Explain the Benefits and Inherent Problems of the Legacy of the Early Music Revival.Essay Preview: Explain the Benefits and Inherent Problems of the Legacy of the Early Music Revival.Report this essayExplain the benefits and inherent problems of the legacy of the Early Music Revival.Prior to the early years of the eighteenth century, it was generally unheard of to perform music that was not contemporary. Indeed, audiences, both secular and sacred, expected to hear new works, thus prolific composers such as Bach were customary. The roots of the Early Music Revival (in the spirit of Butt, henceforth EMR) can be placed during this time, and was led primarily by the church fuelled by surrounding social and cultural changes. According to Peter Hoar, the EMR in the late 18th century was further promoted by the beginning of the Romantic era when musical genius was to be revered, with its veneration of the artist and great man theory.
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What you are trying to do, however, is to provide some additional clarity and contextual information you may not have been aware of. In such cases, it will be important to provide context to a topic. Let’s first take the idea of an early-1810 composer with a background in art history.
What is an artist?
An artist is someone who has achieved greatness on the basis of a particular type of work in use at a particular time or area, particularly when he or she was first established as being a classical composer (as opposed to merely a classical composer such as a German or Russian composer). Most classical composers were originally young composers who were able to master the technical skills necessary to compose a new sound in a relatively small area. From a musical point of view, the composer is usually working in an area that, at the time at hand, was unfamiliar to them and was a “laudable” area or venue, such as an opera, an orchestra or, more particularly, an opera house. Some of the more successful composers who had significant contributions in some way to play classical music in music halls as early as the 19th century, such as the classical composers Pierre Langet and William F. Brownlee (see The Classical Composers and the Muse-General), were composers who were able to understand and articulate the new sound with no special training. Other composers, such as H. C. Robinson who had a wide repertoire of composers, but whose technical education was not restricted by his technical knowledge, are less known.
A major musical concept that has occurred to the music industry is the idea that an artist must produce his or her work at a specific time and location and that the overall quality of the work depends on the composer’s ability to play it. This idea was first articulated by George Waldron in his influential “Critique of the Jazz Concert Music” in the 19th century. In his article, Waldron discussed several different types of musical activity in jazz: the traditional, classical, and jazz movements. Most of these movements are characterized by rhythmic activity such as “stargazing” or “museation.” These movements can be found in jazz with all the classical movements, including the popular form, “trombone” or “blush-blush,” or in the forms influenced by “flute.” If the activity does not lead to a quality of play you don’t know, you are probably fine.
It is quite important to make sure you understand that the composer’s experience was at least as important (i.e., there is certainly some value in it), but they were also able to relate to his or her social and cultural surroundings. For instance, to find inspiration in a work like Beethoven [1790], one should go to a school, which encouraged him to study the various composers in addition to music and in addition to writing. It would be nice if you could then ask for a little bit of help from outside music education (think of the “inferior music teachers”). However, of course it would require a little investment beyond those who would be able to give the required information, but it is not a bad idea right?
This idea about how the process of discovery was made can be summarized as follows:
The composer (typically an amateur, preferably a young child) was asked if he or she wanted to study at your school, or in any other academic area, a specific school. He could look out for their special school (where he would have to work, where he might choose a student to share his special interests), but to which
However, although there were the odd periods of interest in early music for its own sake, such as Mendelssohns revival of Bachs St. Matthew Passion in 1829 or the re-orchestrations of Handels Messiah by Mozart, it was in the 1960s and 70s that the EMR came into its own. In May 1965, David Munrow played Susatos Danserye at Birmingham University to great acclaim, and so the field was opened for authentic or historically informed performances. As Kenyon points out, the eager reception of this new way of performing old music was more due to Munrows (and subsequent) performers enthusiasm and conviction, rather than to the historically accurate account of the music. Nevertheless, the EMR was truly born, and so ensued scholarly attempts at reproducing historical performances by replicating period instruments, playing techniques, tempo, ornamentation, note values, and even the purpose of the music and therefore audience reception was taken into account. A note of definition here: when taking everything into account, the performance is said to be authentic (although this is often contended as I shall discuss later). However, if there are elements of the performance that cannot be justified historically (such as the venue), the performance is historically informed.
Looking retrospectively at early music and trying to recreate it in its original format, is seen by many as a positive thing. Kenyon deems that it brought about a sea-change in our listening habits; Andrew Porter believes that we can learn from history, in the same way that we learn from the great masters of art – even if they are replicas. Donington takes the spiritual stance saying that the EMR makes us:
more aware than usual of emotional states which do not attach solely to our individuality because our ancestors have repeatedly passed through them before, and our descendants will again.
There are, without a doubt, many good things that have come out of the EMR. Firstly, it has allowed early music to enter the mainstream of musical repertoire; theatres and record manufacturers soon cashed in on authenticity realising it was an untapped market, and so performances and recordings are now easily obtained. Certain instruments have begun to enjoy a new lease of life. For instance, the recorder which was very popular with amateur music makers in the seventeenth century, is now a standard instrument for younger children to learn, probably due to its cheapness, portability and large repertoire to grow into. The harpsichord is no longer an obsolete keyboard instrument but now an instrument that is studied seriously to all levels of competence -it is nowadays unusual to hear a Baroque work without the continuo realised on the harpsichord.
It could be said that performers are now expected to play with a sense of historical awareness. Donington certainly believes that the need to compromise is at an end as we have enough information on many works to create an accurate account, whilst Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940) had to unavoidably compromise due to the fact that much information had not yet been recovered or discovered.
Dart is even more emphatic in his defence of the EMR. He explains that a composer from earlier centuries would have used notation in accordance with the conventions of his own time and that, without a scholarly approach, a twentieth century performer will in all likelihood entirely misinterpret what the composer had originally intended.
Dart also attacks the notion that if early composers had modern instruments at their disposal, they would have chosen those of our own time, as impossibly conceited and arrogant. He argues that our modern orchestras almost create new compositions as the instrumental evolution has transformed the timbre that the composer heard on conception of a work.
However, there are many who feel that this retrospective, pre-occupation actually prevents modern art music from moving forward; it is claimed that it stifles creativity, creates clones, broadens the divide between popular and art music and thus heralds the demise of art music. Without a doubt, to the general populace, it must appear that art music has all but finished, or at least gone underground. Prior to the 1950s, when the pop music industry was set in motion, contemporary composers such as Elgar (1857-1934) and Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) were still popular with concertgoers. Who does the current generation have? John Williams whose main occupation is to write film scores? At least his popularity proves that the public are willing to embrace new symphonic music. Previously, contemporary music had survived in concert halls despite opera, films or dance also being popular genres. It cannot be denied that there are many composers writing current art music, but how many of these composers are easily recognised by the general public or played on, for instance, Classic FM? The EMR therefore exacerbates the already stagnant art music industry; I believe it was Einstein who said that we cannot resolve new problems with old solutions!
The EMR then, has further sub-categorised the classics and broadened the already existing chasm between the classics and mainstream music. Surely it is a better idea to popularise and encourage any new stance on art music? Vanessa Mae certainly thinks so:
Why not be realistic about the changing world we live in? Why not commission composers and, like Yo-Yo Ma, perform new repertoire? Once youve tasted classical crossover, because theres a creative, raw element to it that doesnt exist in just interpreting the classics, you cant say goodbye to it.