If you've seen the movie, Pulp Fiction, you've heard the tune for Miserlou. It occurred to me that this is an example of extraordinary cross-cultural dissemination, having likely originated in Turkey, moving to Greece, acquiring words there, then moving all over Europe, then to the English speaking world. The name refers to a Turkish Muslim girl, yet there are even klezmer versions! Can anyone think of any other song that has spread across so many cultures?
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
So...I looked online for the question. I didn't find much (likely because of what I put into Google), but I did find this nice link showing lots of songs with countries in the title.
This part of the wiki entry on the Miserlou may explain why its popularity raced through the cultures of Asia Minor: "In the realm of Middle Eastern music, the song is a very simplistic one, since it is little more than going up and down the Hijaz Kar or double harmonic scale (E-F-G#-A-B-C-D#)."
Hijaz Kar is part of the 'Arab maqam' world of music, & occurs commonly in Jewish, Greek, Turkish, Arab, and Flamenco music. Its roots are so ancient it is known in music as the Phrygian scale! (According to Herodotus the Phrygians originated in southern Balkans before migrating to Anatolia-- in about 1200BC!)
On the other hand. Maybe the reason the song (composed in 1927) traveled so quickly was: RADIO!
As a musician I loved this question & will continue to ponder it. & yup, I have sent my $5 to wiki.
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
Thanks, bethree5! WRT Flamenco, it seems to be that all of classical Spanish music is influenced by the Arabic musical form. Not being a musician, I don't know if I'm right - I just know I like it!
How about some of the Arab-inspired Western music of the Romantic era, such as Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," or Borodin's "Prince Igor?" I don't hear anything but Western tonal scales there, but maybe it's because I don't know what to listen for?
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
The WW2 song Lili Marlene was very popular. The original version was in German, and the song was soon translated and covered in English. There were several translations into other languages as well. It's rather heartening that both sides in the war liked the same thing.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
