Early Music America Summer 2014 - (Page 15)

musings By Thomas Forrest Kelly PALLADE MUSICA The Force of Opinion CASTIGLIONE, in his Book of familiar until we heard it "authentic." I'll the Courtier (1528), tells a story never forget my ﬁrst hearing of Leonabout attribution: "And when a motet hardt's Brandenburg Concertos or Hogwas sung in the presence of the lady wood's Messiah. They knocked my socks Duchess, it pleased no one, and was not off. Before long it became a requirement, considered good, until it became known a sort of entrance exam into the big that it was a composition of Josquin des leagues, for Baroque ensembles to make Prez. And what clearer sign could you recordings of those pieces and the desire of the force of opinion?" Unmentionable Concertos and probably Or, as Aunt Pitty-Pat says in Gone with a Monteverdi Vespers-and so we end up the Wind, "If Melanie says it's all right, it with a canon, beautifully performed by is all right." multiple ensembles, in performances We all know the force of opinion. that no longer surprise us. Music by Beethoven gets performed a lot The second approach, the rediscovery more than music by that most proliﬁc of of forgotten music, has brought us some composers, Anonymous. absolutely wonderful new The part of early We somehow like brand music, but we sometimes names, the assurance music that is about are a little wary of things that this music will be we don't know about. discovery, about like music we already seeking out the new, That's where Castiglione know and admire by the comes in; he thinks that the unexplored, is the people who are not able to same composer. This has part I think I'll think for themselves like to created a way for us to concentrate on fall in with the crowd and reach music that we admire a piece if it's by might not otherwise for a while. somebody who is well know; Messiah may lead us to the many other wonderful oratorios known (say, Josquin des Prez) and feel of Handel; the Four Unmentionable Sea- free to sneer a little if it's not. But you have to be careful, because it just might sonal Concertos may lead us to a lot of turn out to be by Josquin. wonderful other music by Vivaldi; and I confess to a weakness for music that so on. I think I'll like. If it's by somebody But it also leads to the creation of a whose music I know, I'm perhaps more closed canon in which music without inclined to listen to it or to buy a ticket pedigree is also without reputation. It to a concert. I think that I deprive myself emphasizes, also, what have always of a lot of great music when I do so; I seemed to me to be the two basic approaches to early music: know that I do. The part of early music One the one hand, early music can be that is about discovery, about seeking seen as the performance of music using out the new, the unexplored, is the part historical instruments and performing I think I'll concentrate on for a while. techniques. On the other, early music The operas of Graun, maybe, or some of can be seen as the discovery of music that amazing late-14th-century music, or from the past that was lost or forgotten Baroque zarzuela. There's a lot of good until now. The two are related and inter- stuff out there that's not by Josquin des Prez. twined, of course, but the approaches are very different. The ﬁrst approach, the performance Thomas Forrest Kelly is a professor of music at Harvard University and a board member aspect, is the one that gets us so many and past president of Early Music America. recordings of music we thought was Grand Prize winner of 2012 EMA Baroque Performance Competition B I ACD2 2697 ALDASSARE PALLADE MUSICA presents their first CD: Verso Venezia Tanya LaPerrière BAROQUE VIOLIN Elinor Frey BAROQUE CELLO Esteban La Rotta THEORBO Mylène Bélanger HARPSICHORD & ORGAN atmaclass ique.com STUDIO QUALITY MP3 Early Music America CD QUALITY Summer 2014 15 http://www.atmaclassique.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Early Music America Summer 2014

Editor's Note
Reader Forum
Sound Bytes
Musings: The Force of Opinion
Recording Reviews
Baroque Opera and Historical Performance: A Reconsideration
Underestimating Turk
Our Disappearing LP Legacy
Living and Breathing Early Music, the Ukrainian Way
Ars Longa and the Festival Esteban Salas
Book Reviews
Ad Index
In Conclusion: The Flauto Dolce Heralds a Welcome Entrance into Heaven

Early Music America Summer 2014