DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PERFORMANCE PORTFOLIO ...

ass instruments and became very accomplished exponents of the art by the time the
recording sessions started.
When preparing the scores for rehearsal, it was clear there was much to
ponder. Take for instance
the question of intonation. Existing examples of instruments
from the eighteenth century seem to have inherent intonation 'defects'. Does this
mean that the players of the day played out of tune or did they find ways to
compensate for the insufficiencies of their instruments?
For a contemporary wind band two styles of the eighteenth century are no
longer used and require some retraining on the part of the members of the ensemble.
These
two styles are known as 'double dotting' and the swinging Italianate style. The
Italianate style is written in simple time however it is performed a compound time.
This equates to four straight quavers in a bar being played as a Siciliano rhythm.
Reading does become more difficult as the rhythm patterns become more
complicated. It also became apparent that it is important to understand and perform
appoggiatura
and other grace notes played on the beat. 6
In studying the problems of performing music more than two centuries old, it
is useful to consider the advice of Adam Carse:
But the most ardent advocate of the back- to-the-land movement must temper
his enthusiasm with common sense and recognise that it is impossible to get
back to the land completely and with both feet. Time has passed and with it
some of the conditions that prevailed in the 18th century have passed away
forever. There are some features of 18' century performing methods which
cannot now be recovered and some which would not restore even if we could
do so. 7
6 Thurston Dart, 7he Interpretation ofMusic (New York: Harper & Row, 1963), 88-
89.
7 Adam Carse, 7he Orchestra in the XMIth Century (Cambridge, England: W. Heffer
&Sons Limited. 1940; reprint 1950), 160-161. '
6