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”.

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.

One of the most interesting series of references, in which one can find smaller or larger musical themes passing from one song to another, begins with the Turkish song "Telegrafin tellerine" (or Telgrafin telleri or teleri). The oldest recording of this song seems to have been made in Moscow. According to the database that emerged from Alan Kelly's research, the following information, most probably with multiple spelling mistakes, was found:

"Telegrafnin Telleri", Zonophone 1366 – X-6-102037, KRIMSKO-TATAR MUZIKANTI, SAMI MEMET OGLU, ABDUREFI MEMET OGLU, APASS SANDICHE, HALIL RAHME, AFUZ RASIM, Moscow, September 8, 1910

In any case, the song was recorded many times in Turkish historical discography, both by Armenian artists and by Muslims. For example:

- "Telegrafin Telerine, Canto", Columbia 89574-1 – CO 32001-F, Vahan Boyajian, New York, around December 1923
- "Telegrafin teleri", Victor B 32928 – 78193, Moise Effendi and Smyrna Quartette, New York, June 25, 1925
- "Telgrafin Telleri", HMV OTB 2278 – AX 2606, Zeki Müren, Constantinople (Istanbul), around the 1940s

On the label of some records, the song is characterized as "kanto". In other words, it is considered part of the repertoire of the kantolar, a term that seems to have been first used by Turkish-speaking Muslims mainly in large urban centers and especially in Constantinople since the time when Italian troupes performed there. Although initially the kantolar were associated only with theatrical music, they soon became autonomous, when the term "kanto" (singular form of kantolar) came to describe any popular and light secular singing forms (see Pennanen, 2004: 9, O'Connel, 2006: 276, Beşiroğlu & Girgin, 2018: 49).

The song seems to share common ambiences with the scholar work entitled "Uşşak Peşrev" and composed by the Armenian Tatyos Eñserciyan (Tatyos Efendi, 1858–1913).

In Greek discography, the situation is complicated. Panagiotis Tountas’ song "Aeroplano tha paro" (Odeon GO 1942 – 31032B, Athens, 1933) constitutes a point of reference. This composition borrows the musical theme from the beginning of the lyrics of the song "Telegrafin tellerine". At the same time, Tountas’ song uses the music of the intro of the song "Ti se melei esenane" (Odeon 278 – GA 1153 – A 154256, Athens, 1926). The latter was recorded under the title "Ti se melei esenane apo pouthe eimai ego" (Balkan Records No 820-B, America, around 1948). In this particular cover, the introduction of the song is different from its older recordings. It is worth mentioning the recording of the song under the name "Tee Say Mallee", by Slim Gaillard, in America, in 1945 (Atomic A-231-1). Based on his own accounts, around 1928, when he was twelve years old, Gailard was left in Crete, where he must have heard the song in question.

The song "Telegrafin tellerine", however, was also recorded with Greek lyrics, in the same form as the Turkish one, nevertheless much later than the previous ones. Specifically, around 1952, Roza Eskenazy recorded the song under the title "Ta koritsia tis Asias zitane pantreia" (Balkan Records 844-B, America). Around 1999, Nikos Saragoudas and Giasemi re-covered the song under the title "Nikolaki mou", which has since been covered several times.

Research and text: Nikos Ordoulidis