The Early Music Revival

MUSIC 194DB Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Ancient or early, historically informed or period appropriate, revival or recovery. Whatever you call it, the impulse to reintroduce and reinterpret the sounds and styles of the musical past for the present day has a long history. This course touches on several iterations of the recurring phenomenon colloquially known as Early Music but centers on the long twentieth century’s Historically Informed Performance (HIP) movement. Since Boston plays a significant role in that story, we’ll attend local performances and hear directly from practitioners across a range of repertoire, methods, and experiences. We’ll also investigate the influences and motivations of people and institutions involved as well as the implications (aesthetic, social, political) of such projects for mainstream and adjacent (classical, popular, folk) music cultures over the centuries. Along the way, we’ll ask what it means to resurrect or reclaim the music of the past. Is Early Music just another flavor of nostalgia, or is there something different about the medium and its materials? Musicians of all kinds (including those with little or no experience playing relevant repertoire) are especially welcome, as there will be plenty of opportunities for creative engagement.