On 21 September, experience Bellini’s ‘Norma’ in just 12 mins with the ‘Salonorchester’ and hear Martin Kretschmer introduce 19th century music publishing practices and copyright law, while exploring their relevance in the digital age.
As a full opera, Norma takes 4 hours 30 mins; on Saturday it will be distilled to 12 minutes. As part of the Explorathon festival and Glasgow Doors Open, the Salonorchester (7 strings, flute, clarinet/sax, trumpet, baritone, piano, accordion, percussion) will perform two different arranged versions of Vincenzo Bellini’s grand opera Norma.
Arrangements of contemporary hits, such as a spectacular opera, symphony, dance or song, were created in the 19th century to spread music in an era when there was only live performance. No recordings, no radio. Music was only available in concerts, ball rooms, music halls, or drawing rooms (the Salon format). It is difficult now to imagine this world. Salon versions later were adjusted for early radio broadcasts. The Salonorchester performs from such editions held in the Dutch broadcasting archive, used frequently in the 1930s for broadcasting.
Between the two performances, Martin Kretschmer, CREATe Director, will discuss what turning a whole opera into a catchy selection of its greatest hits, with different instruments and without singers, tells us about foundational questions of copyright law. What is a work? What kind of control can an author or publisher exercise over what other people do with a work? Abridgements, arrangements and cover versions illustrate tensions and historical developments in law.
For related analysis, explore Kawohl and Kretschmer’s earlier paper in IPQ: “Abstraction and registration: conceptual innovations and supply effects in Prussian and British copyright (1820-50)”, Intellectual Property Quarterly (2003) vol. 2, pp. 209-228. SSRN.
The two performances and the talk will be complemented by a CREATe stand in the ARC Atrium. Come talk to us on Saturday about music, copyright history, and digital platforms, as well as the opportunities enabled by our AHRC Research Infrastructure Award.
The Explorathon event and performances are free. Registration for Kretschmer’s talk is advised here.
PROGRAMME
Saturday, 21 September
13.00
Arrangement 1
Grande Fantaisie La Norma
by French composer and arranger Émile Tavan (1849-1929)
published by Éditions Margueritat, Paris.
13.30
Talk by Martin Kretschmer
14.00
Arrangement 2
Fantasie über Motive aus Bellini’s Oper Norma,
arranged by German/Austrian conductor and arranger Leopold Weninger (1879-1940)
for the publisher Anton J. Benjamin (Hamburg – Leipzig – Milan),
licensed for Great Britain and Dominions to B. Feldman music publishers.
