Handel relied more than most composers on reuse and reworking of existing material. However, the majority of these instances should not be classified as borrowings. The notion of constructive principles, or using models and common formulas, was essential to the Baroque style. Therefore scholars should exercise caution in labeling passages as "borrowings" based only on a melodic motive or measure of similarity. For example, the arias No. 22, "Cade il mondo," from Agrippina, and "Caddi, e ver" from La Resurrezione, are likely modeled on "Fällt ihr Mächtigen" from Keiser's opera Nebucadnezar. The similar harmonic sequence, as well as the common motive, provide convincing evidence that this is indeed a borrowing. On the other hand, the aria "Sperero," labeled by Bernd Baselt as a borrowing from Rodrigo, appears to be similar only in the opening motive of the voice part, and this evidence is not conclusive enough to classify the passage as a borrowing. Clarification of terminology will help to remedy these misunderstandings regarding Handel's borrowing techniques. "Parody" should be restricted to literal or almost literal reuses of material with a different text, where structure and musical substance remains intact. Literal repetition of the same piece, including the text, should be termed "reuse." "Reworking" defines a musical idea that has been modified, and "new work" describes those works which use brief motives or themes to form a new piece. Also, Handel frequently does not match new texts with similar Affections in his use of preexistent material in Agrippina. An appendix summarizes the sources for Agrippina and the ways Handel uses them.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Brian Phillips

Fragments of a newly discovered English manuscript contain a portion of the Agnus Dei from Dufay's Missa Caput, as well as portions of a different cyclical Mass. This new discovery strengthens the probability that Dufay borrowed the tenor of his Missa Caput from another unknown Caput Mass by an English composer. Several stylistic differences between the Mass of the manuscript and Dufay's Missa Caput exist as evidence of Dufay's English influence. These include: (1) the presence of a fourth voice acting as bass; (2) the bipartite division of each movement; (3) contrasting of parts by means of triple and duple meter; (4) introductory duets in each part; and (5) imitations between the free voices. Evidence also suggests that Dufay composed the Kyrie of the Missa Caput approximately ten years after the rest of the mass. This includes stylistic differences between the Kyrie and the other movements, an entry in the Cambrai archives which notes the copying of "'les kyriels' of the Caput Mass" into choirbooks, and the fact that the English cyclical Mass, which Dufay adopted, typically omitted the Kyrie.

Index Classifications: 1400s

Contributed by: Brian Phillips

Bach's Sanctus BWV 241 is a reworking of the Sanctus from Johann Caspar Kerll's Missa Superba. Kerll designed the mass for ten concerted parts, with some doubling instruments: 2 sopranos, 2 altos, 2 basses, 2 violins, 4 trombones, organ, and violone. Bach added two oboes d'amore to double the soprano parts, replaced the trombones with violas, omitted the violone and organ, and added a new continuo line with cello, violone grosso, cembalo, and organ. Kerll's Sanctus is built in three separate sections: Bach kept the first two sections essentially intact, only quickening the rhythm in spots. The faster rhythm led Bach to abandon his model entirely in the third section, introducing a lively new motive in steady sixteenth-note motion.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Brian Phillips

Evidence suggests that the trope evolved independently of the prosa and other additions to the liturgy. For example, the existence of poetic trope texts suggests that they were new compositions, both in text and music, while the prosa is created by adding words to an existing melody, and is inevitably in prose. This challenges the "St. Gall theory" of the origin of troping, which argues that the trope, like the prosa, arose through the process of supplying texts to melismatic additions that had previously been made to the official chant. This theory fails on three counts: (1) it is based only on three St. Gall tropers, and does not consider all of the earliest tropers; (2) it suggests four stages of development, but traces of the "intermediate steps" are lacking in all but the St. Gall tropers; and (3) it assumes that trope lines must be extensions of lines of chant, whereas the evidence, such as the use of connective expressions or striking melodic figures, suggests that they developed as introductions. The precise date and place of the origin of troping are uncertain, but since the earliest tropers give evidence of a primitive trope repertory, it must have received considerable development in the ninth century.

Index Classifications: Monophony to 1300

Contributed by: Brian Phillips

Handel scholars have criticized or sought to justify Handel's borrowing practices based on issues external to the composing process, such as illness, time-constraints, and lack of talent. Handelians must accept the fact of Handel's borrowing and acknowledge the integrity of Handel's compositional methods by focusing on compositional intent and searching for semantic meanings of the borrowings. Compositional intent is vital to distinguishing between "borrowing" or related benevolent practices, and "plagiarism," which suggests intent to deceive. Performance practice involves elements of improvisation that affect our appreciation of a work, but integrity belongs to the composer and the compositional process. Handel scholars may learn from the methodologies of analysis used by scholars in other areas. For example, Geoffrey Bullough, in his work on Shakespeare's borrowings, does not entertain notions of plagiarism, but argues that Shakespeare drew inspiration from the source and molded it into something new. In his book Painting as an Art, Richard Wollheim argues that it is the intention of the artist while painting that determines whether a work is art. Scholars such as Peter Burkholder and Christopher Ballantine have dealt with the semantic connotations of Ives's borrowing. Evidence of semantic connotations in Handel's borrowings emerge in Israel in Egypt; he pairs related Old Testament and New Testament material from Erba's Magnificat, which suggests he is reinterpreting the texts.

Works: Bach: Fugue in E Major BWV 878 from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (308); Handel, Israel in Egypt.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Brian Phillips

Stravinsky's ballet Petrouchka contains authentic Russian folk melodies. Five can be identified based on counterparts in four Russian folk song collections (listed in a bibliography). Ironically, the familiar composers Tchaikovsky, Balakirev, and Rimsky-Korsakov produced less authentic folk song anthologies than did scholars such as Melgunov, Istomin and Diutsch, and Lineva, since the composers were tempted to "improve" on the originals. Stravinsky did not necessarily consult these collections, but these models facilitate understanding and acknowledgment of borrowings. The songs Stravinksy used come from both Christian and pagan traditions. The "Song of the Volochebniki," traditionally sung at Easter, occurs in the first and fourth tableaux and is found in the Rimsky-Korsakov collection. The rare "Song for St. John's Eve," from the Istomin and Diutsch collection, occurs in the first tableau. The fourth tableau also contains "Ia vechor moloda," a popular dance song found in the Rimsky-Korsakov collection, as well as "O Snow Now Thaws" (about soup and love) from the Prokunin-Tchaikovsky collection and "Akh vy sieni, moi sieni" (about a happy bride) from the Swerkoff collection.

Works: Stravinsky: Petrushka.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Brian Phillips, Daniel Bertram