The wedding song “Today the sky is shining” in Greek area
The wedding song “Today the sky is shining”, as well as a plethora of other traditional songs, appears scattered in various parts of Greek area, from Corfu, Megara of Attica and Peloponnesus, to Crete and Cyprus. Within this geographic range, the specific song can be found in varied versions. These versions differ from each other in rhythm, music, text or in all three elements together, presenting a particular interest. The song has elsewhere a cheerful dancing melody, elsewhere a sad one and elsewhere appears as a table song or a combination of the above. A typical example is the version of the song from Megara, which is a combination of a slow melismatic table song with an epode in a quadruple rhythm.
Today I will present to you four versions of this song from Corfu, Kalavryta, Megara of Attica and Cyprus, and I will try to find the differences or similarities in lyrics, melos and rhythm, and the emotions which are expressed every time, in connection with the above elements.
© Musicology