Early music revivals & the origins of musicology

Abstract

How did the study of music’s past become a discipline in its own right? Dr Jeremy Coleman investigates the 18th and 19th-century roots of musicology, when antiquarians, historians, and performers across Europe began treating old music as cultural heritage. His research reveals how early revivals, historical concerts, and scholarly traditions shaped not only what we hear today, but also how we perceive the history of Western music.