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”.

In addition to the present recording, the song was released in two more covers in Greek historical discography:

– "Ergatis", by Kostas Roukounas, recorded in Athens in 1932 (Parlophone 101259 – B-21640-I and reissue Columbia USA 131094 – G-7067-F).
– "Ergatis timimenos", by Kostas Doussas (vocals-guitar), S. Parisis (accordion) and Eleni Mavritsa (castanets), recorded in Chicago on February 28, 1935 (Columbia USA 206634 – 56352-F).

The song, a few years after its record release, also entered the Sephardic repertoire under the title "Mansevo dobro" (O timios neos antras - The honest young man). The lyrics in Ladino, that is, the Spanish-Hebrew dialect of the Sephardic Jews, belong to Sadik i Gazoz (Sadik Gershon and Moshe Cazes) and come from the booklet Los kantes populares de Sadik I Gazoz. It is a collection of songs first published in 1935 in Thessaloniki by the Jewish satirical newspaper El Rayo.

Although no recording has so far been identified in the historical discography of Sephardi Jews, it is extremely interesting that Panagiotis Tounta's song in its Sephardic version experienced a second life, charting a path between 2003-2024 in modern discography under the title "Mansevo dobro", as well as under the titles "Sien dra(c)hmas" and "Siendra(c)hmas al dia", which derive from the first verse of the song (see here. Warmest thanks to Ellie Ganelin and to Joel Bresler for pointing out modern recordings). For example:

Starting from Jewish discography, in 2003 the singer and musicologist Hadass Pal-Yarden (see here) released the CD "Yahudice" (see here), which includes the song entitled "Mansevo Dobro". In 2017, the Jewish group Yamma Ensemble (see here) arranged it as "Sien drachmas" [CD "Basket full of stars" טנא( מלא כוכבים)].

In 2006, in Valencia, the Spaniards Efrén López and Mara Aranda, head of the multinational music group Aman Aman, recorded the song under the title "Sien drahmas al dia" for the CD "Música I Cants Sephardis D'Orient I Occident" (Galileo MC – GMC017).

Continuing with French discography, in 2009, the music group Maliétès released the CD "#2" (Collectif L'Assoce Pikante – PKT002), which includes the song entitled "Mansevo dobro". In 2018, the song was recorded under the title "Sien Drahmas" by the Greek-French singer Dafné Kritharas (CDr “Djoyas De Mar”, Orkhêstra International – cdr-80).

In 2012, in Budapest, the Hungarian singer Dina (Diána Samu-Pandzarisz) with Balázs Dong ó Szokolay (flute), András Dés (percussion) and David Lamm (guitar) recorded the song "Sien drahmas al dia" (CD "Durme, Durme", Rózsavölgyi És Társa – RÉTCD 075)

In 2017, the Spanish-Moroccan musical group Jezel, consisting of the Moroccan Iman Kandoussi (song) and the Spaniards Juan Manuel Rubio (santur, oud and zanfoña) and Álvaro Garrido (percussion) recorded "Imlali/ Mansevo Dobro/ Jala Man" (CD "Sefarad").

In 2020, the Serbian born Maria Keck (see here), together with the Slovenians Tomaž Pačnik (piano), Matjaž Mlakar (clarinet) and Kornél Mogyoró (percussion) recorded the song "Sien drachmas", within the framework of the "Ex auro" project (see here).

In 2021, the American band from Washington Machines on vacation recorded a cover of the song by Ethan Balis under the title "Sien drachmas" for the theatrical production "Secret things", which premiered on November 18, 2021 at the 1st stage of Tysons in North Virginia (see here).

In 2024, the tune also appeared in Italian discography. The Ars Antiqua World Jazz Ensemble and Roberto Manuzzi, a saxophonist and teacher at the Frescobaldi Conservatory in Ferrara, released the CD "L' amore è una fiamma", which included the song "Sien drahmas al dia" (Over Studio Records).

Its instrumental version was recorded in German discography in the same year, that is, 2024. More specifically, the German composer and pianist Max Doehlemann with Daniel Weltlinger (violin), Richard Müller (double bass) and Matan Goldstein (cajon) recorded the song "Mansevo dobro" ("Drehwurm").

Syncretism, which is observed in the musical actualizations of the areas where Greeks lived and recorded, mainly in the area of folk-popular traditions, is monumental. It only takes one to listen to historical discography, which begins in New York, Smyrna (Izmir), Constantinople (Istanbul), Athens and Thessaloniki since 1900. An essential part of this syncretism concerns the Jews, who constitute one of the main conduits in the uniquely diverse cultural heritage of the Greek-speaking world. They borrow and lend, but they also carry more distant traditions from the places where they have previously lived and the places they have traveled to. They are the central interlocutors in the Greek and Ottoman ecumene, together with Turkish-speaking Muslims, Orthodox but also Catholic Greek-speaking and Armenians, Levantine Protestants, Europeans and Americans, and compose a rich musical mosaic which consists of heterogeneous but co-existent palimpsests: a reservoir to which everyone contributes but from which also everyone receives.

The sources show the timeless existence of a Jewish element, at least since the Hellenistic period, in areas that millennia later formed the modern Greek state. After the “Edict of Milan” in 313 AD and the gradual Christianization of the Eastern Empire, the Jewish element found itself in a difficult position. The Jewish populations that have since been established in these lands became known as Romaniote Jews (or “Romaniotes”’ Rome – Romios). Their historical geographical center of reference was the city of Ioannina, and they speak Greek with various linguistic mixtures. After 1492 and the “Alhambra Decree” by the joint Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, those Jews who did not accept to embrace Christianity were expelled from the Iberian peninsula. They became known as the Sepharadi Jews (or “Sepharadim”), one of the largest Jewish ethno-cultural categorizations (Sepharad in Jewish texts is referred to as the region of present-day Spain). Thessaloniki was one of the main destination points of this displacement, as the ties with the city were older and already close. Apart from the role played by the Greek Jews in the musical developments on the Greek peninsula, there were also important mutual influences between the Greek-speaking Orthodox and the Jews in various other areas where the two communities lived together. As, for example, in Odessa, with the Eastern Ashkenazi Jews, who mainly speak Yiddish, a sui generis Semitic-Slavic language (in Jewish texts, the Kingdom of Ashkenaz, a descendant of Noah, is connected with north-eastern European territories). Their orchestral repertoire is often called klezmer. In other words, apart from the geographical limits of the modern Greek state, the cultural conversations between the Greek Orthodox and the Jews also concern other parts of the world, both in Europe and America, where they met as immigrants.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis