Henry Playford: a Bibliographical Study

<p>Henry Playford (1657-1709) was one of the most important London music publishers in the period 1680 to 1710. He was the son of the music publisher John Playford and a member of the Company of Stationers, and his business practices owed much to his father and to his training in traditional methods of book publishing and production. Henry Playford's publishing career is here examined in two ways: as a continuation of his father's methods; and as a response to competition from publishers of engraved music, most notably John Walsh. The lives and trade practices of both John and Henry Playford are described. Publications are examined in three main categories: musical publications originally established by John Playford and continued by Henry; new kinds of musical publications introduced by Henry; and publications not containing music. Details concerning his career as a bookseller are presented, as is information relating to other activities not directly relevant to publishing or bookselling, most notably his activities in the sale of art works. His relationships with other members of the book trade - printers , partners and apprentices - are described, and documents relating to the lawsuit between Playford and the printer William Pearson are re-examined and re-assessed. His competitors and successors are identified , and their activities described. This section concludes with an examination of previous writings about Henry Playford, and a re-assessment of his place and importance in English music publishing. The basis of the study is a descriptive bibliography of the publications issued by Henry Playford. It is presented, together with indexes of the works and of book trade members, and with illustrations of some title - pages, printed ornaments, and engravings.</p>

Henry Playford: a Bibliographical Study

<p>Henry Playford (1657-1709) was one of the most important London music publishers in the period 1680 to 1710. He was the son of the music publisher John Playford and a member of the Company of Stationers, and his business practices owed much to his father and to his training in traditional methods of book publishing and production. Henry Playford's publishing career is here examined in two ways: as a continuation of his father's methods; and as a response to competition from publishers of engraved music, most notably John Walsh. The lives and trade practices of both John and Henry Playford are described. Publications are examined in three main categories: musical publications originally established by John Playford and continued by Henry; new kinds of musical publications introduced by Henry; and publications not containing music. Details concerning his career as a bookseller are presented, as is information relating to other activities not directly relevant to publishing or bookselling, most notably his activities in the sale of art works. His relationships with other members of the book trade - printers , partners and apprentices - are described, and documents relating to the lawsuit between Playford and the printer William Pearson are re-examined and re-assessed. His competitors and successors are identified , and their activities described. This section concludes with an examination of previous writings about Henry Playford, and a re-assessment of his place and importance in English music publishing. The basis of the study is a descriptive bibliography of the publications issued by Henry Playford. It is presented, together with indexes of the works and of book trade members, and with illustrations of some title - pages, printed ornaments, and engravings.</p>

Downtown Music Publishing and Songtrust

As of 2018, technological innovation in the music industry at large had impacted firms in nearly every sector. Yet, music publishers have been traditionally unconcerned with technological advancement. Several competitive forces have made this position sustainable, but the broader industry’s pace of change was bound to reach the music publishing sector. The laissez-faire attitude of prominent market players in the publishing space has led to a market that was ripe for value innovation, and Downtown Music Publishing has already capitalized in this space, differentiating themselves from their competitors. This case highlights the choices the CEO and co-founder of Downtown Music Publishing and the rest of the senior management team must make about a new product. Should they keep it internal, or should it be spun off?

More About Gorchakov, Prokofiev’s Secretary

Цель статьи — представить новые сведения о секретаре Сергея Прокофьева Георгии Николаевиче Горчакове (1902–1995), сосредоточенные в неизвестных документальных материалах. Это был музыкант, который расшифровывал музыкальные и литературные рукописи Прокофьева, писал под его диктовку, в течение нескольких лет был проводником литературной и музыкальной мысли композитора, довел до стадии завершения несколько крупных прокофьевских партитур. Их связывало и общее вероучение, которому оба были привержены: Христианская наука. Письма Горчакова — его рассказы Прокофьеву о себе — обновляют знание о повседневном существовании обычных людей русской эмиграции. Они затрагивают не только мир музыкальный, но и непарадную сторону жизни Лазурного берега, «мореходную» тему, неизвестный прежде мотив скаутского движения: оно, оказывается, интересовало Прокофьева, у которого подрастали сыновья. Конечно, картинки общения Прокофьева и Горчакова не могли обойтись без зарисовок каждодневной прозаической жизни музыкального издательства, волнений по поводу грядущего концерта, для которого прислали не все оркестровые партии, других колоритных подробностей. Событием в прокофьевской историографии можно считать уточнение сроков выхода в свет «Вещей в себе». The aim of the article is to present a new information about Prokofiev’s secretary — Georgiy Nikolaevich Gorchakov in the analysis of previously unknown documentary materials. He was the musician, who deciphered Prokofiev’s sheet music and literary manuscripts, and who took his dictation. For years he was an agent of the composer’s musical and literary ideas and he brought to completion some large-scale Prokofiev’s scores. Besides, they were bound by the same belief — Christian Science. Gorchakov’s letters — his narrations to Prokofiev about himself — update the knowl edge about ordinary Russian people’s immigration experience. They tackle not only the world of music, but also Côte d’Azur’s everyday life: navigation and scouting, in which Prokofiev — a father of growing boys — appeared to be interested. Certainly the descrip tion of Prokofiev and Gorchakov’s communication wouldn’t be complete without outlining the mundane everyday life of the music publishing house and nerve-wracking preparations for the coming concert which was missing some orchestral parts, and other colorful details. A more accurate date for the publication of Things in Themselves could be considered a significant discovery in Prokofiev’s historiography.

Adolph Hummel: Music Publisher in Eighteenth-Century London

Adolph Hummel, from Hesse, established in Soho a music publishing business that lasted 12 years (1760–1772). His publishing strategy differed in several ways from that commonly adopted by London publishers: he published only foreign-born (mostly German or Italian) composers; he did not issue vocal music; and, while taking the common routes of advertising his publications by notices in contemporary newspapers and listing issues in the imprints to title pages, he was highly unusual in that he produced no catalogue. He was also unusual in obtaining a royal licence to protect his copyright. He was the first publisher in London to issue a string quartet, and possibly the first to add violin accompaniments to already-published solo harpsichord sonatas to create accompanied sonatas. He was probably related to the Hummel music publishing brothers of the Netherlands. Personal information about him is hard to come by, but we know that Frau Anna Maria Mozart was godmother to his youngest child; he was a particular friend of J. C. Bach; he was prosecuted, for an undisclosed reason, by the musician Rudolf Straube; and he was the founder of three generations of the musical ‘English Hummells’. The final part of this article comprises a detailed catalogue of Hummel’s publications.

Educational and Methodical Literature for the Clavier and Piano in the History of Russian Music Publishing of the Second Half of the 18th — Early 20th Century

The Russian piano school is a unique phenomenon in the global cultural space, a multifaceted and creative phenomenon, a source of creative insights and vivid interpretations. The history of Russian piano performance is deeply and comprehensively studied and is characterized by a wide semantic range. A special place in it is occupied by educational and methodical literature produced by major music publishers in Moscow and St. Petersburg during their formation and development.The appeal to this topic is connected with the need to create a primary idea of the activities of music publishers for the production of educational materials in the historical dynamics and perspective. This complex process can be perceived as a synthesis of European traditions and Russian experience — a multidimensional multifunctional landscape of the era, illustrative reflection of important events in the cultural life of the country.The specificity of the problem has an impressive demonstration volume. It includes the strategy and tactics of development of Russian music publishing companies, production of educational and scientific-methodical literature by Russian and foreign authors, stages in the development of piano art, increase in the production output, achievements of the Russian piano school and its unique pedagogical experience.“P. Jurgenson” company’s catalogues, stored in the Russian State library, reflect the trends and directions that were dominant in the educational literature for piano. They include well-established, tested methods of piano playing, collections of exercises, and anthologies that enriched the pedagogical repertoire with compositions to develop of the technical base of students and expand the arsenal of its expressive means. The study aims at a primary classification of “P. Jurgenson” publishing house’s educational resources recorded in its catalogues of the late 19th — early 20th century.

A Peer-To-Peer Publication Model on Blockchain

In the past few decades, there has been a sharp rise of research irreproducibility and retraction, to a point that now is deemed as a crisis. Addressing this crisis, we present a peer-to-peer (P2P) publication model that utilizes blockchain and smart contract technologies. Focusing primarily on researchers and reviewers, the conceptual P2P publication model addresses the sociocultural and incentivization aspects of the irreproducibility crisis. In the P2P publication model, instead of a complete publication, a preapproved experimental design will be published on an incremental basis (unit-by-unit) and authorship will be shared with reviewers. The concept of the P2P publication model was inspired by the transformational journey the music publishing industry has undertaken as it traverses through vinyl age (complete albums) to the Spotify age (single-by-single), where there is a growing inclination among artists toward building an incremental album, taking account of feedback from fans and utilizing automated revenue collection and sharing systems. The ability to publish incrementally through the P2P publication model will relieve researchers from the burden of publishing complete and “good results” while simultaneously incentivizing reviewers to undertake rigorous review work to gain authorship credit in the research. The proposed P2P publication model aims to transform the century-old publication model and incentivization structure in alignment with open access publication ethos of the 21st century.