From the document to the work: Ontological reflections on the preservation and restoration of musical artefacts
Alessandro Arbo · Journal of New Music Research · 2018
The article highlights the interest of an ontological analysis in addressing issues related to the preservation and restoration of musical works. The latter are considered as artefacts that function aesthetically. Such entities depend on the inscription of a trace, whose durability can be provided in three ways: oral, written and phonographic. The recording can either document a work (or a musical event) or constitute it. A careful consideration of this alternative, in relation to the way in which the artefact was conceived, is useful when one chooses appropriate approaches to the preservation and restoration of musical works.