Early and not-so-early music

Antoni Pizà

Professor of Musicology at The City University of NY

At the beginning of the 1960s, the world of classical concerts experienced a significant shake-up that has come to be known as “Historically Informed Performance” (HIP), inter alia. This movement was motivated primarily by a spirit toward correction or rectification. Two ideas emerged among many music performance professionals. One was that the musical repertoire was based on a dozen or so composers of the 18th and 19th centuries (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.) and that there was a need to broaden the repertoire ―what orchestras usually play― with other composers from other countries, cultures and more importantly historical periods other than the 18th and 19th centuries, which are the core of the repertoire. The second idea was that well-known music ―Bach, for example― was often incorrectly performed because it was played according to modern criteria. Bach, Handel, Scarlatti and other baroque composers, for example, were played on the piano and not the harpsichord. And so, in this spirit of rectification, the movement of music, sometimes referred to as “early music” with “period instruments” and containing historically informed criteria, was created.

However, what began as a slight, marginal artistic movement in the 1960s has become a particularly important way of understanding music in the classical concert scene. In addition to the public having lost its fear of “forgotten” or unknown composers, it is now quite normal to perform works by composers and pieces from the usual repertoire in the HIP. It is worth noting that the HIP has not replaced modern performance but has complemented it. Today, we can listen to Bach on the modern piano or the harpsichord, and nobody is shocked at all. Both interpretations are artistically valid, but thanks to the HIP, the public has become aware of two things. First, the HIP is closer to the original way this music was felt when it was created, though not exact because historical accuracy can be considered a pipedream. Secondly, historicism allows us to discover many nuances buried in the modern interpretation. Some people say that when they have cut salt (or sugar or nicotine) from their diets, although at first this change is a difficult challenge, the food tastes like nothing, they end up discovering new flavours in fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. Suddenly, new aromas and tastes, palate subtleties and olfactory undertones that they did not know about come to the fore. The HIP has this feature. It makes us hear the music in a different way and, if you like, with better judgement and more subtle sonorous tones.

How do we obtain this historicism, which unveils patinas that have been buried by time? One essential aspect is the instrument used and, of course, how it is played. For example, tonight’s concert will see a harpsichord on stage (played by William Christie), a plucked strings key instrument. The great strength of the harpsichord is that it has a very delicate sound and allows for separate, independent chords and melodic lines without the mixing and possible confusion caused by the reverberating pedal on the piano, an instrument, by the way, with percussive strings, which is much later than the harpsichord. Therefore, as a chamber instrument with an intimate resonance, the harpsichord is ideal for a private salon and not a concert hall (or an outdoor courtyard at night) because, besides, it doesn’t allow too many dynamics (it can’t sound too loud or too soft).

Another instrument we will hear tonight is the theorbo, the most bass-like instrument of the lute family, which is very similar to the archlute (played here by Thomas Dunford). The theorbo is also a plucked string instrument played with two basic techniques: plucking, which adds short, ornamental melodies as a commentary to the main melody, and strumming, which creates a chordal effect and harmonic progressions. The theorbo has two necks, sometimes fretless, and one of these necks has a corresponding set of additional strings that serve to play the basses. 

Vocals in the world of the HIP (tonight, we will hear mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre) are also different from vocals in the world of opera. One of the differences is that in opera, vibrato, a tiny oscillation that creates expressiveness and also projects the voice at a certain distance, is often used extensively. In the HIP, vibrato is used much less than in opera and is an embellishment, an addition—not an integral part of the performance. Singers usually follow the rhythm, accents and movement of the text and, following historically informed criteria, indulge in short improvisations, flourishes and all sorts of liberties that are generally not acceptable in the operatic world.

In a HIP, the musicians sometimes don’t wear full evening dress and perform straight away; many are eclectically minded young people who play Purcell today and perform in a punk band tomorrow. In general, an informal spirit predominates. However, this does not imply a lack of historical rigour and exquisite musical taste. A historically informed performer must know whether the “A” should be tuned at 440 Hertz (like the “normal” piano) or higher or lower. The tuning can also take a historically informed performer many hours of study to clarify whether the scale should be twelve pitches or more or less. The study of music and performance with historically informed criteria is a very rigorous discipline – theoretical treatises in Latin or medieval Catalan must be examined. Yet behind these hours and hours of study, there must be art, beauty and an apparent naturalness.

The programme presented tonight includes an anthology of English and French vocal music covering the late 17th to 20th century period. This means you will hear baroque pieces (Lawes, Purcell, Lambert, Couperin, etc.) performed according to the historically informed criteria described above. There will also be interpretations of works by 20th-century composers such as Copland, Barber, Poulenc and Ravel. This demonstrates the open and inclusive spirit of the HIP movement. Tonight, you will hear early and not-so-early music.