Tantalus figure as a joke drinking vessel. Christopher Gandtner, 1580/90. His head is a plug which, when removed, allows the drinker to quench their thirst. (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

On this day, 1790: #Mozart performed a #concert in Frankfurt am Main during the festivities surrounding the coronation of Leopold II. Compared to other concerts at the event, Mozart’s was a relative failure: it was poorly attended and was cut short because hungry listeners wanted lunch.

Looking forward to teaching about music and outdoor spaces in 18c Europe this week. I find the topic fascinating: so much of the repertory hasn’t been explored and/or performed. Many questions remain, even for pieces that have, like Mozart’s Serenade in B-flat Major (K361). youtu.be/QXZFuKVtJnk?...

Acknowledging his employer’s fondness for the hunt, Antonio #Rosetti let the horns do some ‘barking’ in the closing movement of his ‘hunting’ Partita for winds in F Major. #Harmoniemusik youtu.be/vfqCq2vF86Y?...

A paper model of the Schwarzenberg #theatre (1766) in Český Krumlov. It’s a nice reminder of my last two summers teaching there. I can’t wait to revisit it again.

'Lenardo und Blandine' premiered in Munich in 1779 with #music by Peter von Winter. The #melodrama's author, J.F. von Goez, was not only a playwright, but also an illustrator whose treatise on movement, declamation, and expression includes 160 engravings from the work—essentially a graphic novel.

“In a well-known symphony by Kapellmeister #Haydn, the orchestra gets smaller and smaller by the departure of musicians in the Finale. Here is the opposite…” J. #Sperger’s ‘Arrival’ #symphony begins with two musicians and grows as more join throughout. youtu.be/hhTGCZGJKzI

Here is a little story about the #earlymodern emoticon "<3" and the complex symbolic meaning of this typographical entity that I posted yesterday. Follow me, for catholic symbolism and some #bookhistory, dear #skystorians of the blue skies. Here we go...

Likely a long shot, but might any #earlymodern musicologists be able to identify these bars? There are numerous settings by Campion, Morley, Gautier in this Scottish ms, so I wondered if it was recognisable as any of theirs, or indeed someone else’s. As a lit historian, it’s beyond me, sadly.

Here is the Queen of the Night’s costume, from Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’, depicted in 1794. The accompanying text noted the opera’s renown, but still explained the scene for early audiences.

Today is my first day as Head of Research Management and Lecturer in Music at the Royal Northern College of Music!

In July 1792, the Mainz National #Theatre premiered the #opera ‘Heinrich der Löwe’ at the imperial coronation of Franz II in Frankfurt am Main, the last of the #HRE. Despite evidence of subsequent performances into the nineteenth century, very little of its #music has been found.

Finally getting to Jacqueline’s ‘Speaking German Musically’!

Day 1 of 2 of Estates Theatre fun.

It’s lovely being back in Český Krumlov. Can’t wait to introduce a new group of students to the town and region, and host a conference here later this month.

Event at UCL on 29 May 6pm to celebrate publication of Metropolitan Science: London Sites & Cultures of Knowledge and Practice, c. 1600-1800. Join @jasminekt.bsky.social & me, in discussion with Simon Werrett & Tim Boon #histsci #earlymodern #18thcentury #londonhistory www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Today's marginal #musicians are a selection of #pipers from Zeghere van Male's #chansonnier, c1542 Ca Ms 125-128, 1542 www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/1669/ #earlymusic #earlymodern #16thCentury #illuminatedmanuscript #marginaliamonday #sheetmusic #piper

Baroque music in #manchester 🥳

Jacqueline Waeber is a world-leading expert on (musical) #melodrama, and her work on the topic is largely responsible for my own interest in the genre. I can't wait to see the results of her latest study: boydellandbrewer.com/978183765214...

I’m delighted to have been awarded SSHRC funding to support an international workshop in Český Krumlov. It will be the capstone to our ‘Cambridge History of German Opera to the Early 19c’, where contributors will discuss #earlymodern #German #music and #theatre (and see an opera on an 18c stage)!

Happy Easter! youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Julius von Soden’s ‘Dirna’ was set to music by E.T.A. #Hoffmann for the Bamberg #theatre in 1809. The #melodrama was Hoffmann’s first contribution to the genre and the last significant dramatic work he composed for Bamberg, where he was active 1808–1813. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

📯 New publication! 📯 We are proud to share the outcomes of our NEH workshops in 2024, which brought together researchers from around the world to pilot data-driven approaches to the history of travel 🗃️ #earlymodern #digitalhumanities #digitalhistory read more here: github.com/rmidura/EMDi...

Actor-soprano Catarina Cavalieri (1755–1801) as Sophie in Ignaz Umlauf's 'Die Bergknappen'. Following this inaugural production of Vienna's National Singspiel in 1778, #Cavalieri appeared with the company in 18 leading roles and created characters in #operas by Salieri & Mozart.

Corona Schröter’s ‘Fünf und Zwanzig Lieder’ (1786) lists subscribers, their locations, and the quantity ordered. Alongside 64 copies intended for 15 local noble patrons, 506 copies of her #songs reached musicians in at least 47 locations, summarised in the #map below.

J.S. #Bach was born #OTD (Julian calendar) in Eisenach. This #map summarises the places Bach knew, as well as when he first came to know them. For more info, see the sources indicated on the map (among the many other books exploring Bach's life!).

Rescheduled to tomorrow due to the fires in January. Nice that the book is actually out now. Please come if you’re nearby. Live music, of course! huntingtonlibrary.libcal.com/event/13766318

It’s always such a treat to revisit good friends and places one has spent time in the past (and to catch an #eighteenthcentury #opera that is hardly ever performed today). Thanks, #OperFrankfurt, for the excuse to visit the Rhein-Main-Gebiet yet again (as if I needed one…)

Had a wonderful day out with friends in the #NewForest.

🎓 If you work in (digital) literary studies ✍️📚 and/or musicology 🎶 come to Uni Graz! The research cluster "Literatures and their Interactions" to the Arts is looking forward to your application! dimensions-of-europe.uni-graz.at/en/visiting-... ✨ #Musicology #DigitalHumanities #LiteraryStudies

In early 1792, director C.J.C. Fischer noted that the Schwerin public had grown disinterested in the local #theatre. Possibly seeing the end in sight, the court ordered him to inventory everything in his possession in April. The theatre was disbanded later that year.

Featuring Papageno and Papagena, this is the penultimate engraving of scenes from Die #Zauberflöte/#MagicFlute published in the ‘Allgemeines europäisches Journal’ (1795). It is part of a series made by J. Schaffer around 1794 and is among the earliest known images of #Mozart’s #opera.

‘Polyxena’ is a lyric monodrama composed by #Weimar Hofkapellmeister Ernst Wilhelm #Wolf (1776). On a text by F.J. #Bertuch for a single performer, ‘Polyxena’ has been labelled a secular cantata. It is more like a completely sung early #melodrama or concert #aria.

An addition to my growing collection of paper #theatres: the Litomyšl Palace Theatre!

Last call: The Management of Nineteenth-Century Opera Houses, 15-17 May 2025 www.luigiboccherini.org/2024/09/30/t...

Looking forward to my first Durham visit since leaving, having spent a few years at the Uni as a British Academy Newton International Fellow. It’ll be nice to catch up with friends and discuss opera at a workshop in Newcastle!

#OTD 1781: #Mozart’s ‘Idomeneo’ premiered in Munich. I read it as political allegory instructing subjects of the unpopular Palatine-Bavarian Elector Carl Theodor to get behind his rule. Like many carnival and political operas, #Idomeneo wasn’t performed much at the time.

#OTD 1789: ice on the #Danube broke causing severe flooding in #Linz (among other places). Maria Magdalena #Kauth responded by composing and publishing ‘Gemälde der Natur’ to raise funds for the victims. Depicting a storm, the #melodrama commemorated the flood, victims, and rescuers.

#OTD 1775: ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ premiered in the Friedenstein Palace #Theatre, Gotha. Created to highlight the talents of actor Esther C. #Brandes by Georg Benda and her husband Johann, the #melodrama was a sensation that was translated for performance across #eighteenth-century Europe.

Wolfgang Amadeus #Mozart was born #OTD, 1756. Here is a simple #map I (frantically) made of his life’s travels a while ago. My maps usually summarise the journeys of #18c musicians, but this time I went for completeness. Mozart’s journeys are well documented so it’s a bit packed!

A little morning reading to brush up on my #history of the Lands of the #Bohemian Crown before returning this summer. #Czechia

Listening to new #album of keyboard music to help pass the time on a train journey. #Bach #Benda #harpsichord #https://classical.music.apple.com/gb/album/1781631697?l=de-DE

#OTD 1793: Louis XVI was guillotined in Paris. Writing to a friend, #composer Georg Benda reacted to the #Terror and ongoing #war with France: “I only fear that in the end it might be that the brave patriots fought and shed so much blood not for their freedom, but only for ambitious villains…[1/2]

Carl Eberwein set Goethe’s #melodrama ‘Proserpina’ to #music in 1814. #Goethe described the collaboration to his friend Zelter: ‘We’ve put some real heat into this little work, so that it can rise up like a balloon and can still explode like a firework.’ classical.music.apple.com/gb/album/733...

The ‘Journal für Neunstimmige Harmonie’ published original compositions and arrangements for wind ensemble. It often included the latest music from the #theatre, such as the #melodrama ‘Saul’ (1810) by Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried (1776-1841), Kapellmeister of the Theater an der Wien.

The #opera house at Esterházy Palace (Eszterháza): it opened in 1768 and was destroyed by fire in 1779. A second, shown here, was finished in 1781 and inaugurated with #Haydn’s ‘La fedeltà premiata’. By 1865, the #theatre was partially demolished and repurposed for storage.

Charles #Burney was a #musician, #composer, and music #historian. In June 1770, he departed England and embarked on a #research trip to discover more about music in France & Italy. The observations he recorded and published in 1771, remain an important source of period practices.

Domenico Cimarosa was a prolific eighteenth-century composer of #opera. He wrote many comic works for the musical stage that were performed across Europe. Here is his ‘Il maestro di cappella’, a delightful and funny (20min) monologue poking fun at the era’s music and musicians: youtu.be/jxOd3eHUUSw

When my #book appeared as a paperback, the publisher was dealing with a 'cyber incident' and I wasn't very active here. I apologise for the self-promotion, but I wanted to share in case there is interest: the discount code (MUSI2224) is still valid for a few months! www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...

Wranitzky is absolutely fantastic. I am so happy that Naxos are committing to these. Any #A-Haydn-A-Day people should check these out!