Sources

Abstract

This chapter explores issues relevant to the study of operatic sources: libretti, sketches, drafts, manuscript scores, performing parts, and other production materials. It demonstrates how these documents have facilitated the discovery of relationships between composer and performer, physical structure and content, and original and revision, among others. In addition to illuminating artistic decisions, source materials are also shown to reflect the pragmatic nature of operatic production, as commercial enterprise, political battleground, and social barometer. Italian, German, English, Russian, and American composers are represented, with emphasis on works from the nineteenth century. The chapter also addresses the challenges that technology presents for the study of compositional process in contemporary operas.

Tetsuo Nozoe's Autograph Books: Poems, Puzzles and Playfulness

“…I confess that it took me a while to identify inscription." [73] (B) Edward B. Sanders, retired chemist from Philip Morris International (Switzerland) and past colleague of the author and a fine pianist wrote, "Without the hint, followed by some research, much of which was wasted, I would never have figured it out. I assumed this had to do with Tetsuo Nozoe's autograph books.…”