florida state university college of music performance practice

practice. Publications from two pioneers, Edward Dannreuther (1844-1904) and Arnold
Dolmetsch (1858-1940), both who immigrated to England, provided insightful advice
concerning interpretation of early music. German-born Edward Dannruether‟s two-
volume 1889-1890 work, Musical Ornamentation, and French-born Arnold Dolmetsch‟s
1915 work, The Music of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, marked early efforts
to shift the paradigm from simply resurrecting earlier repertoire to focus on performance
practice. For example, Dolmetsch‟s chapter devoted to expression, emphasizes that even
authors writing in the eighteenth century were trying to convey a way to reproduce with
“absolute precision the execution of the music as intended by its composer.” 45 While
both these works were influential, Dolmetsch‟s more so than Dannruether‟s, the majority
of the writing was concerned with elements of ornamentation. 46
Contemporary to these early efforts was the influential personality of Wanda
Landowska (1879-1959). Landowska‟s passion for the harpsichord began when she
traveled to Berlin to study composition with Heinrich Urban, popular teacher for notables
such as Paderewski and Hofmann. 47 While in Berlin, she became acquainted with many
historic instruments housed at the Hochschule für Musik, including the harpsichord. 48
Landowska‟s inspiration was experienced through her popular public concerts as well as
her 1904 book, La Musique Ancienne. She is credited in the rediscovery of much of the
keyboard repertoire as well as the harpsichord revival. 49 It is worth noting that while
Landowska was intensely focused on resurrecting past repertoire, she did not promote the
idea that there was only one singular correct way to perform this past repertoire. This is
illustrated in her famous quote, “If Rameau himself would rise from his grave to demand
of me some changes to my interpretation of his Dauphine, I would answer, „You gave
birth to it; it is beautiful. But now leave me alone with it. You have nothing more to say;
go away!‟” 50
45
Arnold Dolmetsch, The Interpretation of the Music of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,
(London: Novello, 1915), 1.
46
Fabian, Bach Performance Practice, 1945-1975, 29.
47
Howard Schott, “Wanda Landowska: A Century Appraisal,” Early Music 7.4 (October 1979): 467.
48
Ibid.
49
Fabian, Bach Performance Practice, 1945-1975, 30.
50
Denise Restout, ed., Landowska On Music, (New York: Stein and Day, 1981), 407.
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