Hello Mark: It's good to have such practical input on this important issue relating to performance. Your responses to my admittedly almost tongue-in-cheek points bear some (again) semantic clarification. 1) I still think TV and mass media are responsible for (sometimes deliberately) confusing reality, but the worst result is in the way TV acts to condition the modern mind to accept and expect information in small, easily digestible sound bites. The old way of dialectical discourse allows more time both to absorb information and to consider its many facets. Try playing a six or seven minute lute fantasia (and I'm sure you can do this well) to a modern audience. 2) Life in the 16th did indeed move at a non-mechanized pace. You are certainly right in pointing out that one's life was probably more at risk through acts of mob brutality but the deed was done by hand. This is an important insight into the passion inherent in poetry and devotional practice of the age. A person's life could end at any minute with something pointy, sharp and painful. This sort of puts into perspective all of the impassioned pleas for divine intercession found in the best 16th century motets. 3) Apart from the many misdeeds done in the name of religion, the idea of a life that excluded sacred music and, indeed, devotional practice is a complete anachronism when considering the context of 16th century music. It's surely true that music was made in every class of society but not with 'our' instruments. People led lives that were better integrated and anyone who was fortunate enough to have learned the science and practice of music undoubtedly was first taught sacred music and was pressed into service singing the same. I think it would be very difficult to disprove this. 4) I hope you enjoy the Lady Gaga concert and, if her musicians are actually playing music and not just activating sequences, I hope they can keep a beat. Best wishes, Ron Andrico www.mignarda.com > Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:56:35 +0200 > To: praelu...@hotmail.com > CC: vidan...@sbcglobal.net; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu > From: l...@pantagruel.de > Subject: [LUTE] Re: HIP, was string tension of all things > > This is probably one of the most important parts of a HIP approach, finding the facts about stringing etc is only one part, how to present and even think about music from a period that had radically different ideas is fascinating and inspiring. What I am particularly realizing is that the late 18th and 19th centuries are a huge barrier to understanding what happened before in any part of life. A sort of brick wall that has a few windows that allow you too peep through, but basically you have to bash down the whole wall to any any chance of a good view. There are still so many "classicisms" that we accept as being universally true, but they are in fact things that would have been foreign to a renaissance audience and musician and the strange but quite reassuring thing is that these "olde ways" often make the music far more approachable for a modern audience. > > As far as your suggestions goes > 1. Only by understanding modern mediums such as film and television is it possible to understand the full impact of theater in the 16th and 17th century. The 19th centuries edited view of elizabethan theater is cutting out so much of the juicy and X rated bits. > > 2. The idea that 16th century life was generally slower and more relaxed is maybe a bit of a cliche. Do you think that people felt safer in their lives back then, short life span, the streets certainly were not safer than now and well terrorists - don't forget 1577, it was the 9/11 of the renaissance. Check out the play "The Massacre at Paris". > > 3. That is a bit too dangerous for me, I try to keep as far away from religion as possible, people just start getting killed...see 1577 and 9/11. > > 4. Dance music good idea....I hope to get to see the new Lady Gaga show, could be a good way to experience something in the spirit of a masque....with the added experience of the same old puritans protesting. > > > All the best > Mark > > On Mar 28, 2010, at 1:36 PM, Ron Andrico wrote: > > > What seems to be lacking in many performances of old music is a sense > > of context. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html __________________________________________________________________
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