MERLOT Award Ideas

[pml]

An unusual "score" (there is some musical notation in it, of a very primitive kind!) worthy of a glance during the presentation would be the Codex buranus, which I've just added to the "upcoming" list for the IMSLP:Featured page; but it would be nice to get a scan of an actual fully notated codex (say one of the Trent codices) or a facsimile of a first edition of a Petrucci volume, say Harmonice Musices Odhecaton [A], or one of the books of Josquin's Masses (or the Brumel!).

Unfortunately the University of Melbourne has changed the status of anything remotely interesting, so that they can't be borrowed any more. Before that happened, I had photocopied all of the partbooks for Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, and the 1615 re-print of the full score of L'Orfeo, so these could be easily scanned in from the photocopies.

Regards, PML

[steltz]

I have a friend who regularly does historical research of old documents (not the music field) and she has gotten very adept at using a digital camera set on macro. She doesn't use flash, which has the has the advantage of not contributing to further deterioration of old paper/ink. I don't know if something like this might help. If you can use the Codex in situ, you might be able to get good quality photographs of the pages?

[aldona]

Unfortunately the University of Melbourne has changed the status of anything remotely interesting, so that they can't be borrowed any more.

Good to see yet another library doing what libraries are supposed to do - lock up works to protect them from any of the great unwashed who might be interested in studying them.

Aldona (removing tongue from cheek)

[pml]

Hi Steltz,

all of the Trent codices (some six or seven, from memory) have been published in facsimile, so one need not consult the original MSS; however someone would still have to front up to a library and spend a long while scanning...

& Aldona,

Well, the Music Reference section (e.g. Grove's Dictionary, MGG, etc) was already off-limits for borrowing, but the new regime effects any of the "Collected Edition" volumes, e.g. the complete works of Bach, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, etc. etc. They didn't want staff wandering off with volumes so that the sets were no longer "quite so complete"...

Regards, PML