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A Letter By The Composer About "Giovanni D'Arco" And Some Remarks On The Division Of Musical Direction In Verdi's Day, Martin Chusid

Performance Practice Review

A relatively long letter from Giuseppe Verdi to the Florentine vocal director Pietro Romani, reproduced here, indicates the tempos for individual numbers of his opera Giovanna d'Arco. Verdi had a general preference for quicker tempos. The letter also provides valuable evidence for the different roles of the vocal director (Maestro di cappella, Maestro al cembalo, Maestro della musica, Maestro delle opere, or Maestro concertatore) and concertmaster, who served as the orchestra's leader, suggesting an account of the evolution of divided direction of Italian opera into the modern situation of direction by a single conductor.

Front Matter/Table Of Contents

Performance Practice Review

Cover, Table of Contents, and Copyright Information.

The Trio Sonata In Pre-Corellian Prints: When Does 3 = 4?, Sandra Mangsen

Performance Practice Review

Printed sources of pre-Corellian trios include several distinct scorings, one of which requires four performers (SSBbc). Particular scorings correlate with musical style and function. Melodic bass and chordal continuo were employed in the church sonata; one or the other in the dance repertoire. Moreover, the stronger the contrapuntal role of the bass part, the more likely it was to be played on a melodic instrument. After 1660, sacred and secular scoring practices became less distinct. Increasingly active dance bass lines were more often figured, while chordal and melodic bass parts of church sonatas became nearly identical.

Tempo In Mahler As Recollected By Natalie Bauer-Lechner, Nancy M. Raabe

Performance Practice Review

"There is no standard concert hall repertoire in which lack of sensitivity to tempo and Expression marks is more damaging than Mahler's symphonies. Their coherence lies in a series of tonal relationships emphasized by thematic connections, and tempo provides the medium through which these connections are made. Drawing on the writings of Mahler's friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner, the importance of tempo in Mahler's works is illustrated by the composer's own words."

Contributors/End Matter

Performance Practice Review

List of contributors to the Spring 1990 (3/1) issue of Performance Practice Review.

Performance Practice: A Manifestation Of Our Time?, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

Contrasts the antihistorical, conceptualist attitude (treating the past as our conception of it) of certain performance critics with the historical, realist position (holding that a discoverable reality can be found in the past) of certain performance-practice exponents.

Announcements/Contributors

Performance Practice Review

Describes current events such as conferences and musicological projects relating to performance practice.

Lists of contributors from the Fall 1990 (3/2) of Performance Practice review.

"Continuo Playing On The Lute, Archlute And Theorbo" By Nigel North, James Tyler

Performance Practice Review

Tyler discusses and reviews North's 1987 book.

Villanescas Of The Virtuosi: Lasso And The Commedia Dell'arte, Martha Farahat

Performance Practice Review

"Little is known about the music of the 16th- and 17th-c. Commedia dell'arte due to the improvisatory nature of the genre. The most detailed account of a commedia performance is in the composer Massimo Troiano's Discorsi... describing the festivities on the occasion of the wedding of Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria and Renee of Lorraine (1568). This account only mentions a few musical pieces: the music between acts and one internal song by Roland de Lassus, the kapellmeister. It is possible that Troiano did not mention all the music; close scrutiny of Lassus's 1581 Libri di villanelle... reveals that some …

"Ornamentation And Improvisation In Mozart." By Frederick Neumann., Malcolm S. Cole

Performance Practice Review

Reviews and critiques Neumann's 1986 book.

Communications, George Houle, Alexander Silbiger

Performance Practice Review

Various communications concerning previous topics covered in Performance Practice Review

Table Of Contents

Performance Practice Review

Front matter and Table of Contents from the Spring 1990 (3/1) issue of Performance Practice Review.

Questions Concerning The Edition Of The 'Goldberg Variations' In The Neue Bach Ausgabe, Erich Schwandt

Performance Practice Review

The edition of BWV 988 has a number of serious errors that make it unsuitable for performance or study. The editor, Christoph Wolff, has introduced arbitrary readings, redistributed articulation marks, and misread ornaments. The editors of the Neue Bach Ausgabe ought to consider withdrawing the edition. (Rabin, Ronald J.)

"'Musica Ficta': Theories Of Accidental Inflections In Vocal Polyphony From Marchetto De Padova To Gioseffo Zarlino" By Karol Berger, Don Harrán

Performance Practice Review

Harran discusses and reviews Berger's 1987 book.

"The Florentine Camerata: Documentary Studies And Translations." By Claude V. Palisca, Hugh Wiley Hitchcock

Performance Practice Review

Hitchcock discusses and reviews Palisca's 1989 book.

"J. S. Bach As Organist: His Instruments, Music And Performance Practices" George Stauffer And Ernest May, Eds., Kimberly Marshall

Performance Practice Review

Marshall discusses and reviews Stauffer and May's 1986 book.

"Performance Practices In Classic Piano Music" By Sandra P. Rosenblum, A. Peter Brown

Performance Practice Review

Brown discusses and reviews Rosenblum's 1988 book.

"'Historical Performance': The Journal Of Early Music America" Paul C. Echols, Ed., George Houle

Performance Practice Review

Houle discusses and reviews the periodical published by Early Music America.

"Clavichord Music Of Johann Kuhnau And C. P. E. Bach" Joan Benson, Clavichordist., E. Eugene Helm

Performance Practice Review

Helm discusses and reviews Benson' 1987 recording.

Southern Harmony Singing: A Tradition Of Shape-Note Practice, Deborah C. Loftis

Performance Practice Review

Since 1884, Benton, Kentucky has hosted an annual shape-note singing event known as Big Singing Day. The singers use the 1854 edition of The Southern harmony and musical companion compiled by William Walker. Distinctions set Southern Harmony singing apart from what is described as the norm for this style of music, that is, the performance practices associated with Sacred Harp singing. Differences include seating arrangement, expertise, and style of conducting, intensity of singing, sonority, and preference in repertoire. Southern Harmony singers have tried to continue the tradition without change; Sacred Harp singers have embraced changes willingly.

Performance Practice Bibliography (1989)

Performance Practice Review

Ongoing bibliography of recent articles and books pertaining to performance practice.

"Bel Canto: The Teaching Of The Classical Italian Song-Schools, Its Decline And Restoration" By Lucie Manén, Philip Lieson Miller

Performance Practice Review

Miller discusses and reviews Manén's 1987 book.

New Light On Late Eighteenth-Century Tempo: William Crotch's Pendulum Markings, Emanuel Rubin

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "Crotch's pendulum markings are an important source of information on English tempos at the end of the 18th c. and represent an ongoing practice among late 18th-c. English composers. Statistical study of English glees with pendulum markings from this period promises to yield valuable results."

"Words And Music In The Middle Ages: Song, Narrative, Dance And Drama, 1050-1350" By John Stevens, Hans Tischler

Performance Practice Review

Tischler discusses and reviews Stevens' 1986 book.

Karl Geiringer, 1899-1989, Roland Jackson

Performance Practice Review

An obituary for the organist Karl Geiringer.

"Chopin: Pianist And Teacher As Seen By His Pupils" By Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Jeanne Holland

Performance Practice Review

Holland reviews and discusses Eigeldinger's 1986 book.

Table Of Contents

Performance Practice Review

Table of Contents for Vol.2, No.2 of PPR.

The Present Position Of Authenticity, Robert Donington

Performance Practice Review

"Though there continues to be lively debate as to how historically correct performances of early music can or should be, the success of so-called authenticity in today's musical culture is undeniable.(Zohn, Steven)"

Performance Practice Issues On The Bbc Third Programme, Denis Stevens

Performance Practice Review

Stevens discusses the various aspects in consideration concerning the BBC and historical performance practice.

"Meter In Music, 1600-1800" By George Houle, Alexander Silbiger

Performance Practice Review

Silbiger discusses and reviews Houle's 1987 book.