Grief in Crete for the loss of Yannis Xylouris

Deep mourning prevails in Crete after the news of the death of Yiannis Xylouris (Psarogianni), who passed away at the age of 83, spreading emotion in the artistic and local world.

The deceased was the brother of Nikos Xylouris and Psarantonis, born in 1943 in Anogeias, and was a member of the historic Xylouris family. A family that for four generations has left an indelible imprint on the Cretan musical tradition, contributing decisively to its preservation and dissemination.

Who was Psarogiannis

A member of the legendary Xylouris musical family, brother of the unforgettable Nikos Xylouris and Psarantonis, Yannis Xylouris was born in Anogia, Mylopotamos, Rethymnon in 1943. He too belongs to the great family of Xylouris, which for four generations has been supplying Cretan – and not only Cretan – music with sublime sounds. Grandson of Karamouzantonis, who made history with his lyre, brother of Nikos Xylouris and Psarantonis, Yannis Xylouris could not help but follow the same path of worthy lyricists and singers.

At the age of five in 1948, he came into contact with his first instrument, the mandolin, and then with the lute and the lyre. Still a primary school pupil, Yannis speaks with the traditional musical instruments of his homeland that secret language that only those who have a sacred passion burning in their innards can speak. At the age of twelve, he accompanied his brother Niko, lute in hand, and at fourteen in 1957, he made his first recording with Niko Xylouris. Seventeen years old in 1960, he is already considered one of the best lutes of Crete, and the most important lyricists seek collaboration with him. His lute has accompanied the most famous lyricists of the island. But Yannis Xylouris did not limit himself to the lute and mandolin, the two instruments he loved as a child. He opened up to other horizons, to the lyre, to singing, to composing his own songs. Endowed with a rare imagination and an impeccable technique, Yannis Xylouris began to compose modern Cretan songs that would be the envy of many of our renowned – and studied – composers.

Knowing well the music of his land as an authentic talent, he exploits his musical and artistic instinct and unfolds the composition with the same ease as he sings mantinades or vibrates to the rhythm of a dance. Yiannis stands firmly on tradition, but he also tries to exploit the virtues of art music to assemble and place his proposal on solid foundations. His artistic presence is intense, with many concerts and appearances both in Greece and abroad.

In his long musical career, he collaborated with his brothers Nikos and Antonis, Kostas Moundakis, mainly in the 1960s, and Vassilis Skoulas, starting a unique and long list of recordings that establish him as the most recorded lute player in Cretan music at that time.

His collaboration with various musical groups from Epirus, the Aegean islands, Asia Minor, and with well-known Greek composers, whose work defined modern Greek song. Yannis Xylouris is the artist who has dominated the lute and has a unique technique to present, the result of which has been a multitude of excellent performances, in dozens of albums, which have the stamp of perfection.

ENERECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY

“Pebbles”
“Cretan Sun”
“Modules”
“Rhapsodies on the lute”
“We have met again.”