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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 "To tragoudi sou kithara".
It is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the Italian song "Chitarra romana", set to music by Eldo Di Lazzaro and lyrics by Eldo Di Lazzaro and Cherubini Bruno.
The musical score of the song was published in Milan in 1935 by the Melodi publishing house.
The first recording of the song was made by Carlo Buti in Italy in 1935 (Columbia CB 7062 – DQ 1611).
It was recorded many times in several languages (French, Spanish, English, Finnish, Polish, Albanian, Croatian) and in different formats. For example:
- Tito Leardi, Ιταλία, Ιούνιος 1935 (Disco Grammofono OBA 670 – HN 827)
- "Płyną dźwięki mej gitary", Stefan Witas, πιθανόν στη Βαρσοβία 1937 (Odeon Wo 2032 - O 2711316 b)
- "Pour tous chante ma guitare", Tino Rossi, Γαλλία, Οκτώβριος 1937 (Columbia CL 6320 – DF 2175)
- "Guitarra romana", Carmen Castillo – Xavier Cugat Waldorf – Astoria Orchestra, Νέα Υόρκη, 7 Οκτωβρίου 1938 (Victor BS-027269 – 26102)
- "Kënga e Qitharës", Nicholas Arthur Kreshpani, Νέα Υόρκη, 16 Νοεμβρίου 1938 (Victor BS 030133-1 - V-28014)
- "Chitarra romana, tango (Gitaro, druže moj)", Andrija Koncuz pratnju glasovira, Ζάγκρεμπ, 1945 (Edison Bell Electron Z2228 - 2480-80a)
- "Zakochana dziewczyna", Siostry Do Re Mi, Πολωνία 1946 (Gong 12020 - 402)
- "Guitarra Romana", Dino Dini, Βραζιλία 1952 (Sinter S-127 - 00-00061a)
- "Zakochana dziewczyna", Andrzej Jedrzejowski, Αυστραλία, 1953 (Melodia S 3594 – CS 3594)
- Lou Monte & Joe Reisman's Orchestra, Καναδάς (;), 1956 (RCA Victor G2PB 7618 – 20-6769)
- "Romanialainen kitara", Olavi Virta, Φινλανδία, 1956 (Triola T 4257)
The Greek musical score of the song was published in Athens by the "Gaitanos publishing house", with lyrics by Michalis Gaitanos and under the title "To tragoudi sou kithara".
According to the information collected so far, another recording of the song, which took place in Athens, in 1930, by Kostas Maniatakis (Odeon GO 2648 – GA 7007 – A 190878 a) has been found in Greek historical discography.
Repress in Turkey from Columbia’s (Greece) record DG 6277.
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 "To tragoudi sou kithara".
It is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the Italian song "Chitarra romana", set to music by Eldo Di Lazzaro and lyrics by Eldo Di Lazzaro and Cherubini Bruno.
The musical score of the song was published in Milan in 1935 by the Melodi publishing house.
The first recording of the song was made by Carlo Buti in Italy in 1935 (Columbia CB 7062 – DQ 1611).
It was recorded many times in several languages (French, Spanish, English, Finnish, Polish, Albanian, Croatian) and in different formats. For example:
- Tito Leardi, Ιταλία, Ιούνιος 1935 (Disco Grammofono OBA 670 – HN 827)
- "Płyną dźwięki mej gitary", Stefan Witas, πιθανόν στη Βαρσοβία 1937 (Odeon Wo 2032 - O 2711316 b)
- "Pour tous chante ma guitare", Tino Rossi, Γαλλία, Οκτώβριος 1937 (Columbia CL 6320 – DF 2175)
- "Guitarra romana", Carmen Castillo – Xavier Cugat Waldorf – Astoria Orchestra, Νέα Υόρκη, 7 Οκτωβρίου 1938 (Victor BS-027269 – 26102)
- "Kënga e Qitharës", Nicholas Arthur Kreshpani, Νέα Υόρκη, 16 Νοεμβρίου 1938 (Victor BS 030133-1 - V-28014)
- "Chitarra romana, tango (Gitaro, druže moj)", Andrija Koncuz pratnju glasovira, Ζάγκρεμπ, 1945 (Edison Bell Electron Z2228 - 2480-80a)
- "Zakochana dziewczyna", Siostry Do Re Mi, Πολωνία 1946 (Gong 12020 - 402)
- "Guitarra Romana", Dino Dini, Βραζιλία 1952 (Sinter S-127 - 00-00061a)
- "Zakochana dziewczyna", Andrzej Jedrzejowski, Αυστραλία, 1953 (Melodia S 3594 – CS 3594)
- Lou Monte & Joe Reisman's Orchestra, Καναδάς (;), 1956 (RCA Victor G2PB 7618 – 20-6769)
- "Romanialainen kitara", Olavi Virta, Φινλανδία, 1956 (Triola T 4257)
The Greek musical score of the song was published in Athens by the "Gaitanos publishing house", with lyrics by Michalis Gaitanos and under the title "To tragoudi sou kithara".
According to the information collected so far, another recording of the song, which took place in Athens, in 1930, by Kostas Maniatakis (Odeon GO 2648 – GA 7007 – A 190878 a) has been found in Greek historical discography.
Repress in Turkey from Columbia’s (Greece) record DG 6277.
Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis, George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis
© 2019 KOUNADIS ARCHIVE
