| Summary: | <p>The object of this thesis is to draw attention to the work of Gottlieb Muffat, most of which is still unpublished and unknown. Although it has received some scholarly attention during the past 100 years, studies of his music are patchy and often based on an excusably incomplete knowledge of the sources. The publication of 2 definitive article on Muffat in MGG has opened up possibilities for further study rather than closing the subject. There is still room for a general survey of the kind included in this thesis. The methods used here expand the work of previous authors by adopting a more critical attitude to the sources, by examining 211 aspects of Muffat's music rather than concentrating on his suites, and by setting his music in a wider context.</p>
<p>A large amount of Baroque keyboard music has been examined in preparation for this thesis, in order to place Muffat's work in a general framework rather than viewing it in isolation. As a basis for comparison with his contemporaries and predecessors, an account is given of the various influential factors in his musical background, and a list has been compiled to show the kind of keyboard music which was circulating among Viennese composers at the time. There is also a more comprehensive and up-to-date list of sources for the keyboard music of Muffat himself, and of his Viennese colleagues, than has hitherto been available. Although much of the material in these lists is not newly-discovered, they draw together the existing information and add some new details. Problematic aspects of the sources are discussed, and while a conclusive solution is rarely possible, some suggestions are put forward to clarify the situation. Certain re-attributions and approximate datings are made.</p>
<p>Continued in thesis ...</p>
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