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 musical score contains an adaptation with Greek lyrics by Leonidas Katsouropolos of the Italian tango "Natale" with music and lyrics by Eldo di Lazzaro.

The monochrome cover, which is adorned with a photograph by Leonidas Katsouropoulos, bears the composer and the Greek lyricist, the title of the song in Greek, italian and Hungarian language, the publisher, "canzone tango" (Tango song) and "Timatai Drchm. 18" (Price 14 drachmas).

This is a musical score with a system of three staffs (two for piano and one for voice). The monochrome back cover contains the musical score of the song arranged for guitar by G. Tyrtaios.

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.

In the Greek-speaking repertoire, the song was recorded twice:
– "Dyo mavra matia", Panos Visvardis – Danai Stratigopoulou, Athens, 1937 (His Master’s Voice OGA 607-1 – AO 2414 and re-issued by RCA Victor C8FB-0108 - 26-8345 and Orthophonic S-460-B)
– "Dyo mavra matia", Tetos Dimitriadis – Ioanna Gramma, USA, 1945 (Standard F-9009-A)

In Italian discography, two recordings of the song have been found:
– "Natale", Renzo Mori – Orchestra de Ballo, Milan, January 12, 1933 (Gramophone 0M 1086-2 – 100-2148, GW 111)
– "Natale", Fernando Orlandis – Jazz Orchestra Semprini, Milan, 1935 (Fonit 6312-A)

The Italian musical score was published in Milan, in 1929, by the Melodi publishing house (see here, here and here).

Historical sources underline the close relations between Italian-speaking and Greek-speaking music. The conversations that developed with specific places, such as the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese and Patras, as well as their results, are enough to highlight the strong ties between the two ethno-cultural groups. Furthermore, relationships were forged in places where the two ethnicities lived together, such as, for example, in the case of cosmopolitan Smyrna (Izmir) in the Ottoman Empire, or that of New York, where Italians and Greeks immigrated. This recording belongs to a corpus of recorded songs in which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Italian-speaking songs. These songs arrived at the Greek-speaking world either directly or indirectly, through other repertoire networks. In any case, the circulation of musics is 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 plays a key role in its transformation. The appropriation of these songs by Greek musicians is twofold: on the one hand are the lyrics, which are now in Greek (often, in fact, they have nothing to do with the original ones), and, on the other hand, are the performance practices: different instrumentation, different singing style, often differences in melodic and rhythmic forms but also in the harmonies. Greek musicians adapt what they hear to their own condition, based on their own capabilities. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the network that is finally formed is extremely complex and does not only concern Greek-Italian relations. Discography as well as the 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”.

The song can also be found in the Hungarian-speaking repertoire. For example:
– "ТВОИ ГЛАЗА", АНДРАШ ВАРГА (Andras Varga), Moscow, 1958 (Artel "Gramplastmass" [GPT matrices] 29629 - 29629)
– "A szemed", Szabó Miklós, Hungary, 1959 (Qualiton M-3951 – OK-6626-a)

The song was also recorded by Kalmár Pál (see here) and by Vajda Károly (see here).

The song, however, can also be found in the Turkish-speaking repertoire. In 1938 Birsen Alan recorded in Istanbul the song "O Siyah Gözler" (Odeon 270216).

Research and text: George Evangelou, Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis