[In completing this Worksheet, it is recommended that a second window be opened (in Netscape enter Ctrl-N).
One Window can contain the Worksheet, while the second window is used to access the Internet (WWW).]
[Go to Questions: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8, 9-11, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 17]

Primary and Secondary Sources:

Worksheet 3 deals with information about Primary Sources that the music student must know in the study of music history and its sources. In addition, Worksheets 3, along with Worksheets 4 to 6, will consider the actual use of Primary Sources and will involve reading and study of several facsimiles and editions of these sources.

While the average student of music history studies and learns largely from modern books and editions, called Secondary Sources, the student must be aware of how the information in these modern editions has been preserved, and how the authors of these books have found the information.

The original sources of information, dating from the time of the actual events, from which our knowledge of the past comes, are known as Primary Sources.

Today, with modern methods of photography and printing, these Primary Sources are becoming available in the form of printed Facsimiles, as well as actual photographs, photocopies, microfilms and microfiche, and similar types of reproduction. Recently, facsimiles are becoming available on the Internet. Some online resources may be viewed and downloaded using the World Wide Web. Others may be downloaded using FTP.

Students (as well as professionals) should use Primary Sources whenever possible, even if only facsimiles or other photo-reproduction. It is very important to keep in mind that reproductions may differ from the originals in significant details.

An important point to remember in the study and performance of music: The value of a modern edition, whether a text book or an edition of music, depends on the reliability of the sources used in its preparation, and in the ability, honesty, and objectivity of the editor or author in the interpretation, use, and presentation of the music and information derived from the Primary Sources.

Important Note: A good edition will show clearly and completely the sources of information and of music, all other sources which may alter, temper, or conflict with the main sources, and will indicate how the information is being used; i.e., an author or editor must indicate clearly what material is fact, actually derived from the Primary Sources, and what is new (as opinion, evaluation, conjecture, ideas, analysis, etc.) added by the author or editor.

Put simply, a good author or editor will indicate the source—personal, modern, or original—of all material presented in his book, paper, or edition. The author or editor will also give some indication of the actual nature, appearance, content, etc. of the Primary Sources. This is one of the main purposes of footnotes (or endnotes) and of bibliographies given with papers, books, and editions.

With every modern book, edition, electronic source, etc. (and every live lecture, discussion, musical performance, etc.) the student always must be prepared to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the informationand music being used. The student must continually ask: "How do I know what I am being told is true? How can I be sure that the music I am playing, am analyzing, am studying, am listening to, is as close as possible to the sounds that the composer expected? Is this material completely accurate?"

For a more thorough discussion, the student should read:

As mentioned above, in studying music history and in using the music, generally the most reliable sources are the Primary Sources: those sources that are closest to the original event, the original performance, the original act of composition, etc. (ALL other sources are known as Secondary Sources, including modern editions of primary sources.)

For a piece of music, the original source, the Primary Source, is the initial notation of the actual composer, either in his own hand, or in the form of a printed copy supervised or approved by him. If this actual original is no longer available, then the Primary Source or Sources are those which are closest in time and place to the original.

For historical information, the Primary Sources are those which are actual eye witness of the event(s) described, or a legal or similar document describing the fact or event—a document written at the actual time and place (or very close to it) of the event(s) described.

The sources that are generally considered to be most useful and valuable are those which are known as Autographs or Holographs.

1. In terms of historical sources, what is an Autograph?

2.  ...what is a Holograph?

3. The definitions in standard dictionaries (music and others) suggest a slight difference between these two Terms. What is this slight difference between the terms "Holograph" and "Autograph"?

4. Westrup, in An Introduction to Musical History, discusses Four different types of sources useful in the study of music history. What are these four types?

[To these, one might wish to add: (v) Iconographic sources and (vi) Real Objects, and, more recently, film, videotape, and the like.]

5. What are Iconographic Sources?

[For a good definition and discussion of "Musical Iconography", see Howard Mayer Brown, "Iconography of Music", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, IX 11-18.]

In his description, Westrup (An Introduction to Musical History, Chapter II, "The Sources", pp. 20-48) discusses the nature and uses of these types of sources, and suggests points, which one should consider in the evaluation of sources and editions. Read this discussion very carefully.

6. He mentions that Autobiographies are often not totally trustworthy. What reason does he give?

7. He also comments on composers’ descriptions and opinions of the music of others. What weaknesses does he suggest are often found in these writings?

Availability of Sources

Ideally, in studying music history, or in using a piece of music, the scholar uses the original source, or at least refers to it. In practice, this is generally not possible, so one must use an edition prepared by someone else, or gain the information from a book (monograph).

It is obvious that, as Westrup writes, "The value of all these editions is in proportion to their reliability."

8. According to Westrup, what is the feature that must be present in an edition for it to be reliable and trustworthy?

If a scholar wishes to consult an original source, this is generally possible. Given the time, the cash, and a sufficient reason to persuade the owners of a source to grant permission, one can usually consult the actual original. When workable, this is best.

Often, more convenient substitutes may serve:

• One may obtain photographs or photocopies from the owners. [Often these can be very expensive, and may take a long time to acquire.]
• Many original sources are now available in Facsimile editions. Facsimiles are most often available in the form of printed reproductions, published as books. Facsimiles are also available as single printed sheets, photocopies of primary sources, and on the Internet as reproductions. On the Internet, quality of facsimile reproductions varies a great deal, depending on the type of image file used.

9. In the context of the discussion in this Worksheet, what is a Facsimile? [Be very brief!]

Find one facsimile edition (of Music in Score) in the Music Collection of the Acadia Library. Do not use any example discussed elsewhere on this Worksheet. Do not use any example discussed at the WWW site, Methods of Citing Facsimiles in Bibliographies.

10. Give the Call Number of the book you use, so I can find it.

11. Cite this book, using proper bibliographical format, as described at the online WWW site for this course, in the section, Methods of Citing Facsimiles in Bibliographies (http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/musi/callon/2273/cite-fac.htm).

Insert the bibliography entry here if you are doing this on a computer, or on the reverse of the last sheet of this Worksheet if you are using a print of this Worksheet, or on a separate sheet of paper.

• For descriptions of the format of entries (citations) in Bibliographies and Footnotes (or Endnotes), see Reference Sources and Resources for Papers at the Music 2273 site.
• See also the Music 2273 list of Other Methodology Courses: Resources and Links).
• See especially the Undergraduate course at University of Hawaii at Manoa (Gregg S. Geary), Information Literacy: A Method of Bibliographic Instruction for Undergraduates in Music: MUS 261 (http://www.sinclair.hawaii.edu/muse/music261.html).

Facsimile Sources on the Internet I

As the World Wide Web develops, more facsimile sources are becoming available on the Internet. Some of these were considered on Worksheet 2. A few examples of sites with facsimiles available at the time this Worksheet was prepared are listed below.

For this Worksheet we first will use the site: The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/).

And the treatise, A briefe discovrse Of the true (but neglected) use of Charact'ring the Degrees...  (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/brief/).

Title Page, facsimile ("Page 1: small gif") (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/brief/brief01small.html).

[In doing these exercises, is easier to use the facsimiles referred to as "small gif".]

12. What is third line of lyrics of stanza 2?

[Note that some of the tall letters that looks somewhat like "f" are really an "s". The real "f" has a line completely through the middle of the character; the "s" has a line only on the left side of the middle of the character (or no line at all).]

Observe that the numbers "12" are item numbers, not page numbers. (The "13" on p. 80 is an error in the original.)

Often, as in this book, pages are numbered using what are call "Signatures".

About Signatures

• A Signature is a printer's mark, sometimes at the bottom of every second page (on the front of the sheet).
• Each printer's sheet usually contain several pages. (In other words, for each portion of the book, the printer has one large sheet of paper on which several pages are printed, on both sides of the paper.)
• Each sheet then is folded and cut along three edges to make the pages.
• Each sheet is called a Signature and is usually identified with a letter (A, B, C, etc.).
• The pages are usually identified with a number after the letter, one number for each pair of pages (front and back). (Number "1" is usually assumed, so not indicated; only the letter appears, so, the second pair of pages will have a signature such as "A2".)
• Often only the first page, or the first few pages, of a signature will have marks at the bottom. The remaining pages of the signature will be unmarked, so one simply must assume the signature number.

13. Below, copy the signature marks found on these pages.

The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft site also provides some of the music in modern editions and transcriptions, Modern Editions of The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft: (http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/modern/).

As is proper when using material originating with others, this site cites the contributors of these modern editions and transcriptions, both at the beginning, and with each item that each contributor provided.

14. Name three of these contributors.

This site is one example of a small number of sites on the WWW that contain free music in score (music notation) that users can download. Some others are listed at Online Music Scores (to Download): (http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/musi/callon/2273/scores.htm).

Facsimile Sources on the Internet II: Advanced Sites, Early English Books Online (EEBO)

The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft site is a free site provided by an individual. More complex sites with much more extensive resources are available as subscription sites (generally available only to institutions such as Universities and major libraries).

One such site is the remarkable collection of facsimiles available at Early English Books Online (EEBO). [EEBO is a subscription site, so users must be logged into their Acadia University account for access.] EEBO has complete facsimiles in PDF format of about 100,000 books printed in Britain between 1475 and 1700. In addition, brief bibliography references are provided for an additional 25,000 similar books.

[In order to view PDF files, the user must have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on the computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free of charge. Acadia University student and staff laptops already have Adobe Acrobat Reader.]

To keep this portion of Worksheet 3 interesting, each student in the class will download a different book in facsimile from EEBO.

First, go to the Early English Books Online main page (http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home).
For this exercise, click on the Search menu item.

Use the basic search. Select the name of a composer from the table below according to the following directions. Enter this name into the box labelled AUTHOR KEYWORD(s).
Remember to enter the composer's name last name first, as given in the table of names; for example: Lawes, William .
Then complete the exercises below.

Each student will select the name from the list below that begins with the same one or two letters as the first one or two letters of the student's Last name.

Select two letters if possible. If this is not successful, select another useful letter of the alphabet, closest to the correct letter.
[For example, I would search for terms that begin Ca.... If this did not work, I would then search for a term beginning Ce... (etc.).]

Explanation: From the books listed with the composer's name, mark (by checking the small box in front of the item:   ; to produce a checked box:   ).
Then click on the menu item MARKED LIST (  ) to get a list of available items.
Only those with the statement "View a complete list of the Document Image sets available for this record to download in PDF format" are available to download as PDF facsimiles.
Remove any lacking this statement by clicking on the checked box:   ).

Select one title from those available.
If two or more are available, select one that is most likely to contain pieces of music (most will). [In other words, avoid those that look like theory texts or other books that contain mainly words rather than music.]
For the item selected click on the statement "View a complete list of the Document Image sets available for this record to download in PDF format" in order to go to the item.

For your own use, click on the button before the statement "Download entire document" to have the software prepare a PDF file of the whole book.

Download this file by clicking on "confirm". This file is only for your own use.

Important notes: Do not sent this file to be corrected. Avoid trying this using a dial-up connection. The file is much too large and will take up to an hour, or even more to download via dial-up. It this file is sent for correction it will automatically be deleted as being too large.

The Assignment

Go back to the Download Images page.
By clicking on the button in front of the statement "Download range of document images", select, one at a time to send separately, and using the entire document that you have already downloaded to determine the page numbers needed (one at a time):

First: Download the facsimile of the main Title Page of the book;
Second: Download the facsimile of the first page of the book that contains actual music notation. (This may be a score or simply one part of an ensemble piece, depending on the nature of the music.)

15. Send only the facsimile of the Title Page, or print this page and hand in the printed page, to the instructor of this course.

16. Separately, send only the first page of the book with music notation, or print this page and hand in the printed page, to the instructor of this course.

Some examples of facsimiles available on the Internet at the time this Worksheet was prepared:

[We will look at some others on later worksheets.]

Other Ravenscroft facsimiles: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ravenscroft/

Discussed on Worksheet 2:

Other Similar Sites:

Others:

Alain Naigeon's facsimiles:

• Jacques Barbireau, Kyrie de la Missa parens Christi ; fs Vatican
• Josquin des Prez, Kyrie de la Missa de Beate Virgine ; fs Vatican
• détail de la cadence finale
• Loyset Compère, "Omnium bonorum plena"
• (Juan del) Encina, "Triste Espagna"
• Johannes Ockeghem, Kyrie de la Missa Ecce ancilla Domini ; fs Vatican

Shape Note Notation: Samples of Musical Notation

Facsimiles of pages from: Charles Burney, A General History of Music, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (London, 1776-1789), Vol. IV. [Marlene Murtonen, from an original of Burney's History in the collection of Gordon J. Callon.]

The Cantigas de Santa Maria

Michael Praetorius site with facsimiles (http://www.ct-recorders.org/~raybro/praetorius.html).

Transcribing and Reading White Mensural Notation (http://www.ct-recorders.org/~raybro/index1.html)

This site includes facsimiles of parts of "Jamais Jamais Jamais" from Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A, the first collection of music printed using moveable type, produced by Ottaviano Dei Petrucci in 1501.
(Click on the small facsimiles to download larger images. These are large, so downloading is slow.)

There is a facsimile of the Title Page of Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A at: http://www.ct-recorders.org/~raybro/odhecaton.html (scroll down).

There is a transcription of "Jamais..." at  http://www.ct-recorders.org/~raybro/transcript.html (with links to each page).

One other point: Paleography & Notation:

17. What is Paleography [in the broadest, and complete meaning of the term]?