Explorathon: Grand Opera: Who owns a melody?

This talk introduces two performances by the Salonorchester (6 strings, flute, clarinet/sax, trumpet, euphonium/tuba, accordion, percussion) of arranged versions of Vincenzo Bellini's famous opera Norma (first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831). As a full opera, Norma takes 4 hours 30 mins. The Salon arrangements reduce the opera to 12 minutes. 

Arrangements of contemporary hits, such as a spectacular opera, symphony, dance or song, were created in the 19th century to spread music in an era when there was only live performance. No recordings, no radio. Music was only available in concerts, ball rooms, music halls, or drawing rooms (the Salon format). It is difficult now to imagine this world. Salon versions later were adjusted for early radio broadcasts. The Salonorchester performs from such editions held in the Dutch broadcasting archive, used frequently in the 1930s for broadcasting. 

On Saturday 21 September 2024, as part of the Explorathon festival (and Glasgow Doors Open), the Salonorchester will perform twice in the Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow.  Performances of the reduced versions of Bellini’s Norma will take place on the hour at 13:00 and 14:00. 

At 13.30pm, Professor Martin Kretschmer will give a short talk introducing music publishing practices and copyright law in 19th century Europe. Martin Kretschmer is Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Director of the CREATe creative economy centre (funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, AHRC) 

Foundational questions of copyright law include: what is a work? what kind of control can an author or publisher exercise over what other people do with a work? Turning a whole opera into a catchy selection of its greatest hits, with different instruments and without singers, illustrates the tensions and historical developments in how abridgements, arrangements and cover versions are treated in law.  

Arrangement 1: Grande Fantaisie La Norma by French composer and arranger Émile Tavan (1849-1929), published by Éditions Margueritat, Paris. 

Arrangement 2: Fantasie über Motive aus Bellini's Oper Norma, arranged by German/Austrian conductor and arranger Leopold Weninger (1879-1940) for the publisher Anton J. Benjamin (Hamburg - Leipzig - Milan), and licensed for Great Britain and Dominions to B. Feldman music publishers. 

As part of the Explorathon science festival, the CREATe Centre also will feature a stand, before and after the performances. Discussions will extend to related copyright questions in the digital context: for example, what you can and can't do with other people's music on social media, such as TikTok and Instagram. 

The performances take place at 13:00 and 14:00 in the ARC, and are suitable for all ages. 

Kretschmer’s introductory talk at 13:30 will speak to an audience interested in the history of music. 

Links: 

https://salonorchester.net/ 

https://www.create.ac.uk/ 

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