This handbook, an entirely new work, is not simply another guide to the performance of music of the past; it is, rather, a book about the study of past performance. Each main section - Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century - contains an introduction dealing with contexts of performance as well as sources and theory. This is followed by detailed discussions of vocal and instrumental performance.
In The Musician's Way, veteran performer and educator Gerald Klickstein combines the latest research with his 30 years of professional experience to provide aspiring musicians with a roadmap to artistic excellence. Part I, Artful Practice, describes strategies to interpret and memorize compositions, fuel motivation, collaborate, and more. Part II, Fearless Performance, lifts the lid on the hidden causes of nervousness and shows how musicians can become confident performers. Part III, Lifelong Creativity, surveys tactics to prevent music-related injuries and equips musicians to tap their own innate creativity. Written in a conversational style, The Musician's Way presents an inclusive system for all instrumentalists and vocalists to advance their musical abilities and succeed as performing artists.
Performance today on either the pianoforte or the fortepiano can be at once joyful, musicianly, expressive, and historically informed. From this point of view, Sandra P. Rosenblum examines the principles of performing the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries as revealed in a variety of historical sources: their autographs and letters, early editions of their music, original instruments, and contemporary tutors and journals. She applies these findings to such elements of performance as dynamics, accentuation, pedaling, articulation and touch, technique and fingering, ornaments and embellishments, choice of tempo, and tempo flexibility. Familiarity with the Classic conventions provides a framework for interpretation and an understanding of the choices available within the style, the amount of freedom a performer has, and which areas are ambiguous. Rosenblum's detailed study, copiously illustrated with musical examples, is invaluable for professional and amateur performers, serious piano students and their teachers and students of performance practices by Scarlatti and Clementi. " . . . is and will remain unsurpassed as the study dealing with performance practice as it pertains to keyboard music of the Classical period." —American Music Teacher "Rosenblum's monumental achievement is thorough, objective, balanced, and imaginative, a compelling blend of love and respect for the solo, chamber, and concerto literature she addresses." —Journal of Musicological Research "The extent and quality of her research, the depth of her perception, and her musicianship together break new ground in the study of historic performance practice." —Early Keyboard Journal "Her attention to details is absolutely scrupulous; no stone unturned, no argument unquestioned or unstated." —The Musical Times "Its importance to thoughtful musicians cannot be overstated." —Choice " . . . thoroughly musicological." —Performance Practice Review " . . . indispensable . . . " —New York Times
The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing interest in performing and recording Classical and Romantic music with period instruments; yet the relationship of composers' notation to performing practices during that period has received only sporadic attention from scholars, and many aspects of composers' intentions have remained uncertain. Brown here identifies areas in which musical notation conveyed rather different messages to the musicians for whom it was written than it does to modern performers, and seeks to look beyond the notation to understand how composers might have expected to hear their music realized in performance. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that, in many respects, the sound worlds in which Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms created their music were more radically different from ours than is generally assumed.
Integrative Performance serves a crucial need of 21st-century performers by providing a transdisciplinary approach to training. Its radical new take on performance practice is designed for a climate that increasingly requires fully rounded artists. The book critiques and interrogates key current practices and offers a proven alternative to the idea that rigorous and effective training must separate the disciplines into discrete categories of acting, singing, and dance. Experience Bryon’s Integrative Performance Practice is a way of working that will profoundly shift how performers engage with their training, conditioning and performance disciplines. It synthesizes the various elements of performance work in order to empower the performer as they practice across disciplines within any genre, style or aesthetic. Theory and practice are balanced throughout, using: Regular box-outs, introducing the work's theoretical underpinnings through quotes, case studies and critical interjections. A full program of exercises ranging from training of specific muscle groups, through working with text, to more subtle structures for integrative awareness and presence. This book is the result of over twenty years of practice and research working with interdisciplinary artists across the world to produce a training that fully prepares performers for the demands of contemporary performance and all its somatic, emotive and vocal possibilities.
Performance practice is the study of how music was performed over the centuries, both by its originators (the composers and performers who introduced the works) and, later, by revivalists. This first of its kind Dictionary offers entries on composers, musiciansperformers, technical terms, performance centers, musical instruments, and genres, all aimed at elucidating issues in performance practice. This A-Z guide will help students, scholars, and listeners understand how musical works were originally performed and subsequently changed over the centuries. Compiled by a leading scholar in the field, this work will serve as both a point-of-entry for beginners as well as a roadmap for advanced scholarship in the field.
This is a practical guide with a step-by-step process for establishing and maintaining a consulting practice for today's sport and performance psychology professionals. Editor Jim Taylor and a talented team of authors provide a foundation of knowledge and skills necessary to establish and maintain a consulting practice and explore the gamut of issues including understanding the progression of professional development, creating a performance model, writing a business plan, using social media, and much more. Each chapter includes a summary and exercises to review and further explore relevant topics covered in the book.
The Classical era, from 1751 to the 1830s and beyond, is one of the most revolutionary and creative times in the history of music. However, critical details about the performance of music during this extraordinary time have too often been lost to generations of re-interpretation, opinionated colorings, and changes in fashion and taste. In this remarkable volume, noted scholar and choral conductor, Dennis Shrock brings together in one place writings from more than 100 Classical-era authors and composers about performance practices of music during their time. These primary sources represent the entire time span of the Classical era, writings from throughout Europe and the United States, and details on virtually every type of performing medium and genre of composition common in the era. Dr. Shrock quotes from diaries, instruction books, dictionaries, letters, biographies, and essays all written during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Dr. Shrock organizes all of these comments - complete with detailed music examples - in sections devoted to sound, tempo, articulation and phrasing, metric accentuation, rhythmic alteration, ornamentation, and expression. What emerges is an insightful and colorful portrait certain to assist anyone who seeks to better understand the music of Mozart, Haydn, and other noted composers. Performance Practices in the Classical Era is a vital resource for any conductor, performer, or aficionado of classical music.
Performance Practice in the Music of Steve Reich provides a performer's perspective on Steve Reich's compositions from his iconic minimalist work, Drumming, to his masterpiece, Music for 18 Musicians. It addresses performance issues encountered by the musicians in Reich's original ensemble and the techniques they developed to bring his compositions to life. Drawing comparisons with West African drumming and other non-Western music, the book highlights ideas that are helpful in the understanding and performance of rhythm in all pulse-based music. Through conversations and interviews with the author, Reich discusses his percussion background and his thoughts about rhythm in relation to the music of Ghana, Bali, India, and jazz. He explains how he used rhythm in his early compositions, the time feel he wants in his music, the kind of performer who seems to be drawn to his music, and the way perceptual and metrical ambiguity create interest in repetitive music.
