Authentic Culture

Authentic Culture often Isn't

At the Boston Early Music

FestivalIn June2005

I attended a talk & demonstration of differences
between Bach performed on the cello before & after Kant's followers dicatated what was authentic in music.
Among other techniques, pizzicato & thumb use were lost after the early 1700's, despite the composer's intention. The Romantic playing of Casals would satisfy Kant but not Bach.
Yo Yo Ma has made pre-Kant gestures by reverting to an earlier style bridge for example. Much of what we accept as appropriate interpretation of early music may need re-interpretation.

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I have read that something similar is true regarding my Scottish heritage in terms at least of the kilt & of Scottish dancing: They are largely statements of early 1800's Romanticism.
I wonder what other artistic traditions (like most of Shakespeare's portraits) go no further
back than the early 1800's.
For a start, was the piano tuned & played in classical music the way it is now?
We do know that A=440 was not the

practice due to the low tensile strength of strings then

until late in the 1800's.

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The question of whether the camera obscura was widely used by others than Vermeer in plotting a picture
may fall into the same category of questioning. Romanticism has altered our
understanding of how performances were accomplished.

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Assuming these "facts" can be generalized, why have we not been alerted by our cultural historians?

Where Do You Listen to Music?

Car, Ambulating or in a Room?

I walk with my Koss cd player, run with my Sony radio, drive with my am/fm stereo radio
or sit & listen to one of 3 home sound systems.

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My Car

allows me to select among 2 English & 2 French CBC stations. Radio 1 for each is mono, Radio 2 stereo. French R2 is frequently jazz, my favourite.
Although I can receive am stereo, the service is diminishing. My 1992 car has tape but no cd. In any event, road noise requires the compression of radio for audibility.

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Walking

I use my cd player with my full range of cd's excepting those with a wide dynamic range whose quietist moment are inaudible. I hope to soon replace my Sony phones with Seinheisser(sp) for increased quality.

Running

I use a specially adapted small Sony radio. In rural Nova Scotia, I need increased reception sensitivity.
In the valley that is Truro, my selections are 2 local commercial & the CBC Radio 1 stations. For motivation on runs I use commercial country. For distraction I use the interview style of Radio 1.

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At home

I have an inexpensive cd/radio in the kitchen, a compact all in one in the living room,
& a late 80's analogue sound system in the tv/study.
With the sound system I watch music dvd's in surround, or listen to 24/96 quality dvd's of high fidelity
sound. This is also where I attempt to fully appreciate my xrcd cd's.
The other 2 home systems are for ambience while doing something else.

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These Differences

may suggest why sound quality is so difficult to find
in modern recordins.