SEPTEMBER 14, 1922: THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF SMYRNA

The period between September 4 and September 20 marks what is referred to in Greece as the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the sacking of the Ottoman Empire's most cosmopolitan city, Smyrna -- today's Izmir. On September 9, 1922 Kemalist forces captured Smyrna, burning the city to the ground. Tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians were massacred or incinerated. The Greek army’s defeat and the subsequent burning of Smyrna led to the forced exodus of approximately 1.3 million Orthodox Greeks from Asia Minor, who ultimately settled in Greece. It marked the end of the 3,000-year presence of Greeks in Asia Minor and led to a significant shift in Greek culture and demographics. 



March 8, 2023 John Kimon: Rembetika: The blues of Greece.

You can find the story here. But this year we thought to have a closer look at the music the refugees from Asia Minor brought to Greece, which was at the time engaged in a drive for cultural westernization.

The influx of one and a half million Greeks from the East brought that drive temporarily to an end. Despite later efforts to reverse the trend, the style enjoyed revival after revival.

In my humble opinion, its influence partly helped save Greece from the fate that is currently sinking the West.

Smyrnaian music is another Anatolian genre born in the 19th century (in the flowering period 1850-1922) that arrived in Greece after the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922.

It is considered the ancestor of Rebetiko and Greek urban folk music, making it a special part of the cultural heritage.

The Smyrnaian song often follows the system of oriental makams or the sounds of Byzantine music, while the instruments that accompany it include the oud, kanonaki, santouri, tovio.

After 1922, the refugees transferred this tradition to Athens and Piraeus, significantly affecting not only the music scene of the 1920-1930s, but is even felt today in modern entechno. 

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