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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”.
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. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the resulting network is extremely complex and contains recordings in countless places, languages and aesthetical frameworks. One such case is the song "Grapse mou".
It is an adaptation of the Italian song "Scrivimi" composed by Giovanni Raimondo and lyrics by Enrico Frati.
The musical score of the song was published in Milan in 1936 by the Edizioni musicali G. Raimondo publishing house.
The song was recorded several times in historical discography in different regions and languages (French, Greek, Russian, Polish). For example:
- Carlo Buti, Milan, September 26, 1935 (Columbia CB7111 – 14836F)
- Italo Corsi, Italy, 1935 (Columbia CBU 461 – G.Q.U. 190)
- Danielle Serra, Italy, 1936 (Disco Grammofono 0BA 1270 – HN 1114)
- Chciałbym znów miłość w twym sercu obudzić, Mieczysław Fogg, Poland (?), 1937 (Syrena Electro 28017 – 9846)
- "Ecris-moi", Tino Rossi, France, 1938 (Columbia CL 6696 – DF 2377)
- "Scrivimi (Piši Mi)", Andrija Konc, Croatia, 1938 (Edison Bell Electron 2477-77 a - Z 2227)
- "Если можешь - прости", Изабелла Юрьева (Isabella Yuryeva), Μόσχα 1940 (Ногинский завод [Noginsk Plant] Г 10518 - ГРК 501)
The Greek musical score, entitled "Grapse mou" with lyrics by Pοl Menestrel, was published in Athens, in 1937, by the Gaitanos publishing house.
In Greek historical discography, another recording of the song was found; it was made in Athens, in 1937, by Soula Karagiorgi (Odeon GO 2802 – GA 7059).
This record is a re-release in the USA from the Columbia’s (Greece) record DG 6333.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
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”.
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. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the resulting network is extremely complex and contains recordings in countless places, languages and aesthetical frameworks. One such case is the song "Grapse mou".
It is an adaptation of the Italian song "Scrivimi" composed by Giovanni Raimondo and lyrics by Enrico Frati.
The musical score of the song was published in Milan in 1936 by the Edizioni musicali G. Raimondo publishing house.
The song was recorded several times in historical discography in different regions and languages (French, Greek, Russian, Polish). For example:
- Carlo Buti, Milan, September 26, 1935 (Columbia CB7111 – 14836F)
- Italo Corsi, Italy, 1935 (Columbia CBU 461 – G.Q.U. 190)
- Danielle Serra, Italy, 1936 (Disco Grammofono 0BA 1270 – HN 1114)
- Chciałbym znów miłość w twym sercu obudzić, Mieczysław Fogg, Poland (?), 1937 (Syrena Electro 28017 – 9846)
- "Ecris-moi", Tino Rossi, France, 1938 (Columbia CL 6696 – DF 2377)
- "Scrivimi (Piši Mi)", Andrija Konc, Croatia, 1938 (Edison Bell Electron 2477-77 a - Z 2227)
- "Если можешь - прости", Изабелла Юрьева (Isabella Yuryeva), Μόσχα 1940 (Ногинский завод [Noginsk Plant] Г 10518 - ГРК 501)
The Greek musical score, entitled "Grapse mou" with lyrics by Pοl Menestrel, was published in Athens, in 1937, by the Gaitanos publishing house.
In Greek historical discography, another recording of the song was found; it was made in Athens, in 1937, by Soula Karagiorgi (Odeon GO 2802 – GA 7059).
This record is a re-release in the USA from the Columbia’s (Greece) record DG 6333.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
