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book
BookPrinted Material
Author Gjerdingen, Robert O., author.

Title Child composers in the old conservatories : how orphans became elite musicians / Robert O. Gjerdingen.

Publication Info. New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]
©2020

Item Status

Location Call No. Status OPAC Message Public Note Gift Note
 Talbott: Circulating Collection  MT3 .E9 G547 2020    Available  
Description 355 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-346) and index.
Contents Introduction -- Children in need -- Technologies of training -- Trial by contest -- Transforming commonplaces.
Summary "In seventeenth century Italy, overcrowding, violent political uprising, and plague led an astonishing number of abandoned and orphaned children to overwhelm the cities. Out of the piety of private citizens and the apathy of local governments, the system of conservatori was created to house, nurture, and train these fanciulli vaganti (roaming children) to become hatters, shoemakers, tailors, goldsmiths, cabinet makers, and musicians--a range of practical trades that might sustain them and enable them to contribute to society. Conservatori were founded across Italy, from Venice and Florence to Parma and Naples, many specializing in a particular trade. Four music conservatori in Naples gained particular renown for their exceptional training of musicians, both performers and composers, all boys. By the eighteenth century, the graduates of the Naples conservatories began to spread across Europe, with some 600 boys formerly in residence beginning to dominate the European musical world. Other conservatories in the country--including the Paris Conservatory--began to imitate the principles of the Naples' conservatory's training, known as the partimento tradition. The daily lessons and exercises associated with this tradition were largely lost--until author Robert Gjerdingen discovered evidence of them in the archives of conservatories across Italy and the rest of Europe. Compellingly narrated and richly illustrated, Child Composers in the Old Conservatories follows the story of these boys as they undergo rigorous training with the conservatory's maestri and eventually become maestri themselves, then moves forward in time to see the influence of partimenti in the training of such composers as Claude Debussy and Colette Boyer. Advocating for the revival of partimenti in modern music education, the book explores the tremendous potential of this tradition to enable natural musical fluency for students of all ages learning the craft today." -- Book jacket.
Subject Conservatories of music -- Europe -- History.
Conservatories of music.
Europe.
History.
Child composers.
Child composers.
Composition (Music) -- Instruction and study -- History -- 17th century.
Composition (Music) -- Instruction and study.
Chronological Term 17th century
Subject Composition (Music)
Composition (Music) -- Instruction and study -- History -- 18th century.
Chronological Term 18th century
Subject Begabtenförderung.
Konservatorium.
Musikerziehung.
Chronological Term 1600-1799
Genre/Form History.
ISBN 9780190653590 hardcover
0190653590 hardcover