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 song "Sigka Migka".

The title of the song, "Ben yarimi gördüm" in Turkish, could be translated as "I saw my love". It is one of five songs recorded by Marika Papagkika in the Turkish language. The other four are: "Ne Itsoun Saidin" (Columbia USA E-4878, New York 1919), "Kioutsouk Hanoum", "Chanakale" and "Sinanai".

Starting from the Turkish repertoire, it is worth noting that the tune, with variations and three different titles, was recorded three times by Greek singers:

- "Sigka Migka", Olga Douli (Anastasia Psomopoulou), New York, June 12, 1922 (Victor C 26624 - 68591-B).
- "Ben yiarimi giordoum" (Ben Yarimi Gördüm), Marika Papagkika, New York, September 1922 (Columbia 88772-2 - E-9030), present recording.
- "Iskenter Bogaz" (İskender Boğazı), Lefteris Menemenlis, Athens, 1927 (Columbia UK 20053 - 8010).

Three recordings by Turkish singers have so far been found in the record catalogs:

- "Ben Yarimi Gördüm / Kanto", Hafız Yaşar [Okur], (Orfeon 12693).
- "Ben Yarimi Gördüm / Anadolu Türküsü", Saadet Hanım, Istanbul, 1930s (Sahibinin Sesi AX 1577).
- "İskender Boğazı", Nedime και Münevver Birses, Istanbul, 1940s (Columbia 17762).

The song was recorded also in Turkish around 1930, in Athens, by Agapios Tompoulis (Agapios Tombulian or Tobulian or Hagop Stambulian) under the title "Iskenter Bogazi" (Pathé N 70208 - X-80163).

The tune can be found in the Armenian repertoire that was recorded in the USA. More specifically, in the 1940s-1950s, in Fresno, California, Harry Belezarian recorded the song "Benyarimi Geordim" (Kevorkian Record Company 24148).

In the Greek-speaking repertoire, the tune, under the title "Fila me giati liono", was recorded in Athens in 1954 by the Stamboul Duet and Kostas Politis (Columbia C.G. 3164-1 - D.G. 7090). The music of the song is attributed to Stavros Pantelidis and the lyrics to Stelios Chrysinis.

However, the song's relation with the Greek-speaking repertoire is not limited to the above recording. The theme of the intro can be found in two more recordings made in 1928, in New York, by Marika Papagkika and the orchestra that accompanied her:

- "Gkel gkel", Marika Papagkika, New York, January 1928 (Columbia W 205770 - 56103-F).
- "Aidinikos choros", Marika Papagkika, New York, February 1928 (Columbia W 205807 - 56100-F).

America, where this recording took place, was a microcosm of the globe: a "successful Babel". Naturally, a unique syncretism also dominated in the field of music. The birth, on the other hand, of discography, built a condition that favored debates and osmosis between the innumerable ethno-cultural groups that made up the population. These processes led to the re-imagining, the update and the renewal of old musical trends arriving in the United States and, at the same time, to their re-exportation to the "old worlds", thus setting up a uniquely multi-layered network. "National" repertoires live a new, parallel life, largely molded by discography, which attended to and "tuned" the overlapping relationships that had already developed in the "Old World". Repertoires communicated with each other once again; a familiar and already dynamic condition in Europe. The circulation of music was 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