Special issue: Paper and Copyists in Viennese Opera Scores: Editorial Introduction

Abstract

The research project Paper and Copyists in Viennese Opera Scores, 1760–1770 (duration 2021–2025, funded by FWF, P 34188), to which the following articles relate, aimed to study the making of music manuscripts: it focused on the production of opera scores written by professional Viennese copyists. It continued the work of its predecessor project Cultural Transfer of Music in Vienna, 1755–1780 (duration: 2014–2018, funded by FWF, P 26456), so that the two projects and the resulting website completely cover Viennese opera scores from the period from 1760 to 1775. The manuscripts stem from the Imperial collection and beyond.

Besides opening an option for dating manuscripts, observations on the material structure of the music manuscripts and the distribution of scribes and paper offer insight into the practice of manuscript production in Vienna, especially concerning the cooperation of copyists, the use of paper, the staff ruling, and the book binding. The studies in this special issue of Musicologica Austriaca operate within this field.