Music Sketches

The term 'music sketch' relates to the vast variety of documents that are used by composers to work out a musical technique or idea and to prepare their work for performance or publication. These documents can often provide crucial insights into authorship, biography, editorial practice and musical analysis. This introduction provides students and scholars with the knowledge and skills they need to embark on research projects involving the study of composers' working documents. Presenting examples of the compositional process over a 400-year period, it includes a selection of detailed case studies on how sketches were created and the techniques that were used, such as transcription and the sorting of loose leaves. Numerous illustrations of manuscripts and autographs, many of which have never been published before, show how these vital documents can be used to better understand compositional processes.

- Examines the issues, concepts and techniques involved in the study of composers' working documents from 1600 to the present, to show how compositional technique has evolved
- Includes examples and case studies from a wide range of composers and from a variety of cultural and linguistic contexts in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain
- Introduces and illustrates the key techniques that students and scholars need to be aware of when embarking on sketch studies.

CONTENIDO:

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Sketch studies past and present
3. Tracking down evidence of the creative process
4. The physical objects of the compositional process
5. Studying loose leaves
6. Sketchbooks
7. Transcription and facsimile reproduction
8. Sketches and the critical edition of music
9. Dangerous liaisons: the evolving relationship between sketch studies and analysis
10. Musical palimpsests

Appendix: Beethoven sketchbooks published between 1913 and 2013
Glossary