Schab, Alon. "Amateur Musicianship and Dance Tune Collecting c.1700, Bodleian, MS. Mus. c. 45." The Bodleian Library Record Volume 36, Issue 1-2 (Spring/Autumn, 2023): 126-140.

URL: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/epdf/10.3828/blr.2023.36.1-2.126 (Open Access)


Abstract:
Bodleian Library, MS. Mus. c. 45 is an intriguing, albeit elusive, manuscript that provides insights into amateur musical practices around 1700. Despite its confused and incomplete collation, as well as the corrupted and fragmentary musical text it transmits, MS. Mus. c. 45 offers a vivid portrayal of non-professionals’ habits of collecting dance and theatre tunes. While there is a relatively rich printed corpus of dance and theatre tunes, including classics like Playford’s The Dancing Master and Apollo’s Banquet, only a few manuscripts provide insights into the reception and use of such famous repositories – how these tunes were selected, how they were transcribed into personal manuscripts and how they were influenced by the collector’s musical abilities or, in some cases, lack thereof.