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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 "Tagko ton rodon".
It is an adaptation of the Italian song by Filippo Schreier and Aldo Bottero "Tango delle rose".
The musical score of the song was published in Italy in 1926 by the "Allione" publishing house.
It was recorded many times in historical discography, either as a song or as an instrumental cover, in several places and languages (English, French, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, etc.). For example:
- Daniele Serra, Milan, October 22, 1927 (Gramophone BD 4795 – 7-252581)
- "Tangoul Rozelor", Jean Moscopol, Romania, 1929 (HMV BW 2929 II – ΑΜ 2486)
- Hélène Cals, Berlin, 1930 (Odeon DA 1458 – A 164177 a)
- "Tango des roses", Nitta Jo, France, May 6, 1931, (Columbia L 2965 – DF 580)
- "Kochaj mnie", Adam Aston – Tadeusz Faliszewski, Warsaw, 1934 (Syrena 24046 – 24046)
- Leo Reisman Orchestra, New York, December 10, 1937 (Victor BS 017498 – 25744)
- Pancho and his Orchestra, New York, June 3, 1938 (Decca 63904 – 1982B)
- Nicholas Arthur Kreshpani, Tangoja e Trandafilëve, New York, November 16, 1938 (Victor BS 030132-1 - V-28014)
- "Tango Of Roses (Love Me)", Steve Lawrence, England, March 1953 (Parlophone K 8268 – R3654)
It was also sung by Corinna Mura and included in the American film "Casablanca" (1942), directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
The Greek musical score, with lyrics by Xenofontas Asteriadis, was published in Athens by the "Stefanos Gaitanos" publishing house, as well as in New York by the "Apollo Music Co" publishing house.
According to the data collected so far, the song has also been recorded in other occasions on Greek historical discography, among them by Antonis Delendas, Orestis Makris, Michalis Thomakos, the Bezos - Stipas’ Hawaiian (lap steel) guitars band and Tetos Dimitriadis - Anna Kriona (under the title "Xechase ta palia").
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 "Tagko ton rodon".
It is an adaptation of the Italian song by Filippo Schreier and Aldo Bottero "Tango delle rose".
The musical score of the song was published in Italy in 1926 by the "Allione" publishing house.
It was recorded many times in historical discography, either as a song or as an instrumental cover, in several places and languages (English, French, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, etc.). For example:
- Daniele Serra, Milan, October 22, 1927 (Gramophone BD 4795 – 7-252581)
- "Tangoul Rozelor", Jean Moscopol, Romania, 1929 (HMV BW 2929 II – ΑΜ 2486)
- Hélène Cals, Berlin, 1930 (Odeon DA 1458 – A 164177 a)
- "Tango des roses", Nitta Jo, France, May 6, 1931, (Columbia L 2965 – DF 580)
- "Kochaj mnie", Adam Aston – Tadeusz Faliszewski, Warsaw, 1934 (Syrena 24046 – 24046)
- Leo Reisman Orchestra, New York, December 10, 1937 (Victor BS 017498 – 25744)
- Pancho and his Orchestra, New York, June 3, 1938 (Decca 63904 – 1982B)
- Nicholas Arthur Kreshpani, Tangoja e Trandafilëve, New York, November 16, 1938 (Victor BS 030132-1 - V-28014)
- "Tango Of Roses (Love Me)", Steve Lawrence, England, March 1953 (Parlophone K 8268 – R3654)
It was also sung by Corinna Mura and included in the American film "Casablanca" (1942), directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
The Greek musical score, with lyrics by Xenofontas Asteriadis, was published in Athens by the "Stefanos Gaitanos" publishing house, as well as in New York by the "Apollo Music Co" publishing house.
According to the data collected so far, the song has also been recorded in other occasions on Greek historical discography, among them by Antonis Delendas, Orestis Makris, Michalis Thomakos, the Bezos - Stipas’ Hawaiian (lap steel) guitars band and Tetos Dimitriadis - Anna Kriona (under the title "Xechase ta palia").
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
