This study deals with the four-composer Polish musical association, Young Polish Composers' Publishing Company, which became commonly known as the group Poland in Music. Young Poland in Music is considered by Polish and non-Polish music historians to be the signal inaugurator of modernism in Polish music. However, despite this most important attribution, the past eighty-odd years have witnessed considerable confusion over the perceptions of: 1) exactly who constituted the publishing company, 2) why it was founded, 3) what the intentions of its members were, and 4) the general reception its members' music received. This paper addresses and resolves this multiple confusion. Chapter I presents an introductory survey of the political, socio/cultural, and musical developments of Poland between 1772 and c1900, the period of the Polish Partitions through the beginnings of the "Young Poland" era. Chapter II presents a discussion of the facts surrounding the founding of the publishing company, as well as a discussion of the eighty-odd years of historical misinterpretations that have developed about the composers' company and its relationship to "Young Poland in Music." Chapter III discusses the interpersonal relationships of the composers and other persons directly involved with them and their company, and the impact that these …

Chapter I of this thesis details contemporary historical views on the origins of the violin and its terminology. Chapters II through VI study the methodologies of makers from Italy, the Germanic Countries, the Low Countries, France, and England, and highlights the aspects of these methodologies that show influence from one maker to another. Chapter VII deals with matters of imitation, copying, violin forgery and the differences between these categories. Chapter VIII presents a discussion of the manner in which various violin experts identify the maker of a violin. It briefly discusses a new movement that questions the current methods of authentication, proposing that the dual role of "expert/dealer" does not lend itself to sufficient objectivity. The conclusion suggests that dealers, experts, curators, and musicologists alike must return to placing the first emphasis on the tradition of the craft rather than on the individual maker.