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”.
This is a recording by Gramophone with Antonis Ntalgkas, which took place in Athens between June 11 and 30, 1928, with sound engineer Edward Fowler.
The song was recorded earlier, probably in Milan, in 1927, by Giorgos Savaris, John and Loukianos Miliaris (Columbia 20132 – 8216), by Giorgos Vidalis (Odeon 573 – 1248) and three other recordings have been found so far in Greek discography.
The tune used in this song is found, as the final part of the recording, in the song "Mi mou chalas ta gousta mou", which was recorded in 1927, in Athens, by Kostas Karipis (Columbia UK 20089 - 7724).
Based on Martin Schwartz's extremely interesting commentaries in "Greek-Oriental Rebetica, Songs and Dances in the Asia Minor Style, The Golden Years: 1911–1937" (Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7005), the tune comes from the Ashkenazi (klezmer/Yiddish) Jewish repertoire of Eastern Europe, originally from the Moldovlachian region. The oldest recording that has been found is entitled "יארקע פארט אַוועק" (Yoshke fort avek, Joseph goes away – according to Schwartz, the word "Yorke" on the label is a typo). It was recorded in New York on April 5, 1913, by Columbia, with Goldberg (cimbalom) and Max Yenkovitz (accordion) (Columbia 38770-1 – E 1397).
The musical tune was recorded once more in September 1922, again by Columbia, in New York (88754 – E 7781), this time in the form of a song; the lyrics are about the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. As Martin Schwartz describes by quoting Ruth Rubin, the tune was sung in Vilnius, Lithuania’s current capital, and the lyrics were about the enlisting of a local criminal in the army of the Russian Empire and leaving his beloved one behind in tears. On the record's label, the name of Abe Schwartz, a dynamic headliner in American discography of the klezmer/Yiddish repertoire, is given as that of the composer. The singer of the song is Abraham Moskowitz.
Moreover, the tune can be found in the Armenian repertoire:
- "Yar Ouneyi", Mr Sourapian [Setrak Sourapian ή Sourabian], New York, between 1922-1926 (Sohag 191-2 - 9)
- "Ah im dolardjis", Mme Lucie, probably in Armenia, around 1927-1928 (Odeon ES 1355 - A 220402 b)
- "Yar Ouneyi", Garabet Merjanian, New York, February 1928 (Columbia 71003-F)
Syncretism, which is observed in the musical actualizations of the areas where Greeks lived and recorded, mainly in the area of folk-popular traditions, is monumental. It only takes one to listen to historical discography, which begins in New York, Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens and Thessaloniki since 1900. An essential part of this syncretism concerns the Jews, who constitute one of the main conduits in the uniquely diverse cultural heritage of the Greek-speaking world. They borrow and lend, but they also carry more distant traditions from the places where they have previously lived and the places they have traveled to. They are the central interlocutors in the Greek and Ottoman ecumene, together with Turkish-speaking Muslims, Orthodox but also Catholic Greek-speaking and Armenians, Levantine Protestants, Europeans and Americans, and compose a rich musical mosaic which consists of heterogeneous but co-existent palimpsests: a reservoir to which everyone contributes but from which also everyone receives.
The sources show the timeless existence of a Jewish element, at least since the Hellenistic period, in areas that millennia later formed the modern Greek state. After the “Edict of Milan” in 313 AD and the gradual Christianization of the Eastern Empire, the Jewish element found itself in a difficult position. The Jewish populations that have since been established in these lands became known as Romaniote Jews (or “Romaniotes”’ Rome – Romios). Their historical geographical center of reference was the city of Ioannina, and they speak Greek with various linguistic mixtures. After 1492 and the “Alhambra Decree” by the joint Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, those Jews who did not accept to embrace Christianity were expelled from the Iberian peninsula. They became known as the Sepharadi Jews (or “Sepharadim”), one of the largest Jewish ethno-cultural categorizations (Sepharad in Jewish texts is referred to as the region of present-day Spain). Thessaloniki was one of the main destination points of this displacement, as the ties with the city were older and already close. Apart from the role played by the Greek Jews in the musical developments on the Greek peninsula, there were also important mutual influences between the Greek-speaking Orthodox and the Jews in various other areas where the two communities lived together. As, for example, in Odessa, with the Eastern Ashkenazi Jews, who mainly speak Yiddish, a sui generis Semitic-Slavic language (in Jewish texts, the Kingdom of Ashkenaz, a descendant of Noah, is connected with north-eastern European territories). Their orchestral repertoire is often called klezmer. In other words, apart from the geographical limits of the modern Greek state, the cultural conversations between the Greek Orthodox and the Jews also concern other parts of the world, both in Europe and America, where they met as immigrants.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and 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”.
This is a recording by Gramophone with Antonis Ntalgkas, which took place in Athens between June 11 and 30, 1928, with sound engineer Edward Fowler.
The song was recorded earlier, probably in Milan, in 1927, by Giorgos Savaris, John and Loukianos Miliaris (Columbia 20132 – 8216), by Giorgos Vidalis (Odeon 573 – 1248) and three other recordings have been found so far in Greek discography.
The tune used in this song is found, as the final part of the recording, in the song "Mi mou chalas ta gousta mou", which was recorded in 1927, in Athens, by Kostas Karipis (Columbia UK 20089 - 7724).
Based on Martin Schwartz's extremely interesting commentaries in "Greek-Oriental Rebetica, Songs and Dances in the Asia Minor Style, The Golden Years: 1911–1937" (Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7005), the tune comes from the Ashkenazi (klezmer/Yiddish) Jewish repertoire of Eastern Europe, originally from the Moldovlachian region. The oldest recording that has been found is entitled "יארקע פארט אַוועק" (Yoshke fort avek, Joseph goes away – according to Schwartz, the word "Yorke" on the label is a typo). It was recorded in New York on April 5, 1913, by Columbia, with Goldberg (cimbalom) and Max Yenkovitz (accordion) (Columbia 38770-1 – E 1397).
The musical tune was recorded once more in September 1922, again by Columbia, in New York (88754 – E 7781), this time in the form of a song; the lyrics are about the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. As Martin Schwartz describes by quoting Ruth Rubin, the tune was sung in Vilnius, Lithuania’s current capital, and the lyrics were about the enlisting of a local criminal in the army of the Russian Empire and leaving his beloved one behind in tears. On the record's label, the name of Abe Schwartz, a dynamic headliner in American discography of the klezmer/Yiddish repertoire, is given as that of the composer. The singer of the song is Abraham Moskowitz.
Moreover, the tune can be found in the Armenian repertoire:
- "Yar Ouneyi", Mr Sourapian [Setrak Sourapian ή Sourabian], New York, between 1922-1926 (Sohag 191-2 - 9)
- "Ah im dolardjis", Mme Lucie, probably in Armenia, around 1927-1928 (Odeon ES 1355 - A 220402 b)
- "Yar Ouneyi", Garabet Merjanian, New York, February 1928 (Columbia 71003-F)
Syncretism, which is observed in the musical actualizations of the areas where Greeks lived and recorded, mainly in the area of folk-popular traditions, is monumental. It only takes one to listen to historical discography, which begins in New York, Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens and Thessaloniki since 1900. An essential part of this syncretism concerns the Jews, who constitute one of the main conduits in the uniquely diverse cultural heritage of the Greek-speaking world. They borrow and lend, but they also carry more distant traditions from the places where they have previously lived and the places they have traveled to. They are the central interlocutors in the Greek and Ottoman ecumene, together with Turkish-speaking Muslims, Orthodox but also Catholic Greek-speaking and Armenians, Levantine Protestants, Europeans and Americans, and compose a rich musical mosaic which consists of heterogeneous but co-existent palimpsests: a reservoir to which everyone contributes but from which also everyone receives.
The sources show the timeless existence of a Jewish element, at least since the Hellenistic period, in areas that millennia later formed the modern Greek state. After the “Edict of Milan” in 313 AD and the gradual Christianization of the Eastern Empire, the Jewish element found itself in a difficult position. The Jewish populations that have since been established in these lands became known as Romaniote Jews (or “Romaniotes”’ Rome – Romios). Their historical geographical center of reference was the city of Ioannina, and they speak Greek with various linguistic mixtures. After 1492 and the “Alhambra Decree” by the joint Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, those Jews who did not accept to embrace Christianity were expelled from the Iberian peninsula. They became known as the Sepharadi Jews (or “Sepharadim”), one of the largest Jewish ethno-cultural categorizations (Sepharad in Jewish texts is referred to as the region of present-day Spain). Thessaloniki was one of the main destination points of this displacement, as the ties with the city were older and already close. Apart from the role played by the Greek Jews in the musical developments on the Greek peninsula, there were also important mutual influences between the Greek-speaking Orthodox and the Jews in various other areas where the two communities lived together. As, for example, in Odessa, with the Eastern Ashkenazi Jews, who mainly speak Yiddish, a sui generis Semitic-Slavic language (in Jewish texts, the Kingdom of Ashkenaz, a descendant of Noah, is connected with north-eastern European territories). Their orchestral repertoire is often called klezmer. In other words, apart from the geographical limits of the modern Greek state, the cultural conversations between the Greek Orthodox and the Jews also concern other parts of the world, both in Europe and America, where they met as immigrants.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
