Questions tagged [performance-practice]
For questions related to how music is or was performed, including but not limited to issues of instrumentation, tuning, and personnel.
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How to get more accurate performances with difficult passages (eg. the end of Chopin Nocturne in C# minor)
I am playing piano as a hobby, but I am putting a lot of effort into perfecting the pieces I like.
Specifically, I am playing Chopin nocturne in c sharp minor and although I am playing it for a while, ...
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Monteverdi - "Lasciatemi morire" - why was everyone omitting the "voi"?
I forgot where I found the PDF, was some free sheet music site.
This line has the words: "E chi volete voi che mi conforte".
At least in the 20th century recordings I found, first, they all ...
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BWV 851 (WTC 1 prelude in D Minor) - Different versions
I am learning the D minor prelude from book 1 of the well-tempered clavier. I had been following the Henle Verlag Urtext edition, but lost access to it and fell back to this Ricordi edition from IMSLP....
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How quickly can a percussionist switch from vibraphone to marimba during performance?
I am working on this percussionist part. Is the switching from vibes to marimba possible at this tempo? Can the marimba be put behind the vibes or at right angles to the vibes so the player doesn't ...
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Practice the Beats and Tempos in Franz Liszt Consolations No. 3, Lento placido, in D♭ major, S.172 [duplicate]
In Franz Liszt Consolations No. 3, Lento placido, in D♭ major, S.172,
let us call the quarter note as one beat.
Thue the eight note is 1/2 beat.
The tuplet note (hat 3) is 1/3 beat.
We see the right-...
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What is the earliest use of the note F#?
I came across Richard Taruskin's transcription of Verbum Patris humanatur, a 12th century conductus in three parts, in The Oxford History of Western Music, Vol. I. In it, he uses a ficta # above some ...
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When did the oboe wind up being the standard to tune other instruments in an ensemble / orchestra?
As a follow up to the question why does the orchestra tune to the oboe, I'm asking since when this became standard practice? For example, was it since the Modern oboe, or already since the Classical ...
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What, if anything, is known about Bach's interpretation of, or emphasis on, meter?
The modern conventions for meter are, for example, that in 4/4 time, the metrical emphases are S-w+-s-w-, 3/4 is S-w-w, and so on.
Did Bach understand meter in these more-or-less strictly regulated ...
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How fast would Chopin have played his own Fantasie Impromptu, Op. 66?
I came across a performance of Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu by Valentina Lisitsa and was surprised how fast she performed it, around 95 bpm (half-note beat)! Urtext tempo indication is Allegro agitato....
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Ornaments in baroque music: should be avoided in some cases?
In baroque music, often the performers add ornaments (or even more complex variations) to the written notes, mostly during a repeat. It's very common to hear them on Bach, Vivaldi, Marcello, etc...
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Do classical musicians sometimes go deliberately out of pitch?
Can anyone explain to me what's going on?:
I am not and have never been a professional classical musician, but I don't think you need to be one to see that something ...
- 1,257
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Bach French Suite BWV 816: Allemande - what is the ornament with the swoosh at the end?
I am using this reference for ornamentation from the Foreword of J.S. Bach 16 well-known original pieces (Henle). The ornament in bar 9 looks like "idem" but the swoosh comes at the end (...
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Which is more comprehensible for a player after writing fortissimo: forte or meno forte?
So after writing ff when you want musicians to play very loud, would you rather write f alone or meno f if you want them to go a bit softer but still loud enough?
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Why are there pairs of wind instruments in a symphonic orchestra?
Why is it so that there are often two identical oboes, two identical clarinets, two identical bassoons and two identical trombones in a symphonic orchestra?
Is it just because one instrument is not ...
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