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 network in which the Greek-speaking urban popular song participates, constantly conversing with its co-tenants, is 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”.

We stumble upon wandering musical tunes in various places in Europe, Africa, Asia and America, where local musicians appropriate and reconstruct them. In addition to these, the mutual influences concern the performance practices, the instrumentation, the rhythm, the harmonization, the vocal placement and, in general, the habits that each musician carries in him/her. Repertoires are deterritorialized and mixed with others, which take on supralocal characteristics. Musicians are often on the move within multicultural empires, serving diverse repertoires and coming from heterogeneous ethno-cultural groups. This “convergence” of geographical coordinates is often accompanied by another one, the “convergence” of internal cultural “coordinates”. These are the fields of scholar and popular music, which have traditionally been treated not only as independent, but also as segmented. The popular and the scholar enter into a creative dialogue in a variety of ways, introducing in-between “places” depending on historical conditions.

The label of the record does not contain any information about the performers. The recording was performed by sound engineers Fred Gaisberg and Hugh Murtagh.

This is an instrumental chasapiko recorded in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1909 for Gramophone Concert Record. Both the harmonica and the guitar were eminently popular instruments among Greek-speakers in Constantinople (Istanbul). Nevertheless, we encounter the term “guitar” printed out on this label, something that is quite rare based on the findings so far.

Regarding the Greek-speaking repertoire, we come across this song under the titles:

- “Kassapiko”, Harmonica and guitar, Constantinople (Istanbul), March 20, 1909 (Gramophone 12577b - 18123), present recording
- “Nina”, Elliniki Estudiantina (Greek Estudiantina), Smyrna (Izmir), December 15, 1911 (Gramophone 2316y - 3-14704)
- “Nina”, [Giannis] Tsanakas and Leftheris [Menemenlis], Smyrna (Izmir), June 7, 1912 (Favorite 7049t - 1-59074)
- “I Nina”, Ka Koula, New York, 1919 (Constantinople Record 451-1 - 4009-A)
- “I Nina”, Marika Papagkika, Chicago, 1924 (Greek Record Company 591-1-2 - 519-B)
- “Nina”, K. Papagkikas (cimbalom) - P. Mamakos (clarinet) - M. Sifnios (cello), New York, July 1928 (Columbia W-205952-2 - 56125-F)
- “Ta tria chasapika”, Kostas Gkantinis (clarinet) and Orchestra, Giannis Giannaros (accordion), USA, around 1947 (Metropolitan C-V-164-B - 164-B). It is a instrumental potpourri in which the tune in question entitled "Gyftopoula" and from around 01':48'' can be heard.
- “Nina”, Titos Pandelis, New York, 1948–1949 (Standard 10-923 - F-9100-B)

During the 1940s, the musical score was published in Athens, on the cover of which Nikolaos Kokkinos appeared as the author.

This tune can be found on several occasions in the klezmer/Yiddish repertoire’s historical discography, that is, that of the Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe. It was first encountered in 1905–1906, both in song and instrumental versions:

- see Itzik Gottesman’s extremely interesting blog about the "An-sky Jewish Folklore Research Project”
- the song “Kleftico vlachiko”, by Orchestra Goldberg (Constantinople 1908, Odeon XC2051 - 54701), from Martin Schwartz’s collection "Klezmer Music, Early Yiddish Instrumental Music"
- the song “Aschre Ajin”, by S. Podzamcze [or Podzansze] (Lemberg, 1908, Gramophone 4715r - X-2-102860 & 562228 [1226] & Victor 67551-B), from the Florida Atlantic University Libraries’ collection “The Recorded Sound Archives”
- the website “Tous aux Balkans”

The recording by Paul Godwin (born as Pinchas Goldfein), a jewish polish from Sossnowitz, then Russian Empire today Poland, presents special interest. Godwin, who lived and acted in Berlin until the 1930s, recorded the orchestral fox-trot titled "Hallo, Rumänia" (Polydor 3017 BR II - 23521 - C 40186).

We should mention another particularly interesting recording made around 1953 in Buenos Aires by Orquesta Popular Israeli Feidman. This is the orchestral "Sirba - Danza Rumana" (RCA Victor 63-0134-A).

Moreover, the song can be found in the Romanian repertoire: “Colea in gradinizza”, recorded in New York, ca September 1916, by A. Mănescu (Columbia 44595 - E3154). According to our information, the song was recorded earlier in Constantinople (Istanbul) by Giagkos Psamatianos for Orfeon, using the Romanian title.

A sheet music of the song for voice and piano entitled "Colea'n grădiniţă" published in Bucharest by Z. Dimitrescu and dated 1920 can be found on the website of the National Library of Romania (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei).

The tune, however, is also known in the Serbian repertoire:

- "S Ulice U Baštice", recorded probably in Europe between 1911 and 1913 by Joca Mlinko-Mimika & Tamburitza Društ. "Lira" (Columbia 66771 - E-1209)

The song can also be found in the Croatian repertoire:

- "Jedna cura mala poljubac mi dala", recorded in Zagreb in August 1911 by Zvonko Strmac (Gramophone 187 ak - 212013)

It is also known in the Hungarian repertoire:

- "Marcsa induló", recorded around 1913 in Budapest by Aurél Göndör (Columbia 66666 - E1116)
- "A házaló", redorded around 1912 in Europe by Császári és Királyi VI. gyalogezred zenekara (Diadal 58517 - D 1122)

Moreover, it can be found in Polish discography, too:

- "Jojne Naprzód", recorded in August 1923 in New York by Władysław Ochrymowicz (Odeon USA S-71800 - 11128-A) and in Warsaw in 1932 by Bolesław Norski‑Nożyca (Syrena Electro 22969 - 3902)

But also in the Slovakian one:

- "Marina Polka", recorded in January 1930 in New York, by John Sitar and his orchestra (Columbia 111477 - 24132-F)

It seems that this tune is one of the most popular choices not only in the Greek-speaking urban folk-popular repertoire but also in others, something which highlights the cosmopolitanism and syncretism in which popular musicians lived and acted. Like other tunes, which eventually became what we would now call a “hit”, this one also puts emphasis on the interplay between the various repertoires which were discussants in a large geographical area. Thus arises an exciting network that includes repertoires from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean, which, on the one hand, came from three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian and the Russian. On the other hand, repertoires from Italy were also very active, but also repertoires from two large worlds that were constantly on the move: the gypsy and the Jewish (mainly Yiddish) one.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis