This book continues the overview of early pianos begun in Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 (OUP, 1993). Although a few of the biographies overlap, the majority of the makers are completely new. Approximately 2,400 makers and manufacturers and about 2,200 pianos are listed. Of this total, about 645 are English, the majority of whom were active in London; more than 200 of the London makers have not been discussed in previous publications.
This is the first book to combine museum-based conservation techniques with practical instructions on the maintenance, repair, adjustment, and tuning of virtually every type of historical musical instrument. As one of the world's leading conservators of musical instruments, Stewart Pollens gives practical advice on the handling, storage, display and use of historic musical instruments in museums and other settings, and provides technical information on such wide-ranging subjects as acoustics, cleaning, climate control, corrosion, disinfestation, conservation ethics, historic stringing practice, measurement and historic metrology, retouching, tuning historic temperaments, varnish and writing reports. There are informative essays on the conservation of each of the major musical instrument groups, the treatment of paper, textiles, wood and metal, as well as historic techniques of wood and metalworking as they apply to musical instrument making and repair. This is a practical guide that includes equations, formulas, tables and step-by-step instructions.
A.F.C. Kollmann (1756-1829) was born in Germany and moved to London in 1782, where he was organist and schoolmaster of His Majesty's German Chapel. He was one of the most profound music theorists of his time, and a pioneer in introducing Bach's music to England. His most extensive effort to inform the public about developments in the whole field of music was The Quarterly Musical Register--the first number of which is dated 1 January 1812. The journal folded after its second number. Only eight copies of the first number and six of the second appear to be extant. This book reproduces in facsimile both numbers, and presents new information about Kollmann's life and works.
The Great Irish Famine was one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters of the nineteenth century. In a period of only five years, Ireland lost approximately 25% of its population through a combination of death and emigration. How could such a tragedy have occurred at the heart of the vast, and resource-rich, British Empire? Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland explores this question by focusing on a particular, and lesser-known, aspect of the Famine: that being the extent to which people throughout the world mobilized to provide money, food and clothing to assist the starving Irish. This book considers how, helped by developments in transport and communications, newspapers throughout the world reported on the suffering in Ireland, prompting funds to be raised globally on an unprecedented scale. Donations came from as far away as Australia, China, India and South America and contributors emerged from across the various religious, ethnic, social and gender divides. Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland traces the story of this international aid effort and uses it to reveal previously unconsidered elements in the history of the Famine in Ireland.
The Battle for Control of the Brass and Instruments Business in the French Industrial Revolution narrates and analyzes the largest judicial battle in culture and industrial property in nineteenth century Europe, the echoes of which still ring today. The battle was about simple wind instruments made of brass and their related patents, not by opera - the musical genre that moved the most money and people at the time - or the revered and contentious high art. Music, in all its dimensions, had become a business. The nineteenth-century French industry of brasswinds shows how the strategic parameters of the Industrial Revolution and, essentially, the system that sustained them (capitalism), permeated everything. What lay behind those contentious disputes was the pursuit of commercial profit, and the consolidation of a dominant position that would yield the maximum possible economic return. The legal confrontation began when a group of French businessmen who built wind instruments saw their business and sources of financing threatened after being forced by the Army to use a series of musical instruments that were different to the usual ones and protected by patents for invention that belonged to Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Diago Ortega provides evidence of how political power was used by economic power, and presents arguments on how culture articulated the social machinery and was a powerful tool for legitimizing political positions.
This volume documents not only the academic and music curricula offered at a distinguished seminary, but the importance of piano study from a sociological viewpoint, music making in a gendered environment, and performance opportunities available for 19th century women.
This classic reference work, the best one-volume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and lucid, lively prose, the Fourth Edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music is the essential guide for musicians, students, and everyone who appreciates music. The Harvard Dictionary of Music has long been admired for its wide range as well as its reliability. This treasure trove includes entries on all the styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East; descriptions of instruments enriched by historical background; and articles that reflect today’s beat, including popular music, jazz, and rock. Throughout this Fourth Edition, existing articles have been fine-tuned and new entries added so that the dictionary fully reflects current music scholarship and recent developments in musical culture. Encyclopedia-length articles by notable experts alternate with short entries for quick reference, including definitions and identifications of works and instruments. More than 220 drawings and 250 musical examples enhance the text. This is an invaluable book that no music lover can afford to be without.
