Written Fragments of an Oral Tradition: "Re-Envisioning" the Seventeenth-Century Division Violin
Datum
2012
Autor:innen
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Verlag
University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
Seventeenth-century division violin music is not considered part of the classical
canon, but its background as a European art form may make it seem “too Western” for
traditional ethnomusicological study. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: first, I outline
the historical context, transmission, and performance practice of division violin playing in
England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Also of interest to me is the way in
which we, as musicologists, study oral tradition within the context of a musical culture that
no longer exists today. After an exploration of the ideas of Milman Parry and Albert Lord,
Walter Ong, Ruth Finnegan, and Slavica Ranković, I discuss the English division violin’s
background and transition from a largely oral to a predominantly literate tradition. I
demonstrate this change in transmission, composition, and performance practices through
examining the second and sixth editions of John Playford’s The Division Violin (1684).
Beschreibung
Schlagwörter
Diminutions, Division violin, John Playford, Oral traditions, Oral-written continuum, Seventeenth-century London