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The song “Vlachiko Dessoura,” whose language appears to be a mixture of Romanian and Vlach (or Aromanian), was recorded in Smyrna between December 15 and 18, 1911 by the sound engineer Arthur Clarke (for more information see the website of Hugo Strötbaum Recording Pioneers). Although the record label lists Mr. Salavaris (“Monsieur Salavaris”) as the singer, according to the database that emerged from Alan Kelly’s research, the recording features the Smyrneiki Estudiantina of Vasilaki, that is Vasilis Sideris [“Smyrneiki Estudiantina (Vasilaki) (Alexandrian Greek)”], as well as Giorgos Savaris (“Savaris”). However, at 0′ 52″ of the recording, the address “Yassou, aspromallousi Salavari” (Greetings to you, white-haired Salavaris) can be heard. In the same source, next to the song title ([Vlachiko] Dessoura), the designation “Rumanian Romance” is given.
The only information regarding Salavaris comes from Aristomenis Kalyviotis (2002: 73):
“What we also know about Vangelis Salavaris is that his real surname was Deligiannis. He appears in Greece after 1922 as the composer of the song “Ainte na pethaneis” (Come on, go die). We do not know when he died or whether he left any heirs. D. Archigenis mentions that he played the cello, while Angela Papazoglou refers once or twice to ‘koubaros Salavaris’ (Salavaris, best man), without providing any further information.”
The tune is found in the Romanian repertoire. Specifically, it is included in the collection “10 Chansons Nationales Roumaines,” which was published in 1897 in Leipzig by C.G. Röder and contains ten Romanian songs arranged for piano by the Romanian composer and pianist Guillaume Şorban (Arad, Austro-Hungarian Empire, February 2, 1876 – Dej, Romania, July 7, 1923). The tune bears the title “Insura-maşi, insura...” (Get married, get married, see here, p. 6) and originates from Târnava Mare, a region in Transylvania, in present-day Romania.
Alan Kelly’s database also lists a recording titled “De insurat mas insure” [De’ insurat m’ as insure] by Chitaristul Jonescu (Zonophone 13073 – 13073 and Gramophone 3-12828), undated and with London given as the place of recording. According to a Zonophone catalogue compiled by Christian Zwarg (see here), this recording was actually made in June 1903 in Iași. Since no audio material has been located, it is not possible to determine whether it concerns the same piece.
On June 8, 1918, Orchestra Regală Română, an instrumental quartet consisting of four tamburitzas, made the recording “Dansuri Romăneşti” in New York for the Victor company (Victor B-22000 – 72229-B and Zonophone Record X-7-10007 / A22000 – 3454). As indicated on the record label, the recording is a potpourri of Romanian dances. Among the dances included, the tune under examination can be identified from approximately 1′23″ onward. Of particular interest is the fact that the recording concludes with another melody familiar to the Greek repertoire, that of the song “Ego thelo prigkipessa”, beginning at 2′36″. Finally, it should be noted that this instrumental quartet made a total of nine recordings for Victor (see here), appearing under three different names depending on the repertoire performed: as Orchestra Regală Română and Căntat de Tamburas for Romanian repertoire, and as Serbian Quartet for Serbian and Croatian repertoire.
The tune is also found in the recording “Ciocârlanul (The Lark)”, made in 1956 in New York by the Hungarian Romani violinist Frank Richko and his Romanian Gypsy Orchestra (The Folk Dancer F8OB-1821-1 – MH-1122-B).
As for later discography, a variation of the tune can be traced in “Syrba No. 1 in A Minor”, a composition by Vassily Boz, who also conducts the ensemble in the recording. It is included in the LP “Moldavian Folk Dances” (Monitor Records MF 314), released in the United States in 1966.
The first of the song’s two musical phrases, introduced instrumentally from 0′ 01″ to 0′ 12″ and repeated in the sung section (from 0′26″ to 0′38″), also appears in the instrumental recording “Politikos chasapikos”. This was made in Athens in 1929, with Ioannis Fokiou or Chiotis on harmonica (Pathé 70188 – X-80203). The phrase in question can be heard from 1′ 31″ to 1′ 48″ and from 2′ 05″ to 2′ 38″. The interjection “toumbe,” heard three times in the recording (at 2′44″–2′45″), reinforces our impression about the relation of the tune with the Vlach element. The word comes from the Vlach language and is also encountered as a song title in the Vlach repertoire, which is associated with the wider Balkan region, especially with Romania but also with Greece, continually producing new performances and arrangements (for more, see the recording “Tounte, Tounte”).
A variation of this phrase can also be found in another harmonica recording, specifically in the instrumental piece “Serviko,” which was recorded in September–October 1927 in Constantinople by Giannis Kalaitzoglou and Vasilis Psamathianos (Columbia UK W 22089 – 12318, Columbia GR W 22089 – D.G. 2024 and Columbia USA W 22089 – 7042-F).
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. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but plays a key role in its transformation.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
The song “Vlachiko Dessoura,” whose language appears to be a mixture of Romanian and Vlach (or Aromanian), was recorded in Smyrna between December 15 and 18, 1911 by the sound engineer Arthur Clarke (for more information see the website of Hugo Strötbaum Recording Pioneers). Although the record label lists Mr. Salavaris (“Monsieur Salavaris”) as the singer, according to the database that emerged from Alan Kelly’s research, the recording features the Smyrneiki Estudiantina of Vasilaki, that is Vasilis Sideris [“Smyrneiki Estudiantina (Vasilaki) (Alexandrian Greek)”], as well as Giorgos Savaris (“Savaris”). However, at 0′ 52″ of the recording, the address “Yassou, aspromallousi Salavari” (Greetings to you, white-haired Salavaris) can be heard. In the same source, next to the song title ([Vlachiko] Dessoura), the designation “Rumanian Romance” is given.
The only information regarding Salavaris comes from Aristomenis Kalyviotis (2002: 73):
“What we also know about Vangelis Salavaris is that his real surname was Deligiannis. He appears in Greece after 1922 as the composer of the song “Ainte na pethaneis” (Come on, go die). We do not know when he died or whether he left any heirs. D. Archigenis mentions that he played the cello, while Angela Papazoglou refers once or twice to ‘koubaros Salavaris’ (Salavaris, best man), without providing any further information.”
The tune is found in the Romanian repertoire. Specifically, it is included in the collection “10 Chansons Nationales Roumaines,” which was published in 1897 in Leipzig by C.G. Röder and contains ten Romanian songs arranged for piano by the Romanian composer and pianist Guillaume Şorban (Arad, Austro-Hungarian Empire, February 2, 1876 – Dej, Romania, July 7, 1923). The tune bears the title “Insura-maşi, insura...” (Get married, get married, see here, p. 6) and originates from Târnava Mare, a region in Transylvania, in present-day Romania.
Alan Kelly’s database also lists a recording titled “De insurat mas insure” [De’ insurat m’ as insure] by Chitaristul Jonescu (Zonophone 13073 – 13073 and Gramophone 3-12828), undated and with London given as the place of recording. According to a Zonophone catalogue compiled by Christian Zwarg (see here), this recording was actually made in June 1903 in Iași. Since no audio material has been located, it is not possible to determine whether it concerns the same piece.
On June 8, 1918, Orchestra Regală Română, an instrumental quartet consisting of four tamburitzas, made the recording “Dansuri Romăneşti” in New York for the Victor company (Victor B-22000 – 72229-B and Zonophone Record X-7-10007 / A22000 – 3454). As indicated on the record label, the recording is a potpourri of Romanian dances. Among the dances included, the tune under examination can be identified from approximately 1′23″ onward. Of particular interest is the fact that the recording concludes with another melody familiar to the Greek repertoire, that of the song “Ego thelo prigkipessa”, beginning at 2′36″. Finally, it should be noted that this instrumental quartet made a total of nine recordings for Victor (see here), appearing under three different names depending on the repertoire performed: as Orchestra Regală Română and Căntat de Tamburas for Romanian repertoire, and as Serbian Quartet for Serbian and Croatian repertoire.
The tune is also found in the recording “Ciocârlanul (The Lark)”, made in 1956 in New York by the Hungarian Romani violinist Frank Richko and his Romanian Gypsy Orchestra (The Folk Dancer F8OB-1821-1 – MH-1122-B).
As for later discography, a variation of the tune can be traced in “Syrba No. 1 in A Minor”, a composition by Vassily Boz, who also conducts the ensemble in the recording. It is included in the LP “Moldavian Folk Dances” (Monitor Records MF 314), released in the United States in 1966.
The first of the song’s two musical phrases, introduced instrumentally from 0′ 01″ to 0′ 12″ and repeated in the sung section (from 0′26″ to 0′38″), also appears in the instrumental recording “Politikos chasapikos”. This was made in Athens in 1929, with Ioannis Fokiou or Chiotis on harmonica (Pathé 70188 – X-80203). The phrase in question can be heard from 1′ 31″ to 1′ 48″ and from 2′ 05″ to 2′ 38″. The interjection “toumbe,” heard three times in the recording (at 2′44″–2′45″), reinforces our impression about the relation of the tune with the Vlach element. The word comes from the Vlach language and is also encountered as a song title in the Vlach repertoire, which is associated with the wider Balkan region, especially with Romania but also with Greece, continually producing new performances and arrangements (for more, see the recording “Tounte, Tounte”).
A variation of this phrase can also be found in another harmonica recording, specifically in the instrumental piece “Serviko,” which was recorded in September–October 1927 in Constantinople by Giannis Kalaitzoglou and Vasilis Psamathianos (Columbia UK W 22089 – 12318, Columbia GR W 22089 – D.G. 2024 and Columbia USA W 22089 – 7042-F).
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. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but plays a key role in its transformation.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
