IN MEMORIUM
Very sadly, Lazaros passed away February 23, 2007 after a long illness. The memory of his divine soul will always be with us as his love for life will always serve to be an inspiration to all who knew him. His strength of character and love for the arts has touched everyone who crossed his path. His soul is divine and at peace and guiding us, as he did in life. I will love you eternally
Lazaros Harisiadis, born in Delvanaki, (Epirus) Greece is a respected musician, composer - acknowledged as a virtuoso on the clarinet. He also performs on a range of folk instruments from Greece such as laouto, (lute), deffy (tambourine) and is a respected vocalist of the traditional music of Epirus, Greece.
Lazaros comes from a family of musicians going back seven generations. He began studying music with his father, a well-known musician at the time, and has since gone on to perform with well known artists in Greece and the United States.
He came to the United States as a musician with the Panallion Group of dancers and musicians in 1961 and has since then been residing in New York City performing at weddings, festivals and cultural events throughout United States and Canada sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and Ethnic Folk Arts Center. Lazaros also has many tape and record recordings to his credit accompanying the Halkias Family Orchestra.
Epiros, is just south of Albania, a very rugged mountainous area with limited resources. The music of Epiros reflects the harsh land which has forced its people to travel to distant lands in search for livelihood.
The music of Epiros is highly developed in the instrumental ensemble tradition. These ensembles consist of clarinet, violin, laouto (lute) and defi (hand drum).The clarinet in the main vehicle of expression. The clarinetists are well known for their excellence of their profound emotional expression.
The most beautiful examples of Epirotika music are in the free style melodies such as Miryioloi and Skaros. Here the lower tones of the clarinet are expressed reflecting a range of emotion from thwarted love affair to the pain of death or living in a foreign land.Mirioloi literally means to lament and and intensely emotional mood is created in this type of music.
My personal experience with Epirotika music is that it is very compatible to the Hindustani system of ragas. Whereas a particular range of notes are played to reflect the emotional range of human experience. I was drawn to it because of its emotional intensity. A raga is similar to the Miryioloi of Epirus. It gives a melodic base with rules governing its elaboration and yet allowing for improvisation. The raga decides the mood of a situation and governs its emotional impact.
The rhythm or tal on the other hand, binds the music together. It is a time cycle that remains fixed throughout a particular rendering. Similarly, the rhythm repeats itself in cyclic regularity, offering amazing dimension for improvisation between beats. To listen to the interplay of rhythm with musical phrases is a fascinating experience. The division of time into minute pluses, the crisscross patterns, the regular and off-beat emphasis of time, the running together of two contrary cycles meeting creatively at a point, offer a regularity that stimulates the emotions and an excitement that heightens mood
Notes by Najma Ayashah