Over the weekend, I put together a very tiny animation about a tune plagiarised from Moore’s Irish Melodies in 1815. Interesting Twitter conversation ensued with Paul Cooper (of RegencyDances.org) and folklorist Jurgen Kloss in Hennef, Germany. In brief, it does appear that folk tunes – and even country dances – were seen as fair game for repurposing and republication, although there are a number of legal disputes on record in contemporary newspapers. And I have some more great references for the bibliography, next time I’m updating it!
- Cooper, Paul, White v. Gerock, 1818 (of Country Dances & Copyright), https://www.regencydances.org/paper014.php
- Cooper, Paul, Copyright disputes between London’s Dance Publishers, 1810s, https://www.regencydances.org/paper032.php
- T.C.C., ‘Musical Proprietorship’, The Quarterly Musical Magazine & Review, vol.3, pp.151-154, via Archive.org
- Kloss, Jurgen, …Humming A Diff’rent Tune: “Melodies of Different Nations”: Anthologies of International “National Airs” in Britain 1800-1830 – Pt. 1 (2015)
- Kloss, Jurgen, …Humming A Diff’rent Tune: “Melodies of Different Nations”: Anthologies of International “National Airs” in Britain 1800-1830 – Pt. 2 (2016)
- Kloss, Jurgen, ‘…Humming A Diff’rent Tune: “This, after All, Is Music of the Heart” Thomas Moore’s “Hark! The Vesper Hymn Is Stealing” (1818) (2016)
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Here’s my original weekend posting:-
I unearthed an unexpected instance of musical plagiarism yesterday. And I wonder if Thomas Moore and James Power were even aware of it! I won’t divulge too many of the details, as I might be referring to it in a conference paper one day, but here’s the teaser, in the form of a brief Biteable animation! Please click the link below:-
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 