Ever since antiquity, music transcription has been the intrinsic way of visual representation of sound, sometimes in detail and sometimes in the form of a guide. Throughout time, the visual capture of music has been the only way to store and preserve it over time, but also the exclusive means of reproducing it. In any case, visual transfer should be considered as an auxiliary tool, since oral dissemination and storage in the memory of artists have been the most timeless techniques for the diffusion of music through time and space. During Europe's so-called "classical" musical period, with its most powerful centers of production, such as today's Austria, Germany, France and Italy, and especially in its path towards Romanticism, music transcription, that is, the musical score, was considered by some composers as the very embodiment of their work.

Understandably, in the modern capitalist world, music transcription, as the primary tool for the substantialization of music, brought under its purview repertoires that were not connected, were not disseminated, and did not function on the basis of their transcription. This offered to the music product sales centers an additional tool to expand their action network: non-scholar musics acquired a convenient way of circulating them, enhancing their popularity, even in places very far from those of their original creation. At the end of the 19th century, however, the phenomenon of sound recording and reproduction rearranged relationships and disrupted the status quo of publishing houses, claiming a share of the market, offering a product that was extremely complete and immediate. The publishing houses tried to react with legal measures, but it became impossible to stop the dynamics of the new phenomenon: the prevalence of commercial discography was now a fact, for most of the 20th century.

As far as non-scholar music is concerned, commercial printed musical scores were publications of the musical texts of songs or instrumental pieces (for the publishing activity in Greece see Lerch-Kalavrytinos, 2003: 4-5). For the needs of musical scores, the songs were arranged mainly (but not only) for piano or for piano and voice, generally without complex performance requirements. Multi-instrumental or technically demanding orchestrations were systematically avoided. The lyrics were printed below the notes of the melodic development of the singing parts and, sometimes, their translations into other languages. For the most part, the musical scores were two or four pages long, and came with a themed front and back cover.

This ten-page commercial musical score contains a selection of songs and instrumental pieces included in Dimitrios Koromilas's theatrical play "O agapitikos tis voskopoulas", arranged for piano by Ange Pulher.

The monochrome cover features an image of a man dressed in a traditional fustanella playing a stringed musical instrument while seated on a rock. Behind him, a group of five women in folkloric costumes performs a semicircular dance against a stereotypical pastoral backdrop with trees and vegetation. The title is printed in Greek and French, "Potpourri sur les morceaux favoris de l'idylle Grecque" (A selection of favorite pieces from the Greek idyll), along with the arranger's name, the inscription "Enregistré au Ministère de l'Instruction Publique sous le No 228" (Registered with the Ministry of Public Instruction under No. 228), "Prix Firs: 3 net", and the publisher’s name. Each page of the musical score bears a round stamp that reads "Dim. I. Mertikas, pianist", referencing Dimitris Mertikas, a pianist from Izmir, whose collection includes this document.

This is a musical score with a system of two staffs for piano and song. The song's melody is written on the staff for the right hand of the piano, possibly for reasons of economy.

The musical score mainly comprises songs also found in Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray's collection "Trente mélodies populaires de Grèce et d'Orient", published in 1876 in Paris by Henry Lemoine et Cie. More specifically:

– On the third page, marked Moderato, the arrangement includes song no. 13 [incipit: Astrapsen i Anatoli] from the collection.
– On the fourth page, marked Meno mosso, there is an arrangement of song no. 11 [incipit: Pente chronia perpatousa] from the collection.
– Also on the fourth page, marked Mod^o. Lento, there is an arrangement of song no. 19 [incipit: Otan mou eipen eche 'geian] from the collection.
– On the fourth page, marked Allegretto mosso, there is an arrangement of song no. 22 [incipit: Ma ti to thel’ i mana sou] from the collection.
– On the sixth page, marked Andante, there is an arrangement of song no. 30, entitled "To filima", also known as "Mia voskopoula agapisa".
– On the seventh page, marked Meno mosso, there is an arrangement of song no. 17 [incipit: Anathema ton pou 'vale] from the collection.
– On pages 7-8, marked Andante, there is an arrangement of song no. 2 [incipit: Eis tou kosmou to taxidi] from the collection.
– On pages 8-9, marked Allro Moderato, there is an arrangement of song no. 23 [incipit: Potame, tzanem, potame mou] from the collection.

For more information on Koromilas' theatrical play "O agapitikos tis voskopoulas", its music, songs and recordings, refer to the sources provided here and here.