In the mid-40’s, Manolis
Stagakis, considered by many the best musical instruments manufacturer
of Crete, begun his very own history in lyre-making, influencing
strongly the contemporary form of this instrument, which expresses
musically the Cretan soul. Today his grandson, bearing the same name,
continues worthily the family business.
There
are many types of lyre, the most common one is called the “Stagaki
lyre”, as it has been developed by the elder Stagakis himself. Till 1945
the lyre had a different form, it was shorter, pear-shaped, and the wood
which was used came from trees growing only in Crete (today the wood
used is mostly imported). Mr Stagakis has also adapted the head of the
violin to the lyre. For the front of the instrument he was using only “katrani”,
a 300-years old wood found mostly in Venetian ruins, in the old city of
Rethimnon. A second type of lyre bears four strings (the Stagakis type
bears only three), and one can find also the “violin-lyre” and the
“power-lyre” which is smaller and gives a very strong sound. It takes
from 7-9 days of work to produce a lyre....
Lina Lagoudianaki
Read the full
article (in Greek) in STIGMES
issue no 93
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There
are many types of lyre, the most common one is called the “Stagaki
lyre”, as it has been developed by the elder Stagakis himself. Till 1945
the lyre had a different form, it was shorter, pear-shaped, and the wood
which was used came from trees growing only in Crete (today the wood
used is mostly imported). Mr Stagakis has also adapted the head of the
violin to the lyre. For the front of the instrument he was using only “katrani”,
a 300-years old wood found mostly in Venetian ruins, in the old city of
Rethimnon. A second type of lyre bears four strings (the Stagakis type
bears only three), and one can find also the “violin-lyre” and the
“power-lyre” which is smaller and gives a very strong sound. It takes
from 7-9 days of work to produce a lyre....