II.A. State of research
Music historians have long been aware that the history of music is inextricably linked with the history of society and hence cannot be limited to the study of certain outstanding figures or to the analysis of musical forms and genres. Especially in the last thirty years multiple approaches have been developed fostering the study of music in its social and cultural context or the analysis of musical, theatrical or religious institutions. One might mention in particular the Storia dell’opera italiana (ed. by L. Bianconi and G. Pestelli, 6 vols., in the process of publication), the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, the Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft, the collection Théâtre européen, opéra, ballet (published with the support of the Council of Europe) and finally the series Music and Society (collective works organised by cultural and geographical centres). To these publications may be added various collective initiatives such as the research programme on Baltic musical life (The Baltic as a Musical Landscape: Musicians, Institutions and Repertoires in the 17th and 18th Centuries) initiated by the Council of Scientific Academies of the Nordic Countries.
Whereas the publication and study of literary sources relating to music (memoirs, journals, chronicles, the press) is still at an early stage, the documentation of the distribution of the music itself is well under way. A worldwide catalogue of printed musical sources up to 1830 (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, series A/I), a corresponding thematic catalogue of music manuscripts, ca. 1600-ca. 1800 (series A/II, in progress, available on-line) and an international database of opera libretti are already available. They remain insufficient, however, especially insofar as 19th-century music is concerned. Similarly, the history of music publishing is still focused narrowly on individual regions or publishing houses.
Lastly, it seems clear to us that the promotion of specialised historiographic research and the active publication of musical sources and documents has led during the past few years to a dangerous fragmentation. Faced with this growing compartmentalisation of work, it seems desirable, even urgent, to strive henceforth for greater co-ordination and synthesis in the study of music history, for example by ensuring that recent advances in research are placed at the disposal of the scholarly community as a whole. It is our hope that the programme proposed here will mark a major advance in achieving that goal.
