Template for Autumn Term Critical Interrogation of two published texts

(you may customise this for your responses)

Basic Information
 Give the full details of each item, as it would appear in a bibliography.

‘Bach's Notation of Tempo and Early Music Performance: Some Reconsiderations’

was written by Bernard D. Sherman which published by Oxford University Press on
‘Early Music , Aug., 2000, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Aug., 2000), pp. 454-466’. The Stable
URL is: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3519061
Authorship and Context
 Where does this piece of research fit in the author’s body of work?

The author of this article: Bernard D. Sherman, the eminent musicologist and Brahms
scholar.

 Do they appear to be authoritative in this area? You might need to use search engines
to ascertain this.

Mr. Sherman is authoritative in this area. He has done a lot of research on early
music. For instance, Bernard D. Sherman writes about early music and other topics
for Fanfare, Historical Performance, Early Music America, Strings, and Piano and
Keyboard, among other journals and magazines. He wrote the article on "Authenticity
in Musical Performance" for the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (OUP, 1998) . His
thoughts guided people in the performing and recording areas. Such as, Orchestra of
the Swan’s recording of the Third Symphonies of Hans Gal and Robert Schumann as
one of his top 10 best Classical CDs for 2011.

 Is this piece of writing typical of their work? Is it recent or an earlier example?

This article is writing typical of Mr. Sherman’s work. And it is an earlier example
which wrote in August 2000.

 Does this example build on other research they have completed? What other main
authors are cited/mentioned?

The example is the first research by the author and he cited few musician and
composer from the past years to support his view. Such as the thought from C. H.
Thieme(a Bach student and choir member) and F. E. Niedt(the student by Bach’s
older cousin J.N.Bach).

 Does the writer clearly outline their position in relation to existing work in this area?

Mr. Sherman outline their position very clearly, He gave a detailed introduction to
everyone who can be used to support his point of view.

 What gaps in existing research does it fill?

The author hopes that through the article, the performer or conductor can better
determine the tempo of performance through the different notation of Bach.
Audience
  Who do you think is the intended audience for this piece of writing (general reader,
informed reader, specialist)?

In my opinion, this article was written for professional musicians, conductors and
people who are interested in researching historical music.

 How can you tell to whom the writing is directed?

Because in this article, there are many musical terminologies. Such as some rhythm
symbols. It is difficult to understand for the people who didn’t have knowledge of
music.
Rationale
 What is the purpose of the article? Is it to persuade, to inform, to challenge, to report
or a combination of these?

The author tries to use the interpretations of different musicians in different periods
and the tempo of processing Bach's repertoire to guide people to restore the original
intention of Bach in composing.
Research question/s
 What is the author’s main thesis or research question/s?

In this article, author trying to reconsider that does some Bach’s notation related to
the tempo that Bach purposed.

 Has the author successfully answered and shed light on this?

In my opinion, the author does give a view that The composer’s notation is likely to
determine the tempo of the pieces.
Methodology
 What approach or method does the author use? Is it appropriate?

The author used example argument in his article. This method is very suitable to
restore the composer's original intention as much as possible.

 What kind of evidence is used in support of this?

To support the author’s view, Mr. Sherman quotes the views of Bach’s students and
people related to him and compares the tempo of a large number of musicians to the
performance of Bach’s music.
Originality
 Is the work original?

This work is original.

 Are claims of originality justified? What evidence supports this?

This article is claims of originality justified. Because this article was published by
Oxford University Press on ‘Early Music, Aug. 2000, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Aug. 2000), pp.
454-466’.
Structure
 How has the writing been structured (introduction, context, thesis, claims, evidence,
 conclusion)?

Firstly, the author introduced the reason that he want to write this article because of
the differences in the tempo of Bach's repertoire. Then Mr. Sherman tried to find out
if Bach used intonation techniques to decide the repertoire’s tempo. He quotes the
views of Bach’s students and people related to him. Meanwhile, Mr. Sherman listed
the differences in the tempo of different musicians playing the same piece and made
statistics. And in Bach's ‘The well-tempered clavier, book 1’, the difference between
the modern instrument and period instrument playing tempo. In the end, Mr. Sherman
quotes the word by Donington: 'the right tempo for a given piece of music is the
tempo which fits, as the hand fits the glove, the interpretation of that piece then being
given by the performer'. In the author’s view, even when attempts at debunking have
failed, they have sometimes suggested new possibilities to performers.

 Is the narrative clear?

The author has clearly narrated.

Limitations
 What limitations of this writing are identified?

Because Bach was already dead more than 200 years. And the understanding of music
is always evolving. Such as, the metronome was invented in 19 century after Bach
composed his pieces. People can’t give a perfect answer about if Bach wants to give
the piece a tempo by using different notation.

 What limitations have not been identified?

In my opinion, most of the author's research on the tempo of different people's

treatment of Bach's repertoire is a personal view. I think the author should also
research about early musical instruments and modern musical instruments due to the
difference in playing techniques, which led to early musical instruments that may not
be as easy to play as modern musical instruments. Including different people's playing
skills in the same instrument will also lead to different tempo processing methods.
Moreover, as a composer, Bach may composed in the same time signature but
different pieces, but his writing goals at that time were also different. For example,
some 2/4 beats are composed to virtuoso musicians’ skills, and some 2/4 beats are
composed for relaxation. In this case, the same 2/4 beats may have completely
different tempo.

 Does the writer exhibit any obvious bias or make any assumptions? What are these?

The author did not exhibit any obvious bias. He compared the opinion of the different
musicians in the different periods which gives musicians a lot of space to determine
the speed of their performance.
Strengths and weaknesses
 What are the strengths in the author’s argument?

The author did a lot of research and find many data to support his argument. Maybe
the opinion does not have an agreement with Bach himself. But that view was
accepted by most people.

 Are there any gaps, weaknesses or assumptions made? You may be aware of these
 through you own practice and/or research.

I totally agreed with the author’s view. I think different people can determine the
tempo of Bach's tracks in their opinion. For example, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
conducted Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos BWV1052 in a slow tempo(even though
Bach notation the time signature as instead of which means quick and lively in
many people’s view) and many people think this is the original tempo. But
Dinnerstein Bahrami performed the same piece at a very quick speed. Both of them
are very impressive. And it will give the audience different feelings in different
situations.
Response
 What is your opinion on the issues discussed in the article?

I think it is dependable that time signature will influence the tempo. For example, in
the renaissance’s choral, the composer always use breve as a long note. When there
are many crochets in a phrase, it should be sung in a quick tempo.

"Kyrie" for three voices by Guillaume Dufay - A page from a manuscript created for
Cambrai Cathedral.
Citation
 Choose a short passage of less than 20 words and present it as a footnote.
Inside Early Music Conversations with Performers Bernard D. Sherman
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/inside-early-music-9780195169454?
cc=us&lang=en&#