At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe is living in peace and prosperity. The “Belle Époque” is an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that are created and which evolve funnel both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It is within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction is invented. Early record labels send mobile crews literally all over the world to record local musicians. The range of the repertoire is endless. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favors polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also circulations in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolves dynamically and anisotropically, form a complex network of “centers” and “peripheries” in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. The network in which the Greek-speaking urban popular song participates, constantly conversing with its co-tenants, is magnificent. Discography has already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between “national” repertoires. The result of this ongoing research is “Cosmopolitanism in Greek Historical Discography”.

Historical sources underline the close relations between Italian-speaking and Greek-speaking music. The conversations that developed with specific places, such as the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese and Patras, as well as their results, are enough to highlight the strong ties between the two ethno-cultural groups. Furthermore, relationships were forged in places where the two ethnicities lived together, such as, for example, in the case of cosmopolitan Smyrna (Izmir) in the Ottoman Empire, or that of New York, where Italians and Greeks immigrated. When researching the historical material, it seems that one particular city in the Italian peninsula developed special relations with the large urban centers where Greek-speaking musicians played a leading role: it was Naples, with its famous Canzone Napoletana. “Gyrise piso” or “Koitaxe i fysis gyro” belongs to a corpus of songs from which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Neapolitan-speaking songs. In many cases, the appropriations concern not only Neapolitan-speaking songs but the Italian language as a whole, since, often, the original Neapolitan-speaking songs were translated into Italian, from which the loan arose. These songs arrived at the Greek-speaking world either directly or indirectly, through other repertoire networks. In any case, the circulation of musics is already a reality before the 20th century with theatrical and musical performances tours, but also with the networks of music publishing houses. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but plays a key role in its transformation. The appropriation by Greek musicians is twofold: on the one hand are the lyrics, which are now in Greek (often, in fact, they have nothing to do with the original ones), and, on the other hand, are the performance practices: different instrumentation, different singing style, often differences in melodic and rhythmic forms but also in the harmonies. Greek musicians adapt what they hear to their own condition, based on their own capabilities. After all, the mandolins, the guitars, the marches, polyphonic song and the bel canto singing style are characteristics that reveal the influences of the Canzone Napoletana on the Greek-speaking urban popular song. In various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the resulting network is extremely complex, and contains recordings in countless places, languages and aesthetical frameworks. One such case is the recording “Gyrise piso”, or “Koitaxe i fysis gyro”.

In contrast to the majority of cases, where popular musicians are at the forefront of these appropriations, in “Gyrise piso” Theofrastos Sakellaridis was the one who was inspired by “Torna a Surriento” and adapted the song in 1907 for the need of the revue “Panathinaia”, written by Bampis Anninos and Giorgos Tsokopoulos. It premiered on July 6, 1907 at the Nea Skini theater, by the Kostas Sayior troupe and had as its main theme the immigration wave to the USA.

A recording of the song has been found in two publications of the musical score by the Apollo Music and the Fexis publishing houses.

In Greek discography, the song was recorded several times under the title “Gyrise piso”. One of the first Greek recordings was that of the English label O Apollon, and was recorded in 1908, in Athens. It was released on record A-132 with Alex. Kandreviotis. The label of the record reads “ek ton Panathinaion” (from Panathinaia).

Six more recordings of this version of the song, with lyrics by Bampis Anninos and Giorgos Tsokopoulos, under the titles “Gyrise piso”, or “Koitaxe i fysis gyro” have been found so far:

– “Gyrise piso”, Michail Magkos, New York, November 13, 1917 (Victor B-20973 – 72270-A)
– “Koitaxe i fysis gyro”, Giorgos Kanakis & Panhellenion Orchestra, New York, 1920s (Panhellenion 333-B)
– “Gyrise piso”, Nikolaos Moulinos, New York, ca April 1922 (Columbia 88478 – E7675)
– “Gyrise piso”, Lysandros Ioannidis & Dajos Béla's orchestra, Berlin, 1929 (Odeon Go 1228 – 28090 & GZA 2508 /ZA 190808 a)
– “Koitaxe i fysis gyro”, Antonis Kalampousis, Athens, 1931 (HMV OW-336-1 – AO 2036), this recording
– “Gyrise piso”, Dimitris Krionas & Kostas Kallinikos (piano), New York, 1947 (Apollo 2-B)

However, a musical score which contains an adaptation of the song with other lyrics by G. D. Lambrynidis and under the title “Mi s' emalose i mama sou” was released by Georgios Fexis publishing house.

According to the database that emerged from Alan Kelly's research, the song seems to have been recorded twice in this version:

- “Mi se malose i mama sou”, Elliniki Estudiantina (Greek Estudiantina), Contantinople (Istanbul), March 1, 1909 (Gramophone 12308b - 2-14335)
- “Mi se malose i mama sou” (Mi se malosse i mama sou), Elliniki Estudiantina (Greek Estudiantina), Smyrna (Izmir), March 1909 (Gramophone 12794½b - 6-12684)

The original, “Torna a Surriento”, is the work of Ernesto De Curtis (music) and his brother Giambattista De Curtis (lyrics).

Based on the findings so far, it seems that it was first published in 1904, in the festive issue of the Piedigrotta – Garibaldi. “Piedigrotta” refers to one of the most famous and oldest religious festivals that took place in Naples. During the festival, a music competition took place, which, in the 19th century, turned into a dynamic festival. This festival took the form of a commercial mechanism which played a key role in shaping and promoting Neapolitan song. In 1905, a musical score of the song was published by the Bideri publishing house in Naples.

In historical as well as in modern discography, the song was recorded countless times (see for example here, here and here), in various forms, languages and locations. For example, two of the oldest recordings are the following:

-Aristide Rota, Gramophone 2222l – 52117, Naples, 1904
-Eugenio Cibelli, Columbia USA 1985 – E156, New York, 1904

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis