Early Music America Summer 2014 - (Page 15)
musings
By Thomas Forrest Kelly
PALLADE
MUSICA
The Force of Opinion
CASTIGLIONE, in his Book of familiar until we heard it "authentic." I'll
the Courtier (1528), tells a story
never forget my first hearing of Leonabout attribution: "And when a motet
hardt's Brandenburg Concertos or Hogwas sung in the presence of the lady
wood's Messiah. They knocked my socks
Duchess, it pleased no one, and was not off. Before long it became a requirement,
considered good, until it became known a sort of entrance exam into the big
that it was a composition of Josquin des leagues, for Baroque ensembles to make
Prez. And what clearer sign could you
recordings of those pieces and the
desire of the force of opinion?"
Unmentionable Concertos and probably
Or, as Aunt Pitty-Pat says in Gone with a Monteverdi Vespers-and so we end up
the Wind, "If Melanie says it's all right, it with a canon, beautifully performed by
is all right."
multiple ensembles, in performances
We all know the force of opinion.
that no longer surprise us.
Music by Beethoven gets performed a lot
The second approach, the rediscovery
more than music by that most prolific of of forgotten music, has brought us some
composers, Anonymous.
absolutely wonderful new
The part of early
We somehow like brand
music, but we sometimes
names, the assurance
music that is about are a little wary of things
that this music will be
we don't know about.
discovery, about
like music we already
seeking out the new, That's where Castiglione
know and admire by the
comes in; he thinks that
the unexplored, is the
people who are not able to
same composer. This has
part I think I'll
think for themselves like to
created a way for us to
concentrate on
fall in with the crowd and
reach music that we
admire a piece if it's by
might not otherwise
for a while.
somebody who is well
know; Messiah may lead
us to the many other wonderful oratorios known (say, Josquin des Prez) and feel
of Handel; the Four Unmentionable Sea- free to sneer a little if it's not. But you
have to be careful, because it just might
sonal Concertos may lead us to a lot of
turn out to be by Josquin.
wonderful other music by Vivaldi; and
I confess to a weakness for music that
so on.
I think I'll like. If it's by somebody
But it also leads to the creation of a
whose music I know, I'm perhaps more
closed canon in which music without
inclined to listen to it or to buy a ticket
pedigree is also without reputation. It
to a concert. I think that I deprive myself
emphasizes, also, what have always
of a lot of great music when I do so; I
seemed to me to be the two basic
approaches to early music:
know that I do. The part of early music
One the one hand, early music can be that is about discovery, about seeking
seen as the performance of music using
out the new, the unexplored, is the part
historical instruments and performing
I think I'll concentrate on for a while.
techniques. On the other, early music
The operas of Graun, maybe, or some of
can be seen as the discovery of music
that amazing late-14th-century music, or
from the past that was lost or forgotten
Baroque zarzuela. There's a lot of good
until now. The two are related and inter- stuff out there that's not by Josquin
des Prez.
twined, of course, but the approaches
are very different.
The first approach, the performance
Thomas Forrest Kelly is a professor of music
at Harvard University and a board member
aspect, is the one that gets us so many
and past president of Early Music America.
recordings of music we thought was
Grand Prize winner
of 2012 EMA Baroque
Performance Competition
B
I
ACD2 2697
ALDASSARE
PALLADE MUSICA
presents their first CD:
Verso Venezia
Tanya LaPerrière BAROQUE VIOLIN
Elinor Frey BAROQUE CELLO
Esteban La Rotta THEORBO
Mylène Bélanger HARPSICHORD & ORGAN
atmaclass ique.com
STUDIO
QUALITY
MP3
Early Music America
CD
QUALITY
Summer 2014
15
http://www.atmaclassique.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Early Music America Summer 2014
Editor's Note
Reader Forum
Sound Bytes
Musings: The Force of Opinion
Recording Reviews
Baroque Opera and Historical Performance: A Reconsideration
Underestimating Turk
Our Disappearing LP Legacy
Living and Breathing Early Music, the Ukrainian Way
Ars Longa and the Festival Esteban Salas
Book Reviews
Ad Index
In Conclusion: The Flauto Dolce Heralds a Welcome Entrance into Heaven
Early Music America Summer 2014
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https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/EMAM/20-2
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https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/EMAM/19-2
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