorgos Panousopoulos, w...

Pantelis Voulgaris is a renowned Greek film director and screenwriter. His films have received numerous awards and he is considered one of the most influential and important figures of Greek cinema. Our journey includes songs and music from his films Stone Years, Happy Day, Brides, Little England and...