Arcs and Rivers

Exactly when and how the long neck lute ‘bouzouki’ first landed in Greece remains a mystery. Its roots go back to the fourth century before Christ. Named after the “Βυζί“, the Greek word for female breast, the current form of the instrument is relatively young and has been all over Athens and the Peloponnese since around 1920. Initially at home in bars, parties and festivals; it certainly played its part in the revival of the ‘rebetiko’, often referred to ‘the Greek blues’ from the 1960s onwards. ‘Back in the early days there was a lot of improvisation, much more than in recent times...’ says Georgios Prokopiou, ‘because from the fifties onwards, the bouzouki was taught. And that's when so many more things about it became tied down and standardised’. Since that time, the metallic sound of the instrument has become almost synonymous with Greek folklore as the accompaniment for songs and dances...notably with composer Mikis Theodorakis, the source of more than a few ear-worms.