Early Music Defended Against Its Devotees

Early Music Defended against Its Devotees: A Theory of Historical Performance in the
Twentieth Century
Author(s): Laurence Dreyfus
Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 3 (Summer, 1983), pp. 297-322
Published by: Oxford University Press
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THEMUSICAL
QUARTERLY
Early Music Defendedagainst itsDevotees:
A Theory of Historical Performancein the
Twentieth Century
LAURENCE DREYFUS
Tryingtodevelopa newtheory,wemustfirst
takea stepbackfromtheevidenceand recon-
sidertheproblemof observation.
- Paul K. Feyerabend,
AgainstMethod
A Theoryof EarlyMusic?
ITHIN theculturalphenomenon
called"EarlyMusic,"there
W has beenlittle,ifany,philosophicalreflection on itsown activ-
ity.There is,ofcourse, a largeand growingliteraturewhichchartsthe
day-to-day course of historicalperformance.But the language hereis
pragmatic,designed to answer thequestion: How ought we to per-
formthis?This concernmaybe entirelylegitimate.But once we wish
to explore the motivationsunderlyingthisquestion,to understand
why late twentieth-century cultureshould place such a value on
historically "correct" renditions of centuries-oldmusic-in effect,
297

298 The Musical Quarterly
once we wishtoarticulatea theoryofEarlyMusic-there seemstobe a

conspiracyofsilence.' Whenthequestionis raisedat all, we are most
ofteninformedthatEarlyMusicresultedfromtheprogressofmodern
musicology.But thismerelydisplacestheproblemonto musicology.
More commonlythequestion is answeredwitha logic thatsounds
oddlytheological:"Thou shaltperform themusicin accordancewith
thecomposer'sintentions, forthisis (H)is will." Authenticrenditions,
it appears, are ethicallysuperiorto inauthenticones. Many people
apparentlyfindthis argumentpersuasive.Yet as a justificationfor
historicalperformance, muchlessa theoryofgenesisand structure, it
is evasiveand empty.Small wonderthatthe criticsof Early Music
remainunconvincedand continueto view it as a hoax or nuisance.
But ifEarlyMusic is indeedsomethingmorethana passingantiquar-
ian fad, thenit requiresa theoryembracingboth explanation and
critique.A theoryshould no doubtanswerthedetractors. But,curi-
ously, it must also rescueEarly Music from its moralizingdevotees.
But what is "Early Music?" Certainlynotonly thesetof musical
objectscomprisingtheolderrepertories of European music.For this
definitionwould gloss all too neatlyover the firstquestion of a
theoreticalinquiry: namely,Why has a sectorof "serious" music
culturedevoteditselfto therecovery of forgotten instru-
repertories,
ments,and practices?It is therefore moreusefulto defineEarlyMusic
as a late twentieth-century ensembleof social practicesinsteadof
restrictingit to theworkswhich occasion the interest.To be blunt:
Early Music signifiesfirst
of all people and onlysecondarilythings.
A brieflistingof theactorsand theirpropsis necessary.Firstthere
are the performers(professionalsand amateursof varyingprofi-
ciency),togetherwith theteachersand scholars,thislast group pri-
marilymusicologistsbut also otherhumanistsinterestedin dance,
theater,iconography,and culturalhistory. Then therearethosein the
supportingprofessions suchas luthiersand otherinstrument makers,
music publishers,newspapercritics,concertmanagersand agents,
recordcompanyexecutives,and sound engineers.And complement-
ing theseactive participantsare the consumers-the ever-growing
audiences,who aremostheavilyconcentrated in WesternEuropeand
(increasingly)in NorthAmerica,butwho bynow span theglobefrom
1 The New GroveDictionaryofMusic and Musicians (London, 1980),forexample,does
not contain an articleentitled"Early Music," nor any coherentdiscussionof the twentieth-
centuryrevivalof earlierrepertories,
instruments,and practices.

EarlyMusic 299
Melbourne to Moscow. We must mentionthe visible tools of the

trade-those exteriorsigns of Early Music-the "original instru-
ments":both antique and reconstructed viols, "baroqued" violins,
and
pluckedlutes,harpsichords organs, winds ofendlessvariety, and
a vastarrayofpercussion.Only thendo we arriveat themusicitself:a
massivecorpus extendingfromliturgicalchantof the Middle Ages
throughClassical symphoniesof theeighteenthcenturyand (at the
presentwriting)castinga covetousglance at thenineteenthcentury.
Finally thereare the keysthatunlock thedoors to historicalrecon-
struction:thedidactictreatises, thearchivaldocuments,and theico-
nographical and notationalevidencewhich formthe basis forthe
discipline"performance practice."
Ifthereis an idea whichcementstogetherthisdiversecollectionof
people and things,it is authenticity. Whetheror not it is named,this
highlychargedconceptunderlieseveryconsciousactof EarlyMusic.
One mightwonderexactlywhatis meantbyit. First,as a regulative
ideal, authenticityexpressesa supposed opposition to the self-
aggrandizingindividualismprevalentin Mainstreammusicalpraxis.
In thetypicalversionof thiswidespreadmyth,theindividualMain-
streamartistharnessesthe musical text to his own will, thereby
glorifying self-expression at theexpenseofthecomposer'sintentions.
A musicianhumbledbyauthenticity, on theotherhand,actswillingly
in theserviceofthecomposer,thereby committing himselfto"truth,"
or,at theveryleast,accuracy.But there'stherub.Forifwe peerbehind
theupliftinglanguage,we findthatone attainsauthenticity byfollow-
ing the textbook rulesfor "scientificmethod." Early Music, in other
words, does not preach some empatheticleap into thepast in an actof
imaginativeVerstehen.What has it in mind is a strictlyempirical
programto verifyhistoricalpractices,which,when all is said and
done,are magicallytransformed into thecomposer'sintentions.Au-
in
thenticity Early Music, then, is groundedin a philosophicalposi-
tion I shall call objectivism.By "objectivism"I mean above all the
epistemologicalpropositionthatknowledgeis assuredbyaccurately
describingthingsin the world withouttakingstock of the biased
vantagepoint fromwhich the (human) observerperceivesthephe-
nomena.Only bymaintainingthisstrictseparationofsubject-object
can EarlyMusic restrict itselfin practiceto empiricalaccumulation
and researchwhile claiming authenticityin principle as a moral
value.

Adornoon EarlyMusic
There is no betterdiagnosis of thisobjectivismthan thatof the

Frankfurt-School critic,Theodor W. Adorno,in thefewpassageshe
devotesto "historicalperformance.''2 To be sure,Adornois no friend
of EarlyMusic. Having evengone so faras tocastigateStravinsky for
his causticreturnto a pseudo-Baroqueidiom-branding it a regres-
sion in consciousness--thismandarinof modernismis unlikelyto
have anythingkindto sayabout EarlyMusic's wholesaleevacuation
of the twentieth century.3 On theotherhand, Adorno'spronounce-
mentspierceforcefully throughthewell-intentioned butpitifulapol-
ogeticsthatcharacterizes mostdiscussionsof EarlyMusic. Although
his conclusions,as we shall see,are quite wrongheaded,his orienta-
tion providesan excellentintroductionto a more comprehensive
theory.
Adorno'smostsubstantivecriticismfocuseson theillusiveobjec-
tivitywhichunderliesthenotionofWerktreue--loyalty tothemusical
work.He pointsout thatwhileno one wouldclaim thattheessenceof
a musicalworkis tantamounttothesumofhistorically demonstrable
factssurroundingits performance, the "fansof old music" go right
ahead claimingthatauthenticity is guaranteedbyreconstructing the
relevantinstruments, texts,and practices.Butin so doingEarlyMusic
has no room forcrucialnonempiricalconsiderations--such as emo-
tional expressionor the meaning of a work-without which, all
would agree, music making is inconceivable.As Adorno puts it:
"Objectivityis not leftover once the subjectis subtracted."4More
perniciously,he sensesthatthistheoretical exclusionactuallyencour-
ages the of
liquidation subjectivity. That is,sincethedailypreoccupa-
tion of EarlyMusic stressestheobjectiveretrievalof historicalprac-
2 Adornodiscussesthe matterin three

places: (1) in a 1951articleentitled"Bach gegen
seineLiebhaberverteidigt" ("Bach DefendedAgainsthis Devotees"),latercollectedin a volume
called Prismen(Berlin,1955;Frankfurt, 1967),pp. 178-79,trans.Samuel and ShierryWeberas
Prisms(London, 1967;Cambridge,Mass., 1981),pp. 145-46;(2) in thechapteron "Types of
Musical Conduct" fromtheEinleitungin die Musiksoziologie(Frankfurt, 1973),Gesammelte
Schriften,XIV, 187-90;trans.E.B. Ashtonas IntroductiontotheSociologyofMusic (New York,
1976),pp. 9-11; (3) in an articlefrom1966entitled"Der MissbrauchteBarock"("The Abused
Baroque"), collectedin thevolumeOhne Leitbild(Frankfurt, 1967),pp. 133-57,esp. pp. 149-55.
3 Philosophie derneuenMusk (Tubingenf, 1949;Frankfurt, 1975),GesammelteSchriften,
XII, 188,trans.AnneG. Mitchelland WesleyV. Blomsteras PhilosophyofModernMusic (New
York, 1973),p. 207.
4 Adorno,Prismen,p. 176;Prisms,p. 144.

EarlyMusic 301
tices,itfosterstheattitudethatsubjectivity in interpretation (whether

in performance or in criticism)is irrelevantor,at best,unknowable.
Whileproudlyproclaimingitshistoricalcredentials, EarlyMusic
manages to overlooksome glaring For
inconsistencies. example,the
concernto reproduce"the Baroque sound" uncritically absolutizesa
nineteenth-century conceptof orchestration thatdid not yetexistin
theearlyeighteenth century.In otherwords,thereconstruction ofthe
original instruments verifiablyused by medieval,Renaissance,or
a
Baroque composeris takenas essentialto themeaningof themusic
beforetheidea ofessentialinstrumentation becomeshistorically oper-
able. On a deeper level, Early Music has imposed the notion of
authenticity on composersforwhomthetermis meaningless;in other
words, for those who have not yet imagined the metaphysicsof
Goethe's Fassung letzterHand, throughwhich theintentionedtext
becomesdiscretefromitsreproduction.5 In one sense,then,thehisto-
ricistsarebad historians;theyfailto takestock,as do all objectivists,
of
theirown historicity.
Adornoalso pointsout thatobjectivismtendstorelegatequestions
of aestheticvalue and critique to a secondary,if not meaningless,
statusundertheguiseoffurthering rigorousscholarship.The bedrock
of this position is of course the prevailingdoctrineof historical
relativism, accordingtowhichno artisticepoch is regardedas superior
to any other.This assertionis in itselfnot too problematic.But in a
neat sleightof hand, the objectivistextendshis relativisma step
further, so thateach workofartmysteriously becomestheequal ofits
contemporary. We maybestobservethistendency in modernmusi-
cology, which has produced an enormous apologeticliterature de-
signedtorescuethe"minormasters." Oftenprompted bya searchto
discover theoriginsofa genre(e.g."JacquesBuuswrotethefirst and
longest monothematic ricercar")or the antecedentsof a style(e.g.
"Sammartini's symphonies containthekernel ofthemature Classical
style"),thisKleinmeister-compulsion as a levelingdeviceby
figures
whichall worksarereducedtoa manifestation ofthelowestcommon
denominator. One can easilysee how congenialthisdoctrine(or
methodological consequence) is toEarlyMusic,whichtreats all Ger-
manBaroquecomposers byone norm ofGerman "Baroque"perfor-
mancepractice. AsAdornosoimpudently putsit:"TheysayBach,but
5 See Georgvon Dadelsen,"Die 'FassungletzterHand' in derMusik,"Actamusicologica,
XXXIII (1961), 1-14.

meanTelemann."6 Forwhatwe havehereis nothinglessthana grand

nivellementofvalue so thatone interprets Bach,forexample,onlyin
termsof themostcommonfeaturesof periodstyle.
Adorno triesto cast theobjectivistsensibilityin a psycho-social
mold by seeingit as a formof contemporary ressentiment,an angry,
to
puritanicalresistance thereignof emotion prevalentin therecep-
tion of the MainstreamClassical repertory.By fusing together
Nietzscheand Freud,albeitin a somewhatobscuremanner,Adorno
has distilleda powerfulinsight.Foralthoughon thesurfacetheEarly-
Music enthusiastappears as highbrowas the traditional"Classical
music" buff,his aestheticintentis of a whollydifferent order.One
might,forexample,say thatthe Mainstreamlisteneris attractedto
music, usually of a late-Romantichue, because of the low cost of
affective output:he feelsdrainedyetfulfilled byidentifying withthe
emotionalebband flowofthepiece.The Early-Musicfan,on theother
hand,notonlycurbshis pleasurableresponseto themusic,butbrags
about his commandofauthentichistoricalfacts-thejustification for
theinstruments and editionsused,forexample. Indeed,he is proud
not to be emotingoverTchaikovsky'sPathetiqueand considershis
sobriety a markofsuperiority. But thissomewhatpeculiarstancemay
in factstem,accordingtoAdorno,froma desiretoliquidateRomantic
subjectivity,whichappearsas a formofpromiscuity. The ironyhereis
thatthepuritanhas implantedthecivilizedban on theuninhibited
expressionof feelings(the mimetictaboo) directlyinto theartform
whose purpose it was, in the firstplace, to sublimateit.' Music, a
cultural outlet for sdcially imprisonedsubjectivity,is then trans-
formedintoa place ofcontainment, a prisonforfeelings.IfAdornois
right, then objectivism is not some value-freeconsumerchoice,but,
above all, a rationalizationfora defensiveposture.
The tablesarenow turned.For,as Adornoseesit,theEarly-Music
fansare theones who,in theirobjectivistzeal,havedistortedthegreat
musicofthepast.As forBach, "They havemadehimintoa composer
fororganfestivalsin well-preserved Baroque towns,intoideology."'
It mustbe made clear,however,thatAdorno is not proposingas a
superior alternativethe standard neo-Romantic practice of the
6 Adorno,Prismen,p. 177;Prisms,p. 145.
7 On the mimetictaboo in culturegenerally,see Max Horkheimerand Theodor W.
Adorno,DialektikderAufkliarung (Frankfurt,1969).pp. 149-50;Dialectic of Enlightenment,
trans.JohnCumming(New York,1972),pp. 141-42.
8 Adorno,Prismen,p. 163;Prisms,136.

EarlyMusic 303
Mainstream-theGreatConductorleadingtheswarmingchorusand
orchestrain enervatingrenditionsofthePassions. Ratherhe is ques-
tioningwhetheranythingwas gained byexchangingone distortion
foranother.(Later we shall see thatmuch was gained.) However,
Adorno'ssolution,ifitcan becalled that,is notreallyan answerat all
but a retreatinto the innersanctumof the Frankfurt Institute.For
fromwithin this theoreticalsanctuaryit is easy to condemnevery
contemporaryattemptto performBach as ideologically tainted.
Adorno prefersinstead to see Schoenbergand Webernas the true
interpretersofBach,forhavingchanneledtheirengagementwiththe
past into"contemporary"orchestrations ofhiskeyboardworks,they
remain"loyal to his heritagebybreakingfaithwithit."' They then
are Bach's truedevotees.This displacementfromreceptiononto pro-
duction(thatis, fromperformance onto composition)is a neattrick,
but itwill deludeno one. And yet,Adornomayhaveno otherchoice.
For ifEarlyMusic is groundedin a neuroticneed to repressfeelings,
how can it be anythingmorethana dredgingoperationforhistorical
residue?
BeforerecoilingfromAdorno(eitherin shockor in amusement),
one oughttolocalize thesourceofhis discomfort. ForAdornodid not
know Early Music as it blossomedin the late 1960sand 1970sbut
confronted themorebarbaricgropingsofthe1950sand a bitbeyond.
(He died in 1969.)This was theperiodofthe"sewing-machine"style,
sometimescalled the "Vivaldi revival,"when Germanchamberor-
chestrasenthusiasticallytookup "terraceddynamics,"when histori-
cally minded conductorsurgedplayerstostop "phrasing,"and when
repeatsigns in the music occasioned a blaze of premeditated embel-
lishments."Motoricrhythms,"it seemed,revealeda new speciesof
musicalgratification-the freedomfromfeeling."Let themusicspeak
foritself"was thebattlecry.In practice:substitutebrittleharpsichords
forgrandiloquentSteinways, pureBaroque organsforlush Romantic
ones,cherubicchoirboysforwobblyprimedonne,intimateensembles
foroverblownorchestras, theUrtextfordoctorededitions,thenone is
truetoBach (or whomever)and his intentions.The musicalresultsof
thisearlypurismwereso sterilethatwe can hardlycriticizeAdornofor
having missed the seeds of a criticalnew development.Instead,he
focused insightfullyon the grimacedfaces of the sanctimonious
participants.
Adorno,Prismen,p. 179.

But,Adornoaside, thequestionremainswhetherthesituationin
EarlyMusic todaydiffers so fundamentally fromthatofthe1950s.The
latter-dayEarly-Music enthusiast will likely object: "Wait just a
moment!We'vecome a long waysincethe 1950s."In thishe is surely
right.Of course one would not want to commita geneticfallacy,
mistakingtheoriginof a phenomenonforits subsequentform.On
theotherhand,one mustgrantthattheobjectivist programofauthen-
ticityand itsrelatedrelativismremainwhollyintact.It is merelythe
sum of factsabout instruments, practices,and circumstances which
has swelled:themethodappearsmoreimpressive, evensophisticated.
But if we honestlyevaluatetheartisticqualityof mostEarly-Music
performances, thenthereare ample instancesof wretchedrenditions
ground out by stony-faced champions of authenticityto grant to
Adorno'sdiagnosisa good measureof truth.
WhatAdornocannotaccountfor-and thisis a crucialpoint-are
EarlyMusic'smanifestsuccesses.His theory is,forexample,unable to
deal witha performer suchas GustavLeonhardt.Forhereis someone
who has readthetreatises, consultedthepropersources,is technically
withoutpar,yetarrivesat thought-provoking radicalinterpretations.
Perhaps, one could saywith no small irony,Adorno has suspendedhis
own dialectic.ForI hope toshowthat itwas thissame deceptionin the
realmof ideas-the objectivistprogramof authenticity--which fos-
tered,paradoxically, one of the more critical developmentsin
twentieth-century music.But one does notdiscoverthereal advances
of Early Music, as most would have it, in the outward signs of
historicity-the"original" instruments, verifiableperforming forces,
or text-criticaleditions-but in therevisedoperationsin themindsof
theplayers.This means thatthemostcrucial interpretive sectorsof
performance-articulation,phrasing, tempo, rhythm, and tone
production-do not remain metaphysical universals beyondthegrasp
of historybut emergeas weapons thatforceMainstreamcultureto
confrontitsown historicity. At itsmostsuccessful,EarlyMusic does
notreturnto thepastat all butreconstructs themusicalobjectin the
hereand now,enablinga new and hithertosilencedsubjectto speak.
To surveyand connecttheseseeminglydiscretemomentswithinEarly
Music is, as I see it,theaim ofan adequate theory.
The Birthof EarlyMusic and theRepressionof thePresent
The arrivalofEarlyMusiccoincidedwiththemostprofoundcrisis
in European musical culture in which the middle-class public

EarlyMusic 305
soundlyrepudiatedan avant-gardethatdared to forsaketraditional

tonality.One mightsay thatbothEarlyMusic and earlymodernism
occupy nearlyanalogous positionswith regardto the Mainstream.
Whereasthe avant-gardestrodeforwardin advancing the cause of
historicaltime,EarlyMusic tookan equidistantleap in theopposite
direction.But while theavant-gardecould not fail to recognizethe
graveconsequencesofitsactions,EarlyMusicwas blissfully ignorant
of its historicalstatus.For to maintainequilibrium in a mythical
kingdomof thepast,repletewithcourtlyvalues and (palpably) har-
moniousrelations,EarlyMusicpaid a price:itforcibly repressed every
sign of thepresent.
This is not to say thatEarlyMusic was pointedlyantimodernist.
Its day-to-day activity,withfewexceptions,made sureto brushaway
theproblemsof tortured humanity,likeall formsofantiquarianism,
into therecessesof theunconscious.Whatit promisedwas a senseof
stability,an illusion of serenity,a "haven in the heartlessworld."
Neitherwas EarlyMusic in anysensea Neo-Classicmovement.It was
not remotelyinterested in convertinglivingcomposersto thejoys of
pre-Romanticidioms. Nor was it even concernedto integrateitself
into Mainstreaminstitutions: fromthefirstit saw itselfas something
apart from the real world. Indeed, Early Music drew a wondrous
curtainon realityand celebrateditsdevotionto thepast byresurrect-
ing the relics of that beckoningage-the "antique" instruments
themselves.To the same extent,then,that "modern music" circa
1890-1914exposed theraw nerveofsocial disharmonyin theformof
the neuroticutterance,Early Music redressedthe imbalance by re-
pressingthenightmarish presentand mountinga grandrestoration of
thegloriouspast. WhereastheMainstreamhad said "no" to modern-
ism,EarlyMusic forgotit was traumatized.
This kind ofamnesia surfacesin theworkofArnoldDolmetsch,
perhaps the most famous pioneer in Early Music. For despitehis
enormouspretentions to historicalaccuracyand empiricalmethod,'0
one sometimesgetstheimpressionthathe not onlywishedto revive
thepast,butactuallyto improveon it. Take, forexample,his recon-
structionof the harpsichordin a now-forgotten account fromthe
1930s by his pupil RobertDonington." We learn,perhaps to our
10Dolmetsch'smajor work was his Interpretation

of the Music of the Seventeenthand
EighteenthCenturies(London, 1915).
11RobertDonington,The Workand Ideas ofArnoldDolmetsch(Haslemere,1932),p. 8.

surprise,thatDolmetschwas notentirelyhappywithhis reconstruc-

tivelabors. Even afterscrupulouslyrebuildinga historicalcopy,it
seemsthat
theold harpsichordhascertainlimitations[and produces]a jangle,slightin thetreble
butaudible in thebass. [Moreover,the]use ofthedamper-raising pedal (correspond-
ing to the sustainingpedal of the piano) is renderedimpracticable,precludinga
numberofeffects of greatmusicalvalue.
The solution:
[Dolmetsch's] new instruments,
which remedythese historicaloversights,have
provedbothpurerand moresustainedthanany previousharpsichord.'2
One could easilymakelightofDolmetsch's"fidelity"tohistory,
butI
findmuch more interestingDonington's view that the Dolmetsch
"improvements" aregood commonsense.Progressmarcheson, and it
is irrelevant
thattwohundredyearshave meanwhileintervened. Not
only,then,is therepudiationoftheworldas is forgotten
butalso the
grand retreat
itself.
EarlyMusic as Defamiliarization
How ironic,then,thatEarlyMusic,coweringfromharshreality,
ought to turnaround and administerthe same shock which,at its
inception,itsoughttostifle.Forthereis no escapinga relatively recent
trendin whichcriticstreatEarlyMusic as ifit werea rebelliousand
rampagingmodernism.Of coursethismetamorphosisfromtraum-
atizedrefugeeto agentprovocateurwas a gradualprocess.But begin-
ning in the1970sitbecameclearthatEarlyMusic was nota harmless
bit of antiquarianismbut a sweeping movementable to rock the
foundationsof Mainstreammusical culture. For what had been
thoughtof as durableand traditionalmasterpieces, especiallyof Ba-
roque music,became alienated,indeed "defamiliarized" in a disturb-
ing departure from expected norms. I referhere to thepriemostran-
enie ("device of making strange") made famous by the Russian
Formalists.Forin a similarwaytotheprocessesofliterary production,
the operationsperformed by EarlyMusic "teartheobject out of its
habitual context . .. and forcea heightened awareness."'" One per-
ceivesthismostvividlyin EarlyMusic'sabilitytoinflect
long melodic
12 Ibid.,
pp. 9-10.
13Victor RussianFormalism
Erlich, (TheHague,1955;NewHaven,1981), See
pp. 176-77.
also FredricJameson,The PrisonHouse ofLanguage (Princeton,1972),pp. 50-54.

EarlyMusic 307
lineswitha seriesofmercurialgestures,to defusegrandiosecadences

intogrammaticalendingpoints,toendowdancerhythms withunex-
pectedliltsand graces,and to deploya wide varietyof tonalcolorsin
new ways.The Mainstreamlistener,who believeshis preferred mas-
terpiecesforever safefrom tampering, is now compelled to sit impo-
tentlybyas an unwittingiconoclastknocksdown his favoriteClassi-
cal knick-knacks, remindinghim preciselyof thatfractured frameof
mind,which,withGreatMusic,he hoped to forget.
Defamiliarization, moreover,displacestheattentionfromthein-
terpreteronto the composition.Consider,forexample,theway one
usuallyjudgesperformances of,say,theElgarCello Concerto(Casals,
Fournier,Rostropovitch, DuPre). Then contrastthiswiththeusual
mannerofreviewingperformances ofBach's BrandenburgConcertos
(eithera Mainstreamoran Early-Musicrendition).WiththeElgar,we
admire (or object to) various "interpretations"based on the per-
former'sapproach to sound, tempo, Romantic feeling,and taste.
What is strikingis thatany particularjudgment leaves the Elgar
concertountouched.Questionsregardingitsmeaningor value rarely
appear on theagenda. Not so withour Early Musicians tampering
with the BrandenburgConcertos.The choice betweenperforming
styleshereis anythingbutvalue free,forpreferring one overtheother
amountstoa manifestopro orcontraauthenticity. Areyou in favorof
respectingBach's or
intentions, are you a proponentoftheelan vital?
The aestheticevaluationhereis irrelevant: thepointis thatthe"mean-
of
ing" J. S. Bach gets mentioned in the firstplace. All at once, it
becomesmostimportantto takesides:you eithersubscribeto authen-
ticitytoutcourt,seekcompromisesto appease thepurists,or else put
up withinauthenticrenditionsoffamousBaroque musicwhilemak-
ing appropriateapologies formoral weaknessesin thisarea should
you be takento task.'4
14 Interestingin thisregardis an articlein The New YorkTimes,March21, 1982,entitled

"The RebornBach AriaGroup." "The Bach AriaGroup playson moderninstruments.'We all
havegratitudeand admirationforpeople like Nikolaus Harnoncourt,who have done so much
workwithauthenticinstruments and performances,' saysMr. [Samuel] Baron. But it does not
mean thathis is the only way. You don't have to reconstruct the Globe Theatreto presenta
meaningfulShakespeareperformance.... My personal hero was Karl Richter,the German
conductor,who did so muchtoclean up Bach performance practices.YetI feltsad thatat theend
ofhislifehe had todefendhimself[becausehewas] behindthetimesin matters ofauthenticity....
[Even]withoutgoing totheold instruments, there'sa lotofscrubbingup todo." In otherwords,
theguiltymodernplayerrealizeshe had betterridhimselfofoutmodedpractices.But notethat
EarlyMusic is not reallya respectedcolleague butan inimicaladversary.

Throughthelogicofdefamiliarization, EarlyMusicturnsaround,
forgetsthe moment of its genesis,and repeats(albeitin mutedform)
theprovocationincitedbyitsculturaladversary: itco-optsthedefiant
screamof theearlyavant-gardeand itselfbecomesa threatto estab-
lishedmusical values. Perhapsthisdisruptioncan be explainedas a
repetitioncompulsion.Freuddescribestheanalysand'spredicament
in this way: "He is obliged to repeat the repressedmaterialas a
contemporary experienceinsteadof... remembering itas something
belonging to thepast."15 WhyEarly Music should need to forgetits
original raison d'etreis not hard to imagine. After all, who today
would freelyadmit the wish to in
liveas a fixture an antique shop, a
perhaps valuable but dead museum piece? Who, moreover,would
enjoyconcedingthathe has givenup on anymeaningfulcontempo-
raryart,and (what is worse)thathe secretly wishesto annihilatethe
specterof modernism? Thus there are perfectlyplausiblereasonswhy
fantasiesofthisorderareconcealedbeneathsuchcomfortable websas
authenticity and thecomposer'sintentions.We can also understand
whydefamiliarization in Early Music is not ordinarilyaccordedits
due recognition:thedisruptionwas unintentional.
The Language of Resistance
To theextentthatdefamiliarization withinEarlyMusicmimicked
theprovocationfirst voicedbytheavant-garde, it has also encouraged
similarformsof resistance.On thesurface,thisresistancemanifests
itselfin the sober calls formoderation:to revivehistoricalperfor-
manceis admirableto a point,butnotifit becomesfanatic.Yet ifwe
examinethemetaphorsusedin theseinvocationstothegoldenmean,
itappearsthatEarlyMusichas committed an inexcusableviolationof
social mores,as if it has exhibitedsome horribledisease in polite
society.The affrontthendemandssome act of censurein orderto
expose it, a public rebuke which the criticrationalizesas social
responsibility.
Consider firsttwo newspaperreviewsof works by Schoenberg
performed during1913-14:
Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony-self-torture of a flagellant who whips himself
with a cat-o'-nine-tails while cursing himself! When a conglomeration of horns
15 SigmundFreud,BeyondthePleasurePrinciple(Leipzig, Vienna,Zurich,1920);rev.ed.
trans.JamesStrachey(London, 1961),p. 12.

EarlyMusic 309
pushes upwardsthroughthe strings,it sounds like thewords,"You, monster!"A

hideous modernsound of thescourge!Schoenberg'sunappeasable natureis made
and a recklessadmission:"I am like that!"A sortof
clear: recklessself-mutilation
cat-music,whining,wailing,desperate.... Schoenbergis uncontrolled.... He bares
his breastin a furyof penitenceand showshis scars-and thespectacleis shocking.
And yet,if people mentionBrahms'schastity,one ought to speak of Schoenberg's
shamelessness.[ErnstDecsey,(Berlin)Signale,Feb. 4, 1914]16
Or else:
I fearand dislikethemusicofArnoldSchoenberg.... It is thedecompositionof the
art,I thought,as I held myselfin myseat.... Whatdid I hear?Atfirst,thesound of
delicatechina shiveringintoa thousandluminousfragments. In thewelteroftonali-
tiesthatbruisedeach otheras theypassedand repassed,in thepreliminarygroupof
enharmoniesthatalmostmakethenose bleedand theeyeswater,thescalp tofreeze, I
could notgeta centralgripon myself.Schoenbergis thecruelestofall composersfor
he mingleswithhis musicsharpdaggersat whiteheat,withwhichhe paresawaytiny
slicesofhis victim'sflesh.Anon he twiststheknifein thefreshwound and youreceive
anotherhorriblethrill.. .. Everycomposerhas his aura; theaura ofArnoldSchoen-
bergis, forme,theaura oforiginaldepravity, ofsubtleugliness,ofbasestegoism,of
hatredand contempt,ofcruelty, and ofthemysticgrandiose.... Ifsuchmusicmaking
is everto becomeaccepted,thenI long forDeath theReleaser."7
There is, I regretto say,not much in Early-Musiccriticismthat
rivalsthehonestyand literary competencein thesetwo texts.'8But a
superiorcompetitoris foundin GerardZwang,a Frenchsurgeonand
self-proclaimed sexologist,who, in his book of 1977,A Contre-Bruit,
launches an unprecedentedattackon the infamyof Early Music.'9
Zwang complains thatFrenchNational Radio has succumbedto a
conditionhe calls "Necrobaroquisme."In respondingtothealluresof
theauthenticity craze,he claims,theradio has propagatedthreeevils:
boys supplant women in churchchoirs,period instruments replace
"modern"ones, and worstofall musicianstuneto Baroque pitch(a
16 Cited and translatedby Nicholas Slonimskyin his Lexicon ofMusical Invective(New

York,1952),pp. 156-57.I havemodified thetranslation slightly.
17James GibbonsHuneker, TheNewYorkTimes,Jan.19,1913.QuotedinSlonimsky, pp.
153-54.NeitherDecseynorHuneker wereordinary philistines:Decseywasa pupilofBruckner
andan important Austrian onmusic.Huneker
writer popularizedtheworks ofRichardStrauss,
andcounted amonghisfriends G. B. ShawandHavelockEllis.
18Onlyin theearlydayswhen,forexample, a diaryentry oftwoVictorian ladiesrecords
attendinga Dolmetsch concert in 1892.Theydescribe "toothache callinguntotoothache...
torture
physical ... nothingdivineinit."CitedinMargaret Campbell, Dolmetsch:TheManand
hisMusic(Seattle,1975),p.69.Considering Dolmetsch's infamous thismaysimply
dilettantism,
beaccuratereportage.
19GerardZwang,A Contre-bruit (Paris,1977).

semitonebelow contemporary).
Here is a sample of Zwang's tirade
againstEarlyMusic:
A grandioseprojectthatonly ends in . . . puttingback into circulationmusical
vehicleswhichought neverto have leftthegarage .... That is, old nails, bagpipes,
jew's harps,screechingfiddles,out-oftunecigar-boxes whichonlyproliferate like
..,
malignanttumorsin thepoor bodyofMusicinsteadofgracing atticsand fleamarkets.
... All thisworthlessantiquarianismis vitiatedbya defectrenderingitnull and void:
theyplaya half-stepbelowpitch.And this,no (real) musiciancan bear.... Luckyare
thosemusicloverswithrelativepitch.Fortheothers,itis impossibleto listenwithout
discomfort, nausea, withoutclenchingone's teeth.
His solution:
I sayitin all tranquillity.
GustavLeonhardtand consort,NikolausHarnoncourtand
sons,FransBruggenand assistantfifers, Kuijken&8Co. arethepollutersofthemusical
environment. anti-music.... And it is withthegreatest
They createanti-art, joy that
[I] would see all thoseguiltyofmusicaloutragesthrownintoprison.Imprisonment
mustbe coupledwiththedestruction, ofthoseold buggieswhichtheyhavethe
byfire,
effrontery to call musical instruments.20
MorethansixtyyearsseparateZwang fromDecseyand Huneker,
yetthestridenttoneand thearrayofmetaphorsarestrikingly similar.
Pathology is mostfrequentamong theimages, with torture,
murder,
sin,and criminalityfollowingclose behind.Zwang'sown specialties
includereferencestowar,terrorism, and pollution,all ofwhichenrich
an alreadyfertilefield.Now it is clear why Schoenberg'scriticsre-
spond to him the way theydo. With Zwang, however,the "symp-
toms"-low pitch, instrumentaland vocal sonoritiesper se-are
simplytoo trivialto account forhis uncontrolledanger. Instead,it
appears thatZwang is victimizedbya processofmusicaldefamiliari-
zation which has robbed him of prizedpossessions.2'It is less the
Baroque violin thatupsetsZwang's sensibilitiesthan the Baroque
violinist'stinkeringwith musical fundamentals.22 For Early Music
20 Ibid.,
pp. 41, 15, 16.
which he already knew; he abuses,
21 His complaintscenterconsistentlyon repertory
moreover,not the typicallymediocreEarly-Musicdilettantebut the leading playersof the
advanceguard.
22 An examplewould be EarlyMusic's useofvibratowhichitseesas an additiveingredient
similartoan ornament.Since vibratoin Mainstreampracticeis omnipresent, it is tautological,
or to use Roman Jakobson'sterm,"unmarked"withrespecttoexpression:sinceitalwaysrefers
to individualwarmth,itis almostmeaningless.In EarlyMusic,on theotherhand,vibratotakes
on a "marked"value whichenlargesthefieldofexpression:senzavibratono longerhas to mean
senza espressioneas in evenadvancedcontemporary music.EarlyMusic therefore criticizesthe
notionofexpressivity as one metaphysicaluniteitherpresentor absent,viewingit insteadas a
rangeofemotionsexperiencedbythemusicalsubject.

EarlyMusic 311
enablesa powerfuland sometimesdisturbinginsightintoa historical

subjectnot yetregimentedby the dictatesof thecultureindustry,a
subjectlocatedbeyondtheepistemological horizonof conventional
In addition,it servesto underminethemythicquali-
"expressivity."
ties of harmonyand restitutionwhich neo-Romanticculturehad
imputedto Baroque music.This, then,is perhapswhySchoenberg's
Chamber Symphonyof 1906 and Leonhardt'sBach in 1977 wreak
similarhavoc.
MusicologycontraEarlyMusic
It is themusicologicalcommunity,however,whichoffers themost
substantiveresistanceto Early Music. This may seem paradoxical.
Afterall, thescholarsweretheones who had nurturedEarlyMusic by
discoveringthemusicalrepertories comprisingit,byeditingthemso
rigorously, and bypublishingthetreatises.
Butaboveall themusicol-
ogistschampionedthehistoricist viewthatmusicwas conditionedby
itstime.Fromhereitwas buta shortstepto thenecessaryconclusion:
Baroque musicrequiresBaroque performance practice.Indeed,itwas
largelythroughmusicologicallobbying(or so the storygoes) that
Bach-Stokowskiwas deletedfromsymphonyprogramsin the first
place. But beginningin the 1960s,it became clear thatthe Early-
Music progenywerecoming into conflictwiththeimplicitgoals of
postwarmusicology:accumulating,venerating, and (sometimes)em-
balmingtheEuropean culturalheritage.23
The most significantformof musicologicalcritique thriveson
reprimandingEarly Music forits inadequate scholarship:that the
specificpracticeswhich Early-Musicadherentshave read about in
treatisesand seen confirmedin the musical notationare based on a
faultylogic. The mostvisibleproponentofthisviewis undoubtedly
FrederickNeumann, who has claimed since the 1960s thatseveral
importantconventionsof Early Music are historicalmisinterpreta-
tions.24 AccordingtohimEarlyMusic has fallenpreytoa "childhood
disease" (again, pathology!)which
23 All theseactivitiesare understandableresponsesto the demotionof high cultureby
contemporary society.The question is whetherapologetics,howeverappropriate,is method-
ologicallyjustifiable.Being limitedto thepositive,thisorientationis oftenunable todeal with
truth.On this point see Adorno,Philosophie, p. 33; Philosophy,p. 26. But fora brilliant
antidoteto Adorno'snegativity, see Hans RobertJauss,Asthetische Erfahrungund literarische
Hermeneutik,Bd. 1: Versucheim Feld der asthetischenErfahrung(Munich, 1977), trans.
MichaelShaw,AestheticExperienceand LiteraryHermeneutics(Minneapolis,1982),pp. 13-21.
24 For a listof Neumann'spublications,see his biographyin The New Grove.

is caused by a somewhatnaive trustin the infallibilityof historicaltreatises,the

symptomsof[which]are manifested in a faultyinterpretation of thesedocuments.25
Neumann's strategy is to show how theevidenceof thetreatises

does not warranttheconventionalpracticesof EarlyMusic. For in-
stance,he claims thattheoverdotting of Frenchovertures,a promi-
nenttrademark ofEarlyMusic,is a mythinventedbyDolmetsch.Not
onlydo thewitnesseswho allude to it (suchas J.J.Quantz)arrivetoo
latetoconfirm a Baroque practice,butevennotationalevidencewhich
to
points overdotting arguesforthecontrary-thatcomposershad to
prescribe because a conventionneverexisted.Althoughit is not
it
oftenmade explicit,Neumann's dismissalof Early Music's prized
conventionsgives the clear impressionthat "modern" playersare
perfectlyjustified in retaining the received wisdom of the
Mainstream-"Play as written!"-since so-calledhistoricalperfor-
manceis a hoax.
This is why,in a sense,Neumannstressesthatthelessonhis work
teachesoutweighstheimportanceof his findings.As he puts it:
Whenwe play theovertures, sarabandes,chaconnes,etc.of Lully, Rameau, Handel
and Bach,itisa mistaketodeprivethemoftheirmajesticdignityin favorofthefrantic
styleofjerksand jolts.[He is referring
heretooverdotting in Frenchovertures.]
In any
case, formany listenersa prolongedseriesof such jerks and jolts can be rather
Othersmightfindsuch a stylestimulating,perhapsbecauseit reflects
irritating. the
nervoustensionsofour age; theyhave theprivilegeof theirtaste,but mustcease the
claim of historicalauthenticity.26
Fromtherangeofmetaphors,one would thinkthatEarlyMusic is
somerevolutionary forcetryingtotoppletheancienp rigime. Notonly
does Early Music dethronethe monarchs("deprivingthemof their
majesticdignity");it compels themto do a sortof rock-and-roll(the
twofold"jerksand jolts"). The keyfigurehereis surelyBach, whom
Neumannhas takenspecial pains to protectfromthesuggestionthat
his overtures
oughtto be dotted,thatinequalityoughtto apply in his
music, or that his trillsought regularlyto begin fromthe upper
neighbor.Even thetitleofNeumann'srecentmonographis revealing:
Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music with Special
Emphasis on J. S. Bach (Princeton,1978). No doubt Bach is the
centerpieceofmuchtwentieth-centuryworkin performance practice,
"Thedotted
25 Neumann, noteandtheso-called
French EarlyMusic,V (1977),311,
style,"
trans.
RaymondHarrisand EdmundShay.Thearticle appearedinFrench
first in theRevuede
musicologie,LI (1965).
26Neumann,
"The dotted
note,"p. 323.

EarlyMusic 313
butthe"special emphasis"alludes to his almosticonlikestatus:Bach

is viewedas a monument,which,ifdefaced,mustcontendwiththe
wrathoftheworshippers.This is whythetoneofNeumann'scritique
is so formidable.
But tone is not substance,and thatis whythisreadingof Neu-
mann'smotivationsin no wayendangershisargument.Therefore, to
disarm Neumann means to examine his methodologicalpremises.
But by thisI do not only mean catalogingerrorsin his logic.27 For
Neumann's strengthlies in his claim that Early Music lacks the
empiricalsupportto proveitsargument.But theblame lies lesswith
evidencethanwithEarlyMusic's relianceon theempiri-
insufficient
cistmethodologyin thefirst EarlyMusic has been
place. Specifically,
forcedbyitsown fetishforthehistorically accurate"fact"tosuccumb
to the debatableview thatempiricismsaves all, thatonly the most
cautiousinferences maybe drawnfromthe"evidence,"and thatonly
thatwhichis demonstrablebyverifiable data (theneo-positivisttwist)
is admissible.
But ifwe look at thereal developmentof EarlyMusic,we do not
findpassivebodiesof factsinducingcarefulinferences. Insteadthere
have been musicianscoming up withever-changing theoriesto ex-
plain whattheywerereadingin thetreatises, findingin thenotation,
and learningabouttheinstruments. Notonlyis theempiricist method-
ology unhelpfulin thestudyof performance practice:it was nevera
model forthe progressof Early Music.28Instead,historicalperfor-
mancemustbe recognizedas an evolvingand necessarilyincomplete
paradigm ratherthan as a set of documentedindex cards set atop
inferencesculled fromfreshmanlogic texts.Viewed thisway, Neu-
mann no longerposes such a threat,sincehe can merelyknockdown
strawmen,and offerinsteadthe much touted"freedom"of Main-
streamconventions.What he contributes,on the other hand, are
useful anomalies that oblige Early Music to refineits hypotheses,
rejectinga powerfultheoryonlywhen it can be replacedwithsome-
thingbetter.
27 David Fullerhas donea witty job ofthisin an articleentitled"Dotting,the'FrenchStyle'
and FrederickNeumann'sCounter-Reformation," EarlyMusic,V (1977),517-43.The religious
metaphor is particularlyapt, for what betterway to describe Early Music than as a
Reformation-thereturntothetruereligion,theidolsremovedfromchurch,and eventhetheses
nailed to thedoor.The JesuiticalNeumann plies sophisticalargumentsdesignedto confound
thefaithfuland reinstatethesupremacyof MotherChurch.
28 See, in thisregard,Paul K. Feyerabend,AgainstMethod(London, 1975)and Sciencein a
Free Society(London, 1978),and also Allan R. Keiler,"The EmpiricistIllusion: Narmour's
BeyondSchenkerism,"in Perspectivesof New Music, XVII (1978), 161-95.

EarlyMusic and theAestheticof Novelty
The repertories of medievaland Renaissancemusic,unlike Ba-

roque and Classical music,had of course neverparticipatedin the
phase ofdefamiliarization, fortheyhad neverbeenfamiliarin thefirst
place. Instead, one might consider how theygavea newleaseon lifeto
thetraditionalaestheticcategoryofnovelty.Accordingto thishistori-
cal impulse,theobjetd'art,like thecommodity,is requiredperpetu-
allytoregenerate itselfin a newguise.Builtintothisimportantmotor
in thehistoryofartare,at first, a senseof"progress"in thearea oftaste
and, later, a form of planned obsolescence. But it was ofcourseearly
twentieth-century modernism which wreaked such havoc with the
aestheticof novelty,confronting it withits own undesirableconse-
quences-innovative artworkswhichconflicted directlywithan op-
posed aesthetic of gratification.Thus, although thestylistic
develop-
mentof the avant-gardewas conceivedas eminentlyrational (the
Schoenbergsand Co. continuallyinsistedon theirdirectlinkswiththe
past)29theEuropean middleclasses took thepath of leastresistance
and dedicatedthemselvesto a predictablestandardrepertory.
Ifwe locatetherevivalofmedievaland Renaissancemusicin this
historicalcondition (which, tellingly,has changed littleover the
courseof thiscentury),thenit becomesclearthatthissectorof Early
Music kills two birdswithone stone.First,it promisesprogressby
producingan ever-"new"sourceofmusicalraritiesforthefuture. And
it
second, promises to be and if
diverting pleasurable.Thus, you are
concernedthatthePhilharmonichas programmedBrahms'sSecond
Symphonyforthe thirdtimethisseason, you can attendan Early-
Music concert,wheremanyrepertories are stillunderheavyexcava-
tion and prospectsfor a regular supply of historicalore remain
excellent.
Along withthisreconciliationof noveltyand gratification go all
thelatter-day accoutrements ofthecommodity:theexaggerationand
deceptionof advertising;the promiseof the good life; the hint of
piquancy;thedemotionofaestheticquality;and theprecipitousdrop
in artisticniveau. These themescan be readilyobservedin a news-
paper blurbannouncinga subscriptionseriesto theWaverlyConsort
("America'sforemostearlymusic ensemble")in which I have itali-
cized items of interest.Note how peculiar this language would sound
29 Or,as CharlesWuorinenputitin 1975:"Credoin unammusicam."LinernotestoString
Trio et al., NonesuchH-71319.

EarlyMusic 315
in a notice fora Mainstreamchamber-musicseries.The Waverly

series,entitled"Italia Mia," features:
Four brand new and exciting programs-saluting fivecenturies of great Italian music
and the seven colorful and historic cities in which it flourished... at the courts of the
Medici, Sforzasand Gonzagas... under Brunelleschi's fantastic dome forSanta Maria
delFioreorMichelangelo'sgloriousceilingfortheSistineChapel... in themosaic
ofSan Marco,thegildedpalazzialongtheGrandCanaland thejewel-box
vastness
theatre GiftedSolo Singersand Players,
of La Fenice.10Brilliantly 50 Medieval,
Renaissanceand Baroqueinstruments, includingviola da gamba-vielle-nun's
ute-vihuela-theorbo-sackbut-gemshorn-cornetto--oud-
fiddle-rebec--l
shawm-rauschpfeife-citole-dulcian-psaltery ... Forthepasteightseasonsthe
Waverly Consort'sAlice"TullyHall serieshas beensold out bysubscriptionsix
monthsin advance,withhundreds turnedawayat thebox office.To share the
treasurableexperienceof the 1982-83season, subscribeNOW and avoid
disappointment.30
EarlyMusic and theFlightfromEnvy

The failuretoconfronttheculturalproductsofone's own timeis a
featurewhichEarlyMusic shares,byand large,withtheMainstream.
Wheretheydiffer mostpointedlyis in theirresponsetotheproblemof
social envy.Whereas the Mainstreamis forcedby the competitive
nature of societyto deal, for betteror forworse,with notions of
value-both theprincipalactorsand themusicalobjectsare publicly
recognizedas salable commodities-EarlyMusic likesto pretendthat
the problem does not exist. Denying envy,however,is hardlyan
antidote.On thecontrary, thedenial is costly.For whatoftenappears
as a pleasant diversionfrompresent-daytensions,a utopian romp
throughthecourtsofEurope,mayin factintroduce,bywayofmusic,
conditionswhich are farmorecoercivethan thosethatEarly Music
soughttoescapein thefirstplace. Having firstcelebrateditsliberation,
EarlyMusic turnsaroundand proffers a moresecuresetofchains.By
consideringtherepressionofenvy,itbecomespossibletoexplainwhy
Early Music so oftenseems to take on the trappingsof a severe
monasticorder,a disguisewhichotherwiseeludesanalysis.
Let us considerthestatusof envywithinothersectorsof serious
music.31 For the contemporary "advanced" composer,forexample,
30 The New York Times, May 16, 1982.
31 The standardworkon the
sociologyof envyis Helmut Schoeck,Der Neid (Freiburg,
1966),trans.Michael Glennyand BetsyRoss as Envy:A TheoryofSocial Behavior(New York,
1969).Freudtreatsthequestionofsocial envybriefly
in Group Psychologyand theAnalysisof
theEgo, trans.JamesStrachey(London, 1959).Melanie Klein'sEnvyand Gratitudeattemptsto
augmentpsychoanalytic thinkingon thispoint.

theencounterwithenvyis simplyunavoidable.Today's composer

realizesfromthestartthatmass adorationis not in thecards.He has
therefore compensatedforhis enviousdesiresvis-a-vissuccessful"en-
tertainers" beforethefirst
dropofinkfallson thepage. This maytake
theformofa snobbishelitism("Who caresifyou listen?"),32 a venge-
ful vigil awaiting the vindicationof posterity, or a retreatinto the
hermeticcocoon of New-Musiccircles,wherethe injuredgive one
anothercomfort.WithinMainstreamClassical music,too,envyand
its relatedguilt are obvious. Performers across the social spectrum
muststrugglewithauditions,juries,competitions--notto mention
managers,contractors, and critics.In response,the"artist"feelscom-
pelled to achieveat theexpenseofhis colleagues,toadmire(i.e. envy)
his superiors,and feela measureof guilt about thosewhom he has
vanquished. Although most musicians would not put it in these
terms,envy,a pervasivefeatureof all social life,cannotfail to be a
dailyfactof lifein Mainstreammusicalculture.
It was probablycapitalistdevelopmentof the late Middle Ages
whichfirst broughtenvyintospecialprominencein theWest.Firstit
legitimizedthecovetouswishforthedesiredobjectthroughtheideol-
ogy of the marketplace,making accumulation ("enlightenedself-
interest")tantamountto social progress.It latermasked the guilt
(caused by the fantasticenactmentof theenviousdesireas much as
fromthediscomfort ofbeingenvied)withtheidea offormalequality.
The social contractthatresultedrequiresthatenvybe omnipresent at
thesame timethatitsidentityremaincovert.Perhapsthisis why,in
AmericanEnglish forexample, the historicalsense of "envy" has
eitherbeen neutralized(as in: "I envyyou yourtripto Europe") or
confusedwithjealousy (which requiresa thirdparty).With either
meaning,theuglywish to see thedownfallof someoneperceivedas
superioris obscured,eitherbysuppressingtheoriginaldefinition or
by maskingit underthesign ofan acceptableRomantictriingle.33
Withinthesphereofartisticproduction,our culturealso tendsto
32 The titleofan articlebyMiltonBabbitt,High Fidelity,VIII (1959),38.The originaltitle,

"The Composer as Specialist," was deleted by the magazine and the now infamous title
substitutedwithoutthe author's permission(privatecommunicationfromMilton Babbitt).
Although it has littleto do with the substanceof Babbitt'sarticle,the catchierphrase has
achieveda kind of notorietyand can serveas an exaggeratedemblemstandingforthe tragic
isolationof thecontemporary composer.
SS Rescuingthedistressed damselfroma brutishsuitoris a preferable fantasyto disposing
of a secretly
enviedenemywhose veryexistenceis galling.

EarlyMusic 317
underestimate thecreativepowerofenvy.Forjustas envyunderwrites

theaccumulationof capital, it also sponsorsthatparticularformof
artisticprogressprevalentin theWestsincetheRenaissance:learnthe
master'scraft,admire(envy)him,and thenoutdo him (read:do him
in). The generallydestructive and inhibitingeffect of the"evil eyeof
envy"is thereby transformed intoa productiveact,whoseidentifying
sign is thepresenceof something"new."34
If the musical Mainstreamrepresents,as it were,an idealized
versionof postindustrialsociety,with its transactionsdesigned to
coordinateand rechannelthe harmfuleffectsof envy,then Early
Music mustbe characterized as a special psychologicalhaven where
envy is notsupposedtoexist.It is as ifEarlyMusicsignalsa returntoa
presumedstateof innocencebeforeenvybecameinstitutionalized as
themotorofsocial progress.A Brechtiantablecomparingthedomi-
nant social code of Early Music with thatof the Mainstreamhigh-
lightsthesedifferencesin a revealingway:
EarlyMusic Musical Mainstream
1. The conductoris banished. 1. The conductoris thesymbolofau-

stature,and social difference.
thority,
2. All membersof the ensembleare 2. The orchestrais organized in a
equal. hierarchy.
3. Ensemblemembersplaya number 3. The "division of labor" is strictly
of instruments,sometimessing, and defined,withone playerper part.
commonlyexchangeroles.
4. Symptomatic grouping: the 4. Symptomatic grouping: the
consort--like-mindedmembersof a concerto-opposing forcesstruggling
harmoniousfamily. forcontrol;later,the one against the
many.
5. Virtuosityis not a set goal and is 5. Virtuosity
definestheprofessional.
implicitlydiscouraged.
6. Technical level of professionalsis 6. Technical standardsare high and
commonlymediocre. competitive.
7. The audience(oftenamateurs)may 7. The audience marvelsat the tech-
play thesame repertoryat home. nical demandsof therepertory.
8. The audience identifieswith the 8. The audience idealizes the
performers. performers.
34 Beethoven's to Haydn,forexample,particularly
relationship as depicted
in Maynard
Solomon'sBeethoven theprocessI am referring
(NewYork,1977),typifies to.

EarlyMusic Musical Mainstream
9. Programsare packed withhomog- 9. Programs contain contrasting

eneous worksand are oftendull. items and are designed around a
climax.
10. Criticsreporton the instruments, 10. Criticscommenton theperformer
thecomposers,piecesand that"a good and his interpretation.
timewas had byall."
As thisschematiccomparisonmakesclear,EarlyMusic attempts
to hold envious desiresin check by negatingeverysign of social
It is as if,withtheabsenceof thetyrannicalfather-master
difference.
(who epitomizesdifference), the childrencan live togetherin peace
and fellowship.Some formof thisprocess,in which social envyis
transformed intogroupsolidarity, occursno doubtin all social forma-
tions.EarlyMusicsimplydisplaysa superiortalentin thisregard,but
withan importantdifference: therepressionofenvyleavesin itswake
an enforcedroutineand a uniformmediocrity.The colorlessand
suffocatingatmosphereencounteredso oftenin Early-Musicperfor-
mancesis therefore notmerelytheresultofinferior techniquebutthe
pricepaid foravoidingtherealityofenvy.35
EarlyMusic and "the Rules"
Consciously,this"aetiologyoftheEarly-Musiccomplex"depends
on a peculiarunderstanding ofperformance practice,thatitis in facta
set of rules which guaranteescorrectmusical behavior.But these
rules-to theextentthattheoriesabout historicalperformance can be
discussedas a coherentset-are subjectto a precariousdialectic:they
defineEarlyMusicat thesame timethattheyendangeritsviabilityas
critique.
Viewed fromoutside Early Music, the rules appear as a secret,
powerfulcode,a concreteyetsomehowinscrutablebodyofknowledge
which assurescorrectinterpretation.As such, theywield enormous
35 The seeminglyimprovedstandardsofEarlyMusicduringthelastfewyearsare probably

due lesstorealtechnicalprogressthantoan influxofconservatory-trained
musiciansjoining the
ranksin the hope of escaping the debilitatingstruggleforexistenceon the "outside." These
refugeesfromtheMainstreambelievetheyhaveeluded thecut-throat competitionof the "real
world." But theirnew-foundfreedomis largelyillusory.

EarlyMusic 319
influenceon Mainstreammusicians,who would like nothingbetter

than to get theirhands on the code and know the awful truth.36
In facttheyreallywishtohaltthethreatening advanceofEarlyMusic
through a neat expropriationof its secrets.
By acquiringtherules,it
seems--particularly those that deal with marginallyunimportant
areassuchas ornamentation-theseMainstreamers will be able totake
a comfortable middleroad,keep to theirmoderninstruments, retain
theirviewson phrasingand articulation,and forestall criticismbythe
growing numberof Early-Musicadherents.But tryas theymay,
somethingis always amiss: the rules do not workwell on modern
instruments and oftenseemcontradictory and counterintuitive. The
Mainstreammusicianthenbecomesresentful: "Since musicis a living
art,I reservetherightto makemyinterpretations relevantto modern
audiences." Of coursetheappeal to relevanceis somewhatdisingen-
uous,consideringthat"contemporary" ideasarewarmed-over practi-
ces of Vienna in the 1920sprettiedup by the perfectionism of the
recording industry.No matter.The rulesof Early Music have such a
and
prestige jurisdiction thatthey must be circumvented an
by uneasy
compromiseor rejectedoutright.
This special status which the Mainstreamgrantsto the rules
cannotbutbe a sourceofpridetoEarlyMusicianswho haveswornthe
oath of allegiance. No need now to takea daringinterpretive leap;
properapplication of the rules guaranteesaccurate"period style."
The rulesalso ensureidentitybydifference: we have somethingyou
lack. Historically,ofcourse,therecovery oftheruleshad beenintegral
to thereconstitution ofthemusicalobject.Butnow,itseems,therules
have losttheirexperimentalpotentialand becomedogma,dispensed
as an elixirtransportingtherankestamateurintoauthentic,historical
time.
Hereagain EarlyMusicdiffers fromtheMainstream.The modern
violinistin theconservatory workingup theSibeliusconcertobelieves
he is expressinghisinnermostfeelingsthroughthemusic.The typical
EarlyMusician,on thecontrary, distrustshis intuitiveimpulsesas a
harmfulresidueof a Mainstreamupbringing.Instead,he reads the
proper treatises,investsin expensive facsimiles,consults source-
criticaleditions,and worriesthathe is deviatingfromtheproperstyle.
The playersoon comes to feartherulesas harshproscriptions. Style
towardthemusical
36 This is partlytocompensatefortheguilttheyfeelat theirirreverence
texts:theytoo are trainedto viewartas moralimprovement.

no longerelucidatesbut only inhibits.This is why,withinmuch of

EarlyMusic,experimentation is discouraged,and deviancefromthe
normsis brandedheresy.
The Revoltof theAdvanceGuard
The hegemonyoftherulesin EarlyMusichas meanwhilecometo

be repudiatedby theleading musiciansin themovement.This was
bound to happen: iftheyspokehonestly,theywould admitthatthey
had neverregardedperformance practiceas anythingmorethanan
initialstimulusto breakwiththeMainstream.But at leastfromthe
pronouncements of the 1960s,it certainlyseemedas if theseplayers
had discovereda scienceof interpretation. They weretheones, after
all, who had exploitedthe slogans of "authenticity,""original in-
struments,""firstversion,"and "composer'sintentions."Perhaps
these gimmicks of advertisingwere once useful, but they have
backfired now thattheyhavebecomecommonproperty. On theother
hand, theadvance guard has now overcompensated in theopposite
direction.(They were also tiredof the accusation that theywere
unfeelingantiquarians.)Hence: "The moreI readthetreatises theless
I know." And as often:"I play only from the heart."
These disclaimers,while appearing to contradictthe underpin-
ningsof EarlyMusic,can be safelydisregarded.For theproofof the
puddingliesnotwithrationalizationspostfestumbutwiththestatus
of theperfoimances.And here,in myjudgment,theadvance guard
has continuedan admirable tradition:funnelingthe raw material
informedbyhistoricalcritiquethroughthecontemporary subjectto
express something new and complex. Iftheoutward of
signs revoltare
symptomatic, they attest to a growing rift
between professionaland.
amateur.This distancemayin factproveusefulin safeguardingthe
independenceof theantiobjectivists. For thosein theadvanceguard
have programmatically avoidedpreordainedformulas,whichis why
theirinsightsresistduplicationbystudents.Atbest,theyhavecreated
an inimitableantistyle.37
on thefuturedevelopmentof theadvanceguardstemlargelyfromthe
37 The constraints
demandsof therecordingindustry, whichencouragestechnicalflawlessness and homogeneous
expression"in theage of mechanicalreproduction."Once theperformer is preoccupiedwith
to formulatenovel approachesto interpretation.
"sound forsound's sake" it becomesdifficult
One wondersifthecriticalmomentof EarlyMusic has passed.

EarlyMusic 321
EarlyMusic as Hermeneutics
In circumscribing thescope ofthisinvestigation, I drewa distinc-

tion betweenEarly Music as a social ensembleand therepertory it
takesas its primaryobject. This was above all a tacticalmove,de-
signed to put the spotlighton the actorsinsteadof the play, as is
usually done. But the distinctionalso provesusefulin the way it
highlights another pair of terms familiar to the humanistic
disciplines-the interpreter facedwitha text.Indeed,EarlyMusiccan
be viewed as a classical hermeneuticactivity,in thatit attemptsto
ferret out meaningshiddenbeneathth?surface.Seen in thisway,we
mightconsiderEarly Music withrespectto what Paul Ricoeurhas
called thetwo poles of hermeneutics.38 The first pole, originatingin
biblicalexegesis,takestherestoration ofmeaningas itsgoal. As such,
the interpretation figureslargelyas a revelationof the sacredand
maintainsan attitudeofrespecttowardthesymbol.The secondpole,
on the otherhand, attemptsa demystification of meaning,which
underliesthesymbolas a disguise.This hermeneutics is suspiciousof
the symbolbut hopes, throughits interpretation, to minimizethe
illusion. Althoughinterpretive stylesareoftenreducedtoone formor
theother,Ricoeurobservesthatthegreatmoderninterpreters of the
second school-he names Freud,Marx, and Nietzsche-manage to
mediatestrategically betweenbothpoles. Asa consequence,demystifi-
cation and semanticrestoration are not logicallypriorto each other,
but are inextricably linked.
If Mainstreamcriticsof Early Music have misjudgedit, it is be-
cause theyhaveyettoacknowledgethehermeneutic circleenveloping
theiropinions. Admittedly, Adorno suffered fromno such naivete.
But he jumped too quickly,perhaps,into the second hermeneutic
mode, therebyneutralizinghis own dialectic.To its credit,Early
Music is one of the fewinterpretive strategiesto have bravedboth
hermeneutic poles, albeitwithvaryingdegreesofsuccess.Perhapsthis
is its mostprofoundstatementto thetwentieth century:withonlya
religious respect for historical reconstruction-the objectivist
stance-the revelationtendsto unveila mirroredimage of theinter-
preter. But with only a perfunctorydismissal of historical
38 Paul Ricoeur,Freudand Philosophy,trans.Denis Savage (New Haven, 1970),

pp. 26-27.
See also JohnThompson's introductionto Ricoeur'sHermeneuticsand theHuman Sciences,
trans.,ed. JohnThompson (Cambridge,1981),p. 6.

performance-Adorno'sskepticism-thedemystification remainsin-
complete. For Early Music cannot do without both modes of
and
interpretation-restoration critique-if it is to signifybeyonda
dead past and point to an idiom notyetinvented.


Early Music Defended Against Its Devotees

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Early Music Defended against Its Devotees: A Theory of Historical Performance in the

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

SUMMER, 1983 Vol. LXIX, No. 3

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

once we wishtoarticulatea theoryofEarlyMusic-there seemstobe a

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Melbourne to Moscow. We must mentionthe visible tools of the

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

There is no betterdiagnosis of thisobjectivismthan thatof the

2 Adornodiscussesthe matterin three

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tices,itfosterstheattitudethatsubjectivity in interpretation (whether

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

meanTelemann."6 Forwhatwe havehereis nothinglessthana grand

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

The Birthof EarlyMusic and theRepressionof thePresent

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soundlyrepudiatedan avant-gardethatdared to forsaketraditional

10Dolmetsch'smajor work was his Interpretation

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surprise,thatDolmetschwas notentirelyhappywithhis reconstruc-

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lineswitha seriesofmercurialgestures,to defusegrandiosecadences

14 Interestingin thisregardis an articlein The New YorkTimes,March21, 1982,entitled

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The Language of Resistance

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pushes upwardsthroughthe strings,it sounds like thewords,"You, monster!"A

16 Cited and translatedby Nicholas Slonimskyin his Lexicon ofMusical Invective(New

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This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

enablesa powerfuland sometimesdisturbinginsightintoa historical

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

is caused by a somewhatnaive trustin the infallibilityof historicaltreatises,the

Neumann's strategy is to show how theevidenceof thetreatises

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

butthe"special emphasis"alludes to his almosticonlikestatus:Bach

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

EarlyMusic and theAestheticof Novelty

The repertories of medievaland Renaissancemusic,unlike Ba-

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in a notice fora Mainstreamchamber-musicseries.The Waverly

EarlyMusic and theFlightfromEnvy

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theencounterwithenvyis simplyunavoidable.Today's composer

32 The titleofan articlebyMiltonBabbitt,High Fidelity,VIII (1959),38.The originaltitle,

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underestimate thecreativepowerofenvy.Forjustas envyunderwrites

1. The conductoris banished. 1. The conductoris thesymbolofau-

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EarlyMusic Musical Mainstream

9. Programsare packed withhomog- 9. Programs contain contrasting

EarlyMusic and "the Rules"

35 The seeminglyimprovedstandardsofEarlyMusicduringthelastfewyearsare probably

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

influenceon Mainstreammusicians,who would like nothingbetter

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

no longerelucidatesbut only inhibits.This is why,withinmuch of

The Revoltof theAdvanceGuard

The hegemonyoftherulesin EarlyMusichas meanwhilecometo

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 21:46:06 PM

In circumscribing thescope ofthisinvestigation, I drewa distinc-