David, Today's performers should be interested in moving their audiences, of course! After all, we're living in the 21st century, and prof performers have to make a living of it. I do know that.
But for me it's a hobby, and I can afford the luxury of wondering what the sound and performance practice e. g. of French lute music in the 17th century probably was. I take the time to consider the music in the environment of the French royal court, the bourgeois parlour, the précieux movement, i. e. its social function. I watch dancers when they perform historical dances. I read articles on the Influence of French Verse on French Lute Music. We'll never know for sure, of course. But my guess is, as Roman rightly put it, that self-expression didn't become a standard goal until the 19th century. People of the social classes where lute music was played in the 16th through 18th centuries, led their lives much more formal than we do today. Self-expression would have been embarrassing, probably. I even take Froberger's and Zelenka's music to be expressive (and very much so), but not self-expressive. I played La Belle Homicide to my friends, one night, in two ways. First, I explained some of the musical gestures, the small answering phrases, and the courante as a representative court dance. That performance was frankly boring to them. After that, I played that courante like an Italian corrente, vividly rushing through the piece, and, yai, that's the thing. On another occasion, I attended a theorbo concert where the performer happened to do some "bending" in some of the pieces. Interesting modern interpretation of early music, why not. After the recital, I overheard some people who were disgusted, as they felt that bending is a modern guitar technique. Mathias > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Im > Auftrag von David R > Gesendet: Samstag, 2. Juli 2011 20:52 > An: Roman Turovsky > Cc: Mathias Roesel; [email protected] > Betreff: [LUTE] Re: What's the point to 'historical sound' > > On Jul 2, 2011, at 1:40 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: > > > What Mathias meant is that self-expression did not become the standard > > goal for all music intil the 19th century. > > Self expression certainly has existed ever since Froberger. Some, like > > Zelenka, tried to control it, but it was coming out anyway. > > To my way of thinking, any music is a form of self-expression, even if all it does > is to show audiences what crashing bores some performers can be. > > Okay, so assuming that the early-music performer is not interested in self- > expression, tell me if I have this right: the performer takes a dispassonate view > towards playing the music, and plays it so perfectly that the music itself is able > to move the audience to the desired "affekt" the nature of which only the > composer knows for sure. Is that the point to "historical sound." > > D > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
