Richard Wexler writes:
>What musicologists did Noah
>Greenberg consult?
Gustave Reese especially, also Rembert Weakland for liturgical drama.
Likewise Cape was led by his father-in-law, Charles van den Borren. Going
back to the beginning of modern performances of medieval music, Sir John
Stainer organised the first performances from the Canonici MS (on four
violas), Riemann (and numerous subsequent German musicologists) led
university collegia, Gastoué organized the first public performances in
France (in 1914), and Gurlitt the first two public concert series in
Germany (1922 & 24), followed by Ficker in 1927 and Handschin a Swiss tour
in 1928. The earliest performance practice guides were written by Schering
and Haas (both 1931), followed by Dart, Mertin and most recently McGee, of
whom only Mertin was not a musicologist. Otherwise, the main sources of
published information on performance were the general histories (Riemann,
Gastoué, Reese etc) and the introductions to collected editions that must
have been performers' first ports-of-call in assembling programmes, and
all, of course, were the work of musicologists.
Musicologists are implicated up to the eyeballs in everything that's
happened during the first century of modern medieval music. Whether it's
exotic orchestrations, oriental influence, or singing crumhorn players,
musicologists suggested it first, often decades before performers tried it
out. Scholars are just as guilty as performers of wishful thinking, for
there was never much hard evidence. Moreover, performances encourage
scholars to believe what they hear, so that the process becomes circular.
This is particularly evident in the performance practice guides which have
relied heavily on describing the practices of modern performers, Haas
describing the 1920s concerts, Dart the practices of Cape (Dart also
studied with van den Borren), Mertin those of his student Clemencic (and
many others) and arguably McGee the improvisatory practices of Binkley and
so many other recent groups.
So one could argue that it's musicologists who should be examining their
consciences, if we're really serious about respecting the evidence. What
that evidence really amounts to remains to be thoroughly set down, IMHO.
Dan Leech-Wilkinson
---------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Daniel Leech-Wilkinson
King's College, London
[log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|