ABSTRACT
Musical commodities regularly accompanied European explorers, soldiers, merchants and missionaries who travelled to Asia in the early modern period. Among these objects were European music books – theoretical treatises and music scores in printed and manuscript form – that were disseminated throughout Asia as a consequence of the colonial, diplomatic, commercial and religious activities of European nations. This chapter examines the dissemination and use of European musical works in early modern China, Japan and the Philippines, before identifying the titles of scores and treatises so far known to have been present in these territories. European books transported to early modern China, Japan and the Philippines generally fell into three main categories: books that were personal possessions, books that were commodities for trade and books that were intended for institutional use. Music was a seminal part of evangelistic endeavours, from initial contact with indigenous peoples to the establishment of major churches on a similar scale to those of Europe.
