Musicians, publishers and pirates of the mid-Baroque

Abstract

The contexts surrounding music printing in the second half of the 17th century have recently come under increasing scrutiny: changing patterns of patronage and shifting regulatory frameworks for printing illuminate a general decline in the number of music publications appearing during the period. A study day held at the British Library on 29 June 2016 proved to be a successful forum for bringing together new research and for stimulating discussion among scholars with diverse specialisms, not least in showing similarities and differences between local practices, as well as highlighting the connections that spanned different regions of Europe. Stephen Rose (Royal Holloway) started the day with a brief overview, including findings from the Big Data History of Music project, a summary of which was also presented on a poster. The following five papers reached from central Germany at the end of the Thirty Years’ War, to England and the Dutch Republic in the first decade of the 18th century. These were complemented by an exhibition of contemporaneous printed music by, among others, Schütz, Lully, Purcell and Corelli, chosen by the speakers and curated by myself.