A group of musicians from Crete, including rizitika singers
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The rizitika songs represent the most important genre of
vocal music in western Crete (see Baud-Bovy 1972, Magrini 1981,
Magrini and Leydi in press). The area of the rizitika is
in the northern part of the Lefka Ora (White Mountains),
within the province of Chaniá. Here the rizitika
are the principal musical repertoire for feasts in the villages,
above all marriages and baptisms, but also for simple banquets.
Based on the type of performance occasion, rizitika
songs can be divided into two repertoires: the tavla repertoire
(songs for the table) and the strata repertoire (songs
for the road). The tavla repertoire is reserved for convivial
occasions, mainly wedding banquets. The strata repertoire
is strictly reserved for parts of the wedding rites other than
the banquet, that is, for the transfer of the dowry to the bridegroom's
house, the ceremonial welcome by the bridegroom's mother of the
bride, the gathering of the gifts, etc. (see Vlastos 1893). These
activities are accompanied by songs on the strata melody
and called, as a whole, tou gamou tragoudi, wedding song.
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