Nikos Xylouris

Nikos Xylouris , also Nikos Xilouris ( Greek Νίκος Ξυλούρης , born July 7, 1936 in Anogia on Crete ; † February 8, 1980 in Piraeus ) was a Greek singer and composer . He was a representative of the democratic movement that in 1974 overthrew the Colonel regiment , the junta led by Giorgios Papadopoulos that came to power in 1967 .

His brothers Andonis Xylouris, called Psarandonis , and Yannis are also well-known Cretan folk musicians.

Career

Xylouris acquired his first lyre at the age of twelve, showed great talent and was soon performing at local festivals and weddings. Xylouris was 17 years old when he started playing in a music inn in Heraklion called Kastro . However, since he had devoted himself to traditional folk music against the prevailing trend towards European music, his success initially remained low and the income was barely enough to sustain himself. On May 21, 1958, he married Urania Melambianaki, daughter of a wealthy family from Heraklion. A son was born in 1960 and a daughter in 1966.

In 1958 he managed to publish his first record ( «Μια μαυροφόρα που περνά» ) and he gradually became better known. In 1966 he appeared at the Sanremo Festival with a Syrtaki played on the lyre and won first prize in the folk music category . The following year he opened his own music tavern "Κέντρο Ερωτόκριτος" in Heraklion. His 1969 recording of Anyfantou was a huge success. Xylouris soon gave concerts in the Konaki Folk Music Hall in Athens , which became his new home. There he met the poet and songwriter Errikos Thalassinos and the composer and singer Giannis Markopoulos from Ierapetra . With the plates Chroniko and Risitika a successful collaboration that made him throughout Greece and beyond known began.

On November 17, 1973 he performed during the student revolt at the Athens Polytechnic . The college was surrounded by tanks of the junta when Xylouris took up his lyre and sang the old Cretan freedom song Pote tha kani Xasteria , which his ancestors sang as the hymn of the Cretan liberation struggle against the Ottomans . Since then, the folk artist Xylouris has also had the aura of a folk hero. Along with other events, the student revolt in 1973 was one of the starting points for the decline of the Greek military dictatorship in 1974.

In 1975 he and other musicians set poems by the world-famous Greek poet and communist Giannis Ritsos to music .

Xylouris died of cancer in 1980 in Piraeus. Every year in the first week of July, a large folk music festival is held in his place of birth to commemorate him.

Discography (selection)

• To Chroniko tou Nikou Xylouri 1962-1965
• Syllogi (1974)
• Ta pou thymoume tragoudo (1975)
• Ta Erotika (1977)
• 14 Chrisses Epitichies (1978)
• Ta Xyloureika (1978)
• Nikos Xylouris (1982)
• Afieroma stin Kriti (1987)
• I Kriti kai ta Tragoudia tis (1995)
• Palikari ap'ta palia (2000)
• 23 Megales Epitichies (2003)
• Itane mia fora (2004)
• Chrissi Diskotiki I (2007)
• Chrissi Diskotiki II (2008)
• Giannis Markopoulos / Nikos Xylouris (1971): Rizitika
• Giannis Markopoulos: Chronicle (1971). N. Xylouris, Maria Dimitriadi
• Giannis Markopoulos: Ithagenia (1972). N. Xylouris, Memi Spyratou
• Giannis Markopoulos: Giorgos Seferis (1973). N. Xylouris, M. Spitatou, L. Chalkias
• Christos Leontis: Kapnismeno Tsoukali (1975). Giannis Ritsos , N. Xylouris, Tania Tsanaklidou, Vassilis Barnis
• Christos Leontis: Parastasis (1975). Manolis Mitsias, Tania Tsanaklidou , Giorgos Meratzas, Nikos Xylouris
• Giannis Markopoulos: Anexartita (1975). N. Xylouris, L. Chalkias, Lizetta Nikolaou, Vicky Moschouliou
• Giannis Markopoulos: Dionisios Solomos. Eleftheri Poliorkimeni (1977). Irene Papas , N. Xylouris, L. Chalkias, I. Klonaridis
• Christodoulos Chalaris: Erotokritos (1976). Nikos Xylouris, Tania Tsanaklidou

Web links

• Official website (Greek and English)