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”.

Based on the findings so far in historical discography, the musical tune in this recording is found in the Greek and Romanian repertoire.

Starting with Greek discography, the tune was recorded four times, with different lyrics and under three titles:

- "Karmaniola", Giagkos Psamathianos, Constantinople (Istanbul), 1906 (Zonophone 1454r - X-102812 & Gramophone 14-12957)
- "Karmaniola", Elliniki Estudiantina (Greek Estudiantina), Constantinople (Istanbul), 1906-1907 (Odeon CX-1363 - 46023), present recording
- "I flogeri sou i matia", Marika Papagkika, New York, January 1929 (Columbia W 206128 - 56203-F), present recording
- "San apothano", Nontas Sgouros [Tetos Dimitriadis], New York, January 8, 1929 (Victor CVE 48554 - V-58014-A)

In the Romanian repertoire, the same melody can be found in the song "Ursitoare" or "Ursitoare, Ursitoare".

The earliest recording that has been found so far is the one under the title "Ursitoare" (Favorite 1-76831), in Bucharest, in 1909, by Madam Florica with the Măţă Orchestra.

It was recorded under the title "Ursitoare, Ursitoare" in Bucharest, on October 24, 1934, by Fănică Luca and the Naţională Fănică Bambacea Orchestra (HMV 0HR 49-1 - JB57).

It was also recorded in Bucharest in 1939 under the title "Ursitoare, Ursitoare (Of, Zac)" by Maria Tănase and the Formația instrumentală Mitică Mâță (Columbia DR 277).

Τheme from the song is used by George Enescu in 1901 in his first Rhapsody (Romanian Rhapsody No 1 in A major, Op. 11) [see here at 03:00'' and here 04:20'']. In fact, in the same Rhapsody the composer also uses two other popular themes in the Greek repertoire: that of "Karotsieris" [see here at 05:48''] and "Vlacha xakousti" [see here at 09:26''].

The present-day region of Romania, and especially the historical part of Wallachia, developed strong ties with the Greek-speaking world, at least since the time when the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople (Istanbul) appointed Greek-speaking Orthodox Phanariotes as its governors. After all, it is no coincidence that the male populations from the Greek-speaking lands, mainly from the region of Epirus, migrated to the region of Romania. The results of these connections are visible even in today’s active repertoires, such as, for example, in the region of Zagori. In the urban popular actualizations, as those appeared in Greek discography, the cases that demonstrate the relationships that developed between the dances of the doina, the hora and the sirba with their Greek counterparts, that is, the skaros, the hasapiko and the serviko, are noteworthy (see in detail the extremely interesting text by Giorgos Kokkonis, 2017b: 133-161). These vast entities are found en masse, even in the “shifts” part of the à la greca manedes, that is, in their last part. Besides, there are plenty sources that name the then famous violinist Giovanikas, who was born in the island of Mytilene and lived for several years in the town of Galatsi in Romania, as the musician who established the legendary “Minore” in Smyrna [Izmir]. In addition, encounters between the Greek-speaking Orthodox and the Eastern Ashkenazi Jews were also witnessed in the Romanian territories. The products of these inter-influences are also visible in historical discography. We should not forget the geographical position of Romania, since it is a key hub of the routes that start from the Baltic and reach the Mediterranean, but also from the center of Europe to the Russian Empire. In such context, repertoires are deterritorialized and mixed with others, which take on supralocal characteristics. Musicians are often on the move within multicultural empires, serving diverse repertoires and coming from heterogeneous ethno-cultural groups. This “convergence” of geographical coordinates is often accompanied by another one, the “convergence” of internal cultural “coordinates”. These are the fields of scholar and popular music, which have traditionally been treated not only as independent, but also as segmented. The popular and the scholar enter into a creative dialogue in a variety of ways, introducing in-between “places” depending on historical conditions.

In America where this recording took place “national” repertoires live a new, parallel life. This situation is not static and, to a large extent, is molded by discography, which attends to and “tunes” the overlapping relationships that have already developed in the “Old World”. Repertoires communicate with each other once again; a familiar and already dynamic condition in Europe. 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 also plays a key role in its transformation. This time, the network is adjusted in a programmatic manner, under new terms and via new paths.

The label of the record reads "Rebetiko". Often, in the glossary of rebetophiles, the term "rebetiko" is identified with very specific specifications. Rebetiko has been identified with the city-port of Piraeus, and its emblem is the bouzouki. On the other hand, rebetiko from Smyrna [Izmir] ("Smyrneiko rebetiko") is also often mentioned, either as a categorization of the genre, or as its precursor. And yet, historical discography, that is, the records that began to be produced from the end of the 19th century all over the world with primitive equipment and techniques, reveals a different reality. The research in this archival material of historical discography reveals that the term "rebetiko" began to be printed on the labels of the records around 1912, in Greek recordings that took place in Constantinople (Istanbul). So far, at least 80 recordings that are labeled with the term have been identified. There are two impressive facts: on the one hand, these recordings took place in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Markos Vamvakaris started recording in Athens in 1933. So, his own recording career cannot be that easily and exclusively identified with the term. On the contrary, the word "rebetiko" began to disappear from labels after 1933. On the other hand, when listening to the musical works labeled as "rebetika", one might be surprised. None of these recordings contain a bouzouki. In addition, a part of the musical works is not oriented towards the East. Overall, the findings so far concern recordings made in Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens, New York and Chicago. It seems that the term was rather an invention of discography, of that early sound industry, whose decisions determined many times the developments regarding this historical repertoire and the way in which it reached us.

Research and text by: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis