I'd like to add my vote for the usefulness of these discussions. I don't have the benefit of a career studying the field, yet I gain the benefit of your scholarship. Parasitic on my part, but it significantly helps to inform my approach to the instrument. cud __________________________________________________________________
From: Monica Hall <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> To: "Nelson, Jocelyn" <nels...@ecu.edu> Cc: Vihuelalist <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Fri, February 11, 2011 2:28:39 PM Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Virgil, Vergil, & the usefulness of etymology or bourdon details That's an interesting summary and very generous of you to say that you find Lex's and my discussion important as I often feel I am wasting everyone's time and getting very cross in the process. The etymology of the term "motet" is a fascinating topic in its own right. But we had better not start a discussion on that. Best Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nelson, Jocelyn" <[1]nels...@ecu.edu> To: "Vihuelalist" <[2]vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 6:48 PM Subject: [VIHUELA] Virgil, Vergil, & the usefulness of etymology or bourdon details > Dear List, > > > I listened to an entertaining talk yesterday afternoon on how research > worked in the renaissance (it seems research didn't work so well, > according to the speaker, who gave us some good laughs during his > talk). The poet and scholar Poliziano (1454-1494) made a strong case > for the correct spelling of the Roman poet's name, "Vergil > (Vergilius)." His evidence, which was better than the evidence on the > opposing side according to the professor giving the talk (such as the > poet's spelling preference for his own name), has been ignored ever > since--most of us know the poet as "Virgil." The talk centered on why > the truth was ignored and the difference between truth and influence: > we consistently sacrifice truth forusefulness and custom, which is more > influential. Some classicists in the room did bring up Virgil's word > plays on his own name, and some other Latin and Italian spelling > issues, but people generally appreciated his basic premise: that this > sacrifice--usefulness over truth--is eventually to our detriment, even > when the truth in the short run seems like it doesn't matter. > > > Which brings me back to our conversation about etymology. I was > surprised to read Ralf eschew the importance of the original meaning of > a style, genre, or technique in musicbecause I happen to come to that > particular question from the opposite direction: why wouldn't a > performer or scholar in the field of early music want to understand a > term's origins? > > > "Etymology might be interesting in itself and > > important in the study of language, but is of no use in a > > terminological discurse. In what way is the fact that the top voice of > > a polyphonic piece once was considered a texted version of an untexted > > clausula (and hence named 'motetus' - with words) relevant to the > > study of, say, Motets by Marc-Antoine Charpentier?" > > > We could argue the relevance of understanding the origins of the motet > to an understanding of Charpentier's motets, and we could each make > good points (perhaps while entirely convinced the other is wrong). > > > But I'm more interested in how we decide to explore early musical > techniques and performance practices. If we're brazen enough to perform > music of the distant past, every detail and item of evidence we can > find is vital to an understanding of any certain genre or performance > practice, even when the final answer doesn't always seem to include > many of the details. That's why I wouldn't want to teach the 17^th > century French motet literature to students who haven't been through > the earlier lectures on the substitute clausulae; in fact, the earlier > course is officially a prerequisite for the later course at my school > for just that reason. > > > And that's why I find the evidentiary details in the discussion on > bourdons between Monica and Lex and others on this list important. I'm > grateful to them for taking the trouble to defend their viewpoints with > specifics. > > > Best wishes, > > Jocelyn > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:nels...@ecu.edu 2. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html