Dactyls and Fire Spirits. In Early Sound Recordings. Academic Research and Practice: Carl Reinecke's written publications on Mozart as a guide to his piano rolls

This chapter examines the written publications of the Leipzig-based pianist, conductor, and composer, Carl Reinecke (1824–1910), whose piano rolls from 1905 and 1907 continue to fascinate and perplex scholars of 19th-century performance practice. Building on the work of Neal Peres da Costa, Robert Hill, and Nicholas Cook, Wadsworth reverses the usual process of using sonic sources as a gloss on written sources, arguing that Reinecke's written work can also help us to understand the often mystifying sounds captured on his piano rolls. In the process, she re-examines the common claim that because of his early birth year and his reputation as a musical conservative, Reinecke's performances of Mozart's music represent an unbroken tradition of performance style leading back to Mozart's own time.