Music Commons^™

Performance Practice: Criticism, Summary, Discovery, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

Promising new directions for performance research include: (1) firsthand experience with historical instruments; (2) reexamining musical sources; (3) exploring archival and literary material; and (4) establishing links with ethnic research.

Front Matter

Performance Practice Review

Table of Contents

Finding The Beat In Music: Using Adaptive Oscillators, Kate M. Burgers

HMC Senior Theses

The task of finding the beat in music is simple for most people, but surprisingly difficult to replicate in a robot. Progress in this problem has been made using various preprocessing techniques (Hitz 2008; Tomic and Janata 2008). However, a real-time method is not yet available. Methods using a class of oscillators called relay relaxation oscillators are promising. In particular, systems of forced Hopf oscillators (Large 2000; Righetti et al. 2006) have been used with relative success. This work describes current methods of beat tracking and develops a new method that incorporates the best ideas from each existing method and …

"The Music Of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach" By David Schulenberg, David Ledbetter

Performance Practice Review

David Ledbetter discusses and reviews Schulenberg's 2010 work.

Schulenberg, David. The Music of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2010.

ISBN: 978-1-58046-359-1

"Beethoven The Pianist" By Tilman Skowroneck, William Kinderman

Performance Practice Review

William Kinderman discusses and reviews Skowrowneck's 2010 work.

Skowroneck, Tilman. Beethoven the Pianist. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

ISBN 978-0-521-11959-7.

The Mexican Hydra: How Calderón's Pursuit Of Peace Led To The Bloodiest War In Mexican History? Will The Mexican People Inherit A Failed State In 2012?, Marco A. Pinon-Farah

CMC Senior Theses

THE MEXICAN HYDRA: HOW CALDERÓN’S PURSUIT OF PEACE LED TO THE BLOODIEST WAR IN MEXICAN HISTORY. WILL THE MEXICAN PEOPLE INHERIT A FAILED STATE IN 2012?

Abstract

Marco Antonio Pinon-Farah

The drug-war in Mexico (2006-present) has accelerated at a chilling rate, claiming the lives of 35,000 Mexican people. Since President Felipe Calderón assumed office, Mexico has been battling an internal beast unlike any it has known, the Mexican Hydra. Like the mythical creature, the Mexican cartels have proven capable of not only combating the government forces, but also of regenerating and strengthening themselves in the face of increasing government scrutiny …

"The Sounds And Sights Of Performance In Early Music: Essays In Honour Of Timothy J. Mcgee" By Maureen Epp And Brian E. Power, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

Roland Jackson discusses and critiques the 2009 work of Maureen Epp and Brian E. Power.

Epp, Maureen, Brian E. Power, eds. The Sounds and Sights of Performance in Early Music: Essays in Honour of Timothy J. McGee. Surrey (UK) and Burlington (VT): Ashgate Publishing Company, 2009.

ISBN 978-0-7546-5483-4.

Correspondences And Complementarity In Visual Music, Bill Alves

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Visual music is an art form that implies intermodal connections between the senses but which has historically often failed to identify aesthetically satisfying correspondences. Artistic success does not automatically emerge in one medium when its elemental characteristics are mapped to those of an existing work from another medium. I offer examples from my own abstract animations with music, which draw upon John Whitney's concept of complementarity, a more intuitive correspondence at a higher level of aesthetic qualities, that of stasis and dynamism or tension and resolution.

"The Fortepiano Writings Of Streicher, Dieudonné, And The Schiedmayers: Two Manuals And A Notebook, Translated From The Original German, With Commentary" By Preethi De Silva, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

Roland Jackson reviews and critiques De Silva's 2008 work.

De Silva, Preethi. The Fortepiano Writings of Streicher, Dieudonné, and the Schiedmayers: Two Manuals and a Notebook, Translated from the Original German, with Commentary. Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.

ISBN: 978-0-773-44874-2

From Disco To Electronic Music: Following The Evolution Of Dance Culture Through Music Genres, Venues, Laws, And Drugs., Ambrose Colombo

CMC Senior Theses

Electronic dance music is a genre that has been long in the making. Starting with disco in the 1970s, dance culture genres evolved into house, acid house, techno, garage, 2-step, hardcore, gabba, san frandisco, electro, and many others. This paper studies the transformation of electronic sound, and the contributing/impeding factors involved. Drug use is heavily related to the creation and enjoyment of music, and features prominently in the history of dance culture. Starting with the use of acid in the 1960s and progressing to the use of acid, Quaaludes, poppers, speed in the 1970s, with MDA featured in clubs toward …

Book Review: "Bach's Solo Violin Works: A Performer's Guide" By Jaap Schröder, Peter Walls

Performance Practice Review

Peter Walls discusses and critiques Jaap Schröder's guide on how to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's works for solo violin.

Book Review: "Performance Practice: A Dictionary-Guide For Musicians." By Roland Jackson, Peter Holman

Performance Practice Review

Peter Holman discusses and critiques Roland Jackson's Dictionary-Guide to performance-practice-related terms.

Book Reviews: "Musical Instruments: History, Technology, And Performance Of Instruments Of Western Music." By Murray Campbell, Clive Greated And Arnold Myers, And "From Renaissance To Baroque: Change In Instruments And Instrumental Music In The Seventeenth Century: Proceedings Of The National Early Music Association Conference Held, In Association With The Department Of Music, University Of York And The York Early Music Festival, At The University College Of Ripon And York St Johan, York, 2-4 July 1999." By Jonathan Wainwright And Peter Holman., Rudolf Rasch

Performance Practice Review

Rasch reviews two books on musical instruments.

Campbell, Murray, Clive Greated, and Arnold Myers. "Musical Instruments: History, Technology, and Performance of Instruments of Western Music." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-816504-8.

Wainwright, Jonathan, Peter Holman, eds. "From Renaissance to Baroque: Change in Instruments and Instrumental Music in the Seventeenth Century. Proceedings of the National Early Music Association Conference held, in association with the Department of Music, University of York and the York Early Music Festival, at the University College of Ripon and York St Johan, York, 2-4 July 1999." Aldershot Hampshire: Ashgate, 2005. ISBN 0-7546-0403-9.

Book Review: "Performance On Lute, Guitar And Vihuela: Historical Performance Practice And Interpretation" By Victor Anand Coelho, Daniel Zuluaga

Performance Practice Review

Zuluaga reviews Coelho's 2005 book.

Coelho, Victor Anand, ed. "Performance on Lute, Guitar and Vihuela: Historical Performance Practice and Interpretation." Cambridge University Press, 2005. Cambridge Studies in Performance Practice, no. 6. ISBN 0-521-10943-5.

Keyboard Fingering And Interpretation: A Comparison Of Historical And Modern Approaches, Jeffrey Swinkin

Performance Practice Review

Earlier systems of keyboard fingering exploit the natural differences of finger strength and utilize frequent changes of position in order to facilitate localized (gestural) phrasing and articulation, among other interpretive nuances. The modern system of fingering, by contrast, views the fingers as more homogeneous and aims to keep the hand more stationary out of a concern for purely technical facility and for promoting a longer line. This essay offers numerous examples of historical keyboard fingerings—those by C. P. E Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Schenker—in each case discussing the implications the fingering has for phrasing and other aspects of interpretation. It …

Book Review: "Studies In The Printing, Publishing And Performance Of Music In The 16th Century." By Stanley Boorman, Maureen Buja

Performance Practice Review

Buja reviews Boorman's 2005 book.

Boorman, Stanley. Studies in the Printing, Publishing and Performance of Music in the 16th Century. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005. Variorium Collected Studies Series, C815. ISBN 0-86078-970-5.

Book Review: "Singing In Style: A Guide To Vocal Performance Practices." By Martha Elliott., Margaret Murata

Performance Practice Review

Murata reviews and critiques Martha Elliot's book on singing.

Elliott, Martha. "Singing in Style: A Guide to Vocal Performance Practices." New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-300-10932-6.

Monsieur De Saint-Georges' 'Règles Pour L'Accompagnement': A Translation And Commentary, Sara-Anne Churchill

Performance Practice Review

Saint-Georges' 'Règles pour l'accompagnement,' which provide instruction in figured bass realization at the harpsichord, are found in an undated manuscript (Paris, Bn, Vm8 1139). This article examines questions of authorship, date of copying, and the author's identity. The manuscript exhibits a close connection to Jean-François Dandrieu’s Principes de l’accompagnement du clavecin (1719) and probably represents an early version of that work.

It Can “Spoil All The Beauty”: The Duplicating Of Solo Dissonances In Seventeenth-Century Thorough-Bass Accompaniment, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

17th-century accompaniments avoid duplicating the dissonances present in solo parts. This is borne out in available written-out versions (composer's copies, orchestral scorings), e.g. by R. Dowland, Cesti, A. Scarlatti, and Purcell. The same is evident in unrealized accompaniments (bass lines with or without figures) if interpreted according to contemporary strictures (e.g. Rule of Octave). Following these guidelines, harmonizations are suggested for laments by Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Cesti.

The Electro-Acoustic Music Of Frederick Lesemann, Bill Alves

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

A survey of the electro-acoustic music compositions of Frederick Lesemann from 1970-2004.

Digital Harmony Of Sound And Light, Bill Alves

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In the late 1980s and early 1990s I was privileged to work with the computer animation pioneer John Whitney Sr. and was profoundly influenced by his ideas on how to apply musical concepts of harmony to visual arts of motion. at the time of his death in 1995, he and I were planning composition software in which an artist could apply these concepts to create harmonic patterns simultaneously in sound and animation.
Though this idea was never realized beyond certain tests, I have taken this step in my subsequent work in computer-generated music and video in ways inspired by, if …

Imbal-Imbalan, Bill Alves

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

A composition in Western musical notation for Javanese gamelan instruments.

Skolem’S Paradox And Contradictory Popular Songs, Maurice Machover

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

The 6/8 Beat Goes On: Persian Popular Music From Bazm-E Qajariyyeh To Beverly Hills Garden Parties, Anthony Shay

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

This avoidance of scholarly investigation into popular culture has been particularly prominent in Middle East studies, in which, aside from definitively "premodern" folklore, popular culture is presumed relevant only to the mass culture of the West. In contrast to nearly invisible popular traditions is what Edward Said (1978) terms the "timeless, frozen East" that possesses only what we would characterize as "high" culture. Our highbrow/lowbrow distinctions do not necessarily work well as a description of the state of Iranian culture, and yet they are relevant to some contexts. Most native Iranian music scholars, and their non-Iranian disciples, often eschew the …

Multiple Intelligence Theory And Its Application In Modern Vocal Pedagogy, Robb Dennis

CGU Theses & Dissertations

In 1983, Howard Gardner shook the foundations of intelligence testing and the field of education by suggesting that there are seven distinct intelligences. These intelligences had testable and distinct attributes that were supported by his research at the Boston Veterans Administration. This research cited the existence of savants and prodigies, isolation by brain damage, and psychometric findings as support for Multiple Intelligence Theory. Widely accepted by the education community at large, the application of MI principles has been further elaborated in the writings of Thomas Armstrong and David Lazear. Can the principles of Multiple Intelligence Theory be applied in the …

Curriculum Development Via Literary And Musical Forms, Joel K. Haack

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Music For Solo Keyboard." Trevor Stephenson, Fortepiano, Marischka Olech-Hopcroft

Performance Practice Review

Olech-Hopcroft reviews and critiques Stephenson's recording of Mozart Keyboard Music.

Cover/Table Of Contents

Performance Practice Review

Front matter and Table of Contents from the Spring 1997 (10/1) issue of Performance Practice Review.

Del Suonare Sopra Il Basso: Concerning The Realization Of Early Seventeenth-Century Italian Unfigured Basses, Thérèse De Goede-Klinkhamer

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract:"A number of thorough-bass realizations in modern editions of early-17th-c. Italian music are compared with the rules for harmonization, voice leading, musica ficta, and performance practice as laid down in treatises from the same period. Early pieces often should be harmonized differently from how they have been in modern editions. There are also many possibilities such as playing 5-6-5-6 sequences, doubling the bass in octaves, and adding dissonances in certain progressions and allowing false relations, that have hardly been used or have been avoided because they were not thought to be allowable.(Tashiro, Mimi)"

Reading Between The (Ledger) Lines: Performing Mozart's Music For The Basset Clarinet, Robert Adelson

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "The basset horn came into being around 1788. Mozart used it for his concerto K.622 and quintet K.581, and for certain arias in Cosi fan tutte and La clemenza di Tito. Other works of Mozart may have been realized with the basset horn, particularly in performances by Anton Stadler."