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Music

Tips, techniques & resources to help with your research papers, projects, artistic and performance study and practice.

Counterpoint

This guide will help students in MUS_THRY 4224W/7224, as well as others interested in locating early music manuscripts and researching or making transcriptions.

Transcribing a composition from the Renaissance or Baroque periods into modern notation


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Finding music manuscripts and scores

For your project, you need to find a composition from the Renaissance or Baroque period that either is not written in modern notation or not realized accurately. A large portion of the transcriptions of early music held in Ellis Library are of high quality, so it may be easier to find a manuscript, rather than a transcription done in modern notation but with errors. Manuscripts are usually digitized images of the original scores. These are also sometimes called facsimiles.

Searching in Discover@MU
Strategies to try
  • Choose the period you want to target (e.g. 17th century, or Baroque)
  • Use Subject Terms to focus your search.
    • For example: Music -- 17th century, or Music – 16th century
    • Combine this term with the subject term manuscripts
  • Under Refine Results menu, filter by format for Music Scores

click/tap the screenshots to see the search results in Discover@MU:

A screenshot of Discover@MU search with 17th century music subject heading and manuscript as keyword

You can try expanding your search a little by toggling to TX All Text for the search term manuscripts. Some of these scores may, however, include high-quality modern transcriptions of the compositions alongside images of the original manuscripts.

DiscoverMU search with Music - 17th century and manuscripts text search

  • Remember to limit by Format - musical scores.
  • If you find a score located at UMKC Music/Media Library Scores, use Place Request to have it delivered for pickup at Ellis.
  • You will not find a lot of music manuscripts to choose from, but among the results should be options for your project.

When using a descriptive term for the period or style, such as Baroque, don’t select Subject Term from the menu.

  • First, don’t select a field option. If you get many irrelevant results, choose the TX All Text option to expand you search:

Dicover@MU search example with keyword Baroque

Of course, if you have identified a composer whose work you would like to transcribe, you may search for their name (last name, first name), but there is no guarantee that there will be manuscripts or transcriptions of their work that is suitable for this project.

  • Tip, if there are no manuscripts, look for a transcription that has an older date and is not a critical edition, which may be more likely to be of poorer quality.

A highly ornate, gilted Baroque harpsichord with statues playing musical instruments

Todini, Michele, Basilio Onofri, & Jacob Reiff. Harpsichord. Italian. 1670, wood, gilt, ebony, ivory, parchment. The Met.


Finding manuscripts online

Some online resources to find music manuscripts, including from the Renaissance or Baroque periods:


Browsing for scores in the stacks

Many early works are published in large anthologies or collections. Find these in the call number ranges M1 or M2 (4th floor east). M = music scores.

Many include works by lesser known composers and most of the collections are of transcriptions done in modern notation. Browsing in person is the best way to determine if any transcriptions are potentially erroneous, and candidates for your transcription assignment.

Drawing in baroque style with a musical scene surrounded by cherub-like figures

de Bray, Jan. A Group of Men and Women Playing Chamber Music Within a Portico. Dutch, 1652, drawing, The Met.

 

Determine the accessibility of a published modern transcription

Search to determine if a modern transcription of the composition you have chosen is accessible. Some strategies.

Try searching for the composition in Worldcat, Discover@MU, and/or in IMSLP.

When using Worldcat or Discover@MU, search for the work name as a title keyword, and the composer as an author keyword:

Worldcate search box with composer as author keyword and work as title keyword


Thematic Catalogs

Try using a thematic catalogue to determine if the work in modern transcription has been published. A thematic catalogue will list all the locations that a composer’s works have been published.

  • Search in Discover@MU using the Subject Term: Composer's name -- Thematic catalogs.
  • For lesser know composers, they may not have a thematic catalogue.
  • Here is an example of searching for a better known composer’s thematic catalogue: Lully, Jean-Baptiste - Thematic catalogs

You can also search for thematic catalogues using online resources:


Collections and anthologies

Note: some works are hidden in collections.

You can use Grove Music entries for composers available through Oxford Music Online to look up where a piece you have found has been published. See the "works" list in the composer’s entry. This should include the location of each work in collections.

Resources on transcribing early music