Musical Authorship from Schütz to Bach

Explores the meanings of the term 'author' for seventeenth-century German musicians, examining how compositions were made and used.

Stephen Rose (Author)

9781108421072, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 May 2019

258 pages, 14 b/w illus. 2 tables 12 music examples
25.2 x 18 x 1.7 cm, 0.69 kg

'Throughout the book, the reader feels in very safe hands. Its contents are highly informative, refreshingly jargon-free, and beautifully produced. Rose's own assured authorial voice,his expert handling of original texts and their translation, his solid methodological principles and lucid writing style render his book nothing less than a model for the kind of historical work it presents. Its wealth of historical materials can serve as a stimulus, moreover, for future scholarly endeavours pursuing the numerous promising avenues of enquiry opened up here.' Bettina Varwig, Revue de musicologie

What did the term 'author' denote for Lutheran musicians in the generations between Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach? As part of the Musical Performance and Reception series, this book examines attitudes to authorship as revealed in the production, performance and reception of music in seventeenth-century German lands. Analysing a wide array of archival, musical, philosophical and theological texts, this study illuminates notions of creativity in the period and the ways in which individuality was projected and detected in printed and manuscript music. Its investigation of musical ownership and regulation shows how composers appealed to princely authority to protect their publications, and how town councils sought to control the compositional efforts of their church musicians. Interpreting authorship as a dialogue between authority and individuality, this book uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore changing attitudes to the self in the era between Schütz and Bach.

Introduction
1. God, talent, craft: concepts of musical creativity
2. Between imitatio and plagiarism
3. Signs of individuality
4. Rites of musical ownership
5. The regulation of novelty
6. Authorship and performance
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Printing & reprographic technology [TDPP], Music recording & reproduction [AVX], Sacred & religious music [AVGD], Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]