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”.

Historical sources underline the close relations between Italian-speaking and Greek-speaking music. The conversations that developed with specific places, such as the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese and Patras, as well as their results, are enough to highlight the strong ties between the two ethno-cultural groups. Furthermore, relationships were forged in places where the two ethnicities lived together, such as, for example, in the case of cosmopolitan Smyrna (Izmir) in the Ottoman Empire, or that of New York, where Italians and Greeks immigrated. This recording belongs to a corpus of recorded songs in which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Italian-speaking songs. These songs arrived at the Greek-speaking world either directly or indirectly, through other repertoire networks. In any case, 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 plays a key role in its transformation. The appropriation of these songs by Greek musicians is twofold: on the one hand are the lyrics, which are now in Greek (often, in fact, they have nothing to do with the original ones), and, on the other hand, are the performance practices: different instrumentation, different singing style, often differences in melodic and rhythmic forms but also in the harmonies. Greek musicians adapt what they hear to their own condition, based on their own capabilities. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the network that is finally formed is extremely complex and does not only concern Greek-Italian relations.

This is an excerpt from an unidentified, so far, music revue, which includes the song "Barmpa-Giannis kanatas", Greek adaptation of the Italian song "Marianina” (Mariannina). Besides, the network of the theater is a key environment for the circulation of music; and the relationship between the two (music-theater) is more than dynamic.

So far, the oldest reference of the italian song comes from Gazzeta Ufficiale of 1895, number 253, page. 5685. In this document, it seems that the song was released since 1874. As a musical score, we find the song since approximately 1875. The most problematic issue in the scores concerns the name of the composer. While some publications name Nicolas Ferri as the composer (here and here), some others name Teodoro Cottrau (here and here).

So far, four historical recordings were located, all of them made in the USA: in Philadelphia, on November 17, 1896 by Berliner (1103); in Philadelphia, on October 7, 1899 by Berliner (0571); in Camden, New Jersey, on April 1, 1921 by Victor (Β 25123 – 66013); and a year and a half later, in November 1922, it was recorded in New York by Columbia (88890 – E7895).

In Greek discography, the song seems to have been issued three times in 1931. Once with singers Petros Kyriakos and Giorgos Kamvysis for Pathé (this record); once with singers Michalis Thomakos, Aliki Vitsou-Epitropaki and choir for Columbia; and once with singer Elvira De Hidalgo for His Master's Voice.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis