Deropolitissa is a Greek polyphonic

Polyphonic song of Epirus

The Polyphonic song of Epirus is a form of traditional folk polyphony practiced among Greeks, Albanians, Aromanians and Macedonian Slavs in southern Albania and northwestern Greece....

 folk song, popular in the region of Dropull

Dropull

Dropull is a predominantly Greek-inhabited region in Gjirokastër District, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek-Albanian border, along the Drinos river. The region's villages are part of the Greek "minority zone" recognized by the Albanian...

, southern Albania. It is also sung by the rest of the Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 in Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, as well as in parts of Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

Background and popularity

The song refers to the period of Ottoman occupation (15th-19th century) and is a lament inspired by the persecutions of the Greek Christian element during that time, when forcible conversions and Islamizations had taken place by the Ottoman authorities.

Deropolitissa is a representative song from the region of Dropull, Gjirokaster District

Gjirokastër District

The District of Gjirokastër is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania. It has a population of 56,720 containing a large Greek minority, and an area of 1,137 km². It is in the south of the country, and its capital is Gjirokastër...

 in southern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

. The song is also sung by all Greek communities living in parts of southern Albania, known as Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...

, as well as in parts of Greece, such as in the village of Ktismata, in Pogoni

Pogoni

Pogoni is a municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kalpaki.-Municipality:The municipality Pogoni was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 6 former municipalities, that became municipal units:*Ano...

, near the Greek-Albanian border.

Song

The song is performed in a 3/4 tempo of 4/4 (2-2), but also in 5/8. The first soloist (the partis) sings in a narrative way, while other members of the drone group, second soloist, spiner and isokrates provide the vocal backing.

Deropolitissa is danced in a Syrtos

Syrtos

Syrtos , is the collective name of a group of Greek folk dances. Syrtos, along with its relative kalamatianos, are the most popular dances throughout Greece and are frequently danced by the Greek diaspora worldwide. They are very popular in social gatherings, weddings and religious festivals...

 manner in two cicles.

Lyrics

The singers are urging their fellow Christian, a girl from Dropull, not to imitate their example but keep his faith and pray for them to the church. Part of the verse goes as follows:

Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...	English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
...and go to the church with lamps and candles and with sweet-smelling incense pray for us too because Turkey has seized us, so as all of Arvanitia (Albania), to take us to the mosques, and slaughter us like lambs, like goats in Saint George’s day like lambs in Easter	σύ (ντ)α πας στην εκκλησιά, με λαμπάδες με κεριά, και με μοσκοθυμιατά, για προσκύνα για τ’ εμάς, τι μας πλάκωσε η Τουρκιά, κι όλη η Αρβανιτιά, και μας σέρνουν στα Τζαμιά, και μας σφάζουν σαν τ’ αρνιά, σαν τ’ αρνιά την Πασχαλιά. σαν κατσίκια τ’ Αγιωργιού.

External links

• Live performance in Odeon of Herodes Atticus
  Herodes Atticus
  Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...
  
  , Athens.
• Live performance by Μη χείρων group.