Music Practice Commons^™

Comparing Secco Recitative Accompaniment By Contemporary Cellists And Cellists In The 19th Century: A Study Of Social And Cultural Assumptions, Hilary K. Metzger

Performance Practice Review

This article documents the behavior of current professional continuo cellists who accompany secco recitatives, addressing such issues as instrumentation, seating plans, harmonic realization, rehearsal protocol, leadership roles, critical feedback and (self)-evaluation. It summarizes and analyses the results of a questionnaire launched in the Spring of 2020 and answered by 105 professional continuo playing cellists around the world. By comparing the accompaniment practice of current continuo cellists to the performance practice of cellists who accompanied secco recitatives in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, this analysis brings to light the cultural and sociological factors that influence our changing …

“Transports Of Delight”? Reviews Of Clarinet Performance In Paris And London, C. 1770 – C. 1810, Catherine J. Crisp

Performance Practice Review

Reviews of clarinet performance in Paris and London, c. 1770 – c. 1810 make specific reference to 18^th-century performance ideals, as identified by the contemporary writer Charles Burney who described the “principal excellencies of perfect execution”. The performance qualities described by Burney and their inclusion in contemporary reports is particularly valuable in assessing performances featuring the newest woodwind instrument, the clarinet. References to many of these performance qualities combine to form detailed accounts of the sonorities, technical execution and expressive qualities evident in performances given by clarinet players in Paris and London.

This article draws upon a wide …

"The Cambridge Companion To Percussion," Edited By Russell Hartenberger, John Michael Cooper

Performance Practice Review

Book Review: Hartenberger, Russell, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Percussion. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1-107-09345-4.

John Michael Cooper discusses this 2016 work published by Cambridge University Press and edited by Russell Hartenberger.

Not Set In Stone: Mikhail Pletnev's Rewrite Of Scriabin's Piano Concerto, Anatole Leikin

Performance Practice Review

Not Set in Stone: Mikhail Pletnev’s Rewrite of Scriabin’s Piano Concerto

Scriabin’s Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 20 (1897), was initially met with harsh criticisms. Then, in 1899, the critics’ and the public’s reaction suddenly changed from disparaging to admiring. Subsequently, Scriabin’s performances of the Concerto continued to consistently gather highest accolades throughout Russia, Western Europe, and the U.S.

The only credible explanation for such a remarkable metamorphosis is that Scriabin somehow modified (and improved) the piano part in his performances. No written corrections of the piano score exist, which is not at all surprising. Scriabin never revised his …

"Performance Practices In Johannes Brahms's Chamber Music" By Clive Brown, Neal Peres Da Costa, And Kate Bennett Wadsworth, Michael Musgrave

Performance Practice Review

Michael Musgrave discusses Clive Brown, Neal Peres da Costa, and Kate Bennett Wadsworth's 2015 work.

Brown, Clive, Neal Peres da Costa, Kate Bennett Wadsworth. Performing Practices in Johannes Brahms's Chamber Music. Kassel, Basel, London, New York, Praha: Bärenreiter, 2015 [2nd printing 2016].

"Werke Für Klavier Zu Vier Händen" By Franz Schubert, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2013, Su Yin Mak

Performance Practice Review

Su Yin Mak discusses Bärenreiter's 2013 edition of Schubert's work.

Schubert, Franz. Werke für Klavier zu vier Händen, Band III, ed. Walburga Litschauer (Nos. 2-5) and Werner Aderhold (No. 1); Urtext of the New Schubert Edition, BA 9645. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2013.

ISMN: 9790006539871.

"Off The Record: Performing Practices In Romantic Piano Playing" By Neal Peres Da Costa, William Kinderman

Performance Practice Review

William Kinderman discusses and reviews Peres Da Costa's 2012 work.

Peres Da Costa, Neal. Off the Record: Performing Practices in Romantic Piano Playing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

ISBN: 978-0-19-538691-2

By Word Of Mouth: Historical Performance Comes Of Age, Ingrid E. Pearson

Performance Practice Review

Since Clive Brown’s 1991 accusation that many twentieth-century manifestations of historical performance lacked an appropriate degree of musical sensitivity, the historical performance movement has truly come of age. In the arena of Western Art music, historical performance is now an essential component of musical training and education. Successful performers must be able to seamlessly function across the widest possible range of musical styles, accommodating an equally wide gamut of tastes, both individually and collectively.

In 1982, nine years earlier, Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word explored differences between oral and literate cultures. Of particular interest to …

"After The Golden Age: Romantic Pianism And Modern Performance" By Kenneth Hamilton, Robert Winter

Performance Practice Review

Winter reviews and critiques Hamilton's work.

The Antebellum "Piano Girl" In The American South, Candace Bailey

Performance Practice Review

Throughout the nineteenth century, the education of young gentlewomen almost always included music lessons, with piano lessons being the most frequently recommended. The social context for these young women pianists, “piano girls,” has been described in several modern works, particularly since Arthur Loesser’s seminal work Men, Women, and Pianos: A Social History.1 In the 1980s, Judith Tick made the term “piano girl” a familiar one in musicological studies, and since that time the idea of the piano girl and her role in society has been explored by others.2 Most of these studies describe the social phenomenon of the piano girl, …

The Mandolin: Its Structure And Performance (Sixteenth To Twentieth Centuries), James Tyler, Paul Sparks

Performance Practice Review

RILM: "A history of the instrument, with information about the construction and repertoire, and particular reference to performance techniques. The derivation of the term "mandolin" is discussed, as are the differences between the mandolino and the Neapolitan mandolin."

Performing On The Trombone: A Chronological Survey, David M. Guion

Performance Practice Review

RILM: "A history of the trombone from the late 14th c. to the present, with special emphasis on performance practice."

Action And Singing In Late 18th And Early 19th Century England, Robert Toft

Performance Practice Review

RILM: "Examines the role that action played in the performance of vocal music in the late 18th and early 19th c., through descriptions in writings from the period. Gilbert Austin's Chironomia, or, A treatise on rhetorical delivery (London, 1806) provided instruction in elocution and described such topics as standing, using the hands and arms, and making gestures in relation to the text. Austin's notation of action is applied to Thomas Gray's poem An elegy written in a country church-yard--which was set to music by Stephen Storace--to illustrate how action might have been employed by singers in the late 18th …

Musical Venues In Vienna, Seventeenth Century To The Present, Ingeborg Harer

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "Consideration of musical venues is often neglected in research on historical performance practice. Many musical works are directly linked to a particular location. The characteristic features (type, size, Acoustics) of the room or building for which the music was written influenced the composer in the creation of his work. A number of venues have had a special place in the musical life of Vienna over the past four centuries. A list of principal Viennese musical buildings (theaters, opera houses, music rooms, concert halls) is included, along with the circumstances surrounding their construction, and the more important musical works--especially …

Woodwind Vibrato From The Eighteenth Century To The Present, Dwight C. Manning

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "Surveys methods of vibrato production in woodwind performance. Beginning with Jacques Martin-Hotteterre, 18th-c. authors recommended finger vibrato. In the 19th c., Anton Bernhard Furstenau mentioned finger as well as jaw and breath vibrato. Late in the century, Maximillian Schwendler proclaimed that vibrato is initiated in the larynx (throat). The 20th c. has seen the debate continue over whether vibrato is produced by the breathing and blowing apparatus or by the throat, with recent scientific experiments supporting the latter claim."

"Classical And Romantic Music, The Library Of Essays On Music Performance Practice" Edited By David Milsom And Mary Cyr, Colin Lawson

Performance Practice Review

Colin Lawson discusses and reviews Milsom's 2011 work.

Milsom, David ed. Classical and Romantic Music, the Library of Essays on Music Performance Practice, series editor Mary Cyr. Farnham, Surry, UK, and Burlington, VT, USA: Ashgate, 2011.

ISBN 978-0-754-62859-0.

"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.

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 …

Concerning Articulation On Keyboard Instruments: Aspects From The Renaissance To The Present, Sandra P. Rosenblum

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "The organ, harpsichord, clavichord, and piano have different articulative characteristics due to their actions. An apparent norm of nonlegato playing for secular music existed prior to 1600, with probable playing of notes in ligatures. Signs specific to Articulation began to appear in the 17th c. The articulatory quality of short slurs is discussed, and the persistence of nonlegato into the early 19th c. is illuminated. Changes in the piano and in styles of Articulation went hand in hand in the 19th c. In the 20th c., new signs were added by composers seeking greater specificity of articulative color."

Guitar Performance In The Nineteenth Centuries And Twentieth Centuries, Paul Sparks

Performance Practice Review

Sparks discusses the various problems and conventions in guitar Performance through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Timpani And Their Performance (Fifteenth To Twentieth Centuries): An Overview, Edmund Addison Bowles

Performance Practice Review

RILM abstract: "From the 17th to the early 18th c., timpani performance practice was determined by stock formulas, some of which are seen in Bach's and Handel's orchestral writing. Characteristic written-out patterns only came into use in the late 18th c. In the 19th c., rapid changes of pitch became a challenge, and hand screws and mechanical linkages with tuning levers gave way to the modern pedal timpani. The modern era featured the exploitation of various and unusual tone colors and effects, such as glissando passages, stepwise ascending and descending passages, hitting the center of the drum, using different kinds …

The Expressive Pause: Punctuation, Rests, And Breathing In England 1770-1850, Robert Toft

Performance Practice Review

Examines the close relationship between the arts of singing and speaking in English treatises on singing published from the late-18th to the mid-19th c. Speech patterns are compared to the singer's practices of punctuation, rests, and breathing in order to explain the highly articulated singing style of the period."

The Expressive Pause: Punctuation, Rests, And Breathing In England, 1770-1850, Robert Toft

Performance Practice Review

Examines the close relationship between the arts of singing and speaking in English treatises on singing published from the late-18th to the mid-19th c. Speech patterns are compared to the singer's practices of punctuation, rests, and breathing in order to explain the highly articulated singing style of the period.

The Uses Of Rubato In Music, Eighteenth To Twentieth Centuries, Sandra P. Rosenblum

Performance Practice Review

Tempo rubato is a disregard of certain notated properties of rhythm and tempo for the sake of expressive performance. There are two basic types of rubato practices. Contrametric rubato involves a solo melody moving in subtly or equally redistributed note values (sometimes with added notes) against a steady pulse in the accompaniment. Structural or agogic rubato involves the simultaneous retardation or acceleration of tempo of the entire performing body. Theories on rubato practice from Lodovico Zacconi (1592) to Marian Sobieski and Jadwiga Sobieska (1960) are considered, as is use of rubato by composers from Giovanni da Cascia in the 14th …

Enrique Granados And Modern Piano Technique, Carol A. Hess

Performance Practice Review

Discusses parallels between Granados's approach to piano technique and that of Ludwig Deppe and Tobias Matthay, two pioneers in the reshaping of pianistic principles that took place at the turn of the century. Despite his relative isolation in Barcelona, Granados pursued strikingly modern ideas in piano playing, including principles of weight and relaxation, avoidance of finger-lifting, and preoccupation with fine gradations of tone. Primary sources include the composer's diary, treatise on pedaling, and the detailed memoirs of one of his students.

Pedaling The Piano: A Brief Survey From The Eighteenth Century To The Present, Sandra P. Rosenblum

Performance Practice Review

Before World War II, most composers notated relatively few pedal indications, usually to create unsuspected effects. Mutations (Veranderungen) on the early pianos and the uses of hand stops, knee levers, and pedals are discussed based on information from extant instruments, composers' autographs, and comments in tutors by such teachers as Johann Milchmeyer and Louis Adam. Pedaling techniques and uses of the damper, una corda, and sostenuto pedals on the changing instruments of the 19th and 20th c. are described, with particular attention to compositions of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Villa-Lobos, Boulez, Cage, and Stockhausen.

Some Observations Concerning Baroque And Modern Vibrato, Frederick Kent Gable

Performance Practice Review

Supports a narrow and ornamentally used vibrato in Baroque music, and the basic conclusions of Greta Moens-Haenen in Das Vibrato in der Musik des Barock (RILM 88-8038), adding personal observations and comparisons of present performance styles. Emphasizes solo and ensemble vocal vibrato and violin vibrato. Disputes the pro-vibrato views of Robert Donington (RILM 82-1459) and Frederick Neumann (RILM 91-3698).

"Performance Practice: Music After 1600." By Howard M. Brown And Stanley Sadie, Albert R. Rice

Performance Practice Review

Rice discusses and reviews Brown and Sadie's 1989 book.

The Emergence Of The Modern Conductor, Luke Jensen

Performance Practice Review

During the first half of the 19th c., the duty of directing Italian opera was divided between the maestro al cembalo (sometimes known as the maestro concertatore) and the direttore d'orchestra, with greater responsibility falling on the former. The consolidation of these two roles into one led to the emergence of the modern conductor of Italian opera. The careers of Angelo Mariani and Emanuele Muzio illustrate this transition.

"Performance Practice: Music After 1600." By Howard M. Brown And Stanley Sadie, George Houle

Performance Practice Review

Houle discusses and reviews Brown and Sadie's 1989 book.