Hugo Strötbaum GOULASH, WIENER SCHNITZEL AND ŞİŞ KEBAP: PREMIER RECORD How it began One of the records in my predominantly Greek and Turkish 78rpm record collection which had always intrigued me was a Turkish Premier Record. It really stood out among the many other labels which I had come across over the years. A beautiful, colourful label, depicting a violin-playing village girl. In the background a thatched cottage and one of those draw-wells, which are so typical of the Hungarian countryside. [see Fig. 1] Fig 1: Premier Record 10978 by Karakaş Efendi Over the years I had come across only a handful of copies in other collections, so these Turkish Premier records had to be pretty rare. Even rarer is a Turkish Premier Record which I spotted years ago at the General Egyptian Book Organization in Cairo, Egypt. [see Fig. 2] 1 Fig 2: Premier Record 11066 by Agopos Efendi Instead of the ‘romantic’ colourful village girl label, we have a black label with a stylized image in gold of a theatre stage, with curtains at both sides, in Jugendstil fashion.1 Which obscure record company had produced these Turkish Premier Records? Fact finding At the time trade journals such as the Phonographische Zeitschrift and Die Sprechmaschine were still relatively unknown sources of information, no doubt due to the fact that only a few major institutions owned complete collections. But I knew about the existence of these periodicals as they were referred to in several publications. Besides, in the nineteen eighties a Dutch fellow-researcher had already ordered bound volumes of these hundred year old trade journals from the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin through the blessed system of Fernverleih2. So I followed in his steps and had the procedure repeated. Soon the Phonographische Zeitschrift and Die Sprechmaschine began to arrive in regular shipments and I started steadily working my way through the lot. I found a wealth of information on all aspects of the German music industry and made numerous photocopies. Among all those interesting items I also came across a number of references to Premier Record and Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar (Erste ungarische Schallplatten-Fabrik or First Hungarian Record Factory), the company which produced these records. 2 Company history The earliest mention of the Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar (Erste ungarische Schallplatten-Fabrik or First Hungarian Record Factory) I found dated from early 1908. The last from late 1912. Not a word about recordings made in Turkey though… The Magyar Hanglemezgyar Pete Csongor was officially founded on 20 March 1908 by Pete Csongor, resident of Budapest, record manufacturer and also the owner of the company. In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of late January or early February 1908 it was announced that recording engineer Max Winter (formerly with Lyrophon) had joined the Erste ungarische Schallplatten-Fabrik. A week later Lyrophon responded with a special announcement that Max Winter had left their service as per 1 January 1908 and that Lyrophonwerke Adolf Lieban & Co. was in no way involved in the founding of the Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar (First Hungarian Record Factory). In the summer of 1908 it is announced that another recording expert of Lyrophon, Karl Sandahl had also joined the new Hungarian company. In January 1909 the Phonographische Zeitschrift reported that recording expert Max Winter had left the First Hungarian Record Factory and joined the Polyphon Musikwerke Aktien-Gesellschaft in Leipzig3. In August 1908 the Erste ungarische Schallplatten-Fabrik in Budapest opened a branch in Vienna. This outlet, called ‘Premier-Record’, was led by Ludwig L. Leitner and held the ‘General-Repräsentans’ for Austria.4 In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of September 1908 we read that the new company – apart from its obvious activities in Austria and Hungaria - at the time still known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire - will be directing its attention towards the east, in particular to Russia and the Balkans. In other words to countries like Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and European Turkey. As general representative for Bulgaria, Serbia and European Turkey5 is chosen the firm of George S. Ghineff in Sofia. The Handelshaus A. Kustin in Warsaw acted as the general representative for Russia.6 Around the same time another trade journal, Die Sprechmaschine, published a peculiar story, which had first appeared in the Viennese newspaper Neuen freien Presse. It clearly showed that things did not always go smoothly at the First Hungarian Record Factory… The article, with the heading ‘Der verschwundene Herr Direktor’, related how a certain Karl Linner, the managing director of the First Hungarian Record Factory in Budapest, after having married a well-to-do lady, with the passage of time had begun to devote his passions more and more to a frivolous and no doubt costly lifestyle, rather than to the interests of the new company. And when Linner had spent his wife’s capital, he had begun to misappropriate company funds, allegedly to the tune of several thousand Kronen. After his desparate wife had committed suicide, the ‘Lustige Witwer’ (lusty widower) made off with her 17-year old sister. As rumour had it, with destination Berlin.7 3 On 19 May 1909 the Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar becomes an Aktien-Gesellschaft (limited liability company or joint stock company): the Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar Reszvénytársaság.8 Csongor Pete is on the Board of Directors as managing director. In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of late January 1910 detailed information is given about the man who finances it all, multimillionaire Csongor Pete. We read that he is the only private person in Europe who can afford having a workshop or machine shop and a record pressing plant as a personal hobby. Not unlike some rich tycoon who owns a racing stable or a private aeroplane. The author of the article also writes that around this time the company was considering a change in label design. He clearly has his objections and thinks the beautiful violin-playing village girl design cannot be improved upon and protests strongly against the proposed change. Why change a winning horse? It looks as if in the end this label change was postponed or even cancelled.9 Was the journalist of the Phonographische Zeitschrift perhaps referring to the – as far as I know obscure - black label version of Premier Record? [see Fig. 2] He was definitely not referring to the two different versions of the village-girl label: one with the legend ELSÖ MAGYAR HANGLEMEZ-GYAR round the top edge of the label, the other with PREMIER-RECORD round the edge. This distinction already existed long before the abovementioned label change was being considered. I suppose the Elsö Magyar Hanglemez-gyar label was used for the Hungarian market, whereas the Premier Record label was reserved for releases outside Hungary as a kind of export label with a logo which non-Hungarians could actually read and understand. According to an article in the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 5 May 1910 the Erste ungarische Schallplattenfabrik A.-G., Budapest is in financial difficulties as a result of millionaire Czongor Pete’s – until then the main financial backer of the Elsö Magyar Hanglemez-gyar – refusal to further invest money in the company. Suddenly the company faced a serious cash problem. Consequently the Erste ungarische Schallplattenfabrik A.-G., Budapest was sold at a ridiculously low price to three Budapest lawyers. In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 4 August 1910 it is announced that the Board of Directors has taken measures to guarantee a successful relaunch of the First Hungarian Record Factory. Although the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, plans of liquidation were rejected and a way was found to carry on the business. In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 11 August 1910 we read that Ludwig Leitner has given up ownership of the Vienna shop in the Mariahilfer Str. 76 (previously at Mariahilfer Str. 35) and that the Erste ungarische Schallplattenfabrik A.-G. has become the new owner.10 In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 16 September 1910 it is announced that the financial problems of the company have been overcome and that a fresh start will be made. In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 27 October 1910 it is reported that Emil Drucker, 4 director of the already existing Premier Record shop in Vienna, has opened a second shop: Grammophonhaus Musika, on the corner of Gumpendorferstrasse and Kasernenstrasse. In February 1911 the Harmonia-Aktiengesellschaft opened a modern spacious gramophone shop on the Vaczi-utcza 20 in Budapest, where all products of the Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar were being sold. Easy access and a high level of customer service were the main assets of the shop: here one could listen to any Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyar record or have its machines demonstrated. According to the report they were doing a great business.11 In an advertisement in the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 1 February 191212 the Erste ungarische Schallplattenfabrik A.G. announces the release of new recordings on both the Premier-Record and Spezial-Record label in as many as fifteen (predominantly central and eastern european) languages. Among these recordings Turkish and Armenian repertoire. [see Fig. 3] 5 Fig 3: First advertisement of Turkish and Armenian Premier Records in Phonographische Zeitschrift In that same advertisement we come across the latest novelty of the First Hungarian Record 6 Factory, the Autograffon. A kind of homerecorder which was able to both record and reproduce sound. Has anybody ever seen an Autograffon in real life? In the Phonographische Zeitschrift of 5 December 1912 it is announced the firm Premier Record Ludwig L. Leitner has gone into liquidation on account of Gewerbezurücklegung, in other words, a slump in sales.13 At this point my collection of photocopies from trade journals the Phonographische Zeitschrift and Die Sprechmaschine ends. There may have been more information on Premier Record in later issues. And then there was light… In 2009 I attended the Diskografentag at Hildesheim Germany. Until then this yearly conference - a three-day event organized by the Gesellschaft für Historische Tonträger (GHT) – had always been held in the south of Germany near the Swiss border. But in 2009 the organization had switched to a new location: Hildesheim, a city south of Hanover. At the conference I demonstrated the workings of my new website www.recordingpioneers.com and at the same time had the opportunity to meet a number of old acquaintances. Of course, it also led to a number of interesting new contacts. Thus I met two researchers from Hungary, Klára Bajnai and Géza Gábor Simon, who, as it turned out, both had published books on Hungarian discography. Klára Bajnai - together with her late husband Gyula Marton – had compiled a discography of the Premier-Record label, Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyár: Premier Record. Géza Gábor Simon had written a general history of the gramophone industry in Hungary entitled Magyar hanglemeztörténet. I realized these two books no doubt might contain detailed information on the activities and products of the Erste Ungarische Schallplatten-Fabrik and, although my knowledge of Hungarian was absolutely zero, I bought a copy of each. Back in Holland I asked Ferko Öry if he could translate certain relevant sections from Géza Gábor Simon’s book Magyar hanglemeztörténet into Dutch. Especially the chapter headed ‘1908-1920 – Az Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyár és a többi lemezlabel kölcsönviszonyai‘ looked very promising. I was not to be disappointed. Of course there were the familiar names of former Lyrophon recording engineers Max Winter and Carl Sandahl. I also came across another familiar name: that of Ivor R. Holmes. As it turned out Holmes had been involved in making recordings for the First Hungarian Record Factory in Hungary.14 I was also able to add two new names to the existing list of recording pioneers on my website: those of Antal Greiner and Hoffmann (first name unknown), who both worked for the First Hungarian Record Factory. In the January 1st, 1912 issue of the Hungarian music journal Zenekereskedelmi Közlöny we read: Terjeszkedés. Az Elsö Hanglemezgyár mindenáron dicsöséget akar szerezni a magyar 7 iparnak a külföldön. Most arról értesitenek bennünket, hogy a gyár legutóbb, Greiner Antal közremüködésével 120 török felvételt csinált, söt mi több: el is adott belölük 100.000 darab lemezt. According to my Hungarian dragoman it says that Antal Greiner has made 120 Turkish recordings for the First Hungarian Record Factory and that some 100.000 copies were pressed15. As we will see later, Antal Greiner made in fact 122 Turkish recordings. Having learned that Antal Greiner was the recording engineer, it can be safely assumed that the ‘G.’ in the wax of recording 10978 stands for ‘Greiner’. (see Fig. 4) Figuur 4: Detail of Premier Record 10978 showing Antal Greiner's initial At the time Géza Gábor Simon and Klára Bajnai had apparently never seen actual copies of these Turkish Premier Records. Not at all surprising, considering the fact that copies of these records are very far and few between.16 On page 33 of his book Magyar hanglemeztörténet Géza Gábor Simon comments: We have never traced any [Turkish] copies. Perhaps the enterprise never got beyond the planning phase. And in article entitled ‘Links between the First Hungarian Record Factory and the Lindström Co.’ on Klára Bajnai’s website www.gramophone-anno.eu we read: The largest number of copies is found in the Austrian, Romanian, Polish and Czech catalogues. Numerous recordings are also noted in the 1912 Turkish catalogue too, thus supporting the article about First Hungarian Record Factory’s plans for the new 8 year that was published in the January 1912 issue of the music journal Zenekereskedelmi Közlöny. According to the article Antal Greiner made 120 Turkish recordings that became an impressive 100 000 copies. It is interesting to note that to this day we have not come across one Turkish release on Premier Record in either private or public collections. Thus the question arises as to how accurately the adverts and the news appearing in newspapers and catalogues prove the actual number of records made and released. Did these simply remain among the publishers’ plans?17 Bingo! But the ultimate surprise awaited me on page 279 of Marton-Bajnai’s book, Elsö Magyar Hanglemezgyár: Premier Record. There was a picture of the front cover of a Turkish Premier Record catalogue from 1912! Here then was the missing piece I had been waiting for all along: the complete Turkish Premier Record output. Alas, on paper, not in shellac. At my request Mrs. Bajnai sent me scans of the 1912 Turkish Premier Record catalogue. In turn I sent her scans of the labels of the few Turkish Premier Records I had come across over the years. [see Fig. 5] Fig 5: Front and back cover of 1912 Turkish Premier Record catalogue 9 The seven-page catalogue contains a total of 122 titles. The majority of them are Turkish (114 titles). The remainder consists of 4 Armenian (Ermenice) titles, 2 Greek (Rumca) titles and, judging from the titles, probably 2 Judeo-Spanish or Sefardic or Ladino (here called Yahudice = Jewish) recordings. The side numbers form an uninterrupted sequence running from 10971 to 11092. On the right-hand pages is a list of titles and artists in ottoman Turkish (in 1912 still written with Arabic characters), preceded by catalogue numbers written with Arabic numerals. On the left-hand pages we find transliterations of the original Turkish text in a kind of unofficial westernized spelling, based on how these Turkish words would be spelled in French: ouzoun, gueunul, bakichin, tchavouche, kantossou, seuyle, Caracache.18 Nowadays the abovementioned words are written as: uzun, gönül, bakışın, çavuş, kantosu, söyle, Karakaş. [see Fig. 6] Fig 6: 1912 Turkish Premier Record catalogue (page 7) To see the complete 1912 Turkish Premier Record catalogue click here 10