Den enes død, den andres brød Kampen om (ene)rett til musikkoppvartning på 1700-tallet

Abstract

The article deals with some atypical and little mentioned cases of access to musician positions in the strictly regulated musical field in Norway in the 18th century. The first case relates to how two blind, untrained brothers got the right to take a lease of musical performances in the parish of Aur -skog at Nedre Romerike. The second case relates to how a previous military achieved a position something between a tender district and a town musi-cian's office in the deanery of Øvre Romerike. In the third case, the intense struggle by two trained musicians to obtain the right to perform music in public in the town musician's district of Skien is examined more closely. The three cases have in common a struggle to achieve the right to perform music, and the involvement of the absolutist king in Copenhagen. How-ever, the cases deviate significantly from ordinary procedures of application established by the authorities.