ABSTRACT
European musicians have used a variety of methods to transmit their traditions from person to person and generation to generation. Understanding these methods requires looking beyond established models of transmission and modes of music ownership. To account for all the ways music is transmitted in Europe requires a broadened concept of notation, with some new terminology. Musicians make choices with one of two underlying objectives in mind: to perpetuate a heritage or to develop a cultural legacy into something new, deemed better or more advanced. The classic impulse to extend a heritage beyond its original context is found in elite and nonelite, religious and secular, aural and literate cultures in all parts of the world; it has always existed in certain European traditions. The impulse to a broader perspective of music transmission may be understood in the larger context of a general abandonment of a belief in cultural progress.
