ABSTRACT

The various stages of the early music movement have had very different profiles. It is therefore emphasized that altemative terms, such as ‘authenticity movement’ or ‘historical performance movement’, must be used with caution, so as to avoid misrepresentation or a blurring of the focus and characteristics of a particular phase. Although a gradual shift of emphasis from reviving repertoire to resurrecting performance practices has been noted, the 1950s and 1960s were essentially concerned with data-gathering and the revival of composers and their works. The study of tempo revealed that ensembles and musicians dedicated to a more uncompromisingly historical way of performing Bach’s music actually often played the works slower than other ‘specialists’ and, particularly, non-specialists. One of the most important lessons of the study of dynamics was the recognition of the difference between an overall dynamic level and those dynamic fluctuations or inflections that are generated by playing techniques.