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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”.
Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics. One such case is the song “Parnton, parnton seniora”.
This recording is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the song "Pardon, pardon szenyóra" from the three-act Hungarian operetta "Szökik az asszony", set to music by Nikolaus (or Nikolas or Miklós) Brodszky (Odessa, April 20, 1905 - Hollywood, December 24, 1958), libretto by Andor Kardos and lyrics by Imre Harmath. The operetta premiered at the Budai Színkör, in Budapest, in 1929.
The song was first recorded on May 28, 1929, in Vienna, by Noldi Schorr and Charles Gaudriot Jazz Zenekar for Gramophone ("Szökik az asszony: Pardon, pardon, Señora", BA 31-1 - 272482 AM2050).
The musical score was published in Budapest by the Rózsavölgyi és Társa publishing house.
In historical discography, it has been recorded several times in various locations and languages. For example:
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Tango-Orchester, Berlin, November 1, 1929 (Odeon Be 8722 - O 11.160b)
- Sebő Miklós - Saxophon zenekar, Berlin, 1929 (Odeon Ho 776 - A 197139 b)
- "Vergib, vergib Paloma", Max Mensing - Saxophon Orchester Dobbri, Berlin, 1929 (Beka 6982-II)
- "Pardon, pardon senjora", Vlaho Paljetak uz pratnju Edison Bell jazz, Zagreb, 1930 (Edison Bell Electro Z1434/1436 - SZ 1600)
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Mieczysław Fogg, probably in Berlin, 1931 (Odeon Wo. 921 - O. 236189 a)
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Tadeusz Faliszewski, Warsaw, 1931 (Syrena-Electro 21605 - 3634)
According to the data collected so far, it is the only recording of the song in Greek historical discography.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou 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”.
Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics. One such case is the song “Parnton, parnton seniora”.
This recording is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the song "Pardon, pardon szenyóra" from the three-act Hungarian operetta "Szökik az asszony", set to music by Nikolaus (or Nikolas or Miklós) Brodszky (Odessa, April 20, 1905 - Hollywood, December 24, 1958), libretto by Andor Kardos and lyrics by Imre Harmath. The operetta premiered at the Budai Színkör, in Budapest, in 1929.
The song was first recorded on May 28, 1929, in Vienna, by Noldi Schorr and Charles Gaudriot Jazz Zenekar for Gramophone ("Szökik az asszony: Pardon, pardon, Señora", BA 31-1 - 272482 AM2050).
The musical score was published in Budapest by the Rózsavölgyi és Társa publishing house.
In historical discography, it has been recorded several times in various locations and languages. For example:
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Tango-Orchester, Berlin, November 1, 1929 (Odeon Be 8722 - O 11.160b)
- Sebő Miklós - Saxophon zenekar, Berlin, 1929 (Odeon Ho 776 - A 197139 b)
- "Vergib, vergib Paloma", Max Mensing - Saxophon Orchester Dobbri, Berlin, 1929 (Beka 6982-II)
- "Pardon, pardon senjora", Vlaho Paljetak uz pratnju Edison Bell jazz, Zagreb, 1930 (Edison Bell Electro Z1434/1436 - SZ 1600)
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Mieczysław Fogg, probably in Berlin, 1931 (Odeon Wo. 921 - O. 236189 a)
- "Pardon, pardon senora", Tadeusz Faliszewski, Warsaw, 1931 (Syrena-Electro 21605 - 3634)
According to the data collected so far, it is the only recording of the song in Greek historical discography.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
