Early Music America Fall 2012 - (Page 51)

notated mixed and cross-rhythms in Bach’s keyboard music that lend it a complexity—and even an unpredictability—that is altogether comparable to the intricacy and originality of his harmony and counterpoint. Why not, as a general rule—at least in the case of Johann Sebastian Bach, who was famous (even infamous) for his explicit notation— assume that the composer usually notated just what he wanted, unless there is compelling, inescapable evidence to the contrary? Yes, there will still be cases where one cannot know for sure what the master intended. But it seems more than a little perverse to ignore, as often as this author does, Bach’s painstakingly precise and highly differentiated rhythmic notation, in order to arbitrarily impose on his music a bland uniformity or, as the author would see it, consistency. In short, the answer to the question posed in the title of this book— far more often than not, and far more often than the author will concede—is: “Yes, Bach really did mean that!” Robert L. Marshall, professor emeritus at Brandeis University, is the author of The Compositional Process of J. S. Bach, The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sources, the Style, the Significance, and Mozart Speaks: Views on Music, Musicians, and the World. He has also edited a volume of cantatas for the Neue Bach-Ausgabe and several essay collections. and interpretations. There are, for example, essays on “The Ancient World,” “Performance before c.1430,” and “Political process, social structure and musical performance in Europe since 1450,” plus separate chapters on vocal and instrumental performance of every era from the Renaissance to the 20th century and beyond. Several works are singled out for individual analysis, including Machaut’s ballade “Quant Theseus/Ne quier veoir,” and Stockhausen’s Gruppen. This is a highly recommended addition to your library. —MK Where it all begins. The Compleat Dancing Master: A translation of Gottfried Taubert’s Rechtschaffener Tantzmeister (1717). Translated, with introduction and annotation, by Tilden Russell. Peter Lang Publishing, 2012. Two volumes. Vol. 1: Introduction, 174 pages. Vol. 2: Translation,1,015 pages. Gottfried Taubert’s Rechtschaffener Tantzmeister is an invaluable but little-known book about dancing during the Baroque era, to be sure, but it is also a unique source of information about musical performance practices, teaching methods, expected modes of moral behavior, courting rituals, lifestyles and even physical fitness goals in Germany during the first half of the 18th century. The publication of Tilden Russell’s superb complete translation is therefore a noteworthy event, since it makes available to English readers for the first time one of the more fascinating accounts of the period. The book is made all the more interesting because of Taubert’s colorful and often acid tongue. Taubert obviously did not suffer fools gladly, and his comments about the things he approved of, or much more frequently, disliked, are blunt, painfully honest, and often quite funny. We should also remember that Taubert lived and worked in Leipzig from 1715-1730, thus bringing him in direct contact with J. S. Bach. Although we have no documentary evidence to prove that Bach and Taubert ever met or worked together, it is tempting to imagine the supposedly sober Lutheran Kantor, whose personality is undergoing a most welcome and humanizing reevaluation, taking his wife Anna Magdalena to Taubert for some dancing lessons, and then dancing the night away in the Sommersaal of the Bosehaus or at Zimmermann’s Coffee House. —MK Keyboard Degrees Bachelor of Music in harpsichord Master of Music in harpsichord Professional Studies Diploma in historical keyboards Historical Performance Emphasis Harpsichord, historical plucked strings, baroque cello IN BRIEF The Cambridge History of Musical Performance. Edited by Colin Lawson and Robin Stowell. Cambridge University Press, 2012. 906 pages. This book, which is longer than the latest Stephen King novel, might seem too large for a thumbnail review, but the subject it attempts to cover is so huge and comprehensive that a review 10 times the length would probably not do it justice. Its topic is none other than a 2,000-year history of musical performance, from Ancient Greece and Rome to the present day, and with a few exceptions, the team of 33 distinguished scholars assembled to take on this task acquit themselves admirably, contributing probing articles on a wide range of subjects and from a diversity of perspectives Historical Performance Program Faculty Corey Jamason director, historical keyboards Elizabeth Blumenstock baroque violin Christine Brandes voice Elisabeth Reed baroque cello, viola da gamba Richard Savino baroque guitar and lute Performance Opportunities Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Ensembles Baroque Opera / Oratorio Performance Practice Courses Viol Consort Ofﬁce of Admission 800.899.SFCM | admit@sfcm.edu 00.89 I Early Music America Fall 2012 51 http://sfcm.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Early Music America Fall 2012

Editor’s Note
EMA Competition
Sound Bytes
Musings: Listening Forward
Profile: A Classical Playlist on Your Cable Television
Recording Reviews
Reconstructing Spanish Songs from the Time of Cervantes
Janet See: Traversist on Two Continents
Musical Mosaic Explores “Perspectives of Interspersing Peoples”
Book Reviews
Ad Index
In Conclusion: Conducting Early Music

Early Music America Fall 2012