ECU Libraries Catalog

Baroque music, style and performance : a handbook / by Robert Donington.

Author/creator Donington, Robert
Format Book and Print
EditionFirst American edition.
Publication InfoNew York : W. W. Norton & Company, ©1982.
Description206 pages : music ; 24 cm
Subject(s)
Contents Getting the feel. A variety of idioms -- Preparing the text. Acquiring the material ; Completing the notes ; Marking up the material -- Shaping the tempo. Good tempo a variable ; Time-signatures ; Time-words ; Dance-forms ; Measured timings ; Flexibility in baroque tempo ; Notated rallentandos ; Flexibility in recitative ; Working rules for tempo -- Shaping the line. Sustaining and inflecting ; Phrasing and articulation ; Dynamic contrasts ; Dynamic structure ; Echoes and humps ; Vibrato ; Dynamic balance ; Accentuation ; Syncopation and hemiola -- Shaping the rhythm. Rhythmic alteration ; Inequality ; Dotted notes ; Triplet rhythms ; Examples of rhythmic alteration -- Accidentals. Placement or displacement by accidentals ; Persistence of accidentals ; Examples involving accidentals -- Ornamenting the line. Choice and necessity ; Free ornamentation ; Suggestions for free ornamentation ; Examples of free ornamentation -- Specific ornaments. An open situation ; The appoggiatura ; Appoggiaturas in recitative ; The double appoggiatura ; The passing appoggiatura ; The slide and the tirata ; The acciaccatura ; The trill ; Examples illustrating the trill ; The mordent ; The turn and other changing or passing notes ; Compound ornaments -- Accompaniment. Improvised composing ; Accompanying recitative ; Instruments of accompaniment ; Examples of accompaniment -- The sound. Sound and sense ; Transparency and incisiveness ; A balance in music and performance.
Abstract How did Baroque music sound to its contemporaries? What did they say about its style and performance as that long and eventful period unfolded? Here is a book which brings together many of the answers and draws conclusions of great practical interest to musicians and audiences of today. How can we determine suitable tempi, rhythm, or dynamics from a notation which included few indications of these primary necessities? From the music itself, of course; but we need all the help that scholars can give us. Out of the teeming abundance and confusion of the contemporary evidence, Robert Donington has chosen, organized, and interpreted just that essential material which the modern musician needs to guide his own interpretive decisions. This book is not only a scholar's summary but a musician's testament. Performers may look here for an authentic grounding, while the enthusiastic amateur will be treated to an insight into that spirit of adventure which commends Baroque music so strongly to our generation.
Local noteLittle-241227 - $9.86
General noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 172-193) and index.
ISBN0393300528

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML457.D65 B2 ✔ Available Place Hold