The Lost TraditionAuthor(s): Robert DoningtonSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 94, No. 1329 (Nov., 1953), pp. 519-520Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/936308 .

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THE MUSICAL TIMES THE MUSICAL TIMES

SELECTED RECITALS SELECTED RECITALS Mr. Arthur J. Gibson, St. Saviour's Church, Alexandra

Park-Allegro maestoso (Sonata in G), Elgar; Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Suite in D, Stanley; Flourish for an occasion, Harris.

Mr. Vincent Batts, St. Clement's Church, Hastings- Allegro moderato, Sonata no. 1, Mendelssohn; Scherzino, James Lyon; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Toccata in G, Dubois.

Mr. Roy Collison, St. Nicholas's Church, Bristol- Prelude and Fugue in C, Bach; nos. 2 and 3, set II, Preludes and Postludes, Stanford; A Fancy, Harris.

Mr. John Hind, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh Passacaglia in C minor, Bach; Sonata no. 4, Mendels- sohn; Introduction and Theme, Sumsion.

Mr. F. C. J. Swanton, Christ Church, Blackrock, Dublin-Concerto no. 2 in B flat, Handel, Prelude and Fugue in A, Bach; Prelude on ' Pange Lingua', Dupre; Prelude on 'St. Columba', Swanton; Finale ' O worship the King', Stanford.

Organ Scholars of Clifton College in the College Chapel -Introduction and Passacaglia, Alan Gray; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Fantasia no. I in F minor, Fantasia no. 2 in F minor and major, Mozart; Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Vaughan Williams.

Mr. E. R. Prentice, Clifton College Chapel-Introduc- tion, Passacaglia and Fugue, Healey Willan; Trio- Sonata in G, Bach; Prelude, Suite in B flat minor, Durufle; Three preludes and fugues, Dupre.

Mr. C. F. Trevor, Town Hall, Birmingham-Chorale preludes, Pachelbel, Scheidt, Buxtehude, Telemann, Krebs; Sonatina in D minor, Ritter; Prelude and Fugue in E, Liibeck; Dankpsalm, op. 145, no. 2, Reger.

Mr. Russell Shepherd, St. Mark's Church, Portsmouth -Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Chorale preludes, Atkins, Parry, Charles Wood; Rhapsody in C, Heathcote Statham; Postlude in D minor, Stanford.

Mr. Arthur J. Gibson, St. Saviour's Church, Alexandra Park-Allegro maestoso (Sonata in G), Elgar; Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Suite in D, Stanley; Flourish for an occasion, Harris.

Mr. Vincent Batts, St. Clement's Church, Hastings- Allegro moderato, Sonata no. 1, Mendelssohn; Scherzino, James Lyon; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Toccata in G, Dubois.

Mr. Roy Collison, St. Nicholas's Church, Bristol- Prelude and Fugue in C, Bach; nos. 2 and 3, set II, Preludes and Postludes, Stanford; A Fancy, Harris.

Mr. John Hind, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh Passacaglia in C minor, Bach; Sonata no. 4, Mendels- sohn; Introduction and Theme, Sumsion.

Mr. F. C. J. Swanton, Christ Church, Blackrock, Dublin-Concerto no. 2 in B flat, Handel, Prelude and Fugue in A, Bach; Prelude on ' Pange Lingua', Dupre; Prelude on 'St. Columba', Swanton; Finale ' O worship the King', Stanford.

Organ Scholars of Clifton College in the College Chapel -Introduction and Passacaglia, Alan Gray; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Fantasia no. I in F minor, Fantasia no. 2 in F minor and major, Mozart; Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Vaughan Williams.

Mr. E. R. Prentice, Clifton College Chapel-Introduc- tion, Passacaglia and Fugue, Healey Willan; Trio- Sonata in G, Bach; Prelude, Suite in B flat minor, Durufle; Three preludes and fugues, Dupre.

Mr. C. F. Trevor, Town Hall, Birmingham-Chorale preludes, Pachelbel, Scheidt, Buxtehude, Telemann, Krebs; Sonatina in D minor, Ritter; Prelude and Fugue in E, Liibeck; Dankpsalm, op. 145, no. 2, Reger.

Mr. Russell Shepherd, St. Mark's Church, Portsmouth -Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Chorale preludes, Atkins, Parry, Charles Wood; Rhapsody in C, Heathcote Statham; Postlude in D minor, Stanford.

Mr. Charles R. Palmer, Winchester Cathedral-Toccata and Fugue (Dorian), Bach; Sonata in C sharp minor, Harwood; Introduction and Allegro, Stanford; Gaudete, Ross.

Mr. Philip Miles, St. Peter's Church, Bournemouth- Fantasia in F minor (' Clock '), Mozart; Toccata in F, Bach; Meditation in ancient tonality, Harvey Grace; Grand Chceur Dialogue, Gigout.

Mr. Malcolm J. Hubble, St. Magnus-the-Martyr, London Bridge-Introduction and Allegro, Stanley; Benedictus, Rowley; Choral Improvisations, Karg- Elert.

Mr. William M. Coulthard, Wellington Church, Glasgow-Introduction and Trumpet Voluntary, Boyce; Meditation, Hollins; Pastoral (Symphony no. 1), Vierne; Reverie, Harris; Jubilate Deo, Ley.

Dr. Gordon Slater, Spalding Parish Church Fantasia in C, Byrd; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Legende, Scherzetto, Vierne; Elegy, Parry; Finale in B flat, Franck.

Mr. Malcolm Davey, St. Magnus-the-Martyr, London Bridge-Choral in A minor, Franck; Scherzo, Desmond Ratcliffe; Fanfare, Whitlock. St. George's Church, Bloomsbury-Voluntary in C minor, Maurice Greene; Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Scherzetto, Jongen; Introduction and Pas- sacaglia, Reger.

Mr. Reginald H. Harris, St. Peter's Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea-Prelude and Fugue in A minor, Bach; Prelude, Fugue, Variation, Franck; Berceuse, Impromptu, Vierne; Carillon, Dupre. St. Magnus- the-Martyr, London Bridge-Adagio, Flor Peeters; Meditation, Gordon Phillips; Gloria in Excelsis, Verset, C. F. Waters; Dieu parmi nous, Messiaen. St. George's Church, Bloomsbury-Three Minia- tures, Phillips; Scherzo, Peeters; Plainte, Langlais.

A recital in the October issue of this journal inad- vertently attributed to Mr. Frank B. Porkess was given by Mr. Douglas Gillies.

Mr. Charles R. Palmer, Winchester Cathedral-Toccata and Fugue (Dorian), Bach; Sonata in C sharp minor, Harwood; Introduction and Allegro, Stanford; Gaudete, Ross.

Mr. Philip Miles, St. Peter's Church, Bournemouth- Fantasia in F minor (' Clock '), Mozart; Toccata in F, Bach; Meditation in ancient tonality, Harvey Grace; Grand Chceur Dialogue, Gigout.

Mr. Malcolm J. Hubble, St. Magnus-the-Martyr, London Bridge-Introduction and Allegro, Stanley; Benedictus, Rowley; Choral Improvisations, Karg- Elert.

Mr. William M. Coulthard, Wellington Church, Glasgow-Introduction and Trumpet Voluntary, Boyce; Meditation, Hollins; Pastoral (Symphony no. 1), Vierne; Reverie, Harris; Jubilate Deo, Ley.

Dr. Gordon Slater, Spalding Parish Church Fantasia in C, Byrd; Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, Bach; Legende, Scherzetto, Vierne; Elegy, Parry; Finale in B flat, Franck.

Mr. Malcolm Davey, St. Magnus-the-Martyr, London Bridge-Choral in A minor, Franck; Scherzo, Desmond Ratcliffe; Fanfare, Whitlock. St. George's Church, Bloomsbury-Voluntary in C minor, Maurice Greene; Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Bach; Scherzetto, Jongen; Introduction and Pas- sacaglia, Reger.

Mr. Reginald H. Harris, St. Peter's Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea-Prelude and Fugue in A minor, Bach; Prelude, Fugue, Variation, Franck; Berceuse, Impromptu, Vierne; Carillon, Dupre. St. Magnus- the-Martyr, London Bridge-Adagio, Flor Peeters; Meditation, Gordon Phillips; Gloria in Excelsis, Verset, C. F. Waters; Dieu parmi nous, Messiaen. St. George's Church, Bloomsbury-Three Minia- tures, Phillips; Scherzo, Peeters; Plainte, Langlais.

A recital in the October issue of this journal inad- vertently attributed to Mr. Frank B. Porkess was given by Mr. Douglas Gillies.

Letters to the Editor Correspondents are reminded that letters intended for publication should arrive not later than the 5th of the month preceding the date of issue. It would be appreciated

if such letters were kept as short as possible.

Letters to the Editor Correspondents are reminded that letters intended for publication should arrive not later than the 5th of the month preceding the date of issue. It would be appreciated

if such letters were kept as short as possible.

The Lost Tradition Your reviewer Denis Stevens is one of those rare and

very valuable critics who are constitutionally incapable of pulling their punches. That is just what we want. The value of Mr. Rothschild's book lies in the fact that it has set us all by the ears over a matter which not enough people cared strongly about before: how to deduce Bach's interpretative intentions from the conventions of his own time. But as a work of scholar- ship, ' The Lost Tradition ' is every bit as unsatisfactory as Denis Stevens pointed out.

The book makes two chief claims, if I have steered correctly between its own inconsistencies.

The time signatures ( and ( are considered to be important guides to tempo. Here Mr. Rothschild has taken too literally the lip-service paid throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth-and indeed the nineteenth -centuries to these and other relics of the mensural system, by then honoured almost wholly in the breach. With more or less honesty, the contemporary authorities admitted that in practice musicianship was the arbiter, not signatures and tempo-words. To Denis Stevens's quite representative quotations to this effect, let me add, from a very wide choice, one of exceptional weight owing to the immense prestige and learning of its author, Athanasius Kircher, who gives C, ?, and others 'ad infinitum', and then dismisses 'hanc

The Lost Tradition Your reviewer Denis Stevens is one of those rare and

very valuable critics who are constitutionally incapable of pulling their punches. That is just what we want. The value of Mr. Rothschild's book lies in the fact that it has set us all by the ears over a matter which not enough people cared strongly about before: how to deduce Bach's interpretative intentions from the conventions of his own time. But as a work of scholar- ship, ' The Lost Tradition ' is every bit as unsatisfactory as Denis Stevens pointed out.

The book makes two chief claims, if I have steered correctly between its own inconsistencies.

The time signatures ( and ( are considered to be important guides to tempo. Here Mr. Rothschild has taken too literally the lip-service paid throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth-and indeed the nineteenth -centuries to these and other relics of the mensural system, by then honoured almost wholly in the breach. With more or less honesty, the contemporary authorities admitted that in practice musicianship was the arbiter, not signatures and tempo-words. To Denis Stevens's quite representative quotations to this effect, let me add, from a very wide choice, one of exceptional weight owing to the immense prestige and learning of its author, Athanasius Kircher, who gives C, ?, and others 'ad infinitum', and then dismisses 'hanc

confusissimam materiam' as a pedant's nightmare. 'Tota haec Farrago', he writes. Of C and ? he specifically states (' Musurgia Universalis', 1650 p. 684) that he has found:

the majority of the most distinguished musicians today, and the most experienced in theory, to have omitted them deliberately, and to have everywhere taken them for one and the same sign (pro unico signo). So much for the attempt to rely on the distinction of

C from C as a guide to practice. Mr. Rothschild mentions other guides to tempo, but these seem to rest on a misunderstanding of the rules for notes inegales, which are partially dependent on tempo but do not govern it. And in fact the case is really given away by the immense latitude Mr. Rothschild allows in practice. Either his guides are reliable within a reasonably narrow latitude, or they are not guides at all, and the decision returns to where the Baroque authorities themselves left it-namely with the performer's musicianship.

So far, we are back where we were, and no bones broken. But the second chief claim, which leads to Mr. Rothschild's arrows on what he describes as structural beats, is musically very destructive, and has no warrant even in the theories of the Baroque authorities, let alone their practice. This claim is that each such beat should be stressed by lingering over it at the expense of the unstructural beat which follows.

confusissimam materiam' as a pedant's nightmare. 'Tota haec Farrago', he writes. Of C and ? he specifically states (' Musurgia Universalis', 1650 p. 684) that he has found:

the majority of the most distinguished musicians today, and the most experienced in theory, to have omitted them deliberately, and to have everywhere taken them for one and the same sign (pro unico signo). So much for the attempt to rely on the distinction of

C from C as a guide to practice. Mr. Rothschild mentions other guides to tempo, but these seem to rest on a misunderstanding of the rules for notes inegales, which are partially dependent on tempo but do not govern it. And in fact the case is really given away by the immense latitude Mr. Rothschild allows in practice. Either his guides are reliable within a reasonably narrow latitude, or they are not guides at all, and the decision returns to where the Baroque authorities themselves left it-namely with the performer's musicianship.

So far, we are back where we were, and no bones broken. But the second chief claim, which leads to Mr. Rothschild's arrows on what he describes as structural beats, is musically very destructive, and has no warrant even in the theories of the Baroque authorities, let alone their practice. This claim is that each such beat should be stressed by lingering over it at the expense of the unstructural beat which follows.

November 1953 November 1953 519 519

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THE MUSICAL TIMES THE MUSICAL TIMES THE MUSICAL TIMES

I cannot state too emphatically that there is no such instruction in the length and breadth of the Baroque writings on music. Once more, Mr. Rothschild has apparently read into the instructions for the special case of the notes inegales, a meaning which they do not bear, and has then transferred them from their own carefully circumscribed context into a law so sweeping that we should suspect it at once as being impossibly wide (you cannot pack too much of music's infiniteness into one formula). To confirm this suspicion I should choose the following quotation from Geminiani's 'Art of ... the Violin' (first published anon. in Prelleur's ' Modern Music Master' of 1731, p. 7 in my copy of the edition of 1751):

If by your Manner of Bowing you lay a particular Stress on the Note at the Beginning of every Bar, so as to render it predominant over the rest, you alter and spoil the true Air of the Piece. Your correspondent Frances Barwick is justified in

reminding us that we depend for our knowledge of early interpretation on a skilled and musicianly reading of the early authorities. But it is no use misunder- standing them.

ROBERT DONINGTON

[This correspondence is now closed.-EDITOR.]

Pro Musica Antiqua Sir George Dyson concluded his July Presidential

Address to the Royal College of Organists with the following words: 'To conclude: when we invoke history in support of an argument we should be quite sure that it is the real historic truth we have in mind, and not merely our own superficial interpretation or fancy.' With this most musicians would, I think, agree, but Sir George does not appear to practise what he preaches.

As an example of 'eighteenth-century balance and colour of texture', Sir George referred to the first Handel festival in 1784, on which he rightly poured scorn. In 1784, however, Handel had been dead for 25 years, and a lot can happen to a composer's work after his death. We should not nowadays go to Beethoven's 'correctors ' to find out how the Eroica should have been written, and as an example of eight- eenth-century balance and colour of texture, it might have been kinder of Sir George to have referred us to (say) Handel's own performance of 'The Messiah' at the Foundling Hospital, where the total number of performers was only just over 50.

In addition to Sir George's remarks concerning the Handel festival, how far are we to take him seriously concerning the harpsichord? 'Even the harpsichord at its best cannot bear the weight of the modern pianist's repertory. It is an historical survival and no more, with a delightfully apt, but a comparatively narrow range, of appropriate music.' Surely no one has ever sug- gested that the harpsichord is the ideal instrument for a recital of nineteenth-century piano music ! The harpsichord has its obvious limitations, but despite the modern grand piano, it still remains the best instrument upon which to perform harpsichord music. Could anyone who has heard the London Baroque Ensemble's recording of Bach's F major Concerto for two recorders and harpsichord, honestly say that he prefers a per- formance with flutes and piano ?

As regards the 'comparatively narrow range of appropriate music ', I hope it only exists for Sir George. There is plenty of good harpsichord music available, and much of really excellent quality. Lang has a very interesting chapter on ' The Late Baroque ' in his book 'Music in Western Civilization'. When, at times, we tend to think of the Baroque period as a musical wilderness with only the pyramids of Handel and Bach to show in its favour, we should remember the words of Lang: '. . . in the concertos, fantasias, preludes, fugues, and innumerable other instrumental

I cannot state too emphatically that there is no such instruction in the length and breadth of the Baroque writings on music. Once more, Mr. Rothschild has apparently read into the instructions for the special case of the notes inegales, a meaning which they do not bear, and has then transferred them from their own carefully circumscribed context into a law so sweeping that we should suspect it at once as being impossibly wide (you cannot pack too much of music's infiniteness into one formula). To confirm this suspicion I should choose the following quotation from Geminiani's 'Art of ... the Violin' (first published anon. in Prelleur's ' Modern Music Master' of 1731, p. 7 in my copy of the edition of 1751):

If by your Manner of Bowing you lay a particular Stress on the Note at the Beginning of every Bar, so as to render it predominant over the rest, you alter and spoil the true Air of the Piece. Your correspondent Frances Barwick is justified in

reminding us that we depend for our knowledge of early interpretation on a skilled and musicianly reading of the early authorities. But it is no use misunder- standing them.

ROBERT DONINGTON

[This correspondence is now closed.-EDITOR.]

Pro Musica Antiqua Sir George Dyson concluded his July Presidential

Address to the Royal College of Organists with the following words: 'To conclude: when we invoke history in support of an argument we should be quite sure that it is the real historic truth we have in mind, and not merely our own superficial interpretation or fancy.' With this most musicians would, I think, agree, but Sir George does not appear to practise what he preaches.

As an example of 'eighteenth-century balance and colour of texture', Sir George referred to the first Handel festival in 1784, on which he rightly poured scorn. In 1784, however, Handel had been dead for 25 years, and a lot can happen to a composer's work after his death. We should not nowadays go to Beethoven's 'correctors ' to find out how the Eroica should have been written, and as an example of eight- eenth-century balance and colour of texture, it might have been kinder of Sir George to have referred us to (say) Handel's own performance of 'The Messiah' at the Foundling Hospital, where the total number of performers was only just over 50.

In addition to Sir George's remarks concerning the Handel festival, how far are we to take him seriously concerning the harpsichord? 'Even the harpsichord at its best cannot bear the weight of the modern pianist's repertory. It is an historical survival and no more, with a delightfully apt, but a comparatively narrow range, of appropriate music.' Surely no one has ever sug- gested that the harpsichord is the ideal instrument for a recital of nineteenth-century piano music ! The harpsichord has its obvious limitations, but despite the modern grand piano, it still remains the best instrument upon which to perform harpsichord music. Could anyone who has heard the London Baroque Ensemble's recording of Bach's F major Concerto for two recorders and harpsichord, honestly say that he prefers a per- formance with flutes and piano ?

As regards the 'comparatively narrow range of appropriate music ', I hope it only exists for Sir George. There is plenty of good harpsichord music available, and much of really excellent quality. Lang has a very interesting chapter on ' The Late Baroque ' in his book 'Music in Western Civilization'. When, at times, we tend to think of the Baroque period as a musical wilderness with only the pyramids of Handel and Bach to show in its favour, we should remember the words of Lang: '. . . in the concertos, fantasias, preludes, fugues, and innumerable other instrumental

I cannot state too emphatically that there is no such instruction in the length and breadth of the Baroque writings on music. Once more, Mr. Rothschild has apparently read into the instructions for the special case of the notes inegales, a meaning which they do not bear, and has then transferred them from their own carefully circumscribed context into a law so sweeping that we should suspect it at once as being impossibly wide (you cannot pack too much of music's infiniteness into one formula). To confirm this suspicion I should choose the following quotation from Geminiani's 'Art of ... the Violin' (first published anon. in Prelleur's ' Modern Music Master' of 1731, p. 7 in my copy of the edition of 1751):

If by your Manner of Bowing you lay a particular Stress on the Note at the Beginning of every Bar, so as to render it predominant over the rest, you alter and spoil the true Air of the Piece. Your correspondent Frances Barwick is justified in

reminding us that we depend for our knowledge of early interpretation on a skilled and musicianly reading of the early authorities. But it is no use misunder- standing them.

ROBERT DONINGTON

[This correspondence is now closed.-EDITOR.]

Pro Musica Antiqua Sir George Dyson concluded his July Presidential

Address to the Royal College of Organists with the following words: 'To conclude: when we invoke history in support of an argument we should be quite sure that it is the real historic truth we have in mind, and not merely our own superficial interpretation or fancy.' With this most musicians would, I think, agree, but Sir George does not appear to practise what he preaches.

As an example of 'eighteenth-century balance and colour of texture', Sir George referred to the first Handel festival in 1784, on which he rightly poured scorn. In 1784, however, Handel had been dead for 25 years, and a lot can happen to a composer's work after his death. We should not nowadays go to Beethoven's 'correctors ' to find out how the Eroica should have been written, and as an example of eight- eenth-century balance and colour of texture, it might have been kinder of Sir George to have referred us to (say) Handel's own performance of 'The Messiah' at the Foundling Hospital, where the total number of performers was only just over 50.

In addition to Sir George's remarks concerning the Handel festival, how far are we to take him seriously concerning the harpsichord? 'Even the harpsichord at its best cannot bear the weight of the modern pianist's repertory. It is an historical survival and no more, with a delightfully apt, but a comparatively narrow range, of appropriate music.' Surely no one has ever sug- gested that the harpsichord is the ideal instrument for a recital of nineteenth-century piano music ! The harpsichord has its obvious limitations, but despite the modern grand piano, it still remains the best instrument upon which to perform harpsichord music. Could anyone who has heard the London Baroque Ensemble's recording of Bach's F major Concerto for two recorders and harpsichord, honestly say that he prefers a per- formance with flutes and piano ?

As regards the 'comparatively narrow range of appropriate music ', I hope it only exists for Sir George. There is plenty of good harpsichord music available, and much of really excellent quality. Lang has a very interesting chapter on ' The Late Baroque ' in his book 'Music in Western Civilization'. When, at times, we tend to think of the Baroque period as a musical wilderness with only the pyramids of Handel and Bach to show in its favour, we should remember the words of Lang: '. . . in the concertos, fantasias, preludes, fugues, and innumerable other instrumental

pieces, imagination revels in the beauty of the tonal world, dissolved in music to a degree which has never since been achieved.'

J. A. FROST University of Sheffield

pieces, imagination revels in the beauty of the tonal world, dissolved in music to a degree which has never since been achieved.'

J. A. FROST University of Sheffield

pieces, imagination revels in the beauty of the tonal world, dissolved in music to a degree which has never since been achieved.'

J. A. FROST University of Sheffield

May I draw Sir George Dyson's attention to the very considerable amount of research and scholarship which has been devoted over a long period to what he has described as 'the cult of the past'? Since the only realistic form which music can take is performance, it is of the utmost importance to know something about the performing conditions for which it was intended. This kind of thing is more capable of experimental verifica- tion than Sir George appears to be aware. In some cases the facts have been known for years, in others cumulative knowledge and practical insight into the workings and structure of early instruments confirm more and more, as time goes on, their suitability for the purposes for which they were designed.

Sir George asks whether' they (i.e. those who profess a knowledge of period styles and resources) really know anything exact about the actual sounds of past per- formances'. Since he is so outspoken in his own opinions of what went on in the past, let us ask him the same question. What qualification has he, for instance, for assuming that all obsolete wind instruments were out of tune and made a horrible noise ? Does he know the first thing about them? Has he ever heard an eighteenth-century oboe? If they were so dreadful, why did the leading composers of the past use them so consistently and regularly? Were they, after all, half- wits who knew no better? Why, since fully-chromatic key mechanism was available in the early seventeenth century, was it not applied to woodwind instruments until the early nineteenth century? Why, considering that Meantone (the standard tuning of keyboards in the eighteenth century) was better in tune than Equal Temperament, were wind instruments not only tolerated but enjoyed in innumerable chamber and orchestral works which included a keyboard as a matter of course?

If any of that audience, or any other readers of the Musical Times, care to contact me through the Editor, I shall be very happy to demonstrate to them exactly what is to be expected of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century woodwind instruments in all their varieties on original period specimens. I make this public offer in the interest of that ' real historic truth' for which Sir George appeals.

ERIC HALFPENNY Hon. Secretary, The Galpin Society

May I draw Sir George Dyson's attention to the very considerable amount of research and scholarship which has been devoted over a long period to what he has described as 'the cult of the past'? Since the only realistic form which music can take is performance, it is of the utmost importance to know something about the performing conditions for which it was intended. This kind of thing is more capable of experimental verifica- tion than Sir George appears to be aware. In some cases the facts have been known for years, in others cumulative knowledge and practical insight into the workings and structure of early instruments confirm more and more, as time goes on, their suitability for the purposes for which they were designed.

Sir George asks whether' they (i.e. those who profess a knowledge of period styles and resources) really know anything exact about the actual sounds of past per- formances'. Since he is so outspoken in his own opinions of what went on in the past, let us ask him the same question. What qualification has he, for instance, for assuming that all obsolete wind instruments were out of tune and made a horrible noise ? Does he know the first thing about them? Has he ever heard an eighteenth-century oboe? If they were so dreadful, why did the leading composers of the past use them so consistently and regularly? Were they, after all, half- wits who knew no better? Why, since fully-chromatic key mechanism was available in the early seventeenth century, was it not applied to woodwind instruments until the early nineteenth century? Why, considering that Meantone (the standard tuning of keyboards in the eighteenth century) was better in tune than Equal Temperament, were wind instruments not only tolerated but enjoyed in innumerable chamber and orchestral works which included a keyboard as a matter of course?

If any of that audience, or any other readers of the Musical Times, care to contact me through the Editor, I shall be very happy to demonstrate to them exactly what is to be expected of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century woodwind instruments in all their varieties on original period specimens. I make this public offer in the interest of that ' real historic truth' for which Sir George appeals.

ERIC HALFPENNY Hon. Secretary, The Galpin Society

May I draw Sir George Dyson's attention to the very considerable amount of research and scholarship which has been devoted over a long period to what he has described as 'the cult of the past'? Since the only realistic form which music can take is performance, it is of the utmost importance to know something about the performing conditions for which it was intended. This kind of thing is more capable of experimental verifica- tion than Sir George appears to be aware. In some cases the facts have been known for years, in others cumulative knowledge and practical insight into the workings and structure of early instruments confirm more and more, as time goes on, their suitability for the purposes for which they were designed.

Sir George asks whether' they (i.e. those who profess a knowledge of period styles and resources) really know anything exact about the actual sounds of past per- formances'. Since he is so outspoken in his own opinions of what went on in the past, let us ask him the same question. What qualification has he, for instance, for assuming that all obsolete wind instruments were out of tune and made a horrible noise ? Does he know the first thing about them? Has he ever heard an eighteenth-century oboe? If they were so dreadful, why did the leading composers of the past use them so consistently and regularly? Were they, after all, half- wits who knew no better? Why, since fully-chromatic key mechanism was available in the early seventeenth century, was it not applied to woodwind instruments until the early nineteenth century? Why, considering that Meantone (the standard tuning of keyboards in the eighteenth century) was better in tune than Equal Temperament, were wind instruments not only tolerated but enjoyed in innumerable chamber and orchestral works which included a keyboard as a matter of course?

If any of that audience, or any other readers of the Musical Times, care to contact me through the Editor, I shall be very happy to demonstrate to them exactly what is to be expected of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century woodwind instruments in all their varieties on original period specimens. I make this public offer in the interest of that ' real historic truth' for which Sir George appeals.

ERIC HALFPENNY Hon. Secretary, The Galpin Society

The Examination Fugue Mr. Thornley protests that 'the examination fugue

as opposed to fugue in the Bachian style is the very antithesis of music'. Surely he is confusing musical style and thought with the basic technique which under- lies their mode of presentation. Is it not possible to study a technique as such, as one would learn the grammar of a language, and so be in a position to enjoy the literature written in that language ? Do we expect a book of English grammar and syntax to be written in the idiom of Chaucer or Shakespeare ? If not, why should we expect a study of musical grammar and structure to be carried out in the style of Bach, or of any other individual composer?

Mr. Thornley's remarks arose from the earlier statement of your reviewer that 'academic fugue has long ceased to be a preparation for the writing of real fugues '. Could it ever rightly claim that function? Is

The Examination Fugue Mr. Thornley protests that 'the examination fugue

as opposed to fugue in the Bachian style is the very antithesis of music'. Surely he is confusing musical style and thought with the basic technique which under- lies their mode of presentation. Is it not possible to study a technique as such, as one would learn the grammar of a language, and so be in a position to enjoy the literature written in that language ? Do we expect a book of English grammar and syntax to be written in the idiom of Chaucer or Shakespeare ? If not, why should we expect a study of musical grammar and structure to be carried out in the style of Bach, or of any other individual composer?

Mr. Thornley's remarks arose from the earlier statement of your reviewer that 'academic fugue has long ceased to be a preparation for the writing of real fugues '. Could it ever rightly claim that function? Is

The Examination Fugue Mr. Thornley protests that 'the examination fugue

as opposed to fugue in the Bachian style is the very antithesis of music'. Surely he is confusing musical style and thought with the basic technique which under- lies their mode of presentation. Is it not possible to study a technique as such, as one would learn the grammar of a language, and so be in a position to enjoy the literature written in that language ? Do we expect a book of English grammar and syntax to be written in the idiom of Chaucer or Shakespeare ? If not, why should we expect a study of musical grammar and structure to be carried out in the style of Bach, or of any other individual composer?

Mr. Thornley's remarks arose from the earlier statement of your reviewer that 'academic fugue has long ceased to be a preparation for the writing of real fugues '. Could it ever rightly claim that function? Is

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