McGee discusses and reviews Brown and Sadie\u27s 1989 book

McGee, Timothy J.

English

Scholarship@Claremont

Performance Practice ReviewVolume 4Number 1 Spring Article 6"Performance Practice before 1600." Edited ByHoward M. Brown and Stanley SadieTimothy J. McGeeFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pprPart of the Music Practice CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted forinclusion in Performance Practice Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contactscholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.McGee, Timothy J. (1991) ""Performance Practice before 1600." Edited By Howard M. Brown and Stanley Sadie," Performance PracticeReview: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 6. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199104.01.6Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol4/iss1/6Reviews of BooksHoward Mayer Brown and Stanley Sadie, eds.,: Performance Practice:Music before 1600. Vol.1 Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music. NewYork: W. W. Norton, and Co., 1989. xi, 281p.Over the past thirty years the field of performance practices has movedfrom a relatively small sub-section of the musicologjcal discipline whereit was viewed with some suspicion, to the point where it is nowrecognized as an essential aspect of the scholarly study of music.Practical information brought forward by scholars has greatly improvedthe historical accuracy of performances of the music from earlierperiods. In turn, the scholar's understanding of the repertory has beenincreased through the opportunity to listen to informed performancesand to engage in critical dialogue with performers. The mutual inter-dependence of scholars and performers is the given of this handbook,and hi the preface, Brown and Sadie express then- intention to addressboth groups. They have accomplished this end to some degree, althoughthey serve the scholar far more directly and successfully than they do theperformer.The present volume is comprised of 13 essays by 10 different authors, allspecialists in various areas of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Thebook is divided into two sections, corresponding to the two periods, withan "Interlude" of chapters with topics that span both periods: ficta, andtempo and proportions. Inevitably, the many-author approach results incompartmentalization, and leaves certain connections unclear orunstated; moreover, some areas remain completely unattended. In anattempt to rectify these shortcomings an introduction is provided for thetwo historical periods, surveying the entire area and introducing the basicquestions along with a preview of some of the answers. Aside from thesecondary sources provided in the notes to each chapter, a bibliographyof primary performance practice sources (to 1600) is included at the endof the volume.64Reviews 65The editors assure us in the preface that, although the book is issued inthe Norton/Grove Handbook series, the articles are newly written ratherthan being simply extracted from the The New Grove (p. xi). This isundoubtedly true, but that is not to say that the material, opinions, andconclusions have not been aired in print earlier by these or otherauthors. A few chapters do present material and views not publishedpreviously (especially those by Planchart and Haar), whereas mostappear to be either revisions and extensions of earlier published work, orsimply repetition, combination, and synthesis from publications by theseauthors or others. Given the nature of the subject and the intention ofthe handbook, this is understandable, although it is unfortunate thatsome of the authors did not take this opportunity to refine their earlierpositions in light of more recent studies.Several of the essays dwell on the present state of investigation andinformation, providing a "report on the state of the art." Students willbenefit from that aspect of the book in that it summarizes for each topicwhat is known, what is in doubt, and the current arguments for andagainst certain theories. Howard Brown takes this a useful step furtherin his two introductory chapters and two chapters on instruments byproposing directions and organizational methods for future research.As to its avowed purpose of helping scholars and performers "ask theright questions and give them some guidance as to how and whereanswers might be arrived at" (p. xi), the book is only partially successful.The chief problem is that many of the authors have become absorbed inthe scholarly aspect of their subject and fail to complete their statementsby relating the evidence to performance. Others simply forget that mostperformers are not as acquainted with the field and its terminology asare full-time musicologists. For example, Alejandro Planchart's dis-cussion of tempo and proportions (chapter 7) is so dense as to beunreadable by all but a limited number of specialists. His topic isadmittedly very technical, but Karol Berger demonstrates in his chapteron musica ficta (chapter 6) that a discussion of a technical matter can beboth thorough and clearly readable.The editors point out that it is no longer possible for a single person tomaster the entire field of performance practice, which is their reason formultiple authors. An additional advantage to this format is that thereader receives a variety of points of view since the authors do not66 Timothy J.McGeenecessarily agree on all points. (In this regard the differences of opinionamong Brown, Page, Fallows, and Haar concerning instruments andtheir participation in polyphony, stemming in part form differences inopinion as to the amount of weight to place on certain types of evidence,is refreshing.) But there is also a down side to this: inevitable repetition.One tires of reading in every chapter the same introductory statementsabout how little we know and how few of the practices are recoverable.No doubt the reason is that the book will most often be consulted insingle chapters as a source book, but even then a major presentation ofthe disclaimer could have been covered in the preface.Howard Mayer Brown has taken on the task of presenting the entiresubject in overview, which he dispatches by introducing the two periodsand by discussing the musical instruments of each. The introductorychapters look at the major performance issues, surveying topics coveredin more detail in the chapters. The problems of text underlay areaddressed in a number of chapters, but a broad view of the issue ispresented by Brown, providing a large setting for the more particulardiscussions. The introductions add to the number of times one readsabout how little we know concerning each subject. But this is minorcarping; Brown's chapters are a joy to read and fulfill the expressedintentions of the book to a high degree.Brown's chapters on instruments are not the usual lists or descriptions,but a discussion of the sources of the information and their possiblemeaning, the performance technique, the types of ensembles, and thepossible repertory. The discussions are purposely cautious, drawing onlyconclusions that are called for by evidence currently available. As areaction to the large quantity of less careful scholarship in the past onthis subject, Brown's chapters are punctuated with warnings againstleaping to conclusions or accepting partial evidence as conclusive. It isno surprise that the four chapters by Brown are among the most usefulin the book, displaying his considerable knowledge of the historicalmaterial and an exemplary clear and concise way of stating bothproblems and solutions.Within the Medieval section another admirable job of addressing bothaudiences is that by Christopher Page on "Polyphony before 1400." Hehomes in directly on some of the most essential problems: tuning,rhythm, vocal timbre, ornamentation and instrumentation, bringing to hisReviews 67discussion of each area a lucid perusal of the theoretical basis andfollowing it up with practical statements and examples. Much of Page'sinformation has been presented earlier, but he takes this opportunity torephrase and slightly readjust some of his points and conclusions. In thisexposition his case for believing that much of the polyphonic repertoryregularly received an all-vocal performance is even more compelling thanin his earlier writings.Under the chapter heading "Secular Monody" Wulf Arlt discussesrelations between the written music and its performance, the relationshipbetween text and music, and the difficulty of ascertaining the composer'sintentions. His material is mostly a recycling of arguments, hypotheses,and even of examples and charts presented by him in articles over thepast fifteen years without much new — either in evidence or inconclusions; but even here we can find solace in that his essay offers usthe convenience of finding all the information in a single place.David Hiley's chapter on chant adopts a "chatty" approach, and is writtenon a fairly general, layman's level (eg. he explains terms such as"processional"). His treatment of the subject is unfortunately incompleteand often loses sight of both the intended audiences. The ratherstraight-forward performance topics, such as who and how many voicessang various items of the liturgy, are spotty and glossed over with neithera solution nor a hint as to where one might find answers, and hisdiscussion of liturgical drama is focused not on performance practice, buton whether or not this manifestation might be liturgical. Vocalimprovisation and ornamentation receive cursory mention, but there isno description of what was done, how it was performed, or even where itwas inserted. Much of Hiley's attention is given to a discussion ofdurational values in chant, but his inclusion of evidence from the late15th and 16th century in a discussion of Medieval practices is especiallydisconcerting. He concludes with a diplomatic and cautious descriptionof both the traditional (Solesmes) method as well as of more recenttheories of rhythmic interpretation. (A somewhat different view ofSolesmes is presented by Planchart in ch. 7.)In the chapter "Monophony and the Unwritten Tradition" James Haarpresents some refreshing new thoughts about chant practices in theRenaissance and how we might more correctly perform chant material inthe context of a 16th-century performance rather than in that of the 10th68 Timothy J.McGeeor 11th. His discussion of the unwritten tradition cites evidence forimprovisatory practice, including that of polyphony. The bulk of thisinformation is Italian, but it is one of the few places in the entire bookthat is directed specifically to details of execution in a way that aperformer could find to be of immediate use.Christopher Reynolds, writing on "Sacred Polyphony," gets into somepractical areas: what repertory was performed where; whether masscycles were always performed in entirety; and the number of performersin various situations. Reynolds does occasionally ignore Brown'sadmonition — to avoid drawing large conclusions from minimal facts —in his consideration of instrumental participation in sacred music, and ofthe uses and sizes of choirs. One of the most interesting of hisobservations is that a study of changes in organ technique andconstruction could yield a far better understanding of sacredperformance practice. Because Reynold's discussion is so useful, bothscholars and performers will decry the absence of copious footnotecitations of studies and practical material."Secular Polyphony in the 15th Century" by David Fallows concentratesalmost exclusively on the chanson repertory, delving into details,including the probability of instrumental participation and the nature ofthe singing voice. Echoing Page's findings about polyphony in theMiddle Ages, Fallows presents the case for all-vocal performance ofmuch of this repertory. This chapter is especially useful for its summaryof our knowledge about chanson performance.Anthony Newcomb's "Secular Polyphony in the 16th Century" is quiteinaccurately named, since it discusses Italian music almost exclusively,and is in fact even more narrowly confined, relying most heavily onearlier research done by himself and others on Ferrara. It is true, asNewcomb states, that much more investigation has been done onpractices in Italy than in other countries, but that does not excuse hisfailure to take advantage of the available information on England,France, Spain, Germany, and the Low Countries. In addition, hefrequently lumps together facts from the extreme decades of thesixteenth century in spite of his own statement that tastes and customschanged in the course of the century. Since this is the only chapter toconcentrate on secular music of the late Renaissance, it is a bigdisappointment. In comparison, Fallows's chapter, which concentratesReviews 69on French repertory, at least discusses the presence of the chanson inother countries. But even Fallows does not point out the performancedifferences from one country to the next, and the practices in Englandseem to have been left off everyone's list with the exception of Hiley'schapter on chant, which concentrates on English practice and ignoresmost other areas.As stated earlier, the two "Interlude" chapters, "Musica ficta" (Berger)and "Tempo and Proportions" (Planchart), are a study in contrasts ofcommunication level. Both chapters are admirably thorough anddemonstrate their authors' impressive ability to comprehend difficultsubjects; but there the similarity ends. Berger addresses the scholar andperformer alike, condensing from his provocative book-length study insuch a way that allows him to present the full range of the problem on alevel that can be readily followed. He has not really left anything out, buthas merely presented his major conclusions without the full recitation ofbackground and evidence found in his larger study. Performers willprobably yearn for musical examples illustrating his points, but thearguments can be clearly followed as presented.Planchart, on the other hand, writes for the initiated few. The articlebegins well, but as it proceeds it becomes more and more dense, the lastfew pages resembling a textbook in higher mathematics. Long andserious study of the chapter rewards the reader with a marvelouslycomplete overview of the subject, but I fear few musicologists — to saynothing of performers — will be able follow without taking copious notesand making charts as they wade through. Perhaps if the author hadstretched out his discussion to somewhere near twice its length and filledit with illustrative examples, it would have been easier to follow.The most serious omission from these discussions of medieval andRenaissance performance is the failure of so many authors to confrontthe problem of national styles. The notable exception is Howard Brown,who brings up the subject in all four of his chapters; but he writesintentionally in overview, and the other authors do not pick up thisthread for further expansion. In many chapters, in fact, the periods areapproached as if there was a single performance tradition in all aspects(ornamentation, ensemble, occasion, etc.) that was valid in all countries.It would be difficult to imagine a discussion of baroque practices that didnot emphasize the basic national differences, but hardly a word on that70 Timothy J. McGeetopic can be found here for the earlier centuries. National performancestyle is admittedly a difficult subject, and there is not yet a large amountof material to support a detailed discussion for all areas. But that ishardly a good reason to omit a discussion or even a mention of it, and infact, some evidence does exist, especially for the broad differencesbetween Italy and France. Until we assist performers in this importantarea, our discussions of medieval and Renaissance performance will bewoefully incomplete.In summary, the book is a worthwhile, if uneven and incomplete,addition to the field in that it collects in one place so much currentknowledge. It is disappointing that many of the authors were content toinform us as to the present state of research, bemoaning a lack ofinformation on most subjects, while only a few seized upon thisopportunity to accept the challenge, actually invading some of thoseareas to ferret out new information. That the book falls short of acomplete picture is to be regretted, but there is material in all chaptersto stimulate both graduate student and seasoned scholar for a long timeto come.Performers, on the other hand, will not find the book to be of suchimmediate use, unless one believes in the "trickle-down theory" ofscholarship. It is true that some performers are also scholars andobviously can profit from the contents. But it is doubtful that those nottrained as musicologists could get much out of many of the chapters.Most will have to await less technical presentations of this material.Timothy J. McGee

Performance Practice before 1600.  Edited By Howard M. Brown and Stanley Sadie

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Performance Practice before 1600. Edited By Howard M. Brown and Stanley Sadie

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