authentic instruments authentic playing
TRANSCRIPT
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Authentic
nstruments,
Authenti
Mark
Lindley
When,
in
1941,
Nicholas
Bessaraboff
coined the
term
organology ,
he
distinguished
hat
discipline
from
musicologyby suggesting
hat
if a
musicologist
ought
to be
able
to
play
an
instrument f
particular
interest to
him,
then
an
organologist
ought
to
be
able to build one.
In
those
days
Arnold
Dolmetsch,
perhaps uniquely, had embodied both ideals; but
nowadaysmany
a scholar has at least
attempted
o
assemble
a
harpsichordkit,
dozens
of
professional
players
are
dyed-in-the-wool
ntiquarians,
nd most
of
the
best makers
of historical
nstruments
have a
is
in a
temper
timbre of a
v
manner
gives
and,
as
recor
Aureum
dem
period.
Repe
instrumentsh
the virtues
of
Of
course,
e
ed
instrumen
automatic
or
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however.
J. S.
Bach suffered at
most
a
short
and
partial
eclipse
and was as
celebrated
n
Germany
n
1850
as
in 1750. Yet
certain
ngratiating
qualities
n
his
music-the
lilt
of some
of the dance
movements,
a
genial
blend
of
clarity
and
warmth
n some of
the
organ fugues-were
obscured
by
the
change.
The
same kind of dislocationfrom the original sound
helped
to
transformMozart
nto
a
docile
miniaturist
while
exaggerating
he
effect
of
ungainliness
n
some
of
Beethoven s
instrumental
writing.
The
suavity
of
Chopin s
salon
music
(i.e. nearly
everything
but
the
piano
concertos)
was
diminished
somewhat
as
the timbreof
the
piano
becamemore
bell-like
n
the
late 19th
century
and the action heavier
to
wield.
Manysimilarexamplescould be listed: it is poster-
ity s
business o
transformwhatevert
appropriates;
but
after a
while certain
aspects
of
even the
most
enduring
parts
of
a
heritage
can be illuminated
by
restoring
ome of
the
original
colour.
Performances
models;
the
authentic
pla
decisively
to
and
bridge
as
clear the
first
of
plucking
bo
flesh of the
wards
before
them from
the
and
polyphon
exertionand
a
style
of
the
m
16th-
and
17
little
finger
of
keep he other
Pictorial ev
acquired
a
po
it was
played
Renaissance
p
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measurements
and
photographs
and
examining
closely
other instruments
by
the
same
maker
(or,
if
the instrument
s
unique,
by
makers of the same
school). Misguided
restorationsoften
entail
adding
or
removing major
structural
pieces
or
making
critical
changes
in the
acoustical
apparatus.Organ
pipes have been revoiced,the tuningof woodwind
instruments ost
by widening
some
of the
finger-
holes,
a new
bridge
nstalledsome
centimetres
way
from
the
original
locationon
a
harpsichord
ound-
board,
etc.
Naturally,
a certain amount
of
misin-
formation
will
then be
conveyed
if
owners and
curators
are less than
candid
about
damage
of this
kind. But unlike
most
museum
objects
the instru-
ment can reveal practically nothing of its quality
(to
the musical
ear,
that
is)
until
it
is
completely
restored.
To
ease this dilemma museums
ought
to
commission
or
undertake
copies
of
their most
measurements
and
photographs
and
examining
closely
other instruments
by
the
same
maker
(or,
if
the instrument
s
unique,
by
makers of the same
school). Misguided
restorationsoften
entail
adding
or
removing major
structural
pieces
or
making
critical
changes
in the
acoustical
apparatus.Organ
pipes have been revoiced,the tuningof woodwind
instruments ost
by widening
some
of the
finger-
holes,
a new
bridge
nstalledsome
centimetres
way
from
the
original
locationon
a
harpsichord
ound-
board,
etc.
Naturally,
a certain amount
of
misin-
formation
will
then be
conveyed
if
owners and
curators
are less than
candid
about
damage
of this
kind. But unlike
most
museum
objects
the instru-
ment can reveal practically nothing of its quality
(to
the musical
ear,
that
is)
until
it
is
completely
restored.
To
ease this dilemma museums
ought
to
commission
or
undertake
copies
of
their most
valuable inst
decisions
in
th
many
questio
for
a
discrim
restoration
de
Of
course,
u
a nice parado
matters.
A
L
capitalize
so
advance
in
a
Leonhardt
or
light
on
the
m
ship
and talen
persuasive
ict
said, a lie: c
penetrating
th
might
not
onl
also
deepen
o
valuable inst
decisions
in
th
many
questio
for
a
discrim
restoration
de
Of
course,
u
a nice parado
matters.
A
L
capitalize
so
advance
in
a
Leonhardt
or
light
on
the
m
ship
and talen
persuasive
ict
said, a lie: c
penetrating
th
might
not
onl
also
deepen
o