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Daniel Leech-Wilkinson responded: >Richard Wexler writes: >>What musicologists did Noah Greenberg consult? >Gustave Reese especially, also Rembert Weakland for liturgical drama. Yes, that's true, but I wonder how early Reese joined the board of the Pro Musica. Also, I think one should bear in mind that Reese did not do much editing and took little interest in performance practice. Most of his advice to Greenberg probably would have been in the nature of repertory suggestions and where to find editions. >[paragraph omitted] >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. All points well taken. We're obviously guilty as sin when it comes to who should get the blame for recorded performances. But I still think there's something to be said for regarding the "pioneers," even Cape to an extent, as self-starters. That could account for why so much published about performance practice seems to derive from their per- formances. Richard Wexler +------+ 1-301-405-5538 (w); 1-301-779-6906 (h) +-------+ | Musicology Division | University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 | | Department of Music | E-mail: [log in to unmask] | +---------------------+------------------------------------------------+ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%