Zacharias Karounis and a team of four musicians have selected songs from Manuscript No. 37 of the Historical and Paleographical Archive of the National Bank’s Cultural Foundation (MIET). The selection features 19th-century songs with melodies captured in intricate Byzantine notation, based on verses that convey a sense of romanticism. The main theme of the songs is love, particularly unfulfilled love.

The selection of songs was made by Zacharias Karounis and Gerasimos Papadopoulos. Initially, they worked separately and later compared their results. Their selection was almost completely in agreement. The criteria for selecting the songs were primarily musical, focusing on original musical phrases, similarities with traditional songs that have survived to the present day, as well as interesting musical forms and morphological features that are not common in traditional songs. The poetic texts that accompany the songs also played an important role in the selection. The aim was to capture all the linguistic “qualities” that can be found in this special collection of songs.

Manuscript No.37 of the Historical and Paleographical Archive of the National Bank’s Cultural Foundation is – as described on its front cover – a “Musical Selection of old and new songs, set to music and highlighted by Georgios K., First Cantor of Ioannina.” This collection constitutes a treasure of musical folklore, containing over 230 pieces recorded in contemporary chant notation, including art Phanariot songs (some of which are pieces that bear the signature of the collector himself or are anonymous but likely his), folk songs from various regions of Greece, kleftiko songs, and some instrumental tunes. The full name of the manuscript’s author is Georgios Konstantinos Pilelis. He was a First Cantor of Ioannina, a teacher, and an expert in music theory, born in Ioannina, most likely on the cusp between the 18th and 19th centuries. He learned the so-called “New Method” from its original creators in Constantinople. He passed away in 1885.