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”.

Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics.

This recording includes an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the tango "Julián", with music by the Argentinian composer, violinist and leader Edgardo Donato (Buenos Aires, April 14, 1897 - February 15, 1963) and lyrics by the Uruguayan José Louis Panizza (Uruguay, September 22, 1890 – January 23, 1927).

The instrumental or song version of the tango "Julián" can be found in historical discographies of several countries. For example:

– "Julián", Orquesta Típica Fresedo, Buenos Aires, December 14, 1923 (Victor BA-477 – 77446-A)
– "Julián", Rosita Quiroga, Buenos Aires, 1924 (Victor BA-518 – 79502-A)
– "Julián", Pedro Laurenz – Pedro Maffia, Buenos Aires, June 25, 1925 (Brunswick ΒΑ-621 – 79566-Α)
– "Julián", Jazz Band sul Americano Romeu Silva, Rio de Janeiro, 1925 (Odeon R 122837)
– "Julián", Juan Pulido, New York, 1925 (Columbia 93982 – 2274-X)
– "Julián", Varaldi Tango Band, London, October 26, 1925 (His Master's Voice Bb 6872-2 – B2135)
– "Julián", Marek Weber and his Adlon Orchestra, Berlin, 1926 (Brunswick 233bf – 57000-B)
– "Julian", Orchestra "Blue Star" del Cova, Milan, 1926 (La Fonotecnica A. 2087)
– "Julián", Victor Silvester's String for Dancing, United Kingdom, 1947 (Columbia CA 18890 – FB-3076)
– "Julián", Edgardo Donato e sua Orquesta Típica, Buenos Aires, 1950 (Pampa MAI 130 – 20.011-B)

Research and text: George Evangelou, Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis