Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900
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Author Description
The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing interest in performing and recording Classical and Romantic music with period instruments; yet the relationship of composers' notation to performing practices during that period has received only sporadic attention from scholars, and many aspects of composers' intentions have remained uncertain. Brown here identifies areas in which musical notation conveyed rather different messages to the musicians for whom it was written than it does to modern performers, and seeks to look beyond the notation to understand how composers might have expected to hear their music realized in performance. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that, in many respects, the sound worlds in which Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms created their music were more radically different from ours than is generally assumed.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the discrepancy between historical musical notation and the performance expectations of composers active between 1750 and 1900. Clive Brown, a respected musicologist, utilizes a vast array of primary sources and historical treatises to argue that modern interpretations of Classical and Romantic scores often overlook the implicit performance conventions understood by contemporary musicians of that era. By examining the evolution of notation, the author provides a framework for understanding how composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms intended their works to sound, challenging the assumption that modern performance practices align with historical intent.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of performance conventions from the mid-18th to the late 19th century.
- Examination of how notation systems evolved and changed meaning over time.
- Evidence drawn from historical treatises, correspondence, and period performance manuals.
- Comparative studies of sound worlds across the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts and musicologists regard this work as a foundational text for understanding the nuances of period-informed performance. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a rigorous guide for performers and scholars seeking to bridge the gap between the page and historical sound.
Page Count:
676
Publication Date:
2004-05-20
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0195166655
ISBN-13:
9780195166651
Music
Performance Practice
Music History
Music Performance
Musicology
