Music archive entry

It is a very old and strong tradition, which continues to be observed in some very remote villages in Greece after someone's death, to invite 'singers of dirges' to sing laments over a dead body. In some cases there could be two or even three days of these lamentations. These singers were, in many cases, professionals. The tradition still survives in many countries further east than Greece. The singers of dirges would often burst out shouting, crying loudly, and would murmur spells. They performed as a strange choir of women in black, each one singing her personal lament.