Copyist

A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings.

Until the 1990s, most copyists worked by hand to write out scores and individual instrumental parts neatly, using a calligraphy pen, staff paper, and often a ruler. Producing parts for an entire orchestra from a full score was a huge task. In the 1990s, copyists began using scorewriters – computer programs which are the music notation–equivalent of a word processor. (Such programs include Sibelius, Finale, MuseScore, LilyPond, and many others.) Scorewriters allow the composer or songwriter to enter the melodies, rhythms and lyrics to their compositions into the computer using a computer mouse or keyboard or by playing the notes on a MIDI-equipped instrument. Once a composition is fully entered into a scorewriting program, the computer can be instructed to print out the parts for all of the different instruments.

Both handwritten and computer-based copying require significant understanding of musical notation, music theory, the musical styles and conventions of different styles of music (e.g., regarding appropriate ornamentation, harmony rules pertaining to accidentals, etc.), and strong attention to detail and past conventions. Johann Sebastian Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena, regularly copied compositions by her husband and sometimes by other composers, e.g. "Bist du bei mir" in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Ludwig van Beethoven had a contentious relationship with his copyists, who often made mistakes that remained uncorrected until the advent of urtext editions; some musicologists have devoted a lot of effort to identifying Beethoven's copyists.

Copyist programmes are run by a number of museums that offer permits to members of the public. These permits grant artists access to museums, enabling them to produce their own copies of artworks. Copyists copy to enhance their skills or to financially benefit by selling their work.

The Louvre in Paris was one of the first museums to enable artists to copy art in 1793. Other major museums soon followed such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York City in 1872. To become a copyist in 1880 at the Louvre, a simple request at the office of the secretary was sufficient. After gaining permission to use the museum, a complimentary easel was provided to the artist for a year. This is a tradition that still occurs in many copyist programmes today, but the availability of permits is more limited in the 21st century.

Permits are renewable, artists often complete more than one session. Copyists are still required to follow certain traditions such as being required to cover the floor with a drop cloth to prevent damage to the gallery floors at the Met.

Notable artists such as Picasso began practising their art as copyists in museums. The utility of this programme has frequently been emphasised, for instance artists such as Paul Cézanne and Cennino Cennini. Ingres and Delacroix highly emphasised the value of learning from other painters by going to the Louvre and discovering their artistic personalities. The benefits of copying were addressed in a study by Okada and Ishibashi (2004). It was found that copying caused the participants to assess and compare their own artistic style with others, which led to more creative pieces, in comparison to the control group.

At some centres the availability of permits has been drastically reduced over time due to the popularity of the programme. There are now selection processes involving the submission of a portfolio, along with a list of potential pieces the artist would like to copy. Upon a successful application, artists are normally able to copy their first or second choice. The permits tend to be given to locals, since the artists will be required to spend a lot of time in the gallery.