Italian music and musicians in Edinburgh c. 1720-1800 : a historical and critical study

Baxter, Sonia Tinagli (1999) Italian music and musicians in Edinburgh c. 1720-1800 : a historical and critical study. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The contribution of the Italian musicians who came to
Scotland during the period c. 1720-1800 was both vigorous and
influential. It encompassed practically every area of musical
activity: from performance to teaching, from the composition and
arrangement of music to its publication, from the "professional
patronage" of other musicians to the establishment of publishing
companies and businesses dealing in the music and musical
instrument trade.
This thesis reconstructs the Scottish careers of almost all of
those Italian musicians who went to live and work in Edinburgh.
Some of them are already well-known figures, even if most
historians have only given them limited attention. Other Italian
musicians had only been treated in passing, some had been
overlooked completely. This study examines primary documents in
detail, such as the Minute books and Plan Books that were kept by the
Edinburgh Musical Society in the eighteenth century, and also
newspapers that were printed in Edinburgh during this period, in
order to throw light on their musical activities in the Scottish
capital.
Linked with the careers of the Italian musicians in Edinburgh
between c. 1720-1800 is an investigation of the reception and
perception of these musicians in Scotland. This has been based
largely on eighteenth-century accounts, but also includes
nineteenth- and twentieth-century commentaries on Scottish
musical history and culture. This section has included a
consideration of economic, religious and philosophical issues
concerning opera and the production of stage plays in Edinburgh
during this period.
Finally, there is a survey of the music that the Italian
musicians performed, composed and published. This has involved
examining a large amount of published music as well as manuscript
sources. My investigation into this field has revealed a repertoire of
music that was unique to Scotland, with Italian and English classical
music performed alongside arrangements of Scots folk-songs.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Music
• Supervisor's Name: Elliott, Dr Kenneth
• Date of Award: 1999
• Depositing User: Adam Swann
• Unique ID: glathesis:1999-8655
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 05 Jan 2018 11:54
• Last Modified: 05 Jan 2018 11:54
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/8655