A homage to the Greek village of Kommeno where, in 1943, soldiers of the German Wehrmacht massacred the civilian population. “Songs for Kommeno” has been strongly marked by the music of Greece, by the string instruments Yaylı Tanbur, Oud and Bass played by Evgenios Voulgaris and Spilios Kastanis, by the clarinet played by Floros Floridis, by the unmistakable voice of Savina Yannatou, as well as by the percussionist and composer Günter Baby Sommer from Dresden. The fragile beauty of Yannatou's voice is key to the music, successfully conveying the emotional impact of the events it remembers. Time and again, her wordless vocals are effectively contrasted with other instruments to emphasis the vulnerability of the voice. On "Andartes," there is a stark contrast between the strict military-style rhythms laid down by Gunter's drums and the looseness of the voice. The album's longest track, "Marias Miroloi," achieves drama by setting the voice against some brutal, hard-edged Saxophone in a passage that can be heard as a musical recreation of the massacre. Yet, the real strength of Songs for Kommeno is that it does not attempt to be "programme music," giving a musical account of the events of 1943. In fact, the music here will be just as beautiful and affecting for those who have no knowledge of what happened in Kommeno all those years ago. A stunning achievement.“

Sound engineer: Peter Schladenbach
Cover art and design: Jonas Schoder
Photos: Tobias Sommer

With a 156-page book in Greek, German and English, including texts by Christos Kosmas, Eleni Torossi, Christoph U. Schminck-Gustavus, Werner van Gent, Patrik Landolt, Günter Baby Sommer. Recorded and mixed between March 2011 and April 2012 by Kulturradio vom Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg. Soundsupervisor: Wolfgang Hoff, Digital cut and mastering: Monika Steffens, Radio producer Ulf Drechsel, Produced by Intakt Records, Patrik Landolt