It forms part of the broader musical tradition of mainland and of the southern Balkans. Compared to other regions of , the music of Macedonia is characterized by a high degree of diversity, due to the numerous influences it has received over the years from neighboring countries and particularly from refugees arriving in the early 20th century. In general terms, Macedonian music can be thought of as the connecting chain between the Western musical tradition of Epirus and Thessaly and the Eastern musical tradition of Thrace and Constantinople.
Excavations in Macedonia have discovered musical instruments similar to the aulos as early as the Neolithic Era and throughout classical antiquity. The Ancient Macedonians enjoyed similar music to the rest of the Ancient Greeks and Alexander the Great and his successors built odea for musical performances in every city they built, from Alexandria in Egypt to cities as distant as Ai-Khanoum in what is now modern-day Afghanistan.
Macedonian songs are in particular influenced by the Acritic Byzantine tradition, while instruments such as the tambourine, the Macedonian lyra and the Macedonian bagpipe are directly descended from medieval Greek equivalents. Many local dances such as Syrtos have also been danced to similar music for hundreds of years.
Modern Macedonian music is an admixture of the music of pre-20th century Greek Macedonians, which has some similarities to the music of neighboring Epirus and Thessaly, such as the music of Greek refugees from Asia Minor, who arrived following the Asia Minor disaster.
Regional variation
Western Macedonian music is the closest to that of Thessaly and Epirus and is dominated by brass instruments, with the exception of Grevena and the surrounding area, where the Epirot orchestra (clarinet, violin, laouto and tambourine) is more common. Grevena is also known for its folk and Acritic songs traditionally sung by women without accompanying instruments to celebrate Easter. These songs date back to the Middle Ages and were passed down over the centuries among the then largely illiterate rural population. A similar tradition is found in the historically Greek-speaking villages of the western and southern parts of Kozani. The cities of Kozani and Kastoria follow a separate tradition of urban songs, which survive until this day.
A rich brass tradition also evolved in Pella and Kilkis, replacing the earlier zurna (karamuza) and bagpipe bands, which still dominate Imathia and much of Central and Eastern Macedonia. In Naoussa and the surrounding area, traditional orchestras consist of the famous davul and zurna combination, while Veria is known for its Ottoman-style urban music. In mountainous Pieria, the dominant instrument was the gaida, while Chalkidike, due to its tradition of sea-faring trade, shares more in common with the music of the Aegean islands, the dominant instruments there being the violin and the laouto.
Nearer the border with North Macedonia and particularly in Florina, songs such as Leventikos and associated dances are shared between Greek and Slavic speakers, with the same songs often having lyrics in both languages.
Folk Songs
My white doves (Ασπρα μου περιστέρια) - love song
Oh, that the mountains had been lowered (Ας χαμήλωναν τα βουνά) - love song
A lady called me (Με μήνυσε μια αρχόντισσα) - love song
Famous Macedonia (military march from the Balkan wars adapted from the traditional 'Macedonian dance', itself a derivation of an Acritic song, written in iambic decapentasyllabic - today serves as the anthem of the region of Macedonia)
They will never take the Macedonians' land (Δεν θα την πάρουνε ποτέ την γη των Μακεδόνων) - patriotic song from Balkan Wars
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Greek traditional music includes a variety of Greek styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, Australia, the United States and other parts of Europe. Apart from the common music found generally in Greece, each region of Greece contains a distinct type of folk music that originated from the region due to their history, traditions and cultural influences.
Turkish folk dances are the folk dances of Turkey. Facing three seas, straddling important trade routes, Turkey has a complex, sophisticated culture, reflected in the variety of its dances. The dominant dance forms are types of line dance. There are many different types of folk dances performed in various ways in Turkey. Zeybek, Teke Zortlatması in Aegean region, Bar in Erzurum province, Halay in the central, southern, eastern, and southeastern parts of the country, Hora in Thrace, Horon in the eastern Black Sea region, Spoon dances in and around Konya, and Lezginka in Kars and Ardahan are some of the best known examples of these.
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Makedonikos antikristos is a dance from Macedonia in Greece. It means "face to face dance from Macedonia", and it is danced by two people, usually by a man and a woman. It is mainly danced in the western side of Macedonia in the city of Kozani.
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The 1896–1897 Macedonian Rebellion was a Greek rebellion, launched in 1896, and a guerrilla movement that took place in Macedonia in order to preserve the conscience and ready-mindedness of the Macedonian Greek populations, to create a rivalrous awe against the Bulgarians the demarcation of the Greek territorial claims in the Ottoman area and the creation of a distraction for the events of Crete. The movement was of Macedonian character, as the regiments invading Macedonia from Thessaly consisted primarily of Macedonian chieftains and fighters, most of whom were from Northwestern Macedonia. The initial impetus was given by the Ethniki Etaireia (Greek National Company), but then several Macedonian chieftains spontaneously and without coordination were involved in the events, while in some regions of Macedonia the events took the form of massive uprisings. The main rebels of the Macedonian Revolution of 1896 were the areas of Sanjak of Monastir (Florina, Bitola, Prespes), Sanjak of Korytsa (Kastoria), Sanjak of Servia, Sanjak of Salonica (Thessaloniki, Pieria, Imathia, Pella, Tikveš) and Sanjak of Serres (Serres, Upper Nevrokopi, Lower Nevrokopi).
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