Historical Performance Practice and the Choral Director

Historical Performance Practice and the Choral Director
Kansas State University ACDA Collegiate Chapter Meeting

Presented by David M. Wood, October 13, 2014
1. What is historical performance practice? (3 min)

a. Performance practice (Ger. Aufführungspraxis)
i. The way in which music is performed, especially as it relates to the quest
for the ‘authentic’ style of performing the music of previous generations
and eras. Its study covers notation, ornamentation, instruments, voice
production, tuning and pitch, and the size of ensembles and
choruses. - Oxford Dictionary of Music
ii.
b. History of the movement (http://www.earlymusic.org/what-early-music)
i. The revival of interest in early music can be traced all the way back to
Felix Mendelssohn, who “revived” the music of Bach (the St. Matthew
Passion in 1829) after several decades during which Baroque music was
not regularly performed. [although this was done in the Romantic practice]
ii. Arnold Dolmetsch in late 19th-century London began making copies of
viols, lutes, harpsichords, and other old instruments, and studying
Baroque-era treatises for information on how music was performed in
earlier times.
iii. In the early 20th century, early-music pioneers like Wanda Landowska
(harpsichordist in Paris), Safford Cape (American choral conductor in
Belgium), and August Wenzin
iv. After World War II, however, that the modern “early music movement”
really began to take off.
1. In the United States,
a. Paul Hindemith led an active Collegium Musicum (early
music performance program) at Yale during the 1940s
b. Noah Greenberg founded the New York Pro Musica in
1952.
2. In England
a. Alfred Deller founded the Deller Consort in 1948
b. Thurston Dart taught a generation of early music students
in Cambridge in the 1950s.
3. Continental Europe
a. Nikolaus Harnoncourt founded the Baroque orchestra
Concentus Musicus Wien (Vienna) in 1953.
b. Gustav Leonhardt gave his debut as a harpsichordist in
1950 and began teaching at the Amsterdam Conservatory
in 1954;
c. Frans Brueggen began teaching recorder at the Royal
Conservatory in The Hague in 1955.
2. Why should choral directors care about historical performance? (or Why you
might decide on the historical performance route.) (5 min)
a. Ability to understand potentially confusing rhythmic/metrical/melodic elements
(show manuscript of a Renaissance part book?)
i. musica ficta
ii. “harmonic” writing (i.e. organum)
iii. mensuration
b. Informed decisions about accompaniment/arrangements/doubling/etc.
i. instrument doubling
ii. choice of voice parts
iii. unaccompanied vs. b.c. vs full accompaniment
iv. key center
v. tuning
c. Historical Context
i. where was it performed?
ii. who/how many would have performed it?
iii. What was the situation? Sacred vs. secular; celebration, in memoriam,
etc.
3. Example of modern vs. historical performance (20 minutes) (have facsimile and
modern edition images)
a. “Behold the Lamb” from Messiah London Symphony vs. Tafelmusik (10 min)
i. Attention to “scenic” nature of the oratorio
ii. French overture
1. double-dot
2. tempo - Largo
a. Weight
3. Relationship to opening Sinfonia (French Overture, tempo= Grave
iii. Instrumentation
1. b.c. or not
a. harpsichord, organ, or both
iv. Ornamentation
1. trill - lower vs. upper
b. Coventry Carol - Robert Shaw Chamber Singers vs. Lionheart (5 min)
i. Ensemble size
ii. Pronunciation
iii. Rubato
iv. musica ficta/dissonance
c. OPTIONAL: Messe de Notre Dame - Gloria - Three “period” ensembles” (5 min)
i. Different incipits
ii. Tempo
iii. “Ornamentation”
iv. Pronunciation
4. Coventry Carol as practical example: notation, history, context, voicing,
pronunciation, etc. (10 min)
a. Wanted a short group related to the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents.
b. Found a few modern editions of Coventry Carol, but decided I wanted an SAA or
SSA version for concert variation
c. Researched the origin (Pagaent of the Shearmen and Tailors) and learned that
the piece was meant for “women” in the original English mystery play.
i. Further research verified my hunch that women’s parts were sung by men
and boys in England at this time.
d. Found copies of the manuscript
i. Google search
e. Created a new edition in a different key center suitable for SAA.
i. issues of meter
ii. key center
iii. separation of parts
f. Ultimately decided that the arrangement was further from the original than
preferred and assigned it as ATB (with a female alto)
g. Decided on a modern edition
i. mensuration lines
h. Found original text
i. Researched 15th century English pronunciation
i. Singing Early Music, Timothy McGee
5. Conclusion Q&A
a. As directors, we should always strive for a more complete understanding of
composer’s intent in any piece of music and therefore a more informed
interpretation. And this must be weighed against your available
forces/preparation time. Then you can decide how far you are able and want to
go.
Resources and References Handout

● Websites:
○ Early Music America (earlymusic.org)
● Books (include bibliography of practical guides; books, articles, chapters, CJ citations)
○ Duffin, Ross. A Performer’s Guide to Medieval Music (Early Music America
Performer’s Guides to Early Music; Indiana University Press, 2000).
○ Kite-Powell, Jeffery. A Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music (Early Music
America Performer’s Guides to Early Music; Schirmer Books, 1994; 2nd edition,
Indiana University Press, 2007).
○ Lawson, Colin, and Stowell, Robin. The Historical Performance of Music: An
Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 1999). (discusses Baroque and
Classical music)
○ Kuijken, Barthold. The Notation Is Not the Music: Reflections on Early Music
Practice and Performance (Indiana University Press, 2013).
○ Cyr, Mary, and Reinhard G. Pauly. Performing Baroque Music (Amadeus, 1992).
● Universities With Performance Practice Programs
Topics to address:
Singing issues
Vibrato
historical pronunciation
tone color and balance
Notation
role of the editor and the role of cpdl
musica ficta
singing from original notation
Text stress
groupings of 2 and 3, how they do/don’t relate to bar lines (metric accent and hemiola)
Conducting
conducting chant/chironomy
working with period instruments (difference in bows, doublings, etc.)
rehearsal planning of tricky parts specific to early music
A415, 430, 440, etc. & untempered scales
tuning, solo and chordal
dotted notes and treatment of the following beat division (how short/long is the following
quarter, eighth, sixteenth, etc.)
voice/part divisions
use of women vs. trebles

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Historical Performance Practice and the Choral Director

Kansas State University ACDA Collegiate Chapter Meeting

1. What is historical performance practice? (3 min)

Resources and References Handout

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