Good impressions: The First Century of Music Printing and Publishing

13-15 juillet 2015, Salzburg

Call for Papers

Conference at the University of Salzburg, 13–15 July 2015

During the first century of music printing, printers attempted a number of different solutions to the challenge of printing notes on paper, using woodcut, type and other means in single and multiple impression processes. The same period witnessed a dramatic expansion of the book trade throughout Europe.

Over the past two years, Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, Grantley McDonald and Elisabeth Giselbrecht have been working on a project on music printing in German-speaking lands during the period 1501–1540, hosted at the University of Salzburg. The conclusion of the first stage of this project will be marked by the present conference.

Papers are invited which address issues of music printing and publishing in (or related to) German-speaking areas from the 1470s until the 1570s, dealing with issues such as:

Technical developments in music printing

the exchange and re-use of materials

simultaneous use of different techniques

the challenges inherent in the printing of particular kinds of music

The effect of printing on repertoire

how printers met the musical needs of particular groups, such as confraternities or humanist sodalities

the way the religious changes of the sixteenth century affected the printing of music

Printers and printing centres

the work of individual printers

the printing history of a specific city

Publishing music

how printers predicted, calculated, reacted to and created demand

printing privileges

the trade in printed music within Central Europe

 

Contributors are encouraged to use our preliminary online catalogue (https://www.vdm16.sbg.ac.at), which includes a variety of source types: theory books, liturgical books, broadsheets and pamphlets, tablature books, books of polyphony, humanist books (odes and dramas), hymn books and graphic works with legible musical notation. We are currently inspecting each edition registered in the database, and are happy to provide further information about individual editions on request.

Please send abstracts for consideration by 18 January 2015 to grantleyrobert.mcdonald@sbg.ac.at.

We look forward to seeing you in Salzburg!

Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl
Grantley McDonald
Elisabeth Giselbrecht