On 27/03/2012 12:12, "Christopher Wilke" <chriswi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Martyn,
> A related and by no means insignificant concern for performers is
> what modern audiences expect to hear. What if the close-to-the-bridge
> position implies that listeners back in the day expected a very
> brittle, nasally, banjo-y sound? That may be nice to know, but I'll bet
> few audiences today would enjoy everything performed sempre sul
> ponticello.
> You may very well be the most authentic kid on the block, but if
> everyone alive thinks you make an ugly sound, you've just thrown your
> work onto the pile of irrelevance. You can stand on principle and hope
> that people will eventually come around to your HIPness, but it takes
> an iron will to tough it out through the years when audiences don't
> come, promoters don't hire and critics (if they notice you at all)
> bash. There is also the financial disincentive provided for the
> satisfaction of being a marginalized figure. I for one don't
> particularly enjoy playing for posterity or corpses.
> I should mention that I'm an advocate of playing close to the
> bridge and I wrestle with these issues myself.
> Chris
> Christopher Wilke
> Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
> www.christopherwilke.com
> --- On Tue, 3/27/12, Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> But putting such thoughts to one side, the real issue is how else
> are
> we to attempt to recapture as best as we can what the early
> composers
> had in mind and what their auditors expected to hear; other than by
> looking at the historical evidence rather than to our own
> prejudices.
>
> --
>
>
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