NIKOS XYLOURIS
Anoyia,
the place
where he
was born
GREECE
CRETA
His life…
LYRA
Traditional
instrument
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•
•
Nikos Xilouris was born in Anoyia (1936),
prefecture of Rethimno in Crete. His
family has a great tradition on music.
In 1941 he began to show his talent for
music by singing and playing mandolin.
Afterwards, he changed his opinion and
wanted to learn Lyra. In the age of 17 he
goes to work in Heraklion for the first
time. Having the advantage that with the
voice that he had, he could also sing
different things, other than Cretan, in
1966 he participates in a folk festival in
San Remo and wins the first price. In
1967he opens , the first Cretan music
hall, "Erwtokritos" in Heraklion. In
February 1969 he recorded the
"Anyfantoy", a song that becomes a
great hit in the traditional discography of
the time.
Apart from the traditional songs of Crete,
the voice of Xylouris has also been
identified with the contemporary artistic
works of famous composers. Through
those choices of his, the folk music of
Crete was meant to be known and was
heard all over Greece.
His relationship with
Markopoulos
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•
•
Xilouris and Markopoulos original
cooperation was the "Chroniko", a
unity of songs that re-examined the
relationship between tradition and
the present.
His songs expressed the tensed
political climate of the period which
led to the uprising of the students
of the Polytechnic School of Greece
and the rebellion of the Greek
people against the military junta
that followed soon after. Xilouris
was one of the few artists who were
in the limelight as far as
newspapers of that time were
concerned.
He died of cancer in 1980. Nikos
Xilouris was a great singer, but
unfortunately because of his death
he did not complete his work.
This project was made
by…
• Dimitris Galanakis
• Stathis Handerai