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 networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are 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”.

Giorgos Kokkonis (2017: 112), categorizing the Greek-speaking (a)manedes based on their particular rhythms, distinguishes two types: type A, which, as he mentions, "represents the purely à la turca version of the (a)manes, which usually appears in two predominant forms, A1 and A2, which differ in the presence or absence of rhythmic-harmonic accompaniment", and type B, which, as he points out (op. cit., p. 115): "...differs from type A in many aspects: the overall structure, the management of vocal melodic developments, as well as the selection and use of instruments, with the corresponding effects on the melodic compositions. The main change is the replacement of the taximi (improvisation) with melodic introductions and bridges, as well as the variation of the shift at the end (ballos, chora, waltz, polka, etc.). According to the patterns of the series that we come across in dimotiko (folk) music, the ballos often defines the entire melodic and rhythmic essence, to the point that the (a)manes is characterized as 'ballos'. The singer never sings a capella, but rather always with a rhythmic-harmonic accompaniment. In fact, harmony plays a decisive role as a second axis of development, which often guides the melody." [...]

Regarding the geographical distribution of the two types of the (a)manes, he states (op. cit., p. 121) the following: "Type B, which we described, is widely identified with Smyrna (Izmir), where it has been imprinted in many recordings, in contrast to type A, which is identified with Constantinople (Istanbul)." [...]
And he concludes by pointing out (op. cit., p. 123): "Ultimately, this type of (a)manes, which we named 'type B' and which is identified with Smyrna (Izmir), constitutes an in-between place between the à la turca and the à la franga versions. It is not just a random mutation: the multitude of recordings in the USA and in Athens, as well as its subsequent aesthetic autonomy in music itself, evidences a particular stylistic field, which we could characterize as à la greca, since its implementations concern exclusively the Greek-speaking repertoire."

One such case of (a)manes-ballos is this recording, "Smyrnaiikos balos", with Marika Papagkika as the singer. Of particular interest is the fact that the musical theme of the Neapolitan song "Tiritomba", performed by Nikos Relias on the clarinet, is integrated in the intermediate melodic bridge (from 1′ 33″ to 1′ 54″).

However, this musical theme can be found four more times in Greek historical discography. About twelve years earlier, in June-July 1910, G. Tsanakas recorded in Smyrna (Izmir) the (a)manes "Fa matzore" (Gramophone 1586y – 11-12165, reissue Victor 63544-A), in which the characteristic musical phrase of the Neapolitan song, performed by Dimitris Semsis on the violin, is included in the "shift" (from 2′ 40″), as the concluding part of the recording.

Nine years later than the aforementioned recording, in 1919, Ka [Mrs.] Koula (Kyriakoula Andonopoulou) recorded "Balos Smyrnis" (Panhellenion 4397 – 5005-Β) in New York. The theme is performed by the clarinet in the intermediate melodic bridge (from about 1′ 27″ to 1 ′52″).

The characteristic theme of the song "Tiritomba" can also be found in the recording "Smyrnaiikos balos" made by Marika Papagkika in 1923, in New York, for Columbia (Columbia 59805 – E-5277). In this version, the tune, played by Nikos Relias on the clarinet, can be heard both in the intermediate melodic bridge (from 1′ 51″ to 2′ 13″) as well as in the "shift" or the conclusion (from 4′ 33″ to the end).

Finally, in 1928 the Th. Pikoulas Trio recorded in Athens the instrumental piece "Balos" (Pathé 70.018 - X. 80057 and Columbia 70018 - DG 403), in which "Tiritomba"'s musical phrase is performed by the violin (from about 2′ 08″ to 2′ 30″).

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. When researching the historical material, it seems that one particular city in the Italian peninsula developed special relations with the large urban centers where Greek-speaking musicians played a leading role: it was Naples, with its famous Canzone Napoletana. "Fa matzore manes" belongs to a corpus of recorded songs in which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Neapolitan songs, adapting what they heard to their own condition, based on their own capabilities and needs.

Syncretism, which is observed in the musical actualizations of the areas where Greeks lived and recorded, mainly in the area of folk-popular traditions, is monumental. The relevant evidence demonstrates the diverse musical exchanges and elucidate an ecumene where everyone contributed to the great musical "melting-pot", and where everyone may draw from it, as well as to 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.

Research and text by: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis