Authentic Instruments Authentic Playing

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Authentic

nstruments,

Authenti

Mark

Lindley

When,

in

1941,

Nicholas

Bessaraboff

coined the

term

organology ,

he

distinguished

hat

discipline

from

musicologyby suggesting

hat

if a

musicologist

ought

to be

able

to

play

an

instrument f

particular

interest to

him,

then

an

organologist

ought

to

be

able to build one.

In

those

days

Arnold

Dolmetsch,

perhaps uniquely, had embodied both ideals; but

nowadaysmany

a scholar has at least

attempted

o

assemble

a

harpsichordkit,

dozens

of

professional

players

are

dyed-in-the-wool

ntiquarians,

nd most

of

the

best makers

of historical

nstruments

have a

is

in a

temper

timbre of a

v

manner

gives

and,

as

recor

Aureum

dem

period.

Repe

instrumentsh

the virtues

of

Of

course,

e

ed

instrumen

automatic

or



however.

J. S.

Bach suffered at

most

a

short

and

partial

eclipse

and was as

celebrated

n

Germany

n

1850

as

in 1750. Yet

certain

ngratiating

qualities

n

his

music-the

lilt

of some

of the dance

movements,

a

genial

blend

of

clarity

and

warmth

n some of

the

organ fugues-were

obscured

by

the

change.

The

same kind of dislocationfrom the original sound

helped

to

transformMozart

nto

a

docile

miniaturist

while

exaggerating

he

effect

of

ungainliness

n

some

of

Beethoven s

instrumental

writing.

The

suavity

of

Chopin s

salon

music

(i.e. nearly

everything

but

the

piano

concertos)

was

diminished

somewhat

as

the timbreof

the

piano

becamemore

bell-like

n

the

late 19th

century

and the action heavier

to

wield.

Manysimilarexamplescould be listed: it is poster-

ity s

business o

transformwhatevert

appropriates;

but

after a

while certain

aspects

of

even the

most

enduring

parts

of

a

heritage

can be illuminated

by

restoring

ome of

the

original

colour.

Performances

models;

the

authentic

pla

decisively

to

and

bridge

as

clear the

first

of

plucking

bo

flesh of the

wards

before

them from

the

and

polyphon

exertionand

a

style

of

the

m

16th-

and

17

little

finger

of

keep he other

Pictorial ev

acquired

a

po

it was

played

Renaissance

p



measurements

and

photographs

and

examining

closely

other instruments

by

the

same

maker

(or,

if

the instrument

s

unique,

by

makers of the same

school). Misguided

restorationsoften

entail

adding

or

removing major

structural

pieces

or

making

critical

changes

in the

acoustical

apparatus.Organ

pipes have been revoiced,the tuningof woodwind

instruments ost

by widening

some

of the

finger-

holes,

a new

bridge

nstalledsome

centimetres

way

from

the

original

locationon

a

harpsichord

ound-

board,

etc.

Naturally,

a certain amount

of

misin-

formation

will

then be

conveyed

if

owners and

curators

are less than

candid

about

damage

of this

kind. But unlike

most

museum

objects

the instru-

ment can reveal practically nothing of its quality

(to

the musical

ear,

that

is)

until

it

is

completely

restored.

To

ease this dilemma museums

ought

to

commission

or

undertake

copies

of

their most

measurements

and

photographs

and

examining

closely

other instruments

by

the

same

maker

(or,

if

the instrument

s

unique,

by

makers of the same

school). Misguided

restorationsoften

entail

adding

or

removing major

structural

pieces

or

making

critical

changes

in the

acoustical

apparatus.Organ

pipes have been revoiced,the tuningof woodwind

instruments ost

by widening

some

of the

finger-

holes,

a new

bridge

nstalledsome

centimetres

way

from

the

original

locationon

a

harpsichord

ound-

board,

etc.

Naturally,

a certain amount

of

misin-

formation

will

then be

conveyed

if

owners and

curators

are less than

candid

about

damage

of this

kind. But unlike

most

museum

objects

the instru-

ment can reveal practically nothing of its quality

(to

the musical

ear,

that

is)

until

it

is

completely

restored.

To

ease this dilemma museums

ought

to

commission

or

undertake

copies

of

their most

valuable inst

decisions

in

th

many

questio

for

a

discrim

restoration

de

Of

course,

u

a nice parado

matters.

A

L

capitalize

so

advance

in

a

Leonhardt

or

light

on

the

m

ship

and talen

persuasive

ict

said, a lie: c

penetrating

th

might

not

onl

also

deepen

o

valuable inst

decisions

in

th

many

questio

for

a

discrim

restoration

de

Of

course,

u

a nice parado

matters.

A

L

capitalize

so

advance

in

a

Leonhardt

or

light

on

the

m

ship

and talen

persuasive

ict

said, a lie: c

penetrating

th

might

not

onl

also

deepen

o

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