| FA-50611-04 | Research Programs: Fellowships for University Teachers | Jennifer w. Brown | Recovering 17th-Century Venetian Opera | 1/1/2004 - 8/31/2004 | $24,000.00 | Jennifer | w. | Brown | | | | University of Rochester | Rochester | NY | 14627-0001 | USA | 2003 | Music History and Criticism | Fellowships for University Teachers | Research Programs | 24000 | 0 | 24000 | 0 |
This book deals with an issue central to the study of the humanities: how can we recover and interpret the past, based on the fragmentary physical evidence that has come down to us? For most 17th-century Italian operas, the only surviving musical evidence is a manuscript copy made as a keepsake for a nobleman. Since these copies are clean and neat, it is tempting to treat them as final, definitive texts. Yet this notion has little relevance for opera--an art form designed to be communicated through live performance. In the 17th century, the text of an opera was highly unstable, evolving constantly in response to feedback from a large number of people. By tapping into a rare collection of source materials, and by focusing on the messy process of opera production--rather than on an abstract notion of the definitive, finished product--I aim to recover a view of 17th-century opera history that is faithful to its labile nature. |