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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 networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are 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”.
Naturally, in the large urban centers of the Ottoman Empire around the Mediterranean Sea, the “conversations” of the Greek-speakers with their Turkish-speaking Muslim “co-tenants”, the Catholic Greek-speakers, the Armenians, the Sepharadi and Ashkenazi Jews, the Levantine Protestants, and the Europeans and the Americans, were more than intense. Very often, the scope of this network extends to the Balkans, to Eastern and even to a part of Central Europe. Especially regarding relations between Orthodox and Muslims, the relevant evidence demonstrates the musical exchanges between them and elucidate an ecumene where everyone contributed to the great musical “melting-pot”, and where everyone may draw from it, as well as redeposit it, in a new form, with a reformulated text and its meaning, with sometimes clear and sometimes blurred references to its pre-text, until someone else pulls it out again, through the “melting-pot”, so that it becomes clear that there is no end in this recreational and dynamic process where fluidity prevails. A case that comes from such repertoires is the recording "Chanakale".
Anyone who wishes to study the song in depth should refer to Eray Cömert's book Çanakkale türküsü - Melodik Varyantlar Üzerine Analitik Bir İnceleme [Çanakkale türküsü - An analytical study on melodic variations] (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi - Türk Musikisi Devlet Konservatuarı Yayınları, İstanbul, 2015). It is based on his doctoral thesis "Αn analytical view on Çanakkale song and its variants by historical identity in the process of intercultural interaction" (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, 2011).
The song refers to the Gallipoli campaign, also known as the Dardanelles campaign or the Battle of Çanakkale (Çanakkale in Turkish, meaning "the Dardanelles"), which took place during World War I, between April 25, 1915 and January 9, 1916. This campaign of the Entente Powers, with the aim of capturing the strategic Dardanelles strait, which was under the control of the Central Powers, and securing a sea channel of communication with Russia, developed turned into a debacle and was one of the most important victories of the Ottomans during the war.
As Eray Cömert states in his research, it is possible that the song "Çanakkale" was already popular in 1914, before the war started, as a hymn sung by soldiers marching through the streets of Çanakkale; the question of its authorship remains debatable.
The earliest musical-lyrical recording of the song under the title "Çanak Kal'a Marşi" (the composer is Kemanî Kevser Hanım) was published in the 13th issue of the Risale-i Musikiyye / Musiki Gazetesi publication series around 1915-1916, by Shamli Selim. In the following years, other musical and/or lyrical recordings followed (such as in 1919 by Karl Hadank, in 1923 by Willi Heffening, etc.) and were published in different geographical areas, with titles such as "Çanakkale Türküsü" and "Çanakkale İçinde" and various melodic and lyrical variations (see for example here).
The earliest recording in Turkish so far is the one made by Marika Papagkika in 1923, in New York, under the title "Chanakale" (Columbia 59818 - E 5283, this recording). The intro performed interacts with the intro in the song "Thalassaki". The same is true with the recording by Gandinis (see below). This is one of the five songs recorded by Papagkika in the Turkish language. The other four are "Ne Itsoun Saidin", "Ben Yiarimi Giordoum", "Kioutsouk Hanoum" and "Sinanai".
It is worth mentioning that, on the label of the record, the song is characterized as "kanto". In other words, it is considered part of the repertoire of the kantolar (plural form of "kanto"), a term that seems to have been first used by Turkish-speaking Muslims mainly in large urban centers, and especially in Constantinople (Istanbul) since the time when Italian troupes performed there. Although initially the kantolar were associated only with theatrical music, they soon became autonomous, when the term "kanto" came to describe any popular and light secular singing forms (see Pennanen, 2004: 9, O'Connel, 2006: 276, Beşiroğlu & Girgin, 2018: 49).
It should be noted that other recordings have been found in the record catalogs which are possibly related to the song in question, and possibly some of them predate Papagkika's performance. However, no audio material of them has so far been found:
- "Çanakkale / Türkü", Hanende İbrahim Efendi ve Rıza Bey (Orfeon 12571).
- "Ben Bu Tefi Çalamam / Çanakkale Türküsü", Nezihe Hanim (Sahibinin Sesi AX 1154).
- "Alim Alim / Çanakkale Türküsü", Nezihe Hanim (Sahibinin Sesi AX 1154).
Finally, it should be noted that in 78-rpm Turkish discography the recording "Çanakkale" that took place in Istanbul in 1953-1954 by the Armenian Bogos Kirecciyan (Պօղոս Քիրէջճեան) with Şükrü Tunar (clarinet), Udi Hrant Kenkulian (oud), Ahmet Yatman (qanun), H. Tatliyay (violin), Ali Kocadinc (darabuka), for Balkan (Balkan 4018-A).
In Greek historical discography, the tune was recorded under various titles in Athens and New York. On the labels of the three recordings under the title "Katinaki", the song is attributed to Kostas Karipis:
- "Katinaki mou gia sena", Roza Eskenazy, Athens, 1933 (Columbia W.G-611 - D.G. 447).
- "Katinaki", Rita Ampatzi, Athens, 1933 (Odeon Go 1943 - GA 1691).
- "Katinaki mou gia sena", Antonis Ntalgkas, Athens, 1933-1934 (HMV OT-1456 - AO 2078).
- "Tsanakale", Kostas Gkantinis’ Orchestra, New York, October 22, 1940 (Columbia CO 28952 - 7210-F).
- "Dose mou tin efchi sou", Amalia Vaka, New York, 1946 (Metropolitan 162-Β).
The tune also appears in the Romanian repertoire that was recorded in America. More specifically, on August 15, 1939, the Romanian violinist Nicolas Matthey and his Oriental Orchestra recorded the instrumental song "Chanakali" (Decca 66101 - 3205B).
Finally, as far as historical discography is concerned, the recording of "Chanakale" made in 1948-1949, in the USA, by the Elo Kalkoff Orchestra, for Elinden Records, is of particular interest. The clarinetist Elo Kalkoff or Elia Calcoff was born in the village of Visheny (today Vyssinia or Vyssinea of the Municipality of Kastoria, in Greece), in 1891, and died in 1962 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the USA (see here). In addition, on the website Библиотека "Струмски", where 14 recordings of Elo Kalkoff's orchestra are posted, it is mentioned that he was a member of the MPO (Macedonian Patriotic Organization).
Moreover, the specific musical tune can be found in modern recordings and in other repertoires and areas. For example:
North Macedonian repertoire:
- "Ne placi majko, ne zalaj" (Не плачи мајко, не жали), Vaska Ilieva.
- "Ne plači majko, ne nalaj" (Не плачи мајко, не жали), Orce Stevkovski.
Albanian repertoire:
- "Çanakala mrena", Trio of ethnic instruments from the village of Zur.
- "Çanakala mrena u nisa prej Stambollit", Hashim Shala (Hašim Šalja, Vërboc, Kosovo, 1936 - Pristina, Kosovo, 2018).
- "Çanakkale", Salih Bajram-Krasniqi (Vlaški Drenovac, Mališevo, Prekoruplje, Kosovo, 1912 - 1987).
Armenian repertoire:
- "Canakalle icinde", Chick Ganimian.
Gorani Arza Redzeplari’s performance "Hey vo Çanakkale se koptisa kiyamet" is of particular interest. The Gorani or Goranci are a particular Muslim ethno-religious-linguistic group, a minority of Slavic origin, inhabiting the Gora region, which lies between Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia. They speak the Goranski dialect, which is part of the Torlakian dialect of southern Serbia (for more on the Gorani, see here and here). According to Eray Cömert, Gorani also participated in the Gallipoli campaign with the battalions that came from Kosovo. Those who managed to return "carried" the song "Çanakkale" to their region.
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.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
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 networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are 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”.
Naturally, in the large urban centers of the Ottoman Empire around the Mediterranean Sea, the “conversations” of the Greek-speakers with their Turkish-speaking Muslim “co-tenants”, the Catholic Greek-speakers, the Armenians, the Sepharadi and Ashkenazi Jews, the Levantine Protestants, and the Europeans and the Americans, were more than intense. Very often, the scope of this network extends to the Balkans, to Eastern and even to a part of Central Europe. Especially regarding relations between Orthodox and Muslims, the relevant evidence demonstrates the musical exchanges between them and elucidate an ecumene where everyone contributed to the great musical “melting-pot”, and where everyone may draw from it, as well as redeposit it, in a new form, with a reformulated text and its meaning, with sometimes clear and sometimes blurred references to its pre-text, until someone else pulls it out again, through the “melting-pot”, so that it becomes clear that there is no end in this recreational and dynamic process where fluidity prevails. A case that comes from such repertoires is the recording "Chanakale".
Anyone who wishes to study the song in depth should refer to Eray Cömert's book Çanakkale türküsü - Melodik Varyantlar Üzerine Analitik Bir İnceleme [Çanakkale türküsü - An analytical study on melodic variations] (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi - Türk Musikisi Devlet Konservatuarı Yayınları, İstanbul, 2015). It is based on his doctoral thesis "Αn analytical view on Çanakkale song and its variants by historical identity in the process of intercultural interaction" (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, 2011).
The song refers to the Gallipoli campaign, also known as the Dardanelles campaign or the Battle of Çanakkale (Çanakkale in Turkish, meaning "the Dardanelles"), which took place during World War I, between April 25, 1915 and January 9, 1916. This campaign of the Entente Powers, with the aim of capturing the strategic Dardanelles strait, which was under the control of the Central Powers, and securing a sea channel of communication with Russia, developed turned into a debacle and was one of the most important victories of the Ottomans during the war.
As Eray Cömert states in his research, it is possible that the song "Çanakkale" was already popular in 1914, before the war started, as a hymn sung by soldiers marching through the streets of Çanakkale; the question of its authorship remains debatable.
The earliest musical-lyrical recording of the song under the title "Çanak Kal'a Marşi" (the composer is Kemanî Kevser Hanım) was published in the 13th issue of the Risale-i Musikiyye / Musiki Gazetesi publication series around 1915-1916, by Shamli Selim. In the following years, other musical and/or lyrical recordings followed (such as in 1919 by Karl Hadank, in 1923 by Willi Heffening, etc.) and were published in different geographical areas, with titles such as "Çanakkale Türküsü" and "Çanakkale İçinde" and various melodic and lyrical variations (see for example here).
The earliest recording in Turkish so far is the one made by Marika Papagkika in 1923, in New York, under the title "Chanakale" (Columbia 59818 - E 5283, this recording). The intro performed interacts with the intro in the song "Thalassaki". The same is true with the recording by Gandinis (see below). This is one of the five songs recorded by Papagkika in the Turkish language. The other four are "Ne Itsoun Saidin", "Ben Yiarimi Giordoum", "Kioutsouk Hanoum" and "Sinanai".
It is worth mentioning that, on the label of the record, the song is characterized as "kanto". In other words, it is considered part of the repertoire of the kantolar (plural form of "kanto"), a term that seems to have been first used by Turkish-speaking Muslims mainly in large urban centers, and especially in Constantinople (Istanbul) since the time when Italian troupes performed there. Although initially the kantolar were associated only with theatrical music, they soon became autonomous, when the term "kanto" came to describe any popular and light secular singing forms (see Pennanen, 2004: 9, O'Connel, 2006: 276, Beşiroğlu & Girgin, 2018: 49).
It should be noted that other recordings have been found in the record catalogs which are possibly related to the song in question, and possibly some of them predate Papagkika's performance. However, no audio material of them has so far been found:
- "Çanakkale / Türkü", Hanende İbrahim Efendi ve Rıza Bey (Orfeon 12571).
- "Ben Bu Tefi Çalamam / Çanakkale Türküsü", Nezihe Hanim (Sahibinin Sesi AX 1154).
- "Alim Alim / Çanakkale Türküsü", Nezihe Hanim (Sahibinin Sesi AX 1154).
Finally, it should be noted that in 78-rpm Turkish discography the recording "Çanakkale" that took place in Istanbul in 1953-1954 by the Armenian Bogos Kirecciyan (Պօղոս Քիրէջճեան) with Şükrü Tunar (clarinet), Udi Hrant Kenkulian (oud), Ahmet Yatman (qanun), H. Tatliyay (violin), Ali Kocadinc (darabuka), for Balkan (Balkan 4018-A).
In Greek historical discography, the tune was recorded under various titles in Athens and New York. On the labels of the three recordings under the title "Katinaki", the song is attributed to Kostas Karipis:
- "Katinaki mou gia sena", Roza Eskenazy, Athens, 1933 (Columbia W.G-611 - D.G. 447).
- "Katinaki", Rita Ampatzi, Athens, 1933 (Odeon Go 1943 - GA 1691).
- "Katinaki mou gia sena", Antonis Ntalgkas, Athens, 1933-1934 (HMV OT-1456 - AO 2078).
- "Tsanakale", Kostas Gkantinis’ Orchestra, New York, October 22, 1940 (Columbia CO 28952 - 7210-F).
- "Dose mou tin efchi sou", Amalia Vaka, New York, 1946 (Metropolitan 162-Β).
The tune also appears in the Romanian repertoire that was recorded in America. More specifically, on August 15, 1939, the Romanian violinist Nicolas Matthey and his Oriental Orchestra recorded the instrumental song "Chanakali" (Decca 66101 - 3205B).
Finally, as far as historical discography is concerned, the recording of "Chanakale" made in 1948-1949, in the USA, by the Elo Kalkoff Orchestra, for Elinden Records, is of particular interest. The clarinetist Elo Kalkoff or Elia Calcoff was born in the village of Visheny (today Vyssinia or Vyssinea of the Municipality of Kastoria, in Greece), in 1891, and died in 1962 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the USA (see here). In addition, on the website Библиотека "Струмски", where 14 recordings of Elo Kalkoff's orchestra are posted, it is mentioned that he was a member of the MPO (Macedonian Patriotic Organization).
Moreover, the specific musical tune can be found in modern recordings and in other repertoires and areas. For example:
North Macedonian repertoire:
- "Ne placi majko, ne zalaj" (Не плачи мајко, не жали), Vaska Ilieva.
- "Ne plači majko, ne nalaj" (Не плачи мајко, не жали), Orce Stevkovski.
Albanian repertoire:
- "Çanakala mrena", Trio of ethnic instruments from the village of Zur.
- "Çanakala mrena u nisa prej Stambollit", Hashim Shala (Hašim Šalja, Vërboc, Kosovo, 1936 - Pristina, Kosovo, 2018).
- "Çanakkale", Salih Bajram-Krasniqi (Vlaški Drenovac, Mališevo, Prekoruplje, Kosovo, 1912 - 1987).
Armenian repertoire:
- "Canakalle icinde", Chick Ganimian.
Gorani Arza Redzeplari’s performance "Hey vo Çanakkale se koptisa kiyamet" is of particular interest. The Gorani or Goranci are a particular Muslim ethno-religious-linguistic group, a minority of Slavic origin, inhabiting the Gora region, which lies between Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia. They speak the Goranski dialect, which is part of the Torlakian dialect of southern Serbia (for more on the Gorani, see here and here). According to Eray Cömert, Gorani also participated in the Gallipoli campaign with the battalions that came from Kosovo. Those who managed to return "carried" the song "Çanakkale" to their region.
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.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
