You, my flying birds (The Fall of Constantinople) – Macedonian Greek collection

Adile Soylu performs the folk song "You, my flying birds" in Macedonian Greek, Vallahades (Valaades, Valahades) variety.

Vanishing Languages and Cultural Heritage (VLACH) ID-number: mace1251TRV0014a

Description:
The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 (Greek: Ἅλωσις τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, Turkish: İstanbul'un Fethi) marked the end of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, a state that has existed for almost 1,500 years. Several folk songs lament the downfall of the city and the Eastern church. Most of them refer to the monasteries of Salonica and Constantinople. The fact that a lament about the "loss" of the Hagia Sophia (Tr. Ayasofya Cami) is sung by a Muslim woman in Turkey can only be explained by the fact that she belongs to the group of the Vallahades who fled to Turkey as Muslims with the population exchange (Treaty of Lausanne, 1923). In the long coexistence of Christians and Turks, this song and its theme has spread to both religious communities, as this example from Western Macedonia shows. In the Grevena/Grebene region of Greece we find the same theme today in some regional folk songs, but it is probably the first time that this motif has been recorded among Greek-speaking Muslims.

Cite as:
Ísis puʎá m pitúmina – You, my flying birds; performer: Adile Soylu; camera/ interview: Thede Kahl, Andreea Pascaru; transcription: Thede Kahl; translation: Sotirios Rousiakis; editor: Antonio Fichera; retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID number: mace1251TRV0014a.

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