Music and Print

Abstract

• This chapter surveys some of the major trends in music printing and publishing from the fifteenth century to the present day. From Ottaviano Petrucci's introduction of triple‐impression printing for polyphonic music in the sixteenth century to the global marketing of music in modern times, the history of music in print reveals an uneven correlation between technological development, socioeconomic change, and notational evolution. Owing to the unique spatial and performative dimensions to the musical text, the music publisher plays an unusually significant role in mediating between the composer and intended audience. Music therefore offers an illuminating and challenging area for bibliographical exploration.