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”.

This recording includes a song that was first recorded on wax cylinders by the Frenchman Hubert Pernot (see here) in the context of the scientific expeditions he carried out in the summers of 1898 and 1899 in the island of Chios.

About four years later, in 1903, in Paris, Ernest Leroux would publish the collection "Mélodies populaires grecques de l'île de Chio" (see here), which included 114 melodies (tunes and songs) from the recordings in Chios. The registration of the music on a staff was made by the French composer Paul Le Flem, the recording of the Greek lyrics and the supervision of the edition was done by Hubert Pernot, while the translation of the lyrics into French was undertaken by the Greek-born French musicologist and music critic Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi. In the publication, the song "Kato sto gialo" is included on pages 172-173 and is numbered 44. It is accompanied by a reference to the place of recording, Màrmaro, and the note "This song is very well known in Greece. The lyrics can be found in most anthologies" ("Cette chanson est trés connue en Gréce. On en trouve les paroles dans la plupart des anthologies"). Sung by the son of Ch. Mavris, 20 years old." ("Chanté par le fils de C. Màvris, 20 ans.").

It should be noted that in the summer of 2022, 37 boxes containing the wax cylinders containing Pernot's recordings, which were thought to be lost, were discovered at the Musée d'ethnographie de Genève (Geneva Ethnography Museum). For more information, see here the article by Christophe Corbier, a researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Institute for Research in Musicology (IReMus) in Paris, and a member of the six-strong French team, Greek and Swiss researchers who have undertaken the task of studying the cylinders and their transmission to the general public, as well as here the announcement of the discovery of the recordings made in Chios by three members of the team, Dimitris Gianniodis, anthropologist, Christophe Corbier (see above) and Giorgos Kokkonis, musicologist - associate professor at the Department of Music Studies at the University of Ioannina.

As far as Greek historical discography is concerned, the song, as is evident from the number of recordings, has been popular in the Greek-speaking repertoire:

– "Kato sto gialo", Greek Artillery Band, New York, April 2, 1915 (Columbia USA 45527 – E 2895).
– "Kato sto gialo", Mrs. Koula, New York, 1919 (Panhellenion 5011-B).
– "I Chiotissa (Kato sto gialo)", Ladies' Choir of the Hellenic Conservatory – Folk-like Orchestra, Athens, February 13, 1922 (His Master's Voice BS 133-1 – AO 57).
– "Kato sto gialo", Takis Nikolaou [Tetos Dimitriadis], New York, June 1927 (Columbia USA W 205630 – 56072-F and Columbia UK 205630 – 11620), this recording.
– "Kato sto gialo", P. Doukakis, Athens, June 1928 (His Master's Voice BF-1801 – AO 274).
– "Kato sto gialo", Giorgos Vidalis, Athens, 1928 (Odeon Go 471 – GA 1230/A 190067 a).
– "Kato sto gialo", Vangelis Sofroniou, Athens, 1930 (Polydor V-51081).
– "Kato sto gialo", Kostas Gkantinis (clarinet), Giannis Giannaros (accordion), Thanasis Zervas (violin), New York, 1948 (Kaliphon D-765-B).
– "Kato sto gialo", Stella Gkreka, USA, 1950 (Liberty 107 and Attikon Att-138 – 441-A).

The musical score of the song, entitled "I Chiotissa", is included in the collection "Arion. I mousiki ton Ellinon os diesothi apo ton archaiotaton chronon mechri tis simeron" (Arion. The music of the Greeks as preserved from ancient times to the present day) by Adamantios Remantas and Prokopios D. Zacharias, which was published in 1917 by "Typois Epam. Zagkouroglou" (see here). It was included under the title "Kato sto gialo" in the collection "Dimotika tragoudia" (Dimotiko songs) collected and transcribed by Giorgos Theofilopoulos (see here). It was also published by the Georgios Fexis publishing house under the title "Kato sto gialo", transcribed by Nikolaos Kokkinos (see here).

Lyrics for the song "Asma Ten-tze-ren (Sidirodromou)" from the revue "Kinimatografos 1908" (text by Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos and music by Nikolaos Kokkinos) were adapted to the melody of the song (Chatzipantazis - Maraka, 1977, 2: 196-199). The revue premiered on June 24, 1908 at the Syntagma Theater by the Nika troupe starring Rozalia Nika, Dim. Chrysomallis, Mich. Iakovidis, Giannis Papaioannou and others.

The song was a source of inspiration for scholar Greek composers. Specifically, Nikos Skalkottas (Chalkida, March 21, 1904 – Athens, September 19, 1949) draws musical material for “Chiotikos (Kato sto gialo konti)”, no. 7 of the third of the three series of twelve dances that make up the emblematic “36 Ellinikoi choroi” (36 Greek Dances) for orchestra. The first recording of the entire cycle of the "36 Greek Dances" as a single work, which Skalkkotas began composing in 1931 in Berlin and completed in 1936 in Athens, was made in Sverdlovsk, Russia, in 1990, 54 years after their composition, by the Ural State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vyronas Fidetzis (2CDs, "36 Ellinikoi Choroi", Lyra 0053-53). Handwritten musical scores of the work are uploaded to the Great Music Library of Greece "Lilian Voudouri", where the Nikos Skalkottas archive (see here) is kept (see here). For more information regarding the "36 Greek Dances" by Nikos Skalkottas, see here).

The recording of the song entitled "By the sea - Katou Sto Yalo" (Asch Recordings 238 – UN-201-B) is of particular interest. It was recorded in Greek in the early 1940s by Wallace House (1900-1983), actor, singer and professor of Dramatic Arts at New York University in New York. Wallace House (see here) was born on the British government-protected island of Guernsey, the second largest island in the English Channel. As one can read on the Smithsonian Institution website (see here), he moved with his family to Canada when he was nine years old. Growing up, he learned many English popular songs from his parents and their friends. As an adult, he traveled throughout England, recording songs and learning the various English dialects spoken in different parts of the country. His linguistic ability enabled him to perform local versions of folk songs with authenticity in the appropriate dialect.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis