Καλλιτεχνικός Σύλλογος Δημοτικής Μουσικής Δόμνα Σαμίου

‘Despo’, one of the better known and indispensable Easter dance-songs, with an enigmatic and apotropaic content, is often the first song to be sung. It illustrates how deeply rooted is the element of worship of the dead, as well as the social significance of the feast of Easter. In their symbolic utterances -not only in this song, but in a whole series of others- the celebrants of the sacred dance turn their attention to individual dead persons, to familiar infernal demons calling upon them to rise up and in doing so magically to have all Nature follow them. At the same time they express the fervent wish of the community that without exception all its members, both near and distant, both living and dead, may participate in this greatest of all festivals. Miranda Tezopoulou (1998)

Recorded in April 1996 at Sarakina, Grevena.