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 musical score contains the song "Aise", with music and lyrics by Theodoros Papadopoulos.

The monochrome cover is decorated with the figure of a half-naked (by the standards of the time) exotic Oriental woman, and the stereotypical architecture of the imaginary East, the minarets.

The song falls within the scope of exoticism, under the ethnocentric lens of which the Western world came into contact, among others, with othernesses such as the peoples of the East and its musical universe. The meaning of exoticism 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 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. 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.

The creator, the publisher and the designation "Tango romance orientale" are also mentioned on the cover, as well as the sale price (14 drachmas). It bears an advertising stamp of the “Andreadis – Nakas” publishing house.

This is a musical score with a system of three staffs (two for piano and one for voice). The designation "tango-romance-oriental" is repeated at the beginning of the text. The following is written at the end the first page of the music text: “Copyright 1938 for all countries by M. Gaetano, Athènes International copyright secured, All rights reserved”, “Printed in Greece. Tous droits d'exécution – reproduction – traduction – radiodiffusion – d'arrangements réservés Pour tous pays” and the code “Μ. 1588 Γ”.

There is a full-page advertisement of the “Gaitanos” music publishing house for harmonicas on the back cover.

In historical discography, two covers of the song can be found:
–  "Aise", with Alkis Pagonis and S. Polykratis (Odeon GO3055 – GA7120 and Parlophone GO3055 – B21965 1), recorded in 1938, Athens
–  "Aise", with Danai Stratigopoulou and Panos Visvardis (His Master’s Voice OGA755 – AO2472 and AO2475, Orthophonic S442-A, repress in the US under the title "Sklava Aise"), recorded in 1938, Athens

The name "Aise" (Aishe) was a popular choice from the creators. In addition to the above, it can also be found in the following recordings:
– "Aise" by Giorgos Karras, sung by Antonis Ntalgkas (Polydor 1205BF – V50973), recorded in 1929, Athens
– "Aise" by Theodoros Papadopoulos (different song from the musical score that is being described), sung by Tetos Dimitriadis (Victor BS021222 – 26-8345 and 26-8024-A, Orthophonic S-400-A [repress] and RCA Victor 43-8345 [repress on a 45 rpm record]), recorded on March 9, 1938, New York
– "Aise", by Vasilis Spiliopoulos, sung by Nitsa Papaioannou and Leonidas Alexiou (Symban SS/ST485 – SS14, 45 rpm record)

Research and text: George Evangelou and Nikos Ordoulidis