Music written before 1800 is performed today in the context of an ever-intensifying concern with historical sound and style, a concern that has led to an explosion of research on the performance practices of various periods. This encyclopedic study presents a synthesis of current knowledge about what Frederick Neumann calls the "tactical issues of interpretation" - tempo, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, phrasing, ornamentation - as applied to the music of the Baroque and Classical periods. Taking a descriptive rather than a prescriptive approach, Neumann provides a systematic account of what is known about performance practices during those times, indicates areas of controversy, and suggests possible solutions. His purpose is to provide today's performer with a foundation of historical insights as the basis for artistic decisions. Performance Practices of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries is divided into six parts. Part I, "Tempo," examines the roots of tempo in mensural notation and during the transition to modern notation; flexible tempo after 1600; tempo words; and the tempo of dances. Part II, "Rhythm," discusses the controversial areas of rhythmic alteration: the author argues against the international currency of notes inegales and questions the significance generally attributed to the "French Overture Style." Part III, "Dynamics," explores "terraced" and transitional dynamics and the reconstruction of dynamics from notation. Part IV, "Articulation," treats vocal articulation, instrumental legato and detachment, and special problems of articulation. Part V, "Phrasing," separately discusses the theory and practice of phrasing. Part VI, "Ornamentation," examines graces, trills, and other ornaments as well as improvisation, with an emphasis on the diversity of practices from place to place as well as over time. Throughout the book, Neumann persistently advocates a scrupulous approach to the use of such sources as contemporary treatises on questions of performance, warning against the temptation to assume that books as important as those of Quantz, C.P.E. Bach, or Leopold Mozart can safely be applied not only to all contemporaries but also backward and forward in time. And, side by side with the results of historical research, Neumann urges that musicians keep in mind the ideals of expression and taste - the "strategic" dimensions of performance that can never be completely determined by the study of rules. Includes notes, bibliography, and more than 300 musical examples and fascimiles.

Performance Practices of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Neumann, Frederick

Stevens, Jane R.

Humor & Entertainment

Schirmer Reference

Ornaments play an enormous role in the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ambiguities in their notation (as well as their frequent omission in the score) have left doubt as to how composers intended them to be interpreted. Frederick Neumann, himself a violinist and conductor, questions the validity of the rigid principles applied to their performance. In this controversial work, available for the first time in paperback, he argues that strict constraints are inconsistent with the freedom enjoyed by musicians of the period.
 The author takes an entirely new look at ornamentation, and particularly that of J. S. Bach. He draws on extensive research in England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States to show that prevailing interpretations are based on inadequate evidence. These restrictive interpretations have been far-reaching in their effect on style. By questioning them, this work continues to stimulate a reorientation in our understandiing of Baroque and post-Baroque music.

Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach

Arts & Photography

Music

Princeton University Press

Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart (Princeton Legacy Library)

The book description for the previously published "Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart" is not yet available.

Ornaments play an enormous role in the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ambiguities in their notation (as well as their frequent omission in the score) have left doubt as to how composers intended them to be interpreted. Frederick Neumann, himself a violinist and conductor, questions the validity of the rigid principles applied to their performance. In this controversial work, available for the first time in paperback, he argues that strict constraints are inconsistent with the freedom enjoyed by musicians of the period.The author takes an entirely new look at ornamentation, and particularly that of J. S. Bach. He draws on extensive research in England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States to show that prevailing interpretations are based on inadequate evidence. These restrictive interpretations have been far-reaching in their effect on style. By questioning them, this work continues to stimulate a reorientation in our understandiing of Baroque and post-Baroque music.

Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, with Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach

This book is a sequel to Frederick Neumann's Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach (Princeton, 1978). In the present volume, the first work on this subject for Mozart's music, the author continues his important contributions to the search for historically correct performance practices, and to the liberation of the performer from improperly conceived and overly restrictive interpretation of musical scores. The first part of this book attempts to free ornamentation in Mozart from rigorism that has resulted from confusing the pure abstraction of ornament tables with concrete musical situations. The second part deals with pitches that were not written in the score yet often intended to be added when Mozart left "white spots" in his notation. These additions range from single notes to lengthy cadenzas. The problem addressed is the question of where such additions are possible or necessary and how they might best be designed. Professor Neumann draws on an immense knowledge of the literature written during Mozart's time and on his own comprehension of the subtleties of Mozart's music and musical styles. Refusing to interpret the sources dogmatically, he frees performers of Mozart from the rigid princples too often imposed by modern scholars. Frederick Neumann is Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of Richmond.
Originally published in 1986.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book is a sequel to Frederick Neumann's Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach (Princeton, 1978). In the present volume, the first work on this subject for Mozart's music, the author continues his important contributions to the search for historically correct performance practices, and to the liberation of the performer from improperly conceived and overly restrictive interpretation of musical scores. The first part of this book attempts to free ornamentation in Mozart from rigorism that has resulted from confusing the pure abstraction of ornament tables with concrete musical situations. The second part deals with pitches that were not written in the score yet often intended to be added when Mozart left "white spots" in his notation. These additions range from single notes to lengthy cadenzas. The problem addressed is the question of where such additions are possible or necessary and how they might best be designed.Professor Neumann draws on an immense knowledge of the literature written during Mozart's time and on his own comprehension of the subtleties of Mozart's music and musical styles. Refusing to interpret the sources dogmatically, he frees performers of Mozart from the rigid princples too often imposed by modern scholars.Frederick Neumann is Professor of Music Emeritus at the University of Richmond.Originally published in 1986.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Essays in performance practice (Studies in musicology)

UMI Research Press

Essays in Performance Practice (Studies in Music, 58)

Univ of Rochester Pr

New Essays on Performance Practice

`Demonstrates once again the qualities of perhaps the most consistently stimulating scholar of 17th and 18th-century performance practice writing today. Sure to become a standard resource in its field.' Jane Stevens, DYALEUNIVERSITY The eighteen witty and provocative essays in this collection spanperformance issues in music from Vivaldi and Bach to Mozart and Haydn.Two survey the early music movement and the creed of authenticity,two ornamentation in the music of Haydn,and one performance problemsin music of Mozart. Other essays argue for contextual examinationof binary and ternary rhythmic conflicts, refute the attempt to universalise the application of the French principle of notes inégales, question the historical `justification' for nonvibrato singing and playing of early music, and challenge the practice of literal interpretation of ornament tables. FREDERICK NEUMANN has since 1955 been affiliated with the University of Richmond (Virginia) as Professor Emeritus of music.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Neumann, Frederick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Neumann, Frederick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Neumann, Frederick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Performance Practices of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach

Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart (Princeton Legacy Library)

Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, with Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach

Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart (Princeton Legacy Library)

Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart (Princeton Legacy Library)

Ornamentation and Improvisation in Mozart (Princeton Legacy Library)

Essays in performance practice (Studies in musicology)

Essays in Performance Practice (Studies in Music, 58)

New Essays on Performance Practice