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”.

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. Repertoires are deterritorialized and mixed with others, which take on supralocal characteristics. Musicians are often on the move within multicultural empires, serving and adopting diverse repertoires, coming from and/or implemented by heterogeneous ethno-cultural groups. In various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the resulting network is extremely complex. Sometimes, we stumbled upon pre-existing songs which, after being adopted and re-arranged, obtain a new form in a different place than the one where their creators were born to and, by living a second life, they reach third places en masse where they spark a new cycle of creation. Such cases demonstrate the complexity regarding the issues of ownership of works, but also the problem of applying national signs to musical creations. The song “I mikroula” falls in this framework.

This recording is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the song better known in its French version as "Viens, Poupoule!". However, the beginning of its creation goes back to the end of the 19th century in Germany.

According to the website of the German research institute Deutsche Volkslieder, the starting point, and the template for the various versions of the song that followed, including "Viens, Poupoule!", was "Hamburger Juxmarsch" Op. 97, composed in 1888 by the Hamburg composer and publisher Emil Ascher, with the lyrics "Komm, Karline, komm, wir gehen nach Hamburg" (Come, Karline, come, we want to go to Hamburg).

A year later, in 1889, the Frankfurt comedian Adolph Spahn adapted "Hamburger Juxmarsch" by adding lyrics and presenting "Komm, Karline, komm, wir wollen nach Seckbach gehn" (Come, Karline, come, we want to go to Seckbach), which was released in 1897 by J. Andre in Offenbach. As evidenced in various postcards of the time, it was a great success and soon the Berlin versions of the song "inviting" (Komm) to the suburbs of Rixdorf or Pankow appeared.

In 1898, another version of the song, the humorous polka "Komm Karlineken wir wollen nach Pankow gehn", or "Komm Karlineken", also known as "Kille, kille, Karline", written by Selig and Latz, set to music by Carl Wappaus and performed by the comedian Littke-Carlsen, became extremely popular in Berlin.

The success would go beyond the borders of Germany and spread to many parts of Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Scores of the song were published in Vienna, London, Paris, Warsaw, Riga, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Melbourne, etc., and it was performed live, arranged in other languages, on music stages in and outside of Europe, such as:

In July 1898 by Littke-Carlsen at the Venedig Summer Theater in Vienna, in March 1899 by Don Fernando Carlo at the Scala Variété in Copenhagen, in 1902 by Félix Mayol at La Scala in Paris, as "Viens, Poupoule!", in 1903 by Adolph Gauwin at the Varieté Nouveau Cirque in Charleroi, Belgium, as "Viens, Poupoule!", and in 1904 by Arthur Roberts at the Palace Theatre in London, as "Come, come Caroline". Also, in the same year, its English version was sung by Edward Lori in Frank Osmond Carr's musical comedy "The rose of Riviera", which premiered on May 28, 1904 in Sydney, and continued with the same success in performances in Adelaide and Hastings, New Zealand.

The fact that it was simultaneously recorded in various locations, either in orchestral form or in song form, from the end of the 19th century, in the first steps of discography, was particularly important for the spread of the song. For example:

- "Komm Karlinchen, Polka", Tátszotta, Banda Marczi (czigány zenekar) (Gipsy string orchestra), Hotel Royal, Budapest, June 1899 (Gramophone 2488 – 70635)
- "Komm' Karlinchen komm", Original Couplet, Richard Waldemar (bar) (Komiker), Vienna, June 1899 (Gramophone 2536 – 72568)
- "Komm' Karlinchen", Edi, Biedermann, (male duet), D'Grinzinger Streich-Quartett, Vienna, June 1899 (Gramophone 2556 – 74089)
- "Kom Johanna, Kom", Carl Johnn, Stockholm, December 3 or 4, 1899 (Berliner 55A - 82559), in Swedish
- "Kom Karlinne", Louis Matla (comik), The Hague, January 1900, (Gramophone 259Α - 92009)
- "Komm Babuschka", Parodie auf Komm Karlinchen, Josef Modl (Komiker), Vienna, May 1900 (Gramophone 1678 A – 42047)
- "Komm Karlinchen komm", Hans Fredy (Komik), Berlin, January 1901 (Gramophone 388 A – 42552)
- "Komm Karlinkhen", Ruminsky Orkiestr (Romanian Orchestra), Saint Petersburg, 1901 (Gramophone 1618 Β-Ε – 20508)

In addition, a recording of the song under the title "Kom Karline" by an unknown singer with piano accompaniment on an undated reel by the label The World's Phonograph C° Amsterdam has been posted on the website phonobase.org.

In France, Adolph Spahn's version was arranged by Henri Christiné, and, as "Viens, Poupoule!", with lyrics by himself and Alexandre Trébitsch, it became a great success.

According to the website www.dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net, apart from Félix Mayol at La Scala, the song was performed in 1902 in Paris by Max Morel at La Cigale and Albert Portal at the Moulin Rouge. In the same year, the French musical score was published in Paris by the Société Anonyme publishing house.

It was first recorded in French by Felix Mayol (Paris, 1902, Zonophone 11660), who recorded six more covers (see here) for various labels. Several recordings followed, both on reel and record format (see here), such as that of Charlus, André Maréchal, Mme. Morganti and others.

At about the same time as the appearance of discography, the network of promotion and dissemination of music expanded with the use of another invention, also new at the time: the cinema. In 1905, the pioneer director Alice Guy-Blaché directed for the Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont the Phonoscène film "Viens, poupoule" (n° 146) in which Felix Mayol performed the song of the same title. A second Gaumont Phonoscène film by an unknown director of the song (Viens, poupoule, n° 18) performed by Charlus in 1905 or 1906, was also found.

In England, the recordings under the title "Come, come Caroline" began in 1904, the year it was presented by Arthur Roberts at the Palace Theater in London:

- "Come come Caroline", Burt Shepard, London, January 11, 1904 (Gramophone 4836b - 3-2096)
- "Come come Caroline", Harry Bluff, Londond, May 6, 1904 (Edison Bell 6356)
- "Come come Caroline", Harry Bluff, London, between 1900-1908 (Lambert Record 5078 and on reel under number 16030)

In Belgium, an arrangement of the song under the title "Viens ma Crotje" was recorded by Jan Willekens, in Brussels, in June 1906 (Favorite 1626-o - 1-97545).

The song was also a hit in Poland under the title "Pójdź Paulinko!", its musical score was published, and was recorded by Władysław Ochrymowicz in New York, around 1924 (Okeh 11195-A).

It was recorded in Spain under the title "¡Ven Mimi!" by La Fornarina (María del Consuelo Vello Cano), in Madrid on November 9, 1912 (Gramophone 4522ab - 3-63103 & Victor 65792, Odeon A 135336).

In Russia, an adaptation of the song under the title "Бей Германцевъ" (Beat the German) was recorded on December 1, in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) by Dmitry A. Bogemsky (Д. А. Богемскiй) for Zonophone (18788b - X 61650).

According to the data collected so far, four recordings of the song have been found in Greek discography, two of which predate this one:

- "Na i mikroula", Athinaiki Estudiantina (Athenian Estudiantina), Constantinople (Istanbul), October 1904 (Gramophone 2473h – 14631 4-14571, Zonophone X 104516)
- "I mikroula poupoule", Athinaiki Estudiantina (Athenian Estudiantina), Constantinople, October 1904 (Gramophone 2501h - 14640)
- "I mikroula", Estudiantina Christodoulidis, Constantinople, 1906 (Odeon Cx 706 ma - 31350), this recording
- "Na i mikroula", Giorgos Chelmis, New York, ca. August 1918 (Columbia 84610 - E-4124)

The Greek musical score was published in Constantinople by A. the Comendinger publications, in the "La lyre orientale" series under the title "Na i mikroula" ("Viens poupoule"), in the name of D. Vitalis, and it was also published by the S. Christidis publishing house under the title "Viens, poupoule!", probably only in French.

As it emerges from the musical score published in Athens by Georgios Fexis under the title "Viens poupoule (Polka) To scholarchi mas, mas papsane", an arrangement of the song was included in the revue "Edo k' ekei" written by Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos - Georgios Tsokopoulos and set to music by Alexandros Kyparissis. The revue was staged on August 1, 1905 by the Pantopoulos troupe at the Pantopoulos theater located, in the area of Syntagma, Athens.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis