Quotation must be understood as a subdivision of the larger field of borrowing, which is a principal component of composition and can be categorized in terms such as conscious vs. unconscious and legitimate vs. illegitimate. Whereas legal and ethical views of quotation have been historically variable, purely musical criteria employed by musicians have emerged to evaluate quotation practices. Quotation is distinguished from thematic reworking and plagiarism by virtue of its specifically extramusical function, intended to be heard by the listener. Quotation may be employed (1) to evoke time, place, or circumstance, (2) as musical wit, (3) as the basis for parody or caricature, or (4) as the basis for exposition of serious content.

Works: Debussy: La bôite à joujouz (136); Busoni: Arlecchino (136); Mozart: Piano Rondo in A minor, K. 511 (136); Berg: Lyric Suite (136).

Index Classifications: General, 1700s, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Alexander J. Fisher, David Lieberman