Historical Style Resources

Heather Miller Lardin | 607-342-4163

heathermillerlardin.com | heathermillerlardin@gmail.com

Online Journal of Bass Research:

Check regularly!
http://ojbr.com/archive.asp

Treatises:

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, ​Principles of the flute, recorder, and oboe​. Paris, 1707. Trans. Paul
Marshall Douglass. - Lots about ornaments, French Baroque style. Short & sweet.

**Leopold Mozart, ​A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing. ​(Salzburg, 1756)
Trans. Editha Knocker

**Johann Joachim Quantz, ​On Playing the Flute. ​Berlin, 1752. Trans. Edward R. Reilly.

Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, ​Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments​. Trans.
William A. Mitchell. Not just about keyboard playing.

Performance Practice:

Stewart Carter, ed.; revised by Jeffrey Kite-Powell, ​A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century

Music,​ 2nd edition. Each chapter is written by an expert in the field. Includes a chapter on
violone.

**Judy Tarling, ​Baroque String Playing for Ingenious Learners. S​ he condenses and sorts
information in many treatises. This is an incredibly useful resource and the first thing I think you
should splurge on - or get your library to buy it!

Judy Tarling, ​The Weapons of Rhetoric.

Lawrence Dreyfus, ​Bach’s Continuo Group​. Discusses continuo players and instrumentation in
ALL of Bach’s vocal works and the Brandenburg concerti. Very useful resource, but I think
Dreyfus’s approach is a little problematic. Take it with a grain of salt and make your own
decisions. I use this one a lot.

​ ou will find this fascinating! Looks at

John Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, ​The Birth of the Orchestra. Y
the orchestra from Corelli to Mozart and beyond. Lots of seating charts, rosters, etc.

Paul Brun, ​A New History of the Double Bass​. Tricky, but still useful.
Alfred Planyavsky, ​The Baroque Double Bass Violone. ​A shortened version of his tome “Die
Geschichte des Kontrabasses”. Very biased, but a classic.
Clive Brown, ​Classical & Romantic Performing Practice 1750-1900​. Covers everything:
articulation, tempos, ornaments, etc.

Meredith Little & Natalie Jenne ​Dance and the Music of J.S. Bach​. Discusses French court
dance culture, steps, composition.

Career: ​(hopefully you have encountered these already; great for figuring out your own unique
path)

**David Cutler, ​The Savvy Musician​ and ​The Savvy Music Teacher
**Angela Myles Beeching, ​Beyond Talent

Websites:

Greatbassviol.com - Joelle Morton’s website with TONS of information, iconography, articles,

makers, etc. She also has classified ads. There are a number of other early bass websites out
there but Joelle’s is the most thorough and reliable.

Andrew Lawrence-King on Baroque Gesture:

https://andrewlawrenceking.com/2015/11/30/start-here-how-to-study-baroque-gesture-historical-
action/#:~:text=Bring%20your%20middle%20and%20ring,an%20elegantly%20curved%20pointi
ng%20gesture.

Malcolm Bilson, Knowing the Score: ​http://malcolmbilson.com/kts.php​ - about understanding

18th c. notation, etc.

Early Music America: ​https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/​ - free one-year membership can be

requested by any full-time student. Many webinars (free on YouTube even without
membership), meetings, panel discussions, etc.

Early Music Sources: ​https://www.earlymusicsources.com/​ - great instructional videos on early

music and performance practice

Article: Baroque Dance for Musicians, Julie Andrijeski:

https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/emag-feature-article/baroque-dance-for-musicians/

Viola da Gamba Society of America: ​https://vdgsa.org/​ See especially teaching videos, many of
which are relevant to bass players. Classified ads sometimes have violoni, bows, etc.
Early Music Festivals - get on email lists to be notified about workshops. ​Early Music
America offers scholarships every year, due in April, to be applied to these festivals or others in
Europe.

Tafelmusik Baroque Institute - ​https://www.tafelmusik.org/tafelmusik-baroque-summer-institute​.

They also do a festival in January.

Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute - ​https://www.oberlin.edu/summer-programs/bpi​. They

don’t offer bass but I went anyway! If you ask for bass/violone perhaps they will add it. :-)

Amherst Early Music Festival - weekend and summer workshops, online offerings -
https://www.amherstearlymusic.org/

Berwick Academy, Oregon Bach Festival: ​https://oregonbachfestival.org/berwick-academy/

American Bach Soloists: ​https://americanbach.org/academy/