Music Philology: An Introduction to Musical Textual Criticism, Hermeneutics, and Editorial Technique

209 Pages·2011·17.005 MB·English

by  Bruce MacIntyre, George Feder

MUSIC PHILOLOGY
An Introduction to Musical Textual Criticism,
Hermeneutics, and Editorial Technique

MUSIC PHILOLOGY
An Introduction to Musical Textual Criticism,
Hermeneutics, and Editorial Technique
GEORG FEDER
Translated by
Bruce C. Macintyre
MONOGRAPHS IN MUSICOLOGY No. 14
PENDRAGON PRESS
HILLSDALE, NY
Other Titles in the Series MONOGRAPHS IN MUSICOLOGY
No.2 La Statira fry Pietro Otto boni and Alessandro Scarlatti The Textual
Sources by William C. Holmes (1983)
No. 6 The Art of Noises by Luigi Russolo (1987)
No. 9 Piano and Song (Didactic and Polemica~ by Friedrich Wieck The
Collected Writings of Clara Schumann :r Father and On/y
Teacher (1988)
No. 10 Confraterni and Carnevale at San Giovanni Evangelista)
Florence) 1820-192 4 by Aubrey S. Garlington (1992)
No. 11 Franz S chuberts Music in Peiformance Compositional Ideals)
Notational Inten0 Historical Realities) Pedagogical Foundations
by David Montgomery (2003)
No. 12 Revolving Embrace: The Waltz as Sex) Steps) and Sound by Sevin H.
Yaramin (2002)
No. 13 The Era After the Baroque: Music Music and the Fine Arts
1750-1900 by Robert Tallant Laudon (2008)
Cover design by Stuart Ross
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Feder, Georg.
[Musikphilologie. English]
Music philology : an introduction to musical textual criticism, hermeneutics,
and editorial technique / [George Feder] ; translated by Bruce C. Macintyre.
p. cm. -- (Monographs in musicology; no. 14)
Translation of: Musikphilologie / Georg Feder.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57647-113-5 (alk. paper)
1. Music--Editing. I. Title.
ML3797.F3713 2011
780.1>49--dc23
2011037123
Copyright 2011 Pendragon Press
Table of Contents
Foreword v
Translator's Preface and Acknowledgments Vll
I. Presuppositions 1
A. Music and Language 1
1. Parallels and Divergences 1
2. Syntagma and Paradigma 5
B. Tradition and Understanding 7
1. Systematic Considerations 7
2. Historical Considerations 10
C. The Work and the Text 13
1. The Concept of the Musical Work 13
2. Awareness of Textual Correctness 18
II. Definition 23
A. Narrowest and Broadest Sense of the Term 23
"Musical Philology"
B. Bibliographical, Antiquarian, Philological, and 29
Historical Music Research
III. Foundations 33
A. Sources 33
B. Context 34
C. Competence 38
IV. Textual Criticism 41
Digression 1: Reproaches of "Positivism" 43
A. Source Criticism 45
1. Specialized Source Studies 46
2. Source Description 47
a. Paper 47
b. Fascicles and bindings 49
c. Handwriting 50
d. Prints 52
3. Evaluation of Sources 54
v
MUSIC PHILOLOGY
B. "Lower" Criticism 58
1. Collation 58
2. Eclectic, Statistical Methods, codex optimus, 59
copy-text, "Guiding Manuscript"
3. Filiation 63
4. Interpretation 68
5. Conjectural Criticism 69
6. Criticism with Vocal Texts 70
C. "Higher" Criticism and History of the Work 71
1. Authenticity Criticism 72
2. Dating 75
3. Genre Determination 76
4. Determination of Occasion, Purpose, and 76
Performance Conditions
5. History of Influence 78
6. History of the Creative Process 80
Digression 2: Romantic and Empiricist Theory of 81
Creativity
7. History of Influence 83
V. Hermeneutics 85
A. Concept and Method 85
1. Definition 85
2. An Objection from Philosophical Hermeneutics 88
3. Hermeneutic Rules (Canons) 91
4. Criticism of Exegesis 93
B. Objects of Understanding: Methods of Explanation 97
1. The Meaning of the Musical Text: Transcription 97
and Performance-Practice Interpretation
a. Scoring and arrangement of staves 99
b. Note forms and values 100
c. Clefs 101
d. Bar (measure) and bar line 102
e. Diastematics 103
f. Key signature and accidentals 103
g. Rhythm 104
h. Un-mathematical practices of notation 105
Vl
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i. Ligatures and colorations 105
j. Notational riddles 105
k. Annotations, vocal texts, text underlay 106
1. Figured bass 107
m. Performance of ornaments, improvisation 108
of appoggiaturas, cadenzas, embellishments
n. Dynamics, articulation, tempo, agogics, 108
playing technique, expression
o. Scoring and instrumentation 109
p. Amount of scoring 110
q. The historical instrument 111
r. Tuning (temperament), tuning standard, 111
transposition
s. Placement of musicians and conducting 111
t. The acoustical properties and lighting of 112
the hall
2. The Composition's Meaning [The Meaning of the 113
"Work"]
a. Formal analysis 113
b. Historical analysis 117
Digression 3: The Musical Concept of Time 119
c. Content analysis and semantic 119
interpretation (hermeneutics in the
"narrower" sense)
d. Pragmatic explanation and interpretation 122
from "broader contexts"
e. The demand for the explanation based on 123
''effective history''
C. Addressees of Explanation and Its Forms of 125
Communication
VI. Work Criticism 127
Digression 4: Musical Aesthetic of the Variant 131
VII. Editorial Technique 137
A. Facsimile 137
B. Diplomatic Edition 140
Vil
MUSIC PHILOLOGY
C. Edition of the Corrected Text 141
D. Critical Edition 142
Comment on the Use of the Computer 148
E. The Historical and Critical Edition 149
F. The "Scholarly and Practical" Edition 152
G. "Urtext" Edition 154
H. The Demand for an Edition Based on the History 155
of Transmission
VIII. Remarks on the History of Textual Criticism in Music 159
Selected Bibliography 163
Index of Persons 169
Index of Topics and Terms 178
Georg Feder (1927-2006) 195
Vlll
Foreword
"Music philology" or "musical philology" (Ger. Musikphilologie) is a term that
is occasionally encountered but not generally adopted. Certainly its linguistic
propriety can be debated. Indisputable is the fact that a philological method,
or whatever one calls it, can be used with music. In addition, there is essentially
unanimity with regard to the method's application. Nevertheless, in musicologi
cal literature prior to the present study's initial publication, there had been no
book describing the philological method and its musical applications, aside from
Guido Adler's appraisal in his Methode der Musikgeschichte (1919). The following
introduction to the subject was written at the suggestion of the Wissenschaftli
che Buchgesellschaft, which published its original German version in 1987. It
was the first attempt to fill this lacuna.
Detailed consideration of all questions cannot be expected in such an
introduction that is, by necessity, limited in size. Indeed, I have attempted a
systematic description of the main points of view. Musica practica is the center
of focus throughout. It goes without saying that texts on music theory, as far
as they are verbal texts, can be examined with philological methods. Because of
the composite source situation in vocal compositions (i.e. a transmission that is
both literary and musical) there will be only brief treatment of questions per
taining to the examination of song texts.
The books and essays referred to in the text are mentioned in the foot
notes. A selection of them is also compiled in the bibliography at the end,
together with some additional publications not referred to in the text. All titles
are presented without bibliographical pretensions and as concisely as possible.
The preparation of this book was assisted by its presentation in draft
form to musicology students at Indiana University (Bloomington) in the spring
semester of 1985, as well as by the discussion of some of its ideas with my
colleague Horst Walter at the Haydn Institute (Cologne). Horst Walter and
Robert von Zahn were also helpful in locating literature. Hans-Jurgen Horn
of ,Mannheim University kindly looked through several chapters in manuscript.
Margret Weitensteiner of Erftstadt helped by word and deed in the revisions,
as did Horst Walter. To all helpers and advisors, both named and unnamed, I
express my sincere thanks. I am particularly grateful to Bruce Macintyre for
his preparation of the present English translation, which is based on a slightly
revised version of the original book.
Cologne, March 1986 - March 1987 and October 2003 - October 2005
Georg Feder
* * *
lX