Although she’s best known for her popular and traditional Greek music that brings people to their feet to dance, Glykeria has also spent a great deal of time singing Greek Orthodox church hymns.
She even recorded a CD dedicated to the hymns of Good Friday called O Glyki Mou Ear, taken from one of the lines of the lamentation hymns.
Her passion for these hymns comes from her upbringing in the northern Greek village of Agio Pnevma, near Serres, where both her grandfather and father were chanters in the village church.
Throughout the world in Greek Orthodox Churches, a unique service known as the The Lamentation at the Tomb is celebrated on Good Friday.
A unique feature of the service is the chanting of the Lamentations or Praises, which consist of numerous verses chanted by the clergy and congregation interspersed between the verses of Psalm 119 from the Bible.
The verses are emotional and tell the story of Jesus in the tomb.
Glykeria sings “I Zoi En Tafo”
Glykeria sings “Ai Genai Pasai”
Glykeria sings “Axion Esti”
Is The Pappas Post worth $5 a month for all of the content you read? On any given month, we publish dozens of articles that educate, inform, entertain, inspire and enrich thousands who read The Pappas Post. I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep the quality of our content high — and free. Click here and start your monthly or annual support today. If you choose to pay (a) $5/month or more or (b) $50/year or more then you will be able to browse our site completely ad-free!
Click here if you would like to subscribe to The Pappas Post Weekly News Update
5 comments
Wow, The Good Friday Lamentation (1st piece) sounds just like Indian Raga or Quawwali (to my ears). There must be a connection there from the ancient world.
It’s a damn shame that some of Greece’s top pop singers feel that they have to delve into the hymnology of the Church and “perform” these hymns for the delight of the people. These are hymns that were specifically written with the theology of the Church in mind and are meant to help the congregation pray during the sacred services. (In the case of the so-called “Lamentations” — a word which is NOT an accurate translation for the Greek word “Engomia” — this service would be the Orthros of Holy Saturday that is chanted on Holy Friday evening.) Not to downplay Glykeria’s talent because she IS, in fact, one of Greece’s TOP talents, but ONLY in the areas of pop and traditional music, NOT in the area of Byzantine hymnology. She basically butchers these hymns and provides her own interpretations and performs them so people can respond with “Oh, how beautiful” or “She’s so wonderful”, etc. Here’s the problem: the people listening to these pop singers perform these hymns think that this is the way they are SUPPOSED to be chanted. And so, singers like Glykeria, Gonidis, Karas and even Gaitanos are actually doing more DAMAGE by destroying traditional chant according to the Byzantine musical system by offering their own interpretations of centuries-old hymns, while simultaneously corrupting the ears of the congregations and subconsciously making them think that, because they ARE artists and musicians, they must know a lot and these are the correct renditions of the hymns. Of course, nothing can be further from the truth. I would have no problem if Glykeria prefaced her performance with a disclaimer by telling the crowd something like, “These are my own interpretations, these are composed with my own poetic license and are NOT meant to be traditional. If you want to hear the proper execution of these hymns, please seek out a competent chanter in the Church.” But of course, we all know she won’t do that. After one of the Holy Week services one year in a large parish, a lady went up to the chanter of that parish, a colleague of mine who is an accomplished chanter and who was trained by credible teachers in his youth, and told him, “You chanted the hymns beautifully tonight, but you didn’t chant them the way GAITANOS chants them.” I rest my case.
Someone please tell Glykeria (and the others) to please leave Byzantine chant alone and stick to what she knows best!
I see how this beautiful presentation of the lamentations could be misused—just as anything good can be used for evil depending on the heart of the user, or hearer in this case. This year when I couldn’t get to sing the lamentations with my own church family, I followed the Friday night service on the internet, but I hadn’t realized how much singing the hymns with others meant to my spirit until I heard the voices singing in this presentation. The beauty of the presentation didn’t affect me in a negative way from comparison with my home church. Rather it opened my heart and nourished my spirit by allowing me to enter the Lamentations and by reminding me of what I had missed this year. Hymns of our church are so beautiful and rich to nourish and call to our hungry, lonely souls.
As my mother said to me when I criticized a wax museum of scenes from the life of Christ, “If it helps one person in his journey to Christ, how could we object!” Perhaps someone hearing this presentation will be moved closer to Christ or perhaps a wanderer will be reminded of his church and return.
For those who do not know of the stoic tradition of Byzantine chant then allow these popular singers to begin the journey for them….I prefer the Divine Liturgy in Greek but respect the English translation because it happens within the sanctity of the CHURCH. Glykeria performs this in a CONCERT hall and there is no disgrace or disrespect in this expose of her talent and her interpretation of the words and music. Even though the Church is the ultimate sanctum of prayer and praise to God, people “find her” in many different ways…. then let anyone sing these words anywhere and at any time for the joy and power of the words that are spoken..I cannot chant correctly but this doesnt stop me singing these hymns to myself whenever I want to…..No one should be denied the chance to experience this joy…even if they are off key!
Thank you. Beautiful!