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”.

In this recording, the original musical theme of the lyrics is an extremely popular theme. It is met most of the time in Greek discography, under the titles "Chasapiko politiko", "O vlamis", "Magkas", "O magkas", "Chasapaki den se thelo pia", but in the Jewish and Bulgarian repertoire also (for more see in the aforementioned recordings).

However, apart from this musical theme, we also find that of Karotseris (or Karotsieris). The musical theme, which was equally popular in the Greek-speaking repertoire, appears as a small transient theme within the present recording, as, moreover, in other songs (see for example: "Fotia kai niata", "I Marika i daskala", "Tampachaniotikos manes" [shift], "Akou Duce mou ta nea", "Varvara", "Romaiiko glenti"). Apart from its Romanian origin and its strong ties with the local repertoire, the tune of "Karotsieris" also found in other repertoires, such as Jewish (for more see the recordings of "Karotseris" or "Karotsieri".

Tountas shows his compositional skill, often using themes from other songs, many times coming from a variety of repertoires, and incorporates or uses them as an "occasion" for the birth of new songs.

It seems that the two above tunes are some of the most popular choices not only in the Greek-speaking urban folk-popular repertoire but also in others, something which highlights the cosmopolitanism and syncretism in which popular musicians lived and acted. Like other tunes, which eventually became what we would now call a “hit”, this one also puts emphasis on the interplay between the various repertoires which were discussants in a large geographical area. Thus arises an exciting network that includes repertoires from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean, which, on the one hand, came from three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian and the Russian. On the other hand, repertoires from Italy the Canzone Napoletana, the French chansons, the Spanish world and other sub-networks,were also very active, but also repertoires from two large worlds that were constantly on the move: the gypsy and the Jewish (mainly Yiddish) one. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but plays a key role in its transformation.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis