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Thomas Salmon: Writings on Music: Volume II: A Proposal to Perform Musick and Related Writings, 1685-1706 [Kõva köide]

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This is the second volume in a two-part set on the writings of Thomas Salmon. Salmon (1647-1706) is remembered today for the fury with which Matthew Locke greeted his first foray into musical writing, the Essay to the Advancement of Musick (1672), and the near-farcical level to which the subsequent pamphlet dispute quickly descended. Salmon proposed a radical reform of musical notation, involving a new set of clefs which he claimed, and Locke denied, would make learning and performing music much easier (these writings are the subject of Volume I). Later in his life Salmon devoted his attention to an exploration of the possible reform of musical pitch. He made or renewed contact with instrument-makers and performers in London, with the mathematician John Wallis, with Isaac Newton and with the Royal Society of London through its Secretary Hans Sloane. A series of manuscript treatises and a published Proposal to Perform Musick, in Perfect and Mathematical Proportions (1688) paved the way for an appearance by Salmon at the Royal Society in 1705, when he provided a demonstration performance by professional musicians using instruments specially modified to his designs. This created an explicit overlap between the spaces of musical performance and of experimental performance, as well as raising questions about the meaning and the source of musical knowledge similar to those raised in his work on notation. Benjamin Wardhaugh presents the first published scholarly edition of Salmon's writings on pitch, previously only available mostly in manuscript.

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'... fascinating insights into a vibrant period of English music history. Both volumes are highly recommended'. Early Music America 'The texts are meticulously edited by Wardhaugh; much useful historical information is given. There are copious endnotes and an introduction to each text, as well as an extended general introduction to each volume. Wardhaughs prose style is clear to read ... the standard of scholarship appears to be exemplary. The volumes will be a valuable, if highly specialised, addition to any music library ...'. The Consort The series Music Theory in Britain, 1 500-1 700: Critical Editions,¯ helmed by Jessie Ann Owens, has already made great strides toward bringing English theory treatises into more university libraries and, hopefully, more curricula and scholarship. Earlier volumes in this series have provided excellent starting points for scholars entering into the morass that is early modern British music theory, and Benjamin Wardhaughs new two-volume contribution, Thomas Salmon: Writings on Music is no exception. Of course, with the resources of Early English Books Online (EEBO), the majority of English theory texts from this period are available in facsimile and, often, searchable full text. It is critical, then, that new scholarly editions of these works have something to add, and Wardhaugh delivers. NABMSA The present critical edition of Salmons writings on music is highly commendable. Not only because the texts in themselves are very original and answer intriguing questions regarding music theory and temperaments in the late seventeenth-century England; it is indeed Wardhaughs introduction, evaluation of sources, comments, and explanations enriching the edition that provoke the reader in new directions; this is the very reason why modern critical editions are so valuable. Downloadable digital facsimiles of many of the publications are certainly available, but the reader is not challenged in his or her views and

List of Figures
vii
Series Editor's Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1(42)
Correspondence and Publication: 1674-89
1(4)
Correspondence with John Wallis, 1685-6
2(1)
A Proposal to Perform Musick (1688)
3(2)
`The Service of God & Man': Theologian and Historian: 1690-1706
5(4)
Final Musical Work: 1702-6
9(3)
`My Harmonicall Canon': Salmon and Wallis on Tuning
12(6)
`Two Viols were Mathematically set out': Musical Experiments
18(4)
Amateurs, Professionals and `Mechanicks'
22(5)
`Then is the Theory of Musick Settled': Salmon's Legacy
27(2)
Editorial Policy
29(14)
1 Correspondence with John Wallis (1685-6)
43(8)
Editorial Note
43(2)
Letter 1
45(2)
Letter 2
47(4)
2 `The Use of the Musical Canon' (?1686-8)
51(28)
Editorial Note
51(5)
Text
56(23)
3 A Proposal to Perform Musick (1688)
79(46)
Editorial Note
79(6)
Text
85(40)
4 `The Practicall Theory of Musick' (1702)
125(20)
Editorial Note
125(4)
Text
129(16)
5 `The Division of a Monochord' (?1702-6)
145(16)
Editorial Note
145(3)
Text
148(13)
6 `The Theory of Musick Reduced' (1705)
161(12)
Editorial Note
161(5)
Text
166(7)
7 Correspondence with Hans Sloane (1705-6)
173(6)
Editorial Note
173(2)
Text
175(4)
Select Bibliography 179(6)
Index 185
Benjamin Wardhaugh, All Souls College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.