At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was living in peace and prosperity. The "Belle Époque" was an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that were created and which evolved funneled both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It was within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction was invented. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favored polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also releases in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolved dynamically and anisotropically formed 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 had already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between "national" repertoires. Within these networks, already existing tendencies and aesthetic currents are often created or integrated, especially during the period when the phenomenon of sound recording and reproduction takes on commercial, mass and universal dimensions. A typical example is exoticism, as manifested in its various representations.

It has been found in the European vocabulary since the end of the 16th century, although its widespread prevalence as a trend was associated with the colonial imperialism of the 19th century (Netto, 2015: 13). Since then, the term has incorporated various levels of reading and interpretating anything “Other”. Its meaning concerns, on the one hand, the characteristics of that which is outside the sphere of identity and, on the other hand, the attraction exerted by that which has such characteristics. The widespread acceptance of the phenomenon of exoticism is obvious: the multidimensional linguistic, musical and visual wealth accumulated around and within exoticism created a common stock of knowledge that perpetually feeds the collective and individual imaginary.

Focusing on the modern Greek communities, we find very early established traces of exoticism in poetry and literature, which are quickly transferred to the theater, enriched in terms of their visual and dramatic texture. The explosion of popular forms of spectacle and mass entertainment in the 20th century will radiate their reach. In Greece, among all artistic fields, the most persistent and most obvious presence of exoticism is found in singing. In the era of discography, the advance of exoticism is irresistible and leaves a very strong imprint. However much it seems to be defined by the principle of "locality", exoticism is a global aesthetic constant, a "common" language of the new age strongly marked by modernism and inscribed in a complex and lengthy process of osmosis among "national" musicians, which produces repertoires with "ecumenical" or global characteristics.

The locations represented in exoticism, that is, the East, Latin America, Spain, Hawaii, are par excellence imaginary, disconnected from the real world. They are revealed like a theatrical stage, with alternating scenes, where fantasies are dramatized, overwhelm the senses and release intense emotions, offering the "visitor" an ideal experience, outside the limitations of the conventional world: an eternal feast, pleasures, adventure.

Imaginary Spain is borderline medieval, a cultural amalgam of Gypsies, Christians, Moors and Jews. It constitutes the absolute exotic place where one meets almost all the characteristics of the East, the Latin world and the Gypsies. It constitutes the point of convergence but also the border of the above cultures, and is simultaneously an African, Islamic, gypsy and Latin and never a European country.

In Spain, there is a permanent spring and blooming landscape, often nocturnal, in which cities that are symbols of "Spanishness", such as Granada, Valencia and Seville, are usually placed. The popularity of Gioacchino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville probably played a role in its extensive use in exotic performances.

The Spanish are represented as a pre-modern and semi-exotic people motivated by honor, and an archaic way of life, different from the materialism and progress of the Western world. Their life is characterized by an unconventional freedom dominated by passion and nostalgia. The musical instruments in Spain, mostly guitars and castanets, are not played to accompany a feast, as is the case in the East, but to express amorous passion. The central character in the Spanish setting is Carmen, who embodies all the characteristics of the above descriptions. The appearance of one of the strongest national symbols of modern Spain, bullfighters, is also frequent.

On the musical level, one can find the typical characteristics of European musical exoticism, such as the use of the Phrygian mode. The use of the chordal progression that is usually called "Andalusian cadence" is also extensive: iv-III-♭II-I, which is undoubtedly one of the most common stereotypes of "Spanishness" in exoticism. A guitarist today can easily and quickly suggest "Spanish" music by playing the Andalusian cadence with a vigorous rhythmic pattern (Scott, 2003: 166).

The protagonist of the “Spanish” song, according to the label on the record, “Karmina”, is a common stereotype of exotic representation of a Spanish woman: She is a “brunette with black eyes” who is even described as a siren. The narrator even asks her to leave Seville and come to Athens.

Music-wise, the Spanish atmosphere is rendered with the Andalusian cadence which musically "invests" the first couplet of the song with the use of the castanets.

In addition to this cover by Michalis Thomakos, the song has been recorded once more by Antonis Delendas (Odeon GA-1715), around 1934.

The commercial musical score has also been published in which the song is characterized as a "canzonetta madritana" (see here).

Research and text: George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis