Composing the Score for a Musical about Music

Chapter 3 uses both Willson’s published comments about his philosophy of writing musicals and his previously unseen archive of music manuscripts to chart the development of the score of The Music Man. There are particular case studies on “Marian the Librarian” and “My White Knight,” revealing in detail how Willson crafted his musical numbers. Many of the songs dropped from the score, and their impact on the narrative of the show, are also discussed at length.

RISM and Inventorying Early Music Manuscripts in Slovenia

Since its inception, the project Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) has played a major role in the creation of an inventory of preserved early music heritage in Slovenia. This article presents the background and the current state of cooperation between Slovenian musicology and the RISM project, focusing on the latest additions to the online catalogue from the music collection of the Church of St Daniel in Celje.

Mily Balakirev and Stanislav Moniuszko: Intertwining Creative Destinies (Based on the Materials of the Archive and Library of the Head of the New Russian School). To the 110 Death Anniversary of M. A. Balakirev

Статья освещает вопрос о связях Балакирева и Монюшко, который остался практически не затронутым исследователями их жизни и творчества. В музыковедческой литературе об этом можно почерпнуть лишь единичные факты. Их удалось существенно дополнить впервые вводимыми в научный обиход сведениями из документальных источников, среди которых несколько обнаруженных нами неизвестных автографов писем и нотных рукописей, печатных изданий из библиотеки и архива Милия Алексеевича. Все это позволило установить истинную картину многогранных творческих взаимоотношений двух композиторов, где в роли главного связующего звена выступала музыка Монюшко. В свою очередь, это не только проясняет забытые страницы в биографиях музыкантов, но и вносит вклад в разработку таких фундаментальных тем, как «Балакирев и Польша», «Русско-польские музыкальные связи». This article highlights the question of the relationship between Balakirev and Moniuszko, which has remained virtually untouched by researchers of their life and work. Only a few facts can be found in the scientific literature about this. They were significantly supplemented with information from documentary sources that was introduced into scientific use for the first time. Among them are several unknown autographs of letters and music manuscripts discovered by us, as well as printed publications from the library and archive of Mili Alexeeyevich. All this allowed us to establish a true picture of the multifaceted creative relationship between the two composers, where Moniuszko's music served as the main link. In turn, these materials not only clarify the forgotten pages in the biographies of both musicians, but also contribute to the development of such fundamental themes as “Balakirev and Poland,” “Russian-Polish musical ties.”

Creative Processes

A striking amount of material survives to document the creation of what became known as Oklahoma!—including Hammerstein’s sketches and drafts for the libretto (first completed in November 1942), his subsequent work on the lyrics for the songs, and Rodgers’s music manuscripts. These sources reveal how they worked both together and separately in particularly, if differently, creative ways. They also help generate a chronology of the early stages of the show’s genesis that raises further questions about later accounts of it, not least in terms of the dream-ballet at the end of act 1, for which Agnes de Mille claimed significant credit. In addition, the orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett reveal what he added in terms of instrumental color and, at times, new musical notes.

Musical diplomacy in a divided city: the Lassus-Mayrhofer manuscripts

Gifts of music manuscripts continued to serve an important diplomatic function well into the 16th century. This article investigates the production, content and function of two choirbooks prepared by the Benedictine monk Ambrosius Mayrhofer of St Emmeram in Regensburg, which mainly contain sacred music by Orlande de Lassus. They were dedicated to Abbot Jakob Köplin of St Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg (1568) and the city council of Regensburg (1567) respectively. The programmatic opening motet and accompanying illuminations of the Regensburg choirbook suggest that it functioned as a politically motivated gift that helped to ‘harmonize’ the frictions within a city divided by ancient rights and new religious allegiances: Regensburg was a free imperial city with a predominantly Protestant population and council, but also harboured an episcopal see and several nunneries and monasteries (among them St Emmeram), with the Catholic Dukes of Bavaria as close and powerful neighbours. Mayrhofer’s music manuscript projects a conciliatory message that was particularly timely in the late 1560s, when the permission of Eucharistic communion under both kinds (with consecrated bread and wine) offered a short-lived hope of religious compromise.