Early Music

The Early Music movement has generated a shift in performance practices of Western Art music and in its pedagogy. Musical analysis, if it became a key in the production of Historically Informed Performances, was always accompanied by a serious contextualization. In this article I will show how practices in Early Music can be seen as essentially postmodern (Jameson, Butt), recalling principles of deconstruction (Norris) for both its epistemology and its pedagogy. Early Musicians build on their knowledge of pre-modern music theories to promote non-canonized forms through an "insistent questioning of [their] own methods and practices" (Tomlinson). This postmodern attitude in knowledge transmission reveals a deep shift in social practices related to fields as diverse as politics and labour organization, and the recent debates between professional musicians are the mirror of difficulties to define one's positioning, especially when founded over such an ungraspable and moveable background. Oscillating between modern ideologies inherited from the Enlightenment and pre-modern concepts of art consumption, between literacy and orality (Goody), this practice, defined by acts of deconstruction, struggles to construct its identity. I consider these attempts as reflecting the peregrinations of a twenty-first-century epistemology in search of itself. In this essay, I partly based my work on ethnographic researches in Southern Europe, alongside scholarship readings and textual analyses.

This article undertakes a historiographical review of the composer Sebastián Raval as a case study illuminating the influence of ideology on the shaping of history and the perpetuation of established views. The portrayal of Raval as an arrogant Spaniard originated in his participation in two musical contests celebrated in Rome and Palermo. Whereas this characteristic was mainly understood as a stereotypical description in the Early Modern period, the influence of nationalism in the nineteenth century led to it becoming an objectionable personal flaw. This was enough to start a process of vilifying the composer in which the assessment of his professional stature outweighed the actual analysis of his music.

(Kassel, Reichenberger, 2001). Reviews in: Romanischen Forschungen 117/4 (2005); Speculum (2004); Revista Portuguesa de Musicología XIII (2003); Revista de Literatura medieval XV (2003); Musicology Australia XXVI (2003); Revista Musical Catalana 222 (2003); Revista de Musicología XXV (2002); Goldberg XX (2002); La Vanguardia (8 marzo 2002);

Historical survey of music in the West of the Iberian Peninsula (448-1578), with musical examples and selected colour plates of notated manuscripts, by Manuel Pedro Ferreira; followed by an Anthology of musical compositions from the same period, transcribed by Manuel Pedro Ferreira and his collaborators: João Pedro d'Alvarenga, Bernadette Nelson, Nuno Miranda, Owen Rees, Tess Knighton, João Vaz & Sílvia Seixas Rodrigues.

The batalla is often considered as one of the most distinguishable genres of the Iberian Baroque organ literature. Paradoxically it is, from all genres of Hispanic organ music, the one on which praxis less information is known. The data obtained from most seventeenth-century texts on keyboard music applies mainly to contrapuntal works, leaving unanswered many questions related to the eminently pictorial character of the batallas. On the other hand it is also interesting to note that some of the most convincing performances of batallas presently heard are those that result from a less literal reading of the musical text and that clearly intent to underline its descriptive character. The information found in Batalha famoza (included in manuscript MM 43 from Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto) and presented in this text seems to appeal to an interpretative effort from the player, not only through the use of the features of the Iberian organ, but also through a freer ornamentation that can emphasise the descriptive character of that musical genre.

Complete transcription and reconstruction of the canon a13 for Christ and his Twelve Disciples on the Apostles Creed. This piece is found in both the Eton Choirbook and the Baldwin Manuscript. This edition contained both the fully realized canon as well as a modern reconstruction of the original monophonic version of the canon, as found in the manuscripts.

For a recording with a score animation see the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBu66rLAv7I

Petersen, Peter: “Against the "dehumanization of music". On the occasion of the eighteenth birthday of the musicologist and historian Constantin Floros,” translated from: Musikforum 8 (2010), 58-59. 

“Specialisation without universality is blind. Universalism is blind. Universality without specialisation is a soap bubble.”  This is the maxim of the musicologist and historian Constantin Floros, whose academic life is now being celebrated.

Présentation

Douzième volet de l’intégrale Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) pour clavier, le second volume du Clavier bien tempéré est présenté en deux récitals, chaque fois au clavecin, à savoir les préludes et fugues 1 à 12 (BWV 870 à 881), puis les préludes et fugues 13 à 24 (BWV 882 à 893), autrement dit la première moitié du recueil, de do majeur à fa mineur, puis la seconde moitié, de fa dièse majeur à si mineur.

The Lamont and Queen Mary harps of National Museums Scotland are two of the oldest surviving examples of the harp of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Growing interest in these iconic instruments has led to a need for new research into their materials and construction. With recent advances in imaging and analytical tools, these instruments can now be examined and understood to a much greater degree than previously possible.

With this in mind, the authors have undertaken a research project to study the Lamont and Queen Mary harps. Each harp underwent CT-scanning, and a visual and photographic survey, with x-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of selected areas of interest.  The CT scanning was conducted at the Clinical Research Imaging Centre of Queen's Medical Research Institute, and the survey and laboratory analysis were conducted at the National Museums Scotland Collection Centre.

This paper presents the initial findings of this project. The interior construction of the harps, hidden internal damage and repairs, pattern of the wood grain, and current state of the wood are discussed. Results of the visual and photographic survey and analysis of the composition of pigments and metal parts are also presented and discussed in the context of the findings from the CT scans. Additionally, contour maps of the soundboard thickness generated from the CT scanning data for each harp are presented.

The present book is devoted to a cultural phenomenon in the form of a collection of musical manuscripts written with a specific instrument in mind in a monastic milieu, but one which contains no liturgical compositions. The collection in question comprises handwritten lute tablatures from the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów (German: Grüssau). The author presents the Baroque lute in a humanistic perspective, a perspective of selected social phenomena in European culture of the
second half of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century, as well as selected questions relating to performance practice. This concerns the functioning of the lute particularly in the musical culture of Silesia, the context of musical life in the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów and questions relating to musical source studies, questions like concordance based on European sources.
The book draws on a doctoral dissertation, written under the guidance of Professor Remigiusz Pośpiech at the Institute of Musicology, University of Wrocław, which in 2017 brought Dr G. Joachimiak the first prize in the Professor H. Feicht Competition, awarded by the Musicological Section of the Polish Composers’ Union.
The manuscripts of lute tablatures from the Krzeszów Abbey have never before been the subject of holistic research, which has required a number of detailed studies over many years. The author has used both the method of a music historian and a perspective based on experiences in music performance. Readers will find here the results of the author’s research, with details of the research process to be found in the doctoral dissertation. Given the limited publication possibilities, the material presented in the book has had to be reduced, which has affected largely ensemble music.
The analysed collection comprises fifteen manuscripts, which are currently dispersed. It contains over 2000 individual works, which makes the collection one of the largest of this kind in the world. The surviving sources contain only pieces for the lute in a popular eighteenth-century tuning. These are solo and ensemble pieces in which missing instrument parts are sometimes filled by concordances. The results of the research into the reconstruction of selected compositions make it possible to prepare the material for performance and to explore selected elements of monastic life in the eighteenth century, especially the music performed by the monks. This concerns, for example, the Tafelmusik
practice as well as limitations relating to the performance of this kind of music at the monastery or the way in which the Cistercians used the lute and secular compositions to develop monastic piety.
The book also contains information originating in the correspondence of monks from the Krzeszów abbey, including lute-playing monks like Father Hermann Kniebandl. In the last stage of his life he was associated with the Cistercian provostship in Cieplice Śląskie (German: Bad Warmbrunn), where his duties included, in addition to pastoral work, the running of the thermal springs which the monastery had received from the Schaffgotsch family. However, the relations between the family and the Krzeszów Cistercians are limited here to the context of musical patronage and support of musical activities associated with the analysed lute collection.
The lute tablature manuscripts also contain information which is significant from the perspective of the history of music theory — information in the form lute playing instructions, strictly practical
elements like marking of fingering for both hands in the various pieces, examples of playing exercises or explanation of the notation and embellishments in lute playing. This makes the whole material
twice as valuable, because every such “didactic source” is the best source in modern historically informed performance, providing scholars with an insight into reception of the repertoire and styles of playing. On the other hand it sheds light on the Krzeszów Cistercians’ actual participation in the cultivation and development of secular Baroque lute repertoire, popular at royal courts and among townsmen, irrespective of their confessional affiliation.
Compositions from the analysed collection include pieces which show that the Krzeszów Cistercians were stylistically well-versed in the solo or ensemble repertoire as well as pieces which are unique in Europe. This is undoubtedly linked to the great popularity of the lute in the first half of
the eighteenth century in Central Europe, where Silesia served as one of the most important European centres of lute music. This was the place from which came and where were educated the most sought-after lutenists in royal and courtly ensembles, lutenists like Esaias Reusner the Younger, Silvius Leopold Weiss, Ernst Gottlieb Baron and many others. This situation undoubtedly had a huge impact on the interest in the lute among the Krzeszów Cistercians. That is why the author of the book takes into account compositions not only by well-known composers and patrons of their music, but also pieces by local composers, including those from among the Krzeszów Cistercians. In the last chapter the author devotes some attention to the use of the lute in work associated with Cistercian spirituality, taking into account the specificity of the Krzeszów Cistercians — to be more precise, in spiritual exercises. The Krzeszów Cistercians took over the Exercitia spiritualis from the Silesian Jesuits and carried them out in accordance with St. Ignatius Loyola’s method.
All these elements provoke questions of why the Cistercian Abbey of Krzeszów became a friendly place for the making of lute tablature manuscripts and interest in the lute, an instrument used mostly
in court circles. How to describe the phenomenon of the Baroque lute in the monastery in the context of the musical culture of Silesia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? Is the Cistercian Abbey in Krzeszów the only such example of musical activity in the history of music? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the four chapters of the present book supported by an extensive introduction and three appendices.

Książka poświęcona jest kolekcji 15 rękopisów muzycznych z pierwszej połowy XVIII w., zapisanych specyficzną notacją muzyczną tabulatury lutniowej w odmianie francuskiej (literowej). Jest to jeden z największych zbiorów tego typu. Dlaczego zatem powstał na Śląsku i w środowisku opactwa cystersów w Krzeszowie? To pytanie towarzyszyło autorowi tej książki przez cały okres jej przygotowania. Odpowiedź jest złożona, dlatego w książce pojawiają się informacje wskazujące na specyfikę kultury muzycznej Śląska XVII i XVIII wieku, potwierdzające wyjątkowość tego regionu dla kultywowania muzyki lutniowej. W omawianych źródłach nie ma przykładów muzyki liturgicznej. Większość tego repertuaru wykonywano na dworach królewskich niemalże całej ówczesnej Europy, ale są też przykłady utworów kompozytorów działających wyłącznie lokalnie, w tym również z grona cystersów. W książce znaleźć można informacje o muzyce lutniowej przedstawione w perspektywie humanistycznej, z uwzględnieniem metodyki gry, wybranego repertuaru i zagadnień źródłoznawczych. Jak zatem scharakteryzować określenie zjawiska „fenomenu lutni barokowej w klasztorze”? Odpowiedzi na te i inne pytania znajdują się w czterech rozdziałach niniejszej książki, wspartych rozbudowanym wstępem i trzema aneksami.

D’une teneur principalement méthodologique et épistémologique, cet article aspire avant tout à remettre en question la démarche de l’archéomusicologie et à proposer une nouvelle approche dans laquelle la recherche se mêlerait à l’artisanat, ainsi qu’à en définir la portée dans la pratique de la recherche archéomusicale. Il aborde la question de la lecture des techniques et des savoir-faire des temps archéologiques, puis propose quelques réflexions sur les connaissances et les démarches archéomusicales. Il finit par la question de l’apport mutuel entre artisanat et archéologie.

ROZDZIAŁ 1 ZASTOSOWANIE KLAWESYNU W TWÓRCZOŚCI KOMPOZYTORÓW CZASU RESTAURACJI NA TLE WYDARZEŃ HISTORYCZNYCH KSZTAŁTUJĄCYCH ŻYCIE KULTURALNE I ESTETYKĘ MUZYCZNĄ EPOKI…………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.1. Zarys tła historycznego……………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.1.1. Granice czasowe omawianej epoki w oparciu o fakty historyczne i zarysowujące się tendencje estetyczne……………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.1.2. Burzliwy okres panowania Karola II……………………………………………………………. 7
1.1.3. Czas rządów Jakuba II, Chwalebna Rewolucja i przejęcie tronu przez Wilhelma Orańskiego… 9
1.2. Kierunki rozwoju kultury i praktyki muzycznej w latach 1660-1700………………………….. 11
1.2.1. Odrodzenie publicznej działalności muzycznej po stagnacji w okresie Interregnum…………... 11
1.2.2. Nowe tendencje w rozwoju sztuki scenicznej w teatrach odrodzonej monarchii……………... 12
1.2.3. Rodzaje aktywności muzycznych na dworze Karola II i Jakuba II…………………………… 14
1.2.4. Preferencje estetyczne Karola II jako czynnik narzucający zmiany stylistyczne……………... 16
1.2.5. Osłabienie roli i jakości mecenatu królewskiego nad muzyką………………………………… 17
1.2.6. Patronat artystyczny arystokracji i domowe muzykowanie rozwijającej się klasy średniej…... 18
1.2.7. Popularyzacja edukacji muzycznej w szerszych kręgach społecznych………………………... 20
1.2.8. Początki publicznych koncertów muzycznych………………………………………………… 22
1.3. Miejsce klawesynu i innych instrumentów klawiaturowych szarpanych w angielskiej praktyce muzycznej 1660-1700……………………………………………………………............................. 24
1.3.1. Rodzaje użytkowanych instrumentów klawiszowych szarpanych w kontekście zachowanych instrumentów historycznych i tytułów antologii klawesynowych…………………………….. 25
1.3.2. Obecność instrumentu klawiszowego jako podstawa domowego muzykowania w szerszych kręgach społecznych…………………………………………………………………………… 28
1.3.3. Klawesyn jako preferowany instrument w grze zespołowej………………………………… 30
1.4. Czołowi przedstawiciele solowej muzyki klawesynowej w latach 1660-1702 i zarys rzeczowy pozostawionej przez nich literatury klawesynowej………………………………………………. 32
1.4.1. Najważniejsze zbiory muzyki klawesynowej z lat 1560-1630………………………………... 33
1.4.2. Manuskrypty klawesynowe z epoki poprzedzającej Restaurację……………………………… 33
1.4.3. Publikowane zbiory i istotne manuskrypty z lat 1660-1706…………………………………... 35
1.4.4. Autorskie edycje muzyki klawesynowej………………………………………………………. 36
1.4.5. Twórczość klawesynowa Locke`a, Blowa i Purcella………………………………………….. 37
ROZDZIAŁ 2 STYLISTYKA I PROBLEMATYKA WYKONAWCZA MUZYKI KLAWESYNOWEJ LAT 1660-1700 NA PRZYKŁADZIE UTWORÓW LOCKE’A, PURCELLA I BLOWA………………………………………………………………… 43
2.1. Cechy stylistyczne i formalne muzyki klawesynowej czasu Restauracji Stuartów………………… 43
2.1.1.        Zmiany stylistyczne w muzyce klawesynowej w latach 1620 – 1660………………………… 43
2.1.2. Estetyki wpływające na muzykę klawesynową czasu Restauracji…………………………….. 45
2.1.3. Faktura, melodyka, rytmika, harmonia i tonalność utworów klawesynowych na przykładzie twórczości Locke`a, Purcella i Blowa…………………………………………………………. 46
2.1.4. Dominujące formy w muzyce klawesynowej…………………………………………………. 49
2.1.5. Cechy poszczególnych tańców lub części suity……………………………………………….. 52

2.2. Zagadnienia wykonawcze dotyczące odczytania i interpretacji zapisu rysunku melodyczno - rytmicznego, tempa, ornamentacji, artykulacji, aplikatury oraz agogiki……………………… 55
2.2.1. Notacja wysokości dźwięku w utworach czasu Restauracji…………………………………... 56
2.2.2. Interpretacja zapisu rytmicznego………………………………………………………………. 57
2.2.3. Wybór tempa w kontekście dostępnych oznaczeń i wiedzy o estetyce poszczególnych form... 65
2.2.4. Ornamentacja…………………………………………………………………………………... 69
2.2.5. Artykulacja i aplikatura………………………………………………………………………... 79
2.2.6. Agogika………………………………………………………………………………………... 83
2.3.152 Problematyka wyboru instrumentu, wysokości stroju i temperacji we współczesnym wykonawstwie………………………………………………………………………………………. 85
2.3.1. Instrument jako źródło potencjalnego materiału brzmieniowego……………………………... 85
2.3.2. Wysokość stroju i wybór temperacji…………………………………………………………... 88
ROZDZIAŁ 3 PRAKTYKA BASSO CONTINUO CZASU RESTAURACJI W PIŚMIENNICTWIE I REALIZACJI MUZYCZNEJ………………………………... 92
3.1. Przyczyny upowszechnienia praktyki basso continuo w muzyce angielskiej czasu Restauracji w kontekście czynników inicjujących basso continuo na kontynencie…………………………….. 92
3.1.1. Adaptacja basso continuo w muzyce kontynentalnej…………………………………………. 92
3.1.2. Analogie między czynnikami inicjującymi praktykę basso continuo w muzyce włoskiej przełomu XVI - XVII wieku i muzyce angielskiej czasu Resaturacji………………………… 95
3.2. Melothesia Matthew Locke‘a jako pierwszy angielski traktat na temat realizacji basu figurowanego……………………………………………………………………………………….. 97
3.3. Rules  for playing of a Through Bass upon Organ & Harpsicon Johna Blowa jako najobszerniejszy pod względem treściowym zbiór informacji o basso continuo w muzyce angielskiej 1660-1700……………………………………………………………………………. 106
3.4.      Zagadnienia dotyczące klawesynowej realizacji basso continuo w muzyce epoki Restauracji      Stuartów: interpretacja cyfrowania, układ głosów, improwizacja melodyczna i arpeggio…………… 123
3.4.1. Dodatkowe źródła wskazówek dla realizacji thorough-bass……………………………………… 123
3.4.2. Interpretacja cyfrowania…………………………………………………………………………... 125
3.4.3. Stosowność użycia klawesynu do realizacji basso continuo…………………………………………... 129
3.4.4. Układ głosów i kontrowersyjne zagadnienie dublowania jako zależne od gatunku muzycznego.... 131
3.4.5. Improwizacja melodyczna i arpeggio w realizacji bc…………………………………………………... 137
ZAKOŃCZENIE………………………………………………………………………………………………. 140
SPIS PRZYKŁADÓW………………………………………………………………………………………. 143
SPIS SKRÓTÓW…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 147
INDEKS...................................................................................................................................... 148
BIBLIOGRAFIA……………………………………………………………………………………………… 151
ANEKS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 153

This paper presents a corpus study that identifies the number of statistically distinct modes used in sacred and secular genres from 1400–1750. Corpora used for the study include Masses, motets, and secular songs from the Franco-Flemish School, works by Palestrina, secular Italian songs with alfabeto guitar tablature from the early seventeenth century, and works by J.S. Bach. A k-means cluster analyses of key profiles determine the number of distinguishable modes in each corpus. The results of this study show that the number of modes present in a corpus depend not only on date of publication but also on the genre of a composition.. . .

Fifths and major thirds beat rate characteristics of famous historical temperaments are analysed. It appears that beat rate characteristics might be the actual determining factors for Baroque temperaments, mainly because beat rates are of main importance to interpreting musicians regarding harmony and possible musical affects, and to auditory tuners because of quality and ease of tuning. It is, on the other hand, not always clear whether published ratios, cents or comma's are deduced from theoretic calculations or from concrete results on monochord measurements or settings. The revealed reality and importance of beat rate characteristics of temperaments raises additional arguments for acceptability of the Jobin proposal concerning a probable Bach temperament, or for almost identical beat rate alternatives. A novel hypothesis is proposed concerning the spirals drawn on top of the title page of "Das wohltemperirte Clavier" of Johan Sebastian Bach. 1 Preamble The commonly published and dominating factors with discussions on musical temperaments are probably the investigations on purity deviations of musical intervals, measured in ratios, cents or commas. And still, musical interval beats and their beating rates are probably more affecting musical factors to interpreting musicians and auditory tuners of keyboard musical instruments. More attention might therefore have to be paid to those characteristics : beats are undesired and directly observable. Approximate auditory beat rate evaluations do not require any tool nor calculation. Impurity measurements in ratios, cents or commas on the other hand, are often nothing more but rather abstract concepts to many musicians, not of direct use or interest when playing music and also not for auditory tuning. This paper is an attempt to confirm and elucidate the importance and practical applicability of beat rate evaluations in the determination of musical temperaments, especially some Baroque ones. 2 The auditory music keyboard tuning The elementary basic concepts of musical temperaments, seen from the point of view of the interpreting musician and the auditory music keyboard tuner are discussed in this paragraph. There is of course much more that can be written on this subject, see for example : "Le Clavier Bien Obtempéré", A. Calvet, 2020.

The famous J. B. Le Picard Organ (1750-1752) in the Basilica in Tongeren, reconstructed/restored by the Manufacture d'orgues Thomas (1997-2002) is without any doubt one of the most interesting historical organs in the region. Visitors/organists from all over the world, listening and playing this magnificent instrument, will agree with this statement. This organ is not only an example, an equivalent, but also a symbol of the rich culture during the time of the Prince Bishopric of Liège. It's located in the centre of the Euregion, there where the roots of Europe, and the European identity can be found.

Director del taller “Ornamentación e improvisación en la música del Renacimiento y del Barroco”, (Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, campus “Antonio Mahado” de Baeza, del 2 al 4 de diciembre de 2015), junto con Fernando Pérez Valera (Universidad de Alicante).

A substantial but concise history (twenty pages) of the systems of Western musical notation, c.900-c.1980, presented in chronological order with many music examples and a short bibliography. It originally appeared as an article in the 2-volume, New Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Denis Arnold, published in 1983.

The four notes forming the name 'Bach' occupies the exact center of the 56 notes harpsichord keyboards that Bach knew and used. This extraordinary fact seems to have escaped so far, but Bach himself can hardly fail to notice. If, as is generally thought, Bach's unfinished fugue (whether or not it is part of The Art of Fugue) was indeed intended for the harpsichord, this observation gives an extra scope to the last notes drawn by the Master.