Early Music Thoughts
So I’ve been digging through lots of books and interviews with early music people, and here are two consistent streams I am finding:
1. No one claims to be authentic or correct - they’re just making a best guess with the research they have. (That’s a relief)
2. No one likes the automatic sustain and that pervades music now, i.e. Bach played like it is a “divine sewing machine.” Most agree that big sustain generally started around Wagner’s time. The HIP guys like strong beats/notes and weak beats/notes.
Other issues, like vibrato, double-dotting, swells on notes, period instruments, size and layout of an orchestra are of less concern, and vary more from artist to artist.
I think these are two of the most convincing ways of “getting into” historically informed performance with modern orchestras. I think enough time has passed that most players would now at least understand that automatic sustain is not necessarily the best for this music. Even so, as a string player, my ability to sustain a beautiful sound is one of the things I worked hardest to do! Taking that away from players is taking away one of their most precious and treasured skills. No wonder there’s some tension when sustain is taken out of the picture.
If we take on a historically informed approach with a modern orchestra, we’ve got to make sure we’re “giving back” MORE than we’re “taking away” to create excitement in the performance.