Oates for Tanger
Sun, 21 Dec 2003
The Music Library of Jean-Baptiste Christophe Ballard
"The Ballard family of music printers held exclusive royal privilege for printing music in France for over 200 years beginning in 1551 with their association with Adrian Le Roy. Jean-Christophe Ballard's vast collection of musical works contained in his music library, listed in his inventory after death, numbers almost 1050. Described meticulously over 45 pages, it is set along side the 100 pages of music titles found in his music store. Surprisingly, his library includes a stunning collection of Italian music by both well-know and obscure composers which accounts for some 40 percent of the collection. Although his music library spans three centuries, the 17th century collection represents its central component. This study presents the complete transcription of the music library inventory with statistical collection analysis and commentary as well as eleven plates of document illustrations. Additional archival documents on the Ballard family recently discovered by the author add important historical data. Together, these shed new light not only on music repertoire during the French Baroque, but importantly, on Ballard's musical vision as an expression of his personal taste and as a reflection of French taste contemporary to his time." Fascinating research by Tula Giannini on her site.
Posted at 18:54 #
