Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900

The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing interest in performing and recording Classical and Romantic music with period instruments; yet the relationship of composers' notation to performing practices during that period has received only sporadic attention from scholars, and many aspects of composers' intentions have remained uncertain. Clive Brown here identifies areas in which musical notation conveyed rather different messages to the musicians for whom it was written than it does to modern performers, and seeks to look beyond the notation to understand how composers might have expected to hear their music realized in performance. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that, in many respects, the sound worlds in which Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms created their music was more radically different from ours than is generally assumed. This is an essential book for all performers and students of Classical and Romantic music.

Table of Contents:
Sir Roger Norrington: Foreword Introduction 1: Accentuation in Theory 2: Accentuation in Practice 3: The Notation of Accents and Dynamics 4: Articulation 5: Articulation and Expression 6: The Notation of Articulation and Phrasing 7: String Bowing 8: Tempo 9: Alla Breve 10: Tempo Terms 11: Tempo Modification 12: Embellishment, Ornamentation, and Improvisation 13: Appoggiaturas, Trills, Turns, and Related Ornaments 14: Vibrato 15: Portamento 16: The fermata; Recitative; Arpeggiation; The Variable Dot and Other Aspects of Rhythmic Flexibility; Heavy and Light Performance Index

About the Author :
Clive Brown is Professor of Applied Musicology at the University of Leeds; and Consultant, London Classical Players

Review :
`this useful and important new book.' Peter Williams, Musical Times Dec.2000. `The topics seem endless, and the author deserves our gratitude for gathering them together, and for devoting all the energy required for such a book.' Peter Williams, Musical Times Dec. 2000. `the fact that the book focuses on notation will make it permanently useful, something to consult.' Peter Williams, Musical Times Dec. 2000. a work of the greatest scholarship and utility ... the sheer erudition is noteworthy. J. Murray, Choice, Vol.38, No.1. it may be consulted profitably by any musician or aspirant who performs the Classic or Romantic repertoire. J. Murray, Choice, Vol.38, No.1. `This book will revolutionise the study of music.' David Owen Norris, BBC Music Magazine, Oct 2000. `His wicked eye for a quotation reveals at every turn that he himself is a performer.' David Owen Norris, BBC Music Magazine, Oct 2000. `Sparks of knowledge fly up in all directions.' David Owen Norris, BBC Music Magazine, Oct 2000. `Audiences are in for some good times.' David Owen Norris, BBC Music Magazine, Oct 2000. `Despite its wealth of music examples (many in facsimile), Brown's book presents solid reading matter ... There is a wealth of information here ... Brown ... sensibly balances the views of theorists and teachers ... with what can be deduced from actual scores ... his book offers a wealth of advice and ideas, ideas which should be thought of as creative and enabling, not restrictive. Period style is not, as it is still so often parodied, a kill-joy matter of not doing something, but of finding different ways of bringing music to life.' Early Music Review, 58, March 2000 `The infinitely complex and fascinating relationship between notation and performance... assumes centre stage... Brown draws on an astonishing range of sources in his discussions of accentuation, articulation and phrasing (including string bowing), tempo and its modification, ornaments, vibrato, portamento and a host of other areas... a vast range of information for the performer's consideration while, at the same time, calling for a certain tenacity from the reader... Brown's grasp of primary sources is wide-ranging and scholarly, lavishly illustrated with musical examples, often of unfamiliar repertory. He uncovers many questions and possible answers, which can hardly fail to stimulate the thinking performer... I for one shall be underpinning future practical endeavours with constant reference to Brown's pioneering volume, a substantial achievement which will inevitably repay close and repeated study.' Colin Lawson, Gramophone Early Music Spring 2000.