Over the last decade, musicological interest in both the composing virtuoso of the nineteenth century and the phenomenon of virtuosity has increased. Moving beyond approaches to music solely in terms of works allowed for a range of perspectives on concepts of virtuosity to emerge. Such cultural theory-based approaches crucially put the traditional musicological image of the virtuoso into a broader context. Recent advances in performance studies, furthermore, emphasise the need to include factors such as staging, the audience, sound and space, and musical practices, in our understanding of the complex phenomenon of virtuosity. The present volume tries to meet the challenges raised by these multi-layered perspectives by varying the foci on virtuosity – from specific attention to individual virtuosi and considerations of virtuosity’s historical and social context to broader questions regarding innovations in the current landscape and future virtuoso phenomena. The broad range of topics centres on the composer and virtuoso Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst and his immediate sphere of influence. The contributions in the present volume not only reveal the complexity of the research field of virtuosity but also liberate Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst from the shadow of fixed, mainly non-musical, discourses on virtuosity around Paganini. The enclosed CD with recordings by Guillaume Tardif, Philippe Borer, Clive Brown and Friederike Spangenberg enriches these texts by including the dimension of sound.

The present volume is one of a series which will cover the output of the Gramophone Company from its beginning in 1898 to 1929, when recording methods had progressed from the primitive trumpet to the sophisticated microphone. The Company operated through ten branches, and the catalogues of two of these (Italy and France) have already been published by Greenwood. This new volume adds Germany to the list, but the coverage extends to Austria, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia and to any other country (including the United States) where there was interest in records whose source or language was German. The principal intention of this volume is to produce a complete listing of material within this field, and not merely a selection (e.g., operatic records only). Thus, it lists not only the important recordings from Wagner operas, but those from other composers, together with all the songs, popular and serious, recorded by the most important record company of the age. Also included are all the instrumental records of the time--by pianists, violinists, cellists, and harmonica players--as well as military music played by celebrated regimental bands. Included with this is a remarkable amount of material where the executant was also the composer, an area of unusual interest. In previous years, most records from this time period were unavailable, and there was virtually no chance of ever hearing them, particularly where copies were so rare as to exist in only one collection. The introduction of the long-playing record changed the situation and the invention of the compact disc has improved availability to an extent undreamed of even a few years ago. This volume is intended to provide collectors and archivists with a comprehensive and reliable guide to the contents of their collections.