Dance of the Akritai - Epic Byzantine Music

Music by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn&reconstructed Byzantine music; it&modern Greek music with a Byzantine theme (the theme in this case being the Anatolic Theme, please laugh it&a good pun). I was inspired to write an instrumental piece about the Akritai, the border guards of the Byzantine Empire from the 9th to 11th centuries who defended the empire&borders in Anatolia against the enemy states of the Middle-East. With this one, I was more interested in providing a sense of realistic atmosphere and immersion than just music--I wanted to evoke some idea of the Akritai dancing together in their barracks, drinking and feasting after a hard day of battle on the soil of Anatolia. The Akritai formed the inspiration behind the Akritic songs--the oldest preserved Greek folk songs that revolve around the exploits of the empire&border guards, and foremost among these poems is the Diagenes Akritas, a cycle of epic poems about a half-Greek half-Saracen warrior of the Akritai, a figure which I plan to make a song about in the near future. Given that the Akritic songs have a strong presence in the folk music of Pontic Greeks, I decided to base much of this song&instrumentation around the Black Sea Kemenche, which is the Pontic Greek descendant of the Byzantine lyre; it&a very small fiddle instrument that is the central to the music of Pontic Greeks, and is used as the basis of group dances in circles within the Pontic community. The Black Sea Kemenche/Pontic Lyre might be...