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”.

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. When researching the historical material, it seems that one particular city in the Italian peninsula developed special relations with the large urban centers where Greek-speaking musicians played a leading role: it was Naples, with its famous Canzone Napoletana. The song "Den echeis kardia", which was also recorded under the title "Me trelainoun t' afrata sou kalli", belongs to a corpus of songs from which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Neapolitan-speaking songs. In many cases, the appropriations concern not only Neapolitan-speaking songs but the Italian language as a whole, since, often, the original Neapolitan-speaking songs were translated into Italian, from which the loan arose. 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 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. After all, the mandolins, the guitars, the marches, polyphonic song and the bel canto singing style are characteristics that reveal the influences of the Canzone Napoletana on the Greek-speaking urban popular song. 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.

It is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the Neapolitan song "A cerenara" composed by Rodolfo Falvo and lyrics by Luigi Mattiello.

The musical score under the title "'A cerenara" was published in Naples by the Capolongo-Feola publishing house in the early 20th century, probably in 1905.

So far, the following recordings have been found in Italian historical discography:
- Francesco Daddi – Virginia Novelli, New York, around March 1908 (Zonophone 8605 – 3611, 40141 and Victor 67767).
- Coppia Parisi, New York, around May 1921 (Columbia 87404 – E7156 and 14605-F).

In Greek historical discography, apart from the present recording, another one has been found so far, which was performed by the Elliniki Estudiantina (Greek Estudiantina) in Smyrna (Izmir) in April 1909 under the title "Me trelainoun t' afrata sou kalli".

The Greek musical score was published in Athens by the Georgios D. Fexis publishing house under the title “Me magevoun t' afrata sou kalli (Den echeis kardia)" and by the Grigoris Konstantinidis publishing house under the title "Me magevoun t' afrata sou kalli". The music is attributed to Χ. Χ. and the lyrics, which are different from those of the present recording, to Vasileios Sideris.

Research and text by: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis