Cultural History of Music Books in Post-Reformation Sweden: Making and Owning Songbooks of Liturgy and Devotion

The formation of the kingdom Sweden and the adoption of religious reform coincided with changes in book culture, through the establishment of printed books alongside the continued use of handwritten manuscripts.

Music remained an essential part of worship in Lutheranism also, and the adoption of a new literary culture around institutional worship and personal devotion brought changes to the pre-existing books and their use.

Although the quantity of books increased in the early modern period along with the development of Swedish and Finnish as literary languages, the levels of literacy remained low. Moreover, the ability to interact with notation was a skill possessed by even fewer.

Research on this distinct group of readers and writers of music sources provides insight on practical and aesthetic properties of books and written material in general, both as vehicles of information as well as important material objects.

My research project conducts a comprehensive study on the culture of music books in the first two centuries of post-Reformation Sweden.

The results are presented in a monograph detailing the major themes on book production, formats, dissemination and readership.

Researching music sources emphasises the unique aspects of music as part of the Swedish Reformation and the adaptation of written music culture alongside the traditions based on oral transmission and memory.