At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was living in peace and prosperity. The "Belle Époque" was an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that were created and which evolved funneled both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It was within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction was invented. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favored polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also releases in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolved dynamically and anisotropically formed a complex network of "centers" and "peripheries" in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. The networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are magnificent. Discography had already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between "national" repertoires. Within these networks, already existing tendencies and aesthetic currents are often created or integrated, especially during the period when the phenomenon of sound recording and reproduction takes on commercial, mass and universal dimensions. A typical example is exoticism, as manifested in its various representations.

It has been found in the European vocabulary since the end of the 16th century, although its widespread prevalence as a trend was associated with the colonial imperialism of the 19th century (Netto, 2015: 13). Since then, the term has incorporated various levels of reading and interpretating anything “Other”. Its meaning concerns, on the one hand, the characteristics of that which is outside the sphere of identity and, on the other hand, the attraction exerted by that which has such characteristics. The widespread acceptance of the phenomenon of exoticism is obvious: the multidimensional linguistic, musical and visual wealth accumulated around and within exoticism created a common stock of knowledge that perpetually feeds the collective and individual imaginary.

Focusing on the modern Greek communities, we find very early established traces of exoticism in poetry and literature, which are quickly transferred to the theater, enriched in terms of their visual and dramatic texture. The explosion of popular forms of spectacle and mass entertainment in the 20th century will radiate their reach. In Greece, among all artistic fields, the most persistent and most obvious presence of exoticism is found in singing. In the era of discography, the advance of exoticism is irresistible and leaves a very strong imprint. However much it seems to be defined by the principle of "locality", exoticism is a global aesthetic constant, a "common" language of the new age strongly marked by modernism and inscribed in a complex and lengthy process of osmosis among "national" musicians, which produces repertoires with "ecumenical" or global characteristics.

The locations represented in exoticism, that is, the East, Latin America, Spain, Hawaii, are par excellence imaginary, disconnected from the real world. They are revealed like a theatrical stage, with alternating scenes, where fantasies are dramatized, overwhelm the senses and release intense emotions, offering the "visitor" an ideal experience, outside the limitations of the conventional world: an eternal feast, pleasures, adventure.

Gypsies are represented as permanently stateless and uprooted, as a primitive wandering otherness that transcends all kinds of borders. They do not belong where they wander and remain unassimilated by space and time. They exist on the fringes of civilization or on the fringes of society, outside of common experience and refusing to conform to established social norms. They are depicted within the West but not as Westerns, within the modernity but not as modern.

The vocabulary that describes the Gypsies recalls, first and foremost, the physical characteristics: black eyes and hair, which correspond to a model of wild exotic beauty. The tent, the temporary abode of the wandering nomads, marks the privacy of the amorous refuge within the potential immensity of the caravan’s trajectory. A key stereotype surrounding Gypsy culture is the concept of freedom, which is reflected in the nomadic lifestyle. This freedom gives rise to contradictory feelings, and does not prevent their marginalization. In poetry however, the beautiful gypsy girl remains the ultimate symbol of the dissolution of bonds and inhibitions that only love can cause. Her exotic beauty becomes a metonym for the practice of magic, which captivates the recipient. Gypsy girls can curse, bind with spells and herbs, or break tormenting spells. They can predict the future through card reading, palmistry and astrology.

The Gypsy woman who stars in this song is the narrator's love object. At the same time, orphanhood (“they call me the orphan Gypsy girl”), as in other similar cases, seems to provide a dramatic tone and cause to the wandering life of the Gypsy woman.

In Gramophone’s record catalogs, the song "I tsingana" by Giagkos Psamathianos (Zonophone 10758 – X-2-102666), recorded in Athens, in October 1908 (see here), can be found. Although the actual recording has not been found, it is probably the song in question.

Two editions of the commercial musical score of the song have also been published by the Z. Veloudios and Georgios Fexis musical publishing houses (see here and here respectively), which strengthens the possibility of the song having been popular.

Research and text: George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis