Classical Music Part Two

PART TWO: CLASSI C A L M U S I C THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENT MOVEMENT Many a gallon of ink has been splashed about debating the pros and cons of utilizing original instruments in performance. Trying to recreate the past is not a new idea. Opera grew from an attempt to discover Greek drama. The Baron Gottfried van Swieten, a Viennese nobleman and music lover of Dutch birth, encouraged Mozart (and others) to revive the music of Handel (1684–1759), who by the late 1770s was almost forgotten in Vienna. Mozart complied by adjusting and updating the scores of Alexander’s Feast, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, Acis and Galetea, and the Messiah. All the Mozart versions have been recorded. Mendelssohn was responsible for the early Victorian rekindling of J.S. Bach. Mozart and Mendelssohn updated the music to make it more palatable. Cer- tainly a first step. Arnold Dolmetsch (1858–1940) moved in the other direction. From a family of instrument builders, Dolmetsch studied and recreated the past. He taught his large family to play his “resurrected” instruments and almost single- handedly revived the recorder and the da Gamba instruments. Wanda Landowska (1877–1959) rekindled interest in the harpsichord, and had an especially loud one made. She performed on many recordings, including one from pre-World War II Paris in which the testing of the defense guns can be heard in the background. In the 1930s, Ben Stad, a Hollander who became an American citizen, founded the American Society of the Ancient Instruments and took upon him- self “the noble mission of bringing to music lovers in this country the works of early composers.” Two sets of ten- and twelve-inch 78-rpm records were issued by Victor. This Music of Early Composers was revived by David Hall in The Record Book (1946). “For those who are interested in the early development of orchestral instruments or who wonder how music of the Sixteenth Century [sic] actually sounded to the concert-goer of that day, this set should hold much of interest. Byrd, Purcell, Frescobaldi, Lully, and Scarlatti are among the early composers represented, all played on instruments of their day. Performances and recording are, for the most part, adequate.” Stad’s recording of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach’s Concerto in D for Orchestra took a definite back seat to the performance of Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra as CLASSICAL MUSIC 71 re-orchestrated by the Russian Maximillian Steinberg which was considered a “must” for anyone’s library. Since the 1960s the steam of the purists has gained in power. Original instrument boys (and girls—gawd forbid) feel that a performance can only reflect the composer’s intention when it is recreated on the instruments in use at the time of composition. They argue (and no one doubts this) that a sackbut, ancestor of the trombone, has a different sound and is played in a different way. It gets more confusing when a fortepiano of Beethoven’s time or better, that of Brahms, is passed by for a modern Steinway. The purists argue that the tone is different, the mechanical action is different, and the volume is different. All affect the outcome. When a sonata is played, the actual playing will be affected by the action. The style of performance will also be affected by the correct size room supporting the right acoustics and the pitch of the instruments tuned to that of the period of composition. If a Beethoven fortepiano is used in a concerto, the orchestra must be downsized to a complement fitting the late eighteenth century, and the tempo markings must match the far faster metronome markings Beethoven is supposed to have specified. The modern instrument guys and gals think this “historical reconstruc- tion” is bunk. They assert that improvements in instrument construction vastly enhance the sound and ease of playing. The bigger and brighter-sounding piano is perfect for the bigger orchestra and improved orchestra instruments. And besides, audiences in today’s large concert halls are used to slightly slower tempo markings, and the higher pitch carries better to sound-weary ears. Does it make a difference? On one side, none at all—enjoyment is enjoyment. But there is a real, easily perceived difference in the sound. The catgut strings have a bit more bite or “cat-in-heat” tang, if you will. The brass instruments, without valves, are often a bit mellower on one hand, but can have an edge which hits the ears in a colorful contrast, because the notes are sometimes not quite “on the money” as the player works with mouth and hand to create the sound. Many old instruments lack the keys for perfect notes and others, like the basset clarinet, sound nothing like a contempory clarinet. The differences become important when trying to set the flavor and mood of a period. The original instruments can be thrilling, and the crisply etched textural contrasts inform the listener in a unique way. The original instrument players feel their approach should extend back to the earliest music and forward to the symphonies of Bruckner and Brahms. Another performance style has evolved in which the size of the orchestra is now adjusted to match the number of players utilized at the time of composition, but the music is played on modern instruments. This has brought additional clarity to the works of Haydn and Mozart, not to speak of Bach and Handel, and the “thinner” sound sits easily and familiarly on the ear. During the nineteenth century it was not uncommon to hear the most unoriginal Handel with three or four thousand performers! In 1888, one such concert was recorded 72 SOUND Designer’s COMPANION on an Edison cylinder! The real difficulty becomes one of consistency. The new and old sounds do not mix. The ear is jarred by juxtaposition. As with drinking: never mix, never worry. A GLOSSARY OF VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC The glossary of music terminology which follows does not pretend to be com- plete nor to replace a thorough musical dictionary. The selected entries are some of the most common items encountered in production work. Following this glossary is another one devoted to the world of dance and related infor- mation. a cappella (It. ah-cahp-PEL-lah). Unaccompanied singing—derived from the early Italian practice of writing for the chapel choir, which by papal decree was not accompanied by any instruments. The cappa (diminutive cappella) was the cloak worn by St. Marin, which he divided to share with a beggar. The remnants were preserved in a sanctuary which was latter called a “cappella.” Thus any small church became a cappella. The German Kapelle is the same, and the musician in charge there became the Kapellmeister. aleatory music. From the Latin word alea, meaning dice. This chancy compositional practice gained a tenuous foothold after WWII with avant- garde composers, including Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. GLOSSARY The composer gives the conductor or performer the choice of ordering the music: a dicey situation at best. Of course the use of dice is nothing new. Mozart, certainly familiar with the “bones of the devil,” gamely jotted MUSIC down on a sheet of music paper some two-bar phrases of a German TERMS dance. This was accompanied by columns of numbers. He simply threw the dice and found the appointed column and numbers dictating the next phrase. Mozart’s boredom with the rigid structure and fixed rules is evident by his lack of their pursuit. It was simply faster for him to compose. If listening to some of Mozart’s aleatory experiments is desired, K.516F should get you there. alto (It. AL-toe). The proper definition of the word is “high.” Originally alto was used to designate the high male voice, which in late adolescence is moving from the soprano into the tenor range. Today, “counter-tenor” is the alto male voice and “contralto” the female. In catalogues and on choir designations S.A.T.B. means Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. The mezzo-soprano is a female voice now found between the higher soprano and lower contralto, but the lines are often quite blurred. “Sopranist” has become a title for the high alto voice of counter-tenors, or “falsettists,” as they are often designated. Indeed, most very high male voices are falsetto, a head-voice produced by practice and not by surgical means. See castrato for a bit more detail and proof that the Roman Catholic Church at one time practiced birth-control. CLASSICAL MUSIC 73 arabesque. The word alludes to the intricate pattern of interlaced lines found in Arabic art—thus a florid and ornamental melody. Debussy and Schumann are but two who wrote arabesques. aria (It. AH-ree-ah). A song accompanied by some form of instrumental background. In opera, cantatas, and oratorios, the aria becomes grander and the accompaniment more sophisticated. In both secular and sacred music, the aria can become an isolated, virtuostic showpiece for a singer (or instrument) with accompaniment. arie antiche (It. ar-EE-a an-TEESH). Italian arias, usually from the seventeenth century. The “old songs” are sometimes from operas, but always noted for a lovely musical line. Caldara, Durante, Cesti, Alessandro Scarlatti, Bonocini, Fasolo, Bassani and many others contributed to the form. Arie antiche are still grouped together as part of a recital, either on recordings or in live presentations. ars antiqua (Latin ars an-TIK-wa, meaning “old art”). It refers to the music of the Middle Ages, including plainsong and organum; a form of polyphony in which the voices move parallel and in fifths.

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