E-Books →Classical and Romantic Performing Practice, 2nd Edition

Drawing upon early recordings, documentary evidence, and the few surviving mechanical instruments, author Clive Brown investigates how we might rediscover the subliminal messages Classical and Romantic music notation was intended to convey to performers and argues that composers' intentions for their notation ought not to be confused with their expectations for its execution. The use of expressive practices that often involve substantial deviations from a conventional modern reading of the notation is not only a legitimate but also an essential element in getting closer to the composer's conception. The following topics are investigated over the course of sixteen chapters: metrical and rhetorical accentuation, dynamics, articulation, string-instrument bowing, phrasing, expression, tempo, tempo flexibility, ornamentation and improvisation, asynchrony, arpeggiation, rhythmic flexibility, sliding effects (portamento), and trembling effects (tremolo, vibrato). The book offers ample evidence to demonstrate that, in many respects, the sound worlds in which Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms created their music were more radically different from ours than is generally assumed.
After it was published in 1999, the first edition of Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900 quickly ensconced itself as a must-read for all students, scholars, and performers in historically informed performance. The revised and expanded second edition incorporates new information resulting from the author's continued research and practical experimentation since the publication of the original edition, and has benefitted greatly from his work with a succession of talented doctoral students over the years.