Arachnesound: The Music Tracks

Music Track 09 Hipparchia of Maroneia c. 320 BC

Hipparchia can be thought of as the ‘first feminist.’ She engaged in several forms of protests, including “outrageous things like having sex in public,” and marrying for love, something that was not common. She wrote several philosophical treatises (none survived) donning male clothing, living in equality with her partner and shocked society by rejecting conventional values and expectations of women.

Music Track 10 Nossis c. 300 BC

"We women come to the temple to see this statue of Aphrodite shining in her gold-spangled gown. Polyarchis offered it, since she made a huge fortune from the beauty of her own body.” I was thinking of the body here, the complex notion of how body politics are feminist and not, and how women play this game.

Music Track 11 Leontion c. 300 BC

I was looking at an image that was attached to a story about Leontion, obviously fictional, but showing a woman being interrupted from her reading/studying by a man trying to touch/embrace her. I used the sound of books and (my) body here to make a rhythm.

Music Track 12 Anyte of Tegea c. 300 BC

Anyte of Tegea was an Arcadian poetess of nine outstanding ancient women poets listed by Antipater of Thessalonica in the Palatine Anthology, known for her epigrams, and introduced rural themes to the genre; her work survives today as part of The Greek Anthology, a collection of ancient Greek epigrams. Epigrams are short poems, often inscribed on objects.

Music Track 13 Hypatia of Alexandria c. 370-416 AD feat Nicoleta Chatzopoulou

I find Nicoletta’s sound very academic and precise. I invited her and we discussed the concept of Hypatia and decided to make a score. Hypatia edited the Book III of Ptolemy's Almagest on geocentric model of the universe. There is a strong relation to music. “Ancient mathematics was primarily divided into four branches: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.” There is talk that Hypatia was black. She was killed by a mob incited by a Christian bishop; the library containing her writings was destroyed by Arab conquerors.

Music Track 14 Kassiani c. 800 AD

Kassiani was a Byzantine abbess, poet, hymnographer, and composer, one of the first medieval composers whose scores are both extant and able to be interpreted by modern scholars and musicians. She not only wrote spiritual poetry but composed music to accompany it; she is regarded as an "exceptional rare phenomenon" among composers of her day; at least twenty-three genuine hymns are ascribed to her.

Music Track 15 Pamphile of Epidaurus c. 1 AD

After talking to a few historians on Twitter, Leonora Neville recommend including her; the endless debates about her being the author or not of her writing intrigued me here.

Music Track 16 Anna Komnene 1083-1153

Anna Komnene was a Byzantine princess & Greek scholar, historian, physician, multilingual, hardworking. She wrote about her father’s wars. Still until today her accounts are not believed and attributed as "gendered history.”

Music Track 17 Aganice Ainianos 1838–1892

Ainianos composed poetry for herself. Her experience living in the countryside provided context for her poetry, especially her poems about impoverished working women, nature, and beauty. She wrote in the Greek vernacular rather than ‘katharevousa’ and her style revealed a sense of realism, free of the age's pseudo-romanticism.

Music Track 18 Kallirhoe Parren 1861-1940

We spoke about her much: equality, very bland but also not revenge, just reason.

Music Track 19 Irene Kountouris aka Raika 1901-1936

It is fascinating to me how patriarchy is managing to systemically oppress/disappear women to speak, write, express. Savina told me about her, we both could not find anything much about her, Savina remembered: she was a communist, expelled from the Communist Party, because of feminism. I included her because I think she is forgotten. “Raika started her speech. We women, out of our enthusiasm for the first time hearing a woman speak in front of such a big crowd, couldn't fit our seat. Suddenly where the talk was going well, Raika stops. Coughs, blushes, nothing. She had a stage fright. Unable to continue. Voices ‘have courage companion’ from the audience.”

Music Track 20 Maria Polydouri 1902-1930 Maria Papadomanolaki

I know Maria Papadomanolaki since a while. We met at ‘Tuned City’ in 2018 in Messene, first time in person. She helped me a lot with this project, sending me emails with recommendations and links to other women artists, poets. Polydouri is so famous, loads of material on her and interpretations by musicians. Maria chose the poem and recorded herself citing the poem walking in Crete close to a construction site; she calls it performative poetics.

Music Track 21 Melpo Axioti 1903–1973

Reading about communist writer Melpo Axioti who lived in exile in Berlin, East Germany, exiled for being a communist from Greece & France, holy hell, Greece fought a brutal civil war over communism/capitalism. I feel connected because she was a communist and wrote antifascist feminist literature.

Music Track 23 Domna Samiou 1928-2012

Prominent Greek researcher and performer of Greek folk music. Legend I guess, I think her motto was: be a STRONG woman and succeed, carry the voice to the public; she also worked with women’s choirs. Thinking how women have found ways to express under patriarchy, voicing #feministsonictechnologies

Music Track 24 unknown Vlach women

Christina told me about Vlachs, after I asked her about indigenous peoples of Greece when we also met in the cafe in Athens; she later sent me more info about it and I spent some time researching. There is no known woman writer, but I found loads of these wedding songs, women lamenting and singing so I thought to include a reference to this, to represent indigenous women.

Music Track 25 Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke 1939-2020

Recently a beloved Greek woman poet died, Katerina Anghelaki-Rouke. She has definitely done feminist work and has also been an important translator. Several books of her work are translated in English. Has received Athens Academy prize. She was very orientated towards joy.

Music Track 26 Katerina Gogou 1940-1993

You know all about that
"I fear getting tired - an easy prey for priests and academics -
and so turn into a ‘sissy’...
They have their ways...
Keen psychiatrists and lousy policemen
are waiting for us in the corner.”

Music Track 27 Lena Platonos 1951

Lena Platonos: she is mostly known for her music but her music like yours is driven by words/poetry. Most of her records were rereleased by Dark Entries and as a result most of her lyrics have been translated to English.

Music Track 29 Marianna Karakoulaki 1989

Marianna Karakoulaki is a PhD researcher and a Postgraduate Teaching Associate at the University of Birmingham. She researchers the violence of the borders and the no borders. I recorded an interview with her on Al Jazeera and edited it to be like a tiny rap track type of music, I think our times require that kind of poetry, I think her language is inherently feminist; she is an AWID member: supporting feminist, women’s rights & gender justice movements to thrive, challenge oppressions & co-create #FeministRealities.

“Don’t give up fighting because the struggle is not over; it has just begun.” – Marianna Karakoulaki 2016

Music Track 33 Kymopoleia

I am fascinated with how men managed to get rid of all the goddesses in our minds. I am atheist, obviously raised Marxist, but my main question is how due so many people subdue to a patriarchal mono-god type concepts.