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Ever since antiquity, music transcription has been the intrinsic way of visual representation of sound, sometimes in detail and sometimes in the form of a guide. Throughout time, the visual capture of music has been the only way to store and preserve it over time, but also the exclusive means of reproducing it. In any case, visual transfer should be considered as an auxiliary tool, since oral dissemination and storage in the memory of artists have been the most timeless techniques for the diffusion of music through time and space. During Europe's so-called "classical" musical period, with its most powerful centers of production, such as today's Austria, Germany, France and Italy, and especially in its path towards Romanticism, music transcription, that is, the musical score, was considered by some composers as the very embodiment of their work.
Understandably, in the modern capitalist world, music transcription, as the primary tool for the substantialization of music, brought under its purview repertoires that were not connected, were not disseminated, and did not function on the basis of their transcription. This offered to the music product sales centers an additional tool to expand their action network: non-scholar musics acquired a convenient way of circulating them, enhancing their popularity, even in places very far from those of their original creation. At the end of the 19th century, however, the phenomenon of sound recording and reproduction rearranged relationships and disrupted the status quo of publishing houses, claiming a share of the market, offering a product that was extremely complete and immediate. The publishing houses tried to react with legal measures, but it became impossible to stop the dynamics of the new phenomenon: the prevalence of commercial discography was now a fact, for most of the 20th century.
As far as non-scholar music is concerned, commercial printed musical scores were publications of the musical texts of songs or instrumental pieces (for the publishing activity in Greece see Lerch-Kalavrytinos, 2003: 4-5). For the needs of musical scores, the songs were arranged mainly (but not only) for piano or for piano and voice, generally without complex performance requirements. Multi-instrumental or technically demanding orchestrations were systematically avoided. The lyrics were printed below the notes of the melodic development of the singing parts and, sometimes, their translations into other languages. For the most part, the musical scores were two or four pages long, and came with a themed front and back cover.
This two-sheet commercial musical score contains two versions, with different Greek lyrics, of the song "Daddy Lolo", with music and lyrics by Charles Ganimian. In this second version (page 4), "Ela mazi parea mou", the lyrics are by Antonis Plomaritis. The first version (see here) is entitled "Esy agapi mou sampach" and the lyrics are by Aimilios Savvidis.
The monochrome cover features the title of the song in English, the author, the two titles in Greek, the Greek and the American publishing house, and the idiomatic designation "Oriental Rock and Roll". On the monochrome back cover, which contains the song "Ela mazi parea mou", the musical text consists of a staff with the basic melodic line, the chords and the lyrics. It also bears the logo of the engraver Richardos Fretsas.
According to the evidence found so far, the tune first appears in the Armenian-speaking repertoire recorded in the USA in the 1920s. Specifically, in 1927, Mgrdich Douzjian (Մկրտիչ Տիւզճեան) recorded the song "Շատ անուշ" (Shad anoush) in New York for the record label Pharos (Pharos 101 - 561 and Yeldez 301). In the 1940s it was recorded by Edward Bogosian (Էդուարդ Պողոսյան) in New York under the title "Եար չի գտայայ, լօ, լօ" (Yar Chi Keda, Lo Lo) for Metropolitan (7010-B). In the late 1940s, the Haig Ohanian Orchestra recorded "Dari Lo" in the USA (High Art 3 B - 7 B). Around 1949, it was recorded under the title "Dari-Lolo" by Armenian-American oudist and singer Charles Ganimian and the Nor-ike Orchestra (Nor-Ikes MA-1002B - 1002B). He and his orchestra, Ganim's Asia Minor, re-recorded the song, again under the title "Daddy Lolo", a few years later, in 1958, in New York, on a 45 rpm record (EastWest 45-EW-109 - EW-2879). On this recording, he is also credited as the song's composer. In the same year, it was included under the title "Dari Lo Lo" in the LP "Armenian Wedding" (Audio Fidelity AFLP-1865), recorded in New York by Mike Sarkissian and his Cafe Bagdad Ensemble, as a Mike Sarkissian – Sidney Frey composition.
The tune can also be found in the Lebanese discography. It was recorded by the Union Records Orchestra under the direction of Hasan Dargazalli, probably in the late 1950s, under the title "Daddy Lolo" for the Lebanese record label Union Records (45 rpm record U 122 S - 7 XGM 17). The record, according to the label which reads "Made in Greece", was produced in Greece.
The tune can also be found in the Turkish repertoire. It is the song "Bahçevan" (Istanbul, 1963, 45 rpm record Grafson MGZ 3008), which was included in the film of the same name "Bahçevan", which began screenings in Turkish cinemas in 1963 (see the film here). The song is performed by Zeki Müren, who stars in the film.
In Greek historical discography, the tune entitled "Panta esena syllogiemai" was recorded in Athens in 1959 by Stelios Kazantzidis and Giota Lydia - Marinella on backing voices (His Master’s Voice OGA 2958 – A.O. 5598). The song appears as a composition by Stelios Kazantzidis while the lyrics were written by Charalampos Vassiliadis or Tsantas. The recording was also released on 45 rpm records (His Master's Voice 7XGA 367 - 7PG 2634 and Odeon 7XGA 367 - 45-HGRA 575).
It was also recorded around 1960 in New York under the title "Makria sou liono" by Sevas Chanoum. It is included on the LP "Greek Town, USA" (A Salute To New York's Bouzoukee Casbahs) recorded by bouzouki player Dimitris Stergiou or Bebis and the Alector Anatolian Ensemble (Alector Records Ltd, ALP-5004). In the 1960s, it was also recorded in the USA by Eva Styl and the orchestra of Giorgos Stratis under the title "Chronia tora" (Lament in Rythm) for the LP "The Greek Tempo" (Liberty 120 and Grecophon 120).
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. Discography as well as musical scores have 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”.
America, where most of the aforemetnioned recordings 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.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
Ever since antiquity, music transcription has been the intrinsic way of visual representation of sound, sometimes in detail and sometimes in the form of a guide. Throughout time, the visual capture of music has been the only way to store and preserve it over time, but also the exclusive means of reproducing it. In any case, visual transfer should be considered as an auxiliary tool, since oral dissemination and storage in the memory of artists have been the most timeless techniques for the diffusion of music through time and space. During Europe's so-called "classical" musical period, with its most powerful centers of production, such as today's Austria, Germany, France and Italy, and especially in its path towards Romanticism, music transcription, that is, the musical score, was considered by some composers as the very embodiment of their work.
Understandably, in the modern capitalist world, music transcription, as the primary tool for the substantialization of music, brought under its purview repertoires that were not connected, were not disseminated, and did not function on the basis of their transcription. This offered to the music product sales centers an additional tool to expand their action network: non-scholar musics acquired a convenient way of circulating them, enhancing their popularity, even in places very far from those of their original creation. At the end of the 19th century, however, the phenomenon of sound recording and reproduction rearranged relationships and disrupted the status quo of publishing houses, claiming a share of the market, offering a product that was extremely complete and immediate. The publishing houses tried to react with legal measures, but it became impossible to stop the dynamics of the new phenomenon: the prevalence of commercial discography was now a fact, for most of the 20th century.
As far as non-scholar music is concerned, commercial printed musical scores were publications of the musical texts of songs or instrumental pieces (for the publishing activity in Greece see Lerch-Kalavrytinos, 2003: 4-5). For the needs of musical scores, the songs were arranged mainly (but not only) for piano or for piano and voice, generally without complex performance requirements. Multi-instrumental or technically demanding orchestrations were systematically avoided. The lyrics were printed below the notes of the melodic development of the singing parts and, sometimes, their translations into other languages. For the most part, the musical scores were two or four pages long, and came with a themed front and back cover.
This two-sheet commercial musical score contains two versions, with different Greek lyrics, of the song "Daddy Lolo", with music and lyrics by Charles Ganimian. In this second version (page 4), "Ela mazi parea mou", the lyrics are by Antonis Plomaritis. The first version (see here) is entitled "Esy agapi mou sampach" and the lyrics are by Aimilios Savvidis.
The monochrome cover features the title of the song in English, the author, the two titles in Greek, the Greek and the American publishing house, and the idiomatic designation "Oriental Rock and Roll". On the monochrome back cover, which contains the song "Ela mazi parea mou", the musical text consists of a staff with the basic melodic line, the chords and the lyrics. It also bears the logo of the engraver Richardos Fretsas.
According to the evidence found so far, the tune first appears in the Armenian-speaking repertoire recorded in the USA in the 1920s. Specifically, in 1927, Mgrdich Douzjian (Մկրտիչ Տիւզճեան) recorded the song "Շատ անուշ" (Shad anoush) in New York for the record label Pharos (Pharos 101 - 561 and Yeldez 301). In the 1940s it was recorded by Edward Bogosian (Էդուարդ Պողոսյան) in New York under the title "Եար չի գտայայ, լօ, լօ" (Yar Chi Keda, Lo Lo) for Metropolitan (7010-B). In the late 1940s, the Haig Ohanian Orchestra recorded "Dari Lo" in the USA (High Art 3 B - 7 B). Around 1949, it was recorded under the title "Dari-Lolo" by Armenian-American oudist and singer Charles Ganimian and the Nor-ike Orchestra (Nor-Ikes MA-1002B - 1002B). He and his orchestra, Ganim's Asia Minor, re-recorded the song, again under the title "Daddy Lolo", a few years later, in 1958, in New York, on a 45 rpm record (EastWest 45-EW-109 - EW-2879). On this recording, he is also credited as the song's composer. In the same year, it was included under the title "Dari Lo Lo" in the LP "Armenian Wedding" (Audio Fidelity AFLP-1865), recorded in New York by Mike Sarkissian and his Cafe Bagdad Ensemble, as a Mike Sarkissian – Sidney Frey composition.
The tune can also be found in the Lebanese discography. It was recorded by the Union Records Orchestra under the direction of Hasan Dargazalli, probably in the late 1950s, under the title "Daddy Lolo" for the Lebanese record label Union Records (45 rpm record U 122 S - 7 XGM 17). The record, according to the label which reads "Made in Greece", was produced in Greece.
The tune can also be found in the Turkish repertoire. It is the song "Bahçevan" (Istanbul, 1963, 45 rpm record Grafson MGZ 3008), which was included in the film of the same name "Bahçevan", which began screenings in Turkish cinemas in 1963 (see the film here). The song is performed by Zeki Müren, who stars in the film.
In Greek historical discography, the tune entitled "Panta esena syllogiemai" was recorded in Athens in 1959 by Stelios Kazantzidis and Giota Lydia - Marinella on backing voices (His Master’s Voice OGA 2958 – A.O. 5598). The song appears as a composition by Stelios Kazantzidis while the lyrics were written by Charalampos Vassiliadis or Tsantas. The recording was also released on 45 rpm records (His Master's Voice 7XGA 367 - 7PG 2634 and Odeon 7XGA 367 - 45-HGRA 575).
It was also recorded around 1960 in New York under the title "Makria sou liono" by Sevas Chanoum. It is included on the LP "Greek Town, USA" (A Salute To New York's Bouzoukee Casbahs) recorded by bouzouki player Dimitris Stergiou or Bebis and the Alector Anatolian Ensemble (Alector Records Ltd, ALP-5004). In the 1960s, it was also recorded in the USA by Eva Styl and the orchestra of Giorgos Stratis under the title "Chronia tora" (Lament in Rythm) for the LP "The Greek Tempo" (Liberty 120 and Grecophon 120).
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. Discography as well as musical scores have 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”.
America, where most of the aforemetnioned recordings 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.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
