Isokratisses - livesession during Le Guess Who? 2019

Isokratisses performs a livesession in the Pandhof, next to the Utrecht University Academiegebouw during festival Le Guess Who?
1. Ksenitemeno mou pouli (My emigrant bird)
2. Gia pes mas nifi omorfi (Tell us, you beautiful bride)
3. Ehasa to mantili mou (I lost my handkerchief)
4. Tin imera den kimoume kai to vradi perpato (I don’t sleep during the day and I walk all night)

Female vocal ensemble Isokratisses both uphold and reinterpret one of the world’s oldest remaining folk music traditions: the polyphonic songs of Epirus. Thanks to the vast mountain ranges of Albania and a terra firma already pretty remote from Western influence, these laments remained an insular force of celebration and hardship for centuries, passed down generation by generation. Isokratisses are the latest wielders of this singular musical heritage, its elemental power still intact and untainted from Byzantine times to this present day.

Broadcast November 24th 2019
This video was recorded in the Academie gebouw of Utrecht University during festival Le Guess Who? for VPRO Vrije Geluiden: music program made by the Dutch public broadcast organization VPRO
Camera operators: Ramon de Boer, Marijn Zurburg, Wim Adam Audio: Ruben Kieftenbelt, Koert Berends, Marc Broer
Videodirector: Reinier Bruijne
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[Fillyman]

Gorgeous music! I love how the second singer drops in with counterpoint underneath the soloist, then a burst of melancholy voices together. Dolorous, but the spirit of hopefulness comes through in these songs.

[kostasantonopoulos]

Beautiful traditional Greek Well done!!

[melania]

Ομορφα τραγούδια, υπέροχες ερμηνείες! Μπράβο!