Editing Greece (section)

=== Music and dances ===
{{Main|Music of Greece}}
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2017}}
[[File:Sfakia-dance.jpg|thumb|[[Cretan]] dancers of [[Greek folk music|traditional folk music]]]]
[[File:Rembetes Karaiskaki 1933.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rebetiko|Rebetes]] in Karaiskaki, [[Piraeus]] (1933). Left [[Markos Vamvakaris]] with [[bouzouki]].]]

Greek vocal music extends back into ancient times where mixed-gender choruses performed for entertainment, celebration and spiritual reasons. Instruments included the double-reed [[aulos]] and the plucked string instrument, the [[lyre]], especially the special kind called a [[kithara]]. Music played an important role in education. Boys were taught music from the age of six. Later influences from the Roman Empire, Middle East, and the [[Byzantine Empire]] affected Greek music.

While the new technique of polyphony was developing in the West, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] resisted change. Therefore, [[Byzantine music]] remained monophonic and without any form of instrumental accompaniment. As a result, and despite certain attempts by certain Greek chanters, Byzantine music was deprived of elements which, in the West, encouraged an unimpeded development of art. Byzantium presented the monophonic [[Byzantine chant]], a melodic music, with rhythmical variety and expressive power.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO - Byzantine chant |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/byzantine-chant-01508 |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref>

Along with Byzantine chant and music, the Greeks cultivated the [[Greek folk music|Greek folk song]] (''Demotiko'') which is divided into two cycles, the [[Acritic songs|akritic]] and [[klephtic song|klephtic]]. The akritic was created between the 9th and 10th centuries and expressed the life and struggles of the [[akrites]] (frontier guards) of the Byzantine empire, the most well known associated with [[Digenes Akritas]]. The klephtic cycle came into being between the late Byzantine period and start of the Greek War of Independence. The klephtic cycle, together with historical songs, ''paraloghes'' (narrative song or ballad), love songs, [[mantinada|mantinades]], wedding songs, songs of exile and dirges express the life of the Greeks.

[[File:Mikis2004.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mikis Theodorakis]] was one of the most popular and significant Greek composers.]]

The [[Heptanese]]an [[Greek folk music#Ionian Islands|kantádhes]] (καντάδες '[[serenade]]s'; sing.: καντάδα) became the forerunners of the Greek modern urban popular song, influencing its development. For the first part of the next century, Greek composers continued to borrow elements from the Heptanesean style. The most successful songs during 1870–1930 were the so-called Athenian serenades, and the songs performed on stage ('theatrical revue songs') in [[revue]]s, [[operetta]]s and [[nocturne]]s that dominated Athens' theater scene.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=FolkWorld #44: Music of Greece |url=http://www.folkworld.de/44/e/greece.html |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=www.folkworld.de}}</ref>

[[Rebetiko]], initially a music associated with the lower classes, later reached greater acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and, sometimes to the point of unrecognisability.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} It was the base of the later [[laïkó]] (song of the people). The leading performers of the genre include [[Vassilis Tsitsanis]], [[Grigoris Bithikotsis]], [[Stelios Kazantzidis]], [[George Dalaras]], [[Haris Alexiou]] and [[Glykeria]].

It was through the [[Ionian islands]] (which were under western rule) that major advances of the western European classical music were introduced to mainland Greeks. The region is notable for the birth of the first school of modern Greek classical music ([[Ionian School (music)|Heptanesean or Ionian School]]), established in 1815. Prominent representatives of this genre include [[Nikolaos Mantzaros]], [[Spyridon Xyndas]], [[Spyridon Samaras]] and [[Pavlos Carrer]]. [[Manolis Kalomiris]] is considered the founder of the Greek National School of Music.<ref name=":9" />

In the 20th century, Greek composers had significant impact on the development of [[avant garde]] and modern classical music, with figures such as [[Iannis Xenakis]], [[Nikos Skalkottas]], and [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] achieving international prominence. Composers and musicians such as [[Mikis Theodorakis]], [[Manos Hatzidakis]], [[Eleni Karaindrou]], [[Vangelis]] and [[Demis Roussos]] garnered an international following, which include famous [[film score]]s such as [[Zorba the Greek]], [[Serpico]], [[Never on Sunday]], [[America America]], [[Eternity and a Day]], [[Chariots of Fire]], and [[Blade Runner (soundtrack)|Blade Runner]]. [[Greek American]] composers known for their film scores include [[Yanni]] and [[Basil Poledouris]]. Greek opera singers and classical musicians of the 20th and 21st century include [[Maria Callas]], [[Nana Mouskouri]], [[Mario Frangoulis]], [[Leonidas Kavakos]], and [[Dimitris Sgouros]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Trikoupis |first=Athanasios |title=Greek composers in the 20th century. European influences in their work |url=https://www.academia.edu/36757754 |journal=Academia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Morris's Guide to Twentieth Century Composers GREECE - MusicWeb-International |url=https://www.musicweb-international.com/mark_morris/Greece.htm |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=www.musicweb-international.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Trikoupis |first=Athanasios |title=Nationalism and Modernism as parallel and interactive mainstream in the works of Greek composers of the 20th century |url=https://www.academia.edu/36786451 |journal=Academia}}</ref>

During the [[Greek junta]] of 1967–74, the music of Mikis Theodorakis was banned, the composer jailed, internally exiled, and put in a [[concentration camp]],<ref name="Hischak2015">{{cite book|author=Thomas S. Hischak|title=The Encyclopedia of Film Composers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xz99CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA664|date=16 April 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4550-1|page=664}}</ref> before finally being allowed to leave Greece due to international reaction. Released during the junta years, ''Make Love, Stop the Gunfire'', by pop group [[Poll (band)|Poll]] is considered the first anti-war protest song in [[Greek rock]].<ref name=europopmusic.eu>{{cite web|title=Kostas Tournas|url=http://www.europopmusic.eu/Greece_pages/Kostas_Tournas.html#about|publisher=europopmusic.eu|access-date=10 March 2013|archive-date=11 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311170321/http://www.europopmusic.eu/Greece_pages/Kostas_Tournas.html#about|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Greece participated in the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] 35 times after its debut at the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1974|1974 Contest]]. In [[Eurovision Song Contest 2005|2005]], Greece won with "[[My Number One]]", performed by Greek-Swedish singer [[Elena Paparizou]], which became a smash hit in different countries and especially in Greece, and the [[Eurovision Song Contest 2006|51st Eurovision Song Contest]] of 2006 was held in Athens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greece |url=https://eurovision.tv/country/greece}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Greece in Eurovision: Voting & Points |url=https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/greece}}</ref>