HF:HDH007l Interpretation of Early Music - Course Information

HDH007l Interpretation of Early Music I

Extent and Intensity

2/0/2. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: graded credit.

Teacher(s)

prof. Barbara Maria Willi, Ph.D., MBA (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

prof. Barbara Maria Willi, Ph.D., MBA
Organ and Early Music Department – Dean’s Office – Faculty of Music – Janáček Academy of Performing Arts
Supplier department: Organ and Early Music Department – Dean’s Office – Faculty of Music – Janáček Academy of Performing Arts

Prerequisites

Successfully completed winter semester of the Interpretation of Early Music I

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

Course objective: The subject supports the creativity and personality of the student and prepares them for independent work in highly competitive environments. Studying the subject prepares the student for the variability and flexibility of the labour market. The student has the opportunity to connect the theory of the historically informed performance practise beyond their skills on a classical or historical instrument. The future graduate of the subject should acquire the knowledge, ability and skills so as to incorporate them into their concert activity. The aim of this course is to prepare the student for authentic interpretation in solo and ensemble playing, as well as in specialized orchestras. For students to correctly interpret the early music, it is necessary that they be familiarized with the relevant issues: tempo, instrumental setting, articulation, phrasing, tuning, ornamentation, etc. All these questions need to be supported by the corresponding literature. Outline: The subject of interpretation of early music is related to the study of period sources (treatises, methods, prefaces to compositions, tables of ornaments, encyclopaedical works, musical dictionaries, etc.); the study of contemporary sources (RISM, catalogues of sources, eg: Méthodes et Traités, thematic catalogues, catalogues of dictionaries, eg: Grove, MGG, bibliography of dictionaries and books of criticism, musical & science journals, etc); the study of iconography (paintings, graphics, drawings, statues, etc.); the study of historical documentation (archive documents - factual sources, periodicals, literature, memoirs, polemic writings, aesthetic works, etc.); the study of musical documentation (manuscripts, prints, periodicals, posthumous editions, musical journals, etc.); the study of instrumental documentation (invoice, literature). Another aspect is also the orientation in key groups in the interpretation of music of older stylistic periods, such as declamation and rhetoric, phrasing including, the hierarchy of beats, gestures, tempo, rhythm and rhythmic elements, the creation of ornaments and melodic decorations (appoggiaturas, trills, free ornaments, vibrato, messa di voce, glissando, etc.), basso continuo, etc.

Learning outcomes

The student will be able to: -master principles of work with historic treatises and other historic sources - have an overview in secundary literature including publications in other languages - deal with outlines of historic sources and historic treatises - develp furthe esthetical principles of interpretation - be oriented in historic styles, questions of taste, in the development of interpretation trends in the Czech republic and outside.

Syllabus

• The study courses Interpreation of Early Music connects with: -studies of historic sources (treatises, methods, prefaces, tables of ornaments, encyclopedies, etc.). - studies of secundary literature and contemporary sources (RISM, thematical catalogues, specialized music dictionnaries, like The New Grove¨s Dictionnariy, Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart etc. - studies of historical evidency (Archive msuical sources, historic periodics like Neue Musikzeitung etc., historic music critics etc. - study of historic and contemporary evidence on interpretation, like historic recordings, CD, online sources like Spotify, YouTube etc. - orientation in basic themes: declamation and rhetorics, phrasing in historic context, hierarchy of the bar, tempo, rythm, ornamentation, basso continuo styles etc.

Literature

recommended literature
• Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel: Úvaha o správném způsobu hry na klavír. Díl první a druhý. Paido, Brno 2002. ISBN 80-7315-025-5 (přeložil Vratislav Bělský). info
• Bruce Haynes: A history of performing pitch;. info
• Bukofzer, M. F.: Hudba období baroka. Od Monteverdiho po Bacha, Bratislava Vysloužil J.: Hudobníci 20. storočia, ŠHV, Bratislava 1964 1986. info
• Burney, C. : Hudební cestopis 18. věku. Praha, Státní hudební vydavatelství 1966. info
• Couperin, François: L´Art de toucher le clavecin. Breitkopf und Härtel 1933. info
• Dolmetsch, A. : Interpretace hudby 17. a 18. stol. SNKLHU, Praha 1958. info
• Donington, R. : The Interpretation of Early Music. London 1989. info
• J.J. Quantz: Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Berlin, 1752, česky Pokus o návod jak hrát na příčnou flétnu. Praha 1990). info
• Mozart, Leopold: Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (1756) (český překlad: Důkladná škola hry na housle. Přel. V. Bělský. Praha, 2000). info
• Neumann, Frederick: Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music. With special emphasis on J. S. Bach. University Press, Princeton 1980. info
• ROSEN, Charles. Klasicizmus : Haydn - Mozart - Beethoven. Bratislava : Hudobné centrum, 2005. info

Teaching methods

Lecutre, group lesson.

Assessment methods

GA

Language of instruction

English

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course is taught: every week.
Note related to how often the course is taught: středa, č.330, 11:00.

• Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2025, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.jamu.cz/course/hf/summer2025/HDH007l