Composers wove their music around the ‘cantus firmus’ to breathe life into the old material not as a quotation but as the bedrock for innovation. The inclusion of huge passages of Gregorian Chant into later masses was an expectation as polyphony began to take hold in the late Medieval period. This was common practice during these long periods of music and no shame was brought to bear on the numerous composers who adopted this approach. The ‘Parody Mass’, even with its misleading title, simply used the music from existing music madrigals, chansons, motets for example. Perhaps one of the clearest examples of borrowed work could be a great number of masses composed during the Medieval or Renaissance periods. On what we base this assumption is probably the focus for another article, but the assumption is not correct. Part of the muddle is that in this day and age, we tend towards the idea that a composition, or for that matter almost any work in the Art World, as ‘brand new’, or original. You can choose almost any period of musical history and you will quickly discover that composers use the work of others to generate their compositions. What is key to show is that composers through the ages have borrowed or stolen the work of other composers as a matter of practice. Whether Stravinsky or Mozart stealing or borrowing work form other composers justifies the quote above is not the entire point of the article. On a first glance at the manuscript of the 37 th Symphony, you would see clearly that it is Mozart’s work, making it quite a challenge to prove otherwise. It is worth reflecting on the fact that all manuscripts were notated by the composer’s hand. Mozart’s 37 th is the embellished, re-worked, and re-orchestrated 25 th Symphony of Michael Haydn. Until 1907, the 37 th Symphony was thought to be the work of Mozart when it was revealed that is was the work of Michael Haydn. Following the hasty composition of his 36 th Symphony, nicknamed ‘The Linz’, Mozart it appears was keen to add another symphony to the concert season. Perhaps Stravinsky did steal the music of another composer for his composition but does this make him a great composer? We rightly consider WA Mozart to be a composer of immense creativity, originality, and even genius but does it alter your opinion to know that Mozart too stole the work of another composer. Good Composers Borrow, Great Composers Steal (Interestingly, it appears that according to some sources, Pergolesi probably did not compose the original music after all). Are we saying that borrowing is acceptable but theft is to be applauded? Can we with a clear conscience, justify this kind of behavior in the world of the Arts if we have already acknowledged the work as being of value without knowing its origins? The quote that provides the focus of this article is from the inimitable Igor Stravinsky who himself certainly ‘borrowed’ from the well of Russian folk-music and possibly the Baroque composer Battista Pergolesi in his ‘Pulcinella’ Ballet. The title of this article may reasonably raise a few eyebrows.
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