My wife and I recently took a cruise in the Mediterranean. One of the countries we visited is Greece, and I'm at a loss as to what music might accompany the photos. Can anyone suggest a Greek classical piece which would make good background for a slide show? My wife would prefer Greek guitar, but if you don't have any guitar suggestions I'm open to anything. Also, if not actually Greek, something which fits the mood of Greece would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance!
Also, the other two countries we visited were Turkey and Italy. Any suggestions for either of these would be appreciated as well. Thanks!
yep I've got it.* I've been watching a few Greek films lately which use some beautiful original music by Eleni Karaindrou, a Greek composer.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xUvmyAvT2-k
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TxnIIegjNok
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=updryN1n3T4
Youtube has more
*feel free to disagree
This:
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2003/Aug03/Skalkottas_Greek_dances_Ulysses_BisCD1333.jpg)
Or if you'd like more ancient sounding background, these could do:
(http://www.constantinople.ca/images/CD_carrefour_med_large.gif)(http://www.constantinople.ca/images/CD_terres_large.jpg)
http://www.constantinople.ca/en/discograph/carrefour/
http://www.constantinople.ca/en/discograph/terres/
Good choices from Drasko. I'll see if I can recommend some Turkish folkmusic ( some of it is really hypnotisingly beautiful...).
Jacques Ibert's "Ports of call"
Debussy's piano preludes, pianomusic by Albeniz,the odd fragment from a filmscore by Nino Rota or a snippet of Bach , Spanish Baroque lute or harp works ( check the CD's by Andrew Lawrence King), Cantigas from Spain& renaissance songs from Portugal ( Jordi Savall, Ensemble Elyma...) ! Some plainchant?
Good luck!
P.
Thanks everyone! I'll check all of these out. My wife picked out some Spanish guitar that she likes for the slideshow so I'll probably go with that for most of it. I'll see if I can't sneak some of the suggestions in for part of it though.
Drasko's suggestions seem good to me, or maybe the film music of Elena Karaindrou, suggested by ezodisy. I fail to understand the suggestions of Spanish or Portuguese music though, as the Iberian peninsula is so different from Greece. Turkish music does have certain similarities, but I doubt the Greeks would entertain using it. Other possibilities would be the orchestral or instrumental music of Theodorakis, Hadjidakis or Stavros Xarhakos, who also arranges and conducts on Agnes Baltsa's Greek song album.
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/4777428.jpg)
I understand your point. But I was only aiming at "atmosphere"...not geographical correctness. I've seen pictures of the Tour de France with a Brandenburg Concerto as soundtrack and it worked really well....
But, definitely : Greek landscapes go well with Greek music :D
Quote from: pjme on December 03, 2008, 07:18:37 AM
But I was only aiming at "atmosphere"...not geographical correctness. I've seen pictures of the Tour de France with a Brandenburg Concerto as soundtrack and it worked really well....
But, definitely : Greek landscapes go well with Greek music :D
I understand what you are saying, and I too have seen slide shows or documentaries, where the music, though somewhat
unapposite, has worked rather well. However it sometimes seems to me that filmmakers can tend to lump all the Mediterranean countries together into one amorphous group, thinking that if a bit of Spanish guitar music will do for one sunny scene, then it will do for another. I confess that, being half Greek myself, I do get a bit touchy on the subject. How about some classic bouzouki instead of guitar?
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on December 03, 2008, 08:35:58 AM
How about some classic bouzouki instead of guitar?
Great suggestion! After reading this I searched a number of Bouzouki albums, but unfortunately I can't find any unaccompanied Bouzouki. What I've found often is very heavy on synthesizer, and overall what I found would tend to overpower the slideshow (personal opinion only).
I did find some perfect pieces for solo guitar by Paganini which I'm using for the photos from Italy. For example, track 26 on this album (http://www.emusic.com/album/Josef-Mazan-Paganini-Guitar-Sonatas-MP3-Download/11257000.html). I wish I could find some solo Bouzouki which would fit as well for the photos in Greece. Any suggestions?
When I saw the headline, my immediate reaction was Skalkottas Greek Dances. Good call Drasko.
Quote from: Redbeard on December 04, 2008, 07:06:13 AM
Great suggestion! After reading this I searched a number of Bouzouki albums, but unfortunately I can't find any unaccompanied Bouzouki. What I've found often is very heavy on synthesizer, and overall what I found would tend to overpower the slideshow (personal opinion only).
I wish I could find some solo Bouzouki which would fit as well for the photos in Greece. Any suggestions?
Well I just typed bouzouki into Music Search on amazon.com and came up with quite a few discs, some of which would appear to be just bouzouki. You can listen to samples of some of them, though I noticed that in the case of the disc called
The Magic of the Greek Bouzouki, you will have to go to the UK site to hear the excerpts www.amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk). Maybe you'll find something there.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5131R9A5G3L._SS500_.jpg)