Antonis Papadakis, or Kareklas (1893–1980) was a Cretan

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 musician

Music of Crete

The music of Crete is a traditional form of Greek folk music called κρητικά . The lyra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; there are three-stringed and four-stringed versions of this bowed string instrument, closely related to the medieval Byzantine lyra. It is often accompanied by the...

 and famous for his superb lyra

Lyra (Cretan)

The Cretan lyra is a Greek pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece...

 performance. He was born in Pervolia, Rethymno

Rethymno

Rethymno is a city of approximately 40,000 people in Greece, the capital of Rethymno peripheral unit in the island of Crete. It was built in antiquity , even though was never a competitive Minoan centre...

 and started playing the lyra

Lyra (Cretan)

The Cretan lyra is a Greek pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece...

 since he was a kid. He is considered as one of the most important lyra

Lyra (Cretan)

The Cretan lyra is a Greek pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece...

 performers of the early 20th century. When he started playing lyra the laouto

Laouto

The laouto is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family, found in Greece, and similar in appearance to the oud. It is played in most respects like the oud .- Construction :...

 was not yet established as an accompanying instrument of the lyre in Crete.
Thus, he was occasionally using the string instrument boulgari as accompanying instrument, popular at that time in the Rethymnon. Bouzouki

Bouzouki

The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...

 was a typical accompanying instrument for lyra at that time.

Kareklas' bohemian style was characteristic of his time; he died in the Chania incurable asylum in 1980 at the age of 87.

See also

• Last Words (film)
  Last Words (film)
  Last Words is a 1968 short film by Werner Herzog shot in Crete and on the island of Spinalonga. The film was shot in two days during the filming of Herzog's feature Signs of Life, and edited in one day....
  
  , a short film by Werner Herzog
  Werner Herzog
  Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
  
   (1968) featuring Kareklas at the age of 75 with bouzouki player L. Daskalakis
• Lyra (Byzantine)
• Lyra (Cretan)
  Lyra (Cretan)
  The Cretan lyra is a Greek pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece...
  
  
• Music of Crete
  Music of Crete
  The music of Crete is a traditional form of Greek folk music called κρητικά . The lyra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; there are three-stringed and four-stringed versions of this bowed string instrument, closely related to the medieval Byzantine lyra. It is often accompanied by the...
  
  

External Videos

• Letzte Worte on youtube