Obiter Scripta: Essays, Lectures, Articles, Interviews and Reviews on Music, and Other Subjects

This volume of Albi Rosenthal’s work was originally conceived as a small selection in celebration of his 85th birthday. It rapidly expanded to a larger volume as the range and depth of his scholarship, and the fascination of his material, became apparent. This more comprehensive collection is presented here in the belief that it will now also be of interest to a much wider audience

Obiter Scripta spans the author’s output of over sixty years, touching on many subjects on which he is an expert. There are specific studies on Mozart--the field in which he is pre-eminent--and on Monteverdi, Paganini, Haydn, Liszt, and Kodály. He also writes on music collecting and bibliography, fakes and frauds, discoveries, the perils of auctions, the earliest depiction of a musical instrument in a printed book, and anecdotes and coincidences. He is a Trustee of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel and describes how many of the Foundation’s major acquisitions were secured. There is a section of tributes, and a number of articles arising from his lifelong interest in Nietzsche. Finally, there are some interviews in which, among other things, Albi talks about himself, his family, and his life in Oxford.

Forced by the political situation to leave Germany, Albi Rosenthal had to abandon his hopes of an academic career. He has combined a lifetime of study and business, and in the course of doing so, has become the foremost authority in the field of music manuscripts while simultaneously pursuing academic work--not from an ivory tower, but from the hectic environment of an international businessman, commuting almost daily from Boars Hill to Belsize Park Gardens, with frequent visits to all parts of the world where music manuscripts are appraised, bought or sold.

Albi Rosenthal is widely known in international music circles as an expert on the authenticity of manuscripts and all things musical, and as a collector and dealer.