Böcker i Elements in Music and Musicians 1750-1850-serien

Whereas Dr Burney's writings are often mentioned in studies on eighteenth-century music, not much interest seems to have been given specifically to his relation to the organ, which played an important part in his professional career as a practising musician. No better introduction to the aesthetic ethos of the eighteenth-century English organ can be found than in Burney's remarks disseminated in his various writings. Taken together, they construct a coherent discourse on taste and constitute an aesthetic. Burney's view of the organ is indicative of a broader ethos of moderation that permeates his whole work, and is at one with the dominant moral philosophy of Georgian England. This conception is ripe with patriotic undertones, while it also articulates a constant plea for politeness as a condition for harmonious social interaction. He believed that moderation, simplicity, and fancy were the constituents of good taste as well as good manners.

The music of Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederic Handel and Domenico Scarlatti received more performances, publications and appreciation in Britain between 1750-1850 than in any other country during this era. The compositions of these three seminal baroque composers were heard in the numerous public and private concerts that proliferated at this time; edited, arranged and published for professionals and amateurs; written about by scholars and journalists; and used as teaching pieces and in pedagogical treatises. This Element examines the reception of their music during this dynamic period in British musical history, and places the discussion within the context of the artistic, cultural, economic, and political factors that stimulated such passionate interest in 'ancient music.' It also offers a vivid picture of the aesthetic concerns of those musicians and audiences involved with this repertoire, providing insights that help us better understand our own encounters with music of the past.

Drawing on his experiences in Berlin under Schleiermacher and his travels to the Vatican, Mendelssohn, as the Director of Prussian Church Music, wanted to offer an edifying worship experience where large-scale choral works would become an indispensable part of the liturgy, which he saw as a performative or representational act, centered around the life of Christ. Yet he quickly realized that the court and clergy were not interested in his foundational concepts; they merely wanted reforms based on the restauration ideals espoused by Winterfeld and Thibaut. Analyses of his 25 Domchor compositions and their revisions in this Element chronicle Mendelssohn's stylistic development and his ability to continue to offer a Christological worship experience within strictly prescribed parameters. The Berlin Domchor and its new repertoire by Mendelssohn and contemporaneous composers quickly became the model for the emerging a cappella movement throughout Protestant Germany.