Part of the content is temporarily available only in Greek
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 term "Minore" (Minor) appears in Smyrnaean discography in the early 1900s and refers to the manes, that is, an à la greca form where vocal improvisation on a couplet plays a leading role. Since then, the exact same musical matrix has appeared at least 60 more times, in Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens and New York. The titles on the labels vary. What we understand from historical sources is that the term is not only active among the Greek-speaking population of Smyrna, but is mostly used to describe a much more complex entity rather than a simple theoretical instruction. For detailed presentations of the "Minore manes" and of the à la greca manedes in general, see Kounadis (2010, 1: 45), Kokkonis (2017: 112), Ordoulidis (2018), Kounas (2019).
In the manes form, which in the majority of the recordings remains exactly the same (Introduction - A verse - Intermediate theme - B verse - Shift), the last part consists of the "shift", an ambiance change that involves new melodies with new rhythmic features. The rhythms that are usually performed in the shift are horas, waltzes and sirbas. In the case of "Smyrneiko mane minore" (Smyrnaean minor manes), with singer Lefteris Menemenlis Beslemedakis recorded on February 9, 1911 (Constantinople, Gramophone 4487t – 1-55017), "Minore manes" (Minor manes), with singer Pantelis Voliotis recorded around 1911 (Constantinople, Orfeon 1492 – 11082), "Minore manes (Smyrneikos)", with singer Thanasakis recorded in 1919 (New York, Panhellenion 314A), and this record, titled "Smyrneiko minore" (Smyrnaean minor), with singer Marika Papagkika recorded in July 1919, the shift is a waltz. This is a melody that is often associated with Smyrna in the relevant bibliography.
In 2008, the San Francisco-based string quartet Kronos Quartet, impressed by the voice of Marika Papagkika, commissioned Greek composer Giorgos Koumentakis to write a work inspired by her voice and recordings (see here for the timeline of the work's creation). "Point of No Return", which was presented in its world premiere by the famous quartet at the Pallas theater in Athens, on October 20, 2008, was based on Papagkika's interpretations of the aforementioned "Smyrnaiiko minore" and "Manaki mou" (watch here the live performance by the DissonArt ensemble on July 6, 2010 at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation).
About six years later, in 2014, the Kronos Quartet included an arrangement of Jacob Garchik's "Smyrnaiiko minore" (see here) in the CD "A Thousand Thoughts" (Nonesuch Records 536952-2), which was presented live to the Greek audience by the quartet on May 5, 2011 at the Onassis Foundation Stegi in Athens (see here) and on September 12, 2014 at the Lazaristes Monastery in Thessaloniki (see here).
Research and text: 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 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 term "Minore" (Minor) appears in Smyrnaean discography in the early 1900s and refers to the manes, that is, an à la greca form where vocal improvisation on a couplet plays a leading role. Since then, the exact same musical matrix has appeared at least 60 more times, in Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens and New York. The titles on the labels vary. What we understand from historical sources is that the term is not only active among the Greek-speaking population of Smyrna, but is mostly used to describe a much more complex entity rather than a simple theoretical instruction. For detailed presentations of the "Minore manes" and of the à la greca manedes in general, see Kounadis (2010, 1: 45), Kokkonis (2017: 112), Ordoulidis (2018), Kounas (2019).
In the manes form, which in the majority of the recordings remains exactly the same (Introduction - A verse - Intermediate theme - B verse - Shift), the last part consists of the "shift", an ambiance change that involves new melodies with new rhythmic features. The rhythms that are usually performed in the shift are horas, waltzes and sirbas. In the case of "Smyrneiko mane minore" (Smyrnaean minor manes), with singer Lefteris Menemenlis Beslemedakis recorded on February 9, 1911 (Constantinople, Gramophone 4487t – 1-55017), "Minore manes" (Minor manes), with singer Pantelis Voliotis recorded around 1911 (Constantinople, Orfeon 1492 – 11082), "Minore manes (Smyrneikos)", with singer Thanasakis recorded in 1919 (New York, Panhellenion 314A), and this record, titled "Smyrneiko minore" (Smyrnaean minor), with singer Marika Papagkika recorded in July 1919, the shift is a waltz. This is a melody that is often associated with Smyrna in the relevant bibliography.
In 2008, the San Francisco-based string quartet Kronos Quartet, impressed by the voice of Marika Papagkika, commissioned Greek composer Giorgos Koumentakis to write a work inspired by her voice and recordings (see here for the timeline of the work's creation). "Point of No Return", which was presented in its world premiere by the famous quartet at the Pallas theater in Athens, on October 20, 2008, was based on Papagkika's interpretations of the aforementioned "Smyrnaiiko minore" and "Manaki mou" (watch here the live performance by the DissonArt ensemble on July 6, 2010 at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation).
About six years later, in 2014, the Kronos Quartet included an arrangement of Jacob Garchik's "Smyrnaiiko minore" (see here) in the CD "A Thousand Thoughts" (Nonesuch Records 536952-2), which was presented live to the Greek audience by the quartet on May 5, 2011 at the Onassis Foundation Stegi in Athens (see here) and on September 12, 2014 at the Lazaristes Monastery in Thessaloniki (see here).
Research and text: Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
![26. [San pethano 's to karavi]
(Trente mélodies populaires de Grèce et d'Orient
recueillies et harmonisées par L.-A. Bourgault-Ducoudray)](https://kounadisomeka.aegean.gr/files/thumbnails/1be123bd81c747722e69cf7db3c7d6ff.jpg)
