This book is a compendium of seven studies conducted over the last ten years, focusing on the folk music practice, whether in its primary manifestation or in the second life it experiences through scholarly approaches.

The first part focuses on the reception of folk musical traditions by learned composers. The research works of L. A. Bourgault-Ducoudray and G. Lampelet symbolically define a 60-year period during which attempts are made to document and harmonize folk melodies, against the backdrop of the issue of modality and its relation to the theory of ancient Greek music. The body of these recordings constitutes primarily the reservoir from which the "national" character material is drawn, which is incorporated into the compositions of contemporary Greek composers within and around the National School.

The second part addresses specific realizations of Greek folk musical traditions. Starting from the duality of alatourka/alafragka, it surveys musical expressions that transcend the boundaries between the West and the East, evoke the Balkan North, and highlight the "intermediate" places. Thus, it outlines the complexity of folk performance and challenges its static representation. In contrast, it juxtaposes the evolutionary dynamics of folk musicians, which lead to new forms of expression, such as the misunderstood neodimotiko.

The composition of the two parts aims to function contrastively, deepening the understanding of the broad dimensions of the field of modern Greek music.