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. However, 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 present-day Austria, Germany, France and Italy, and especially along its path toward 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, 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 dominance of commercial discography became a defining reality throughout much 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 four-page commercial music score contains the song "Ti ein' afto pou to lene agapi" with music by Takis Morakis and lyrics by Ioannis Fermanoglou.

The monochrome cover features an artistic composition depicting a couple of a man and a woman, and the shape of a heart as a symbol of love. The title of the song is displayed alongside "Boy on a Dolphin", "From Sophia Loren's film 'The Boy and the Dolphin'", "Habanera-Bolero", "The sweetest song of Kaiti Ntenis on 'Columbia' and 'H.M.V' records"; the names of the creators and publisher are also mentioned. The monochrome back cover includes an advertisement from the publishing house promoting its musical score catalog.

The musical text consists of a system of three staves (two for piano and one for voices) and is accompanied by lyrics in Greek and French.

In Greek historical discography, the song was recorded in Athens in January 1956 by Kaiti Ntenis and the Takis Morakis Orchestra ("Ti ein' afto pou to lene agapi", His Master's Voice OGA 2373-1 – A.O. 5313 and on a 45 rpm record His Master's Voice 7XGA 113 – 7PG 2507), and the same year by Elsa Lambo and Takis Mouzas with Zak Iakovidis' orchestra ("Ti ein' afto pou to lene agapi", Odeon Go 5361 – G.A. 7018). It was also recorded in the United States by Eva Styl and a choir with orchestra under the direction of G. Vitalis in the late 1950s ("Ti einai afto pou to lene agapi", Liberty 249-A και Apollo S 6177 – SY-7).

The song was included in the 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin, the first American production filmed in Greece (watch the film here and information about the cast, plot and filming locations here and here). Hugo Friedhofer's score (see the soundtrack here) was nominated for a Best Original Score Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award in 1958. The song, which served as the main musical theme of the film, is sung in Greek by Sophia Loren and Tony Maroudas (see here), as well as in the opening credits, sung in English by Mary Kaye. The success of the film, with screenings in over thirty countries, boosted the popularity of the song, which was adapted and recorded numerous times in different languages and locations. Notably, the song’s various recordings coincide with the transition in the record industry from 78 rpm to 45 and 33 rpm formats, resulting in simultaneous releases across different formats. Examples include:

Italian repertoire:
– “S'Agapo - Ti Amo”, Gloria Christian – G. Conte E La Sua Orchestra, Italy, 1957 (Vis Radio V. 3752 – Vi 5930).
– “S' agapo”, Natalino Otto – Franco Mojoli E Il Suo Complesso, Milan, 1957 (Fonit SP. 0408 – SP. 30147-A).

Finnish repertoire:
– "Delfiinipoika", Seija Karpiomaa, Finland, 1957 (Scandia sc-435 – KS-287).
– "Delfiinipoika", Olavi Virta, Finland, 1958 (Triola 4334-2 – T 4334).

Swedish repertoire:
– “Pojke På Delfin“, Jens Mathisen, Sweden, 1957 (Triola TSEP 1041-1 – TSEP 1040).

U.S. repertoire:
– "The boy on a dolphin", Julie London – Orchestra conducted by Howard Roberts, US, February 1957 (Liberty 45-LB-664 – F55052, London Records LB674 – HL-1181, London American Recordings MSX. 1589 – HLU.8414, etc.).

United Kingdom repertoire:
– "The boy on a dolphin", Terry Burton – Wally Stott and his Orchestra and Chorus, United Kingdom, May 1957 (Philips AA 26271 2H – P.B. 687 - B26271H 7).

Chinese repertoire:
–"月光溪", Yao Lee (姚莉 辛夷词), Hong Kong, 1957 (百代唱片PA 10272 – 36176-A).

Japanese repertoire:
– "島の女" (Boy on a dolphin), Michiko Hamamura (浜村 美智子), Japnan, 1957 (百代唱片PN 6712 – A-5222).

French repertoire:
– “L'ombre sous la mer”, Renée Lebas – Wal-Berg et son orchestre, Paris, 1957 (Barclay 60074A).

Austrian repertoire:
– "Der knabe auf dem delphin", Lotty Rank – Orchester Teddy Windholz, Austria, 1957 (Harmony 3D W 6912/45 – 36418).

Paraguayan repertoire:
– "Sagapo-Sagapo", Luis Alberto del Parana y su trio "Los Paraguayos", 1958 (LP "Ambassadors of Romance", Philips P 08124 L).

Australian repertoire:
– "Boy on a dolphin (Tinafto)", Jill McInnes - The El Moroccans, Australia, 1959 (45rpm, El Morocco 7XFS 558-1 N112a – EM-1).

Spanish repertoire:
– "S'Agapo", Los Españoles, Madrid, 1959 (LP, Polydor 20 987 EPH).

Brazilian repertoire:
– “S'agapô (Boy on a dolphin)”, Ted Moreno, Brazil, 1959 (Continental c-4249 – 17765).

Mexican repertoire:
– "Tinafto", Trio Los Panchos, USA, 1961 (Columbia 1901-15 9211-A), sung in Italian.

Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favors polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also circulations in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolves dynamically and anisotropically, form a complex network of “centers” and “peripheries” in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. Over the years, and as the recording market becomes more complex, factories-branches are built on all continents. These offices are taken over by local actors who gradually draw up their own policies: they know their markets better. The ever-evolving recording industry proves to be centripetal: the decisions that are taken follow the policies centrally dictated by the managements of the companies and their subsidiaries. The network in which the Greek-speaking urban popular song participates, constantly conversing with its co-tenants, is magnificent. Both discography and the musical scores have already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between “national” repertoires. The result of this ongoing research is “Cosmopolitanism in Greek Historical Discography”.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis