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Book review: 'The birth of the orchestra: history of an institution, 1650–1815' by John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw
No full textThe role of the orchestra within an ever-changing social and political environment has recently attracted a great deal of attention, as its ability to adapt to twenty-first century culture remains constantly under the spotlight. Many of the issues surrounding the orchestra and its musicians past, present, and future have recently surfaced in such books as The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations, edited by Joan Peyser (New York, 1986); Christopher Small’s Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening (London and Hanover, NH, 1989); The Cambridge Companion to the Orchestra, edited by Colin Lawson (Cambridge, 2003); and Stephen Cottrell’s Professional Music-Making in London: Ethnography and Experience (Aldershot, 2004). With their new book, John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw have made a distinctive, scholarly, and stimulating contribution to the debate
Louis Andriessen, Hanns Eisler, and the Lehrstück
No full textCommentators on the music of Louis Andriessen have not been slow to point to the perceptible influence of a number of other composers and musical styles. Conspicuously absent from recent discussions of Andriessen's music is the name of Hanns Eisler. Eisler's example, as defined both by his ideas about music and politics, and by the music itself, loomed larger than any other at precisely the time-the early 1970s -when Andriessen was formulating his mature style. More particularly, the model established by Eisler and Brecht in their Lehrstücke (learning plays) provided a framework for Andriessen's own attempts to reconcile popular and progressive elements within a politically committed context. In 1972 Andriessen was invited by the theatre director Paul Binnerts to work on Brecht and Eisler's best known Lehrstück, Die Massnahme. Andriessen wrote new music for the piece which sought to remain faithful to the spirit of Eisler's original settings but which also departed from them in significant ways, partly because of the influence of Reiner Steinweg's interpretation (published in 1971) of the Lehrstück as a fundamentally dialectical exercise. Eisler's attitudes toward musical material and performance, and the basic principles of the Lehrstück, both continue to resonate in Andriessen's later music, even after overtly political concerns have receded from the foreground
Catalogue entry
No full textEntry in the catalogue of the exhibition held at the Museo degli argenti, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 19 March - 4 September 2005
Review of 'Jazz in print (1856–1929): An anthology of selected early readings in jazz history' by Karl Koenig
No full textReview of 'Berlioz's orchestration treatise: a translation and commentary' by Hugh MacDonald
No full textThe early clarinet: historical icon or postmodern invention?
No full textAsks whether the clarinet has improved since Mozart's day or has merely changed. Provides an overview of the clarinet's performance history and examines what historically aware musicians are trying to achieve, how recording has influenced performance, and the practicalities of playing old instruments that the modern-day player must take into consideration.
Please note this is a reprint of item #713
Review of 'Musical instruments: history, technology, and performance of instruments of Western music' by Murray Campbell, Clive Greated, and Arnold Myers
No full textMastery through imitation: a preliminary study
No full textA paradox exists between the long history of teaching music through imitative strategies and the demand to possess original artistic insight. This article addresses this paradox by investigating the general musical and educational implications of imitative learning strategies. In the first study, five advanced violinists were divided into an Experimental Group (n=3) and a Control Group (n=2). All violinists were asked to prepare and perform the Adagio from J. S. Bach's Sonata for Solo Violin in G minor, discussing with the researchers their views on how they felt this composition should be interpreted. The violinists in the Experimental Group were subsequently asked to study a Target recording of the piece by Jascha Heifetz (the duration of study was unspecified) and to perform a “perceptually indistinguishable copy” of it. This was followed by interviews and a final, non-imitated performance approximately one month later. The results of detailed analyses of timing profiles from the performances and interviews show that the participants were able to imitate expressive features of the Target recording. The results also reveal that the imitation process directly influenced their conceptions of how the piece could be interpreted (as observed in the final performances) but that the extent of this influence was highly individual-specific. In the second study, listeners (n=30) were presented with recordings of all three performances given by the violinists in the Experimental Group and with the Target recording; they were asked to rate the overall quality of each performance and their similarity to the Target on 7-point scales. The results show that the imitation process did produce perceptually salient changes in the violinists' performances but the direction of change in terms of overall quality (positive or negative) was also individual specific. The results from both studies are discussed in relation to their pedagogical implications
Musical excellence: strategies and techniques to enhance performance
No full textMusical Excellence offers performers, teachers, and researchers, new perspectives and practical guidance for enhancing performance and managing the stress that typically accompanies performance situations. It draws together, for the first time in a single collection, the findings of pioneering initiatives from across the arts and sciences. Specific recommendations are provided alongside comprehensive reviews of existing theory and research, enabling the practitioner to place the strategies and techniques within the broader context of human performance and encouraging novel ways of conceptualizing music making and teaching.
Part I, Prospects and Limits, sets out ground rules for achieving musical excellence. What roles do innate talent, environmental influences, and sheer hard work play in attaining eminence? How can musicians best manage the physical demands of a profession that is intrinsically arduous, throughout a career that can literally span a lifetime? How can performers, teachers, and researchers effectively assess and reflect on performance enhancement for themselves, their colleagues, and their students?
Part II, Practice Strategies, presents approaches for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of practice. These are examined generally for the individual and ensembles and specifically for the tasks of memorizing, sight-reading, and improvising music. Musicians spend vast amounts of time and energy acquiring and refining their skills, but are there particular rehearsal strategies that they can employ to produce better performance results or to achieve the same results more quickly? What implication does existing knowledge of human information processing and physical functioning have for musical learning and practice?
Part III, Techniques and Interventions, introduces scientifically validated methods for enhancing musical achievement, ordered from the more physical to the psychological to the pharmacological; however, they all address issues of both mental and physical significance for the musician. Collectively, they stand as clear evidence that applied, cross-disciplinary research can facilitate musicians' strive for performance excellence.
Throughout, the book highlights ways for musicians to make the most of their existing practice, training, and experience and gives them additional tools for acquiring and developing new skills. Each chapter is underpinned by physical and psychological principles relevant to all performance traditions that demand dedication and resilience, unique artistic vision, and effective communication