Description
Why do we feel the need to perform music in a historically informed style? Is this need related to wider cultural concerns? In this 2002 study, John Butt sums up debates on the nature of the early music movement and historically informed performance, calling upon a seemingly inexhaustible fund of ideas gleaned from historical musicology, analytic philosophy, literary theory, historiography and theories of modernism and postmodernism. He develops the critical views of both supporters and detractors of the movement, while claiming ultimately that it has more intellectual and artistic potential than its detractors may have assumed. He also asks whether the phenomenon of historically informed performance reflects changes in the culture of western music and how it, in turn, may have influenced that culture, particularly in regard to such issues as the status of the composer, the work, intentionality and notation.
This challenging 2002 study examines and ultimately defends the case for historically informed musical performance.
About the Author
John Butt is the Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow, having previously been a lecturer in music at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of King's College. He is the author of Bach Interpretation (1990), Bach: Mass in B Minor (1991), Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque (1994) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Bach (1997), all published by Cambridge University Press. He is also a highly acclaimed harpsichordist and organist and has recorded 10 CDs for Harmonia Mundi, France.
Reviews
'Playing with History carries with it the strength of a seminal work.' Classical Music
'Few are better qualified than Butt to tackle this subject. His book is stimulating, thought provoking, rounded and readable ... music students of all denominations should be encouraged to red this thorough yet economical discussion of these important contemporary issues.' The Strad
Book Information
ISBN 9780521013581
Author John Butt
Format Paperback
Page Count 284
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 400g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 153mm * 14mm
This challenging 2002 study examines and ultimately defends the case for historically informed musical performance.
About the Author
John Butt is the Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow, having previously been a lecturer in music at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of King's College. He is the author of Bach Interpretation (1990), Bach: Mass in B Minor (1991), Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque (1994) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Bach (1997), all published by Cambridge University Press. He is also a highly acclaimed harpsichordist and organist and has recorded 10 CDs for Harmonia Mundi, France.
Reviews
'Playing with History carries with it the strength of a seminal work.' Classical Music
'Few are better qualified than Butt to tackle this subject. His book is stimulating, thought provoking, rounded and readable ... music students of all denominations should be encouraged to red this thorough yet economical discussion of these important contemporary issues.' The Strad
Book Information
ISBN 9780521013581
Author John Butt
Format Paperback
Page Count 284
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 400g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 153mm * 14mm
