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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.
The representation of the East gives the composers the possibility to expand the musical language they use, using new timbres, melodic developments and rhythmic patterns. Of course, this is done in the way in which they themselves perceive a musical material that is not easily accessible to them, neither in breadth nor in depth. A key obstacle is the large gap that separates the mindset of the "musical syntaxes" of the Eastern cultures and the culturally hegemonic Central European example.
The main musical features of the representation of the East are rather standardized: the modal entity of Hitzaz, the use of modes such as the Phrygian and Dorian, and the use of vocal melismas and vocalizations. Regarding the instruments, the representation of the exotic is systematically undertaken by the English horn and the oboe and, at the same time, the percussion is reinforced with tambourines, triangles, cymbals, gongs, etc. Regarding the rhythm, rhythmic patterns are chosen that "presage" one of the most important musical characteristics of exoticism: the bolero, called "oriental", which will define exoticism in Greek discography in the post-war period.
At the center of the Eastern stage (which is always represented as Islamic) stands the palace, synonymous with pleasures and opulence, within which every imaginable intemperance is put into practice. Violent and despotic pashas, maharajas and sheikhs enjoy lavishness while indulging in proverbial laziness. The figure that dominates the ethnoscape of the East is certainly the female, an object of desire. Through a series of roles, almost exclusively leading ones, women embody the mysticism, eroticism and sensuality of the imaginary East. The ultimate symbol of lust, a trademark of the East, is none other than the harem (Lewis, 2004: 12-52). The slavery of the female body contributes decisively to the ethnoscape of the East, bringing the narrator face to face with transcendental acts of heroism. In the East, calendar time is polarized, with the atmosphere almost always described as nocturnal. Darkness is a powerful symbol of escalating emotional tension, as it is synonymous with a metaphysical fog. The desert is an ideal oriental setting, an alternative to the palace. In contrast to the crowd that dwells there, igniting emotions and stirring passions, the static and still world of the desert stands as the refuge or the place of exile of the disillusioned outcast. Far from civilization, outside the time-space stream, strange and dangerous, the desert presents itself as a land of adventure, where daring camel drivers confront their passions.
The song "Konta ston Neilo” (Near the Nile) is one of the most characteristic examples of exoticism in pre-war discography. Its creators compose the atmosphere of the imaginary East using some of the most common structural components of exoticism: the Phrygian mode, on the melodic level, and wind instruments, such as the oboe and the clarinet, in the orchestration. As far as the lyrics are concerned, the East is the “land of fairy tales” and is dominated by the love element.
The Nile offers Itself as an Ideal landscape for exotic representations, with Its first mentions being found in the operatic repertoire: the third act of the opera “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi (premiered on 24/12/1871 at the Khedivial Opera House, in Cairo) takes place on the banks of the river, near the temple of Isis (in the archives of the Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome, the set of said act from the 1941-1942 season is exhibited).
This record is a re-issue in the USA of the one recorded in Athens between January and June 1939 (Columbia DG6442). The label of the original record reads "anatolitiko" (oriental).
In the commercial musical score, the song is entitled Fericha (Feriha) "Konta sto Neilo" and is accompanied by the designation "tango-oriental".
In the world of Greek musical theater, the operetta "Neraida tou Neilou" (Fairy of the Nile), set to music by Iosif Ritsiardis, can be found. Its original title was "Chasis" (Hashish). In the column "Theatrikes pennies" (theatrical writings) of the newspaper Esperini (August 26, 1934, p. 3), the following reference can be found: "We shall admit that 'Chasis', that is currently being performed at the Kotopouli theater by the Olympia - Patrikios - Kofiniotis elite troupe, is the most spectacular operetta - revue ever performed in Athens. The melancholic East, with one thousand and one nights of Halima, parades in a sequence that leaves the crowded audience ecstatic. The theater’ box office can have golden dreams from now on."
Other references to the Nile in Greek discography can be found in the following recordings:
– “Agapi sto Neilo”, New York, August 5, 1941 (RCA Victor BS065093 – 28-8164-A and Orthophonic S561-A).
– “Champimpa”, Athens, August-November 1951 (Columbia CG2852 – DG6939).
– “Talilinompa” (cover of the song Champimpa, released under a different title), USA, 1954 (Nina T84-2 – 614).
– “Feyza”. The recording has not been found, only the commercial musical score of the song (Mertikas Family Archive, Laboratory for the Digital and Printed Documentation of Greek Music [EPSETEM] of the Department of Music Studies, University of Ioannina).
Research and text: George Evangelou, Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
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.
The representation of the East gives the composers the possibility to expand the musical language they use, using new timbres, melodic developments and rhythmic patterns. Of course, this is done in the way in which they themselves perceive a musical material that is not easily accessible to them, neither in breadth nor in depth. A key obstacle is the large gap that separates the mindset of the "musical syntaxes" of the Eastern cultures and the culturally hegemonic Central European example.
The main musical features of the representation of the East are rather standardized: the modal entity of Hitzaz, the use of modes such as the Phrygian and Dorian, and the use of vocal melismas and vocalizations. Regarding the instruments, the representation of the exotic is systematically undertaken by the English horn and the oboe and, at the same time, the percussion is reinforced with tambourines, triangles, cymbals, gongs, etc. Regarding the rhythm, rhythmic patterns are chosen that "presage" one of the most important musical characteristics of exoticism: the bolero, called "oriental", which will define exoticism in Greek discography in the post-war period.
At the center of the Eastern stage (which is always represented as Islamic) stands the palace, synonymous with pleasures and opulence, within which every imaginable intemperance is put into practice. Violent and despotic pashas, maharajas and sheikhs enjoy lavishness while indulging in proverbial laziness. The figure that dominates the ethnoscape of the East is certainly the female, an object of desire. Through a series of roles, almost exclusively leading ones, women embody the mysticism, eroticism and sensuality of the imaginary East. The ultimate symbol of lust, a trademark of the East, is none other than the harem (Lewis, 2004: 12-52). The slavery of the female body contributes decisively to the ethnoscape of the East, bringing the narrator face to face with transcendental acts of heroism. In the East, calendar time is polarized, with the atmosphere almost always described as nocturnal. Darkness is a powerful symbol of escalating emotional tension, as it is synonymous with a metaphysical fog. The desert is an ideal oriental setting, an alternative to the palace. In contrast to the crowd that dwells there, igniting emotions and stirring passions, the static and still world of the desert stands as the refuge or the place of exile of the disillusioned outcast. Far from civilization, outside the time-space stream, strange and dangerous, the desert presents itself as a land of adventure, where daring camel drivers confront their passions.
The song "Konta ston Neilo” (Near the Nile) is one of the most characteristic examples of exoticism in pre-war discography. Its creators compose the atmosphere of the imaginary East using some of the most common structural components of exoticism: the Phrygian mode, on the melodic level, and wind instruments, such as the oboe and the clarinet, in the orchestration. As far as the lyrics are concerned, the East is the “land of fairy tales” and is dominated by the love element.
The Nile offers Itself as an Ideal landscape for exotic representations, with Its first mentions being found in the operatic repertoire: the third act of the opera “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi (premiered on 24/12/1871 at the Khedivial Opera House, in Cairo) takes place on the banks of the river, near the temple of Isis (in the archives of the Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome, the set of said act from the 1941-1942 season is exhibited).
This record is a re-issue in the USA of the one recorded in Athens between January and June 1939 (Columbia DG6442). The label of the original record reads "anatolitiko" (oriental).
In the commercial musical score, the song is entitled Fericha (Feriha) "Konta sto Neilo" and is accompanied by the designation "tango-oriental".
In the world of Greek musical theater, the operetta "Neraida tou Neilou" (Fairy of the Nile), set to music by Iosif Ritsiardis, can be found. Its original title was "Chasis" (Hashish). In the column "Theatrikes pennies" (theatrical writings) of the newspaper Esperini (August 26, 1934, p. 3), the following reference can be found: "We shall admit that 'Chasis', that is currently being performed at the Kotopouli theater by the Olympia - Patrikios - Kofiniotis elite troupe, is the most spectacular operetta - revue ever performed in Athens. The melancholic East, with one thousand and one nights of Halima, parades in a sequence that leaves the crowded audience ecstatic. The theater’ box office can have golden dreams from now on."
Other references to the Nile in Greek discography can be found in the following recordings:
– “Agapi sto Neilo”, New York, August 5, 1941 (RCA Victor BS065093 – 28-8164-A and Orthophonic S561-A).
– “Champimpa”, Athens, August-November 1951 (Columbia CG2852 – DG6939).
– “Talilinompa” (cover of the song Champimpa, released under a different title), USA, 1954 (Nina T84-2 – 614).
– “Feyza”. The recording has not been found, only the commercial musical score of the song (Mertikas Family Archive, Laboratory for the Digital and Printed Documentation of Greek Music [EPSETEM] of the Department of Music Studies, University of Ioannina).
Research and text: George Evangelou, Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
