Kostas Papadakis
Encyclopedia
Kostas Papadakis is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
– May 2003) was a popular 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...
violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, famous for playing Cretan folk music
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...
. He was known by the nickname "Naftis" (Ναύτης) which, in Greek, means sailor. He began playing the violin at age seven. Papadakis played an Italian violin dated back to 1710, when Crete
History of Crete
The History of Crete goes back to the 7th Millennium B.C., preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe and the first, in Europe, to build a palace...
was under Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
occupation. His first public performance took place at a wedding reception when he was ten. From 1959 till 1976 he lived in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and, in 1981, he moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where he stayed for five years. He performed live in numerous musical events and festivals in different countries.
Kostas Papadakis first recorded an album in 1938. Throughout his career, he participated in several recordings that included his own compositions. He also published a book in 1989 entitled The Cretan Lyre, a Myth which supported the idea that the first instrument, used by early Cretan musicians to play Cretan music, was the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and not the lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
.