Mozart as Early Music: A Romantic Antidote

Author(s): Laurence Dreyfus

Source: Early Music, Vol. 20, No. 2, Performing Mozart's Music III (May, 1992), pp. 297-309
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3127886
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MOZART AND TRADITION
Laurence Dreyfus
Mozart as early music: a Romantic
How has the performanceof Mozart'smusic faredin the
hands of the earlymusic movement?In answeringthis
question there is a danger of ignoring the differences
between many schools of playingand reducingthem all
into one 'historicaltendency'.'By relyingon generalities
of potentially sweeping vacuousness,I run the serious
riskof misrepresentation.And yet thereis perhapssome
value in stepping back both from journalisticcriticism
and from scholarlynitpicking in an attempt to formu-
late an admittedlyextremeposition that will contribute
to the debate about the overall directions of Mozart
interpretationtoday.
Since I shall scarcelydwell at all on the successes of
early music in interpreting Mozart but will proceed
immediatelyto voicing complaints about its inadequa-
cies, let me cite at once what I taketo be some significant
achievements.First, this approachhas helped excavate
genresand stylesso thatmusiciansaremore awareof the
'horizon of expectations' within and against which
Mozart worked:dance styles, for example, now have a
lilt and grace when deprived of practices that turned
them into Prussianmarches.Second,the revivalof 18th-
centuryinstrumentshas introducedcertainnew musical
timbresthat convey a sense of intimacyencounteredall
too infrequentlyin mainstreamperformances.Finally,
the acceleratedtempos usuallyfavouredby earlymusic
have done wonders for the weaker side of Mozart's
musical output, so that the routine Andantesand Men-
uets from many earlysymphonies,for example,are dis-
patched with vigour and aplomb.
On the whole, though, my senseis thatthe earlymusic
movement has succeededin performingMozartonly to
the extentthat Mozartamountsto no more than a mun-
dane, if dextrous,representativeof his age. In putting it
this way,I thinkyou get my drift.The failureof the early
music approach,as I see it, is preciselya failureto probe
deeply enough into what is so extraordinaryabout
Mozart.This is not to saythat earlymusic performances
have not produced moments of exceptionalpower and
beauty-which they certainlyhave-but that the overall
sense of the composer portrayedby these performances
ignores the enormous gulf that separatesMozart from
his run-of-the-millcontemporaries.I need hardlypoint
antidote
out that 1991has been spent celebratingMozart, not
Vanhalor Dittersdorf.
What has been forgottenis that the Mozartof the late
20th centuryis inescapablya RomanticMozart.This is
the Mozartwhose exaltedstatus in the historyof music
was firstappreciatedby the Romantics,those literatiand
philosophers who preached the metaphysicalvalue of
high artand the specialrole thatmusic, especiallyinstru-
mental music, played in creating this transcendent
image.2An imagined return to an 18th-centuryunder-
standingof Mozart-as in earlymusic'sprojectof resto-
ration-is thereforea returnto a culturethat essentially
misunderstoodhim. This was the age that by and large
heard Mozart'smost profound works as too complex
and mercurial-'too many notes' in the reputedwords
of Emperor Joseph.3Our own high-culture view of
Mozart can have nothing to do with such philistinism.
We rathersubscribeto a view that firstarose at the turn
of the 19th centurywhich beganto idealizeand canonize
greatworks of art. As E. T. A. Hoffmann put it in 1810,
'only a deep Romantic spirit will completely recognize
the Romantic depth of Mozart;only one equal to his
creativefantasy,inspiredby the spirit of his works will,
like him, be permittedto express the highest values of
art.'4Althoughit might seem that this RomanticMozart
was a fancifulinvention of Hoffmannand his peers,it is
just as easy to argue the reverse:that it was Mozart's
music that createdits new Romanticaudience,an audi-
ence that first understoodwhat he and Beethovenwere
up to. A performancestyle committed to a Romantic
Mozart is thereforeone that-putting it somewhattoo
simplistically-subordinates the 18th-centuryidea of a
'jolly good' entertainmentto the 19th-centuryrealm of
musical metaphysics.
Lionel Trillingproposed an elegant formulation of
this new aesthetic in his Norton Lectures from 1970
entitled Sincerityand Authenticity:'The artist-as he
comes to be called-ceases to be the craftsmanor the
performer,dependent upon the approvalof the audi-
ence. His referenceis to himself only, or to some tran-
scendent power which-or who-has decreed his
enterpriseand alone is worthyto judge it.'5This was the
age, Trillingreminds us, that began by distinguishing
EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 297
mere pleasureand beautyfrom the 'triumph'of the sub-
lime (as in Schillerand Burkefor example). While the
initial effect of this philosophic shift denigrated the
audience in favour of the artist-good taste ceding to
genius-the 'new devotionnow givento art [was]prob-
ably more ferventthan everbefore in the historyof cul-
ture ... Now that art [was]no longerrequiredto please,
it [was] expected to provide the spiritualsubstanceof
life.'6
As regardsMozart,it is relativelyeasy to distinguish
betweentwo receptions,one that greetedhim in his life-
time and another that accompaniedthe shift in values
shortly after his death. On the one hand it is Haydn's
sober high praiseof Mozartin his statementto Leopold
in 1785:
BeforeGod and as an honest man I tell you thatyour son is the
greatestcomposer known to me either in person or by name.
He has tasteand, what is more, the most profoundknowledge
of composition.
On the other hand are the dyingwords given to a strug-
glingcomposerin RichardWagner'sshortstoryEinEnde
in Paris from 1841:
I believein God, Mozart,and Beethovenand likewisetheirdis-
ciples and apostles.I believein the Holy Spiritand the truth of
the one, indivisible Art ... I believe that he who once has
bathed in the sublime delightsof this high Art, is consecrated
to Her foreverand never can deny Her.7
Although it would be idle to imagine anyone today
actually uttering this Wagnerian credo in polite
company, one must admit how much more appealing,
though exaggerated, this Wagnerian formulation is
when comparedto Haydn'sdour restrictionof Mozart's
talentsto mere compositionaldexterityand good taste.8
Our culturaldiscomfortwith late 18th-centuryaesthetic
categories-with all due respect to Igor Stravinsky-
thereforesuggeststhat, when all is said and done, most
of us must admit to being confirmed, if sometimes
lapsed, Romantics of an entirely traditional
denomination.
Let me distancemy argumentfrom certainphilistine
views that I do not hold. First, having used the word
'Romantic'I am not pledgingallegianceto current-day
performancesof Mozart by the musical mainstream,
which more often than not devolve into the routine,
hackingor saccharine.Second,I am not arguingagainst
the use of periodinstrumentsnor againstthe recoveryof
historicalperformancepractices:quite to the contrary,I
think these are excellent tools with which one can
approachMozart,though perhapsfar from indispens-
298 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992
able ones. I would ratherlike to imagine that one can
arriveat an engaged interpretationof Mozartwithout,
on the one hand, payingblind obeisanceto current-day
mainstreamstandardsor, on the other,succumbingto a
naive historicismthat arrogantlypretendsto 'speakthe
languageof the 18thcentury'.By a RomanticapproachI
therefore mean an affectivestance toward performing
Mozart's works instead of, say, a historical method-
ology-an attitude that evokes an aura of intimate
understandingwithout prescribinga set of performance
conventions.
But what kind of Mozarteanperformancepractice,
one may well ask, fulfils these demands?For I am not
speakinghere so much about traditionalsubjectsof his-
torical reconstruction-tempo, articulation,phrasing,
ornamentation,pedallingor vibrato-as much as about
more elusive yet entirely perceptible categories of
expressionwhich have traditionallydefined artistryin
the Romanticmode. I am thinkingaboutmusicianswho
take time to let the music breathe, for whom music is
made alternatelyto speak, dance and think; musicians
who risk agogic displacementsto effect an air of fresh-
ness, who are impatientwith any kind of routine, who
constantlyvaryattacks,note lengthsand dynamicsso as
to lend individualityto a musical utterance,and who,
above all, subscribeto a pervasiveanti-literalismthat
sees the written text not as a sealedvessel of intentions
but as an invitationto enunciate,and in so doing ensure
the communication of meanings that are the special
province of music.
In enumeratingthese values I am referringto prac-
tices realized essentially by individual musicians and
copied only imperfectlyby largerensembles.Yetit is a
curious fact that earlymusic'sMozartis predominantly
an orchestralaffair,embracingby and largethe sympho-
nies and piano concertos and placing far less emphasis
on sonatas and the string chamber music.9This is of
course a curious situation concocted not only by enter-
prising recording companies which have rushed into
marketingpopular works from the mainstreamreper-
tory.Forthough one encountersin passinga samplingof
chamber music, the great quartets and quintets, for
example, have played only a secondary role in early
music's disseminationof Mozartfor the simple reason
that these performancesand recordingshave not really
said anythingsignificantlynew. This situation is, by the
way, precisely the reverse of the path by which early
music approachedBaroquemusic: first came the solos
and chambermusic and only much later came the 'big
bands'.

bach~~~~~~~~?
Batc
,:die
Tradition
London Oboe :Band
Tanzensemble Folia
Concerto Palatino, Bologna
The Consort of Musicke
Dresdner Kreuzchor
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Niederlandischer Kammerchorf
Kuijken Ensemble
RIASKammerchor
European Community
Baroque Orchestra
The Hilliard Ensemble
Deutsche Kammerphilharmone
Tragicomedia :und Timedance
u .. .
Berlin 3.-12. Juli 1992
it ngen:
MitVerasal
Mit teranstaltngen.
Veranstaltungshinweise: Bach-Tage,
Bismarckstrap3e73, 1000 Berlin 12, 030 / 3 12 36 77
300 EARLY MUSIC
The problem is that earlymusic's suppressionof the
Romantictraditionis doomed from the startto produce
: inferiorartisticresults.For no matterhow many liber-
tine declarationsto the contrary,historicalperformers
are still in mortal dread of 'gettingit wrong'-playing,
that is, in a way that cannot be historicallyverified.The
chronicmistakehere is to imaginethat we cannot really
know Mozart until we rid ourselves of our modern
prejudices,an attitudethat leads to naysayingand reac-
und tive thinking. It is as if the early music Mozartean
believesthat mainstreammusical trainingis the root of
all evil, and that the musicalslatemust be wiped clean.?1
The so-called fresh start then pieces together scattered
bits of performancepracticesfrom scratch,pretending
all the while that the sum totalwill amountto a coherent
model of musical interpretation."But this incremental
thinking,gearedas it is towardproducinga complete'f
implicit 'how-to' manual,is in fact a repressiveappara-
tus. Instead of appeals to evocative metaphors and to
flashesof intuition, one observesa performancestyle in
which legato,sostenuto,rubato,portamentoand tempo
variation-signs pointing to Hoffmann'snotion of the
Romantic sensibility-are considered 'later historical
developments'merelybecausethey do not figurepromi-
nently in 18th-centuryperformance manuals pitched
chiefly at dilettantes.'2As a result, phrasing proceeds
piecemealfrom a patchworkof detachedgestures,a pro-
. nounced anxietydisruptsmusicallines, and a primitive
notion of topic freezesmusicalsigns into a stringof rei-
fied units, effectivelystalling the interpretivemoment.
The historicalenterpriseof early music need of course
not be likethis:it can, as I havearguedelsewhere,'3 rather
be an invitation to a renewed form of expression,but
only if musicians call a halt to puritanicalressentiment
and begin to entertainhow artists from the Romantic
traditionsmade sense of Mozart.The chargeis therefore
that we reclaimMozart,not for the 18thcentury,but to
ensure that his musical insights speakto us anew.
One importantwayto undertakethis kind of rethink-
ing is to discard the naive dichotomy that pits early
music performance against a monolithic mainstream
tradition.14I can think of no better approach than to
listen with an open mind to recordingsfrom the first
: part of the 20th century,a musical 'GoldenAge' (if ever
:
" '
Mikischer there was one) when the ideologicaldispute about his-
Musiksommer
torical fidelity vs. subjective expression had not yet
reared its ugly head. In this connection, let me take a
recording from this period-a 1929 recording of
Mozart's String Quartet in D minor, K421,by the Flon-
zaleyQuartet(sadlyunavailableat present)'5-and com-
MAY 1992
Ex.l String Quartet, K421, i, bars 1-8

Allegromoderato
I, P. . tr
Vln I a be
Ei
'
>1 I -i 7rLtrtJ
4*. d 0 do
J I J 81 J
,do . #.sL # I I
sotto voce
A- . . . .
VlnlHwbj Y J J JJ

sotto voce
Via |Ub r r Jj j 7 JJ JJJ j
sotto voce
Vc b J -
J
sottovoce

. ft r- r r ,,br e '

? i
_i
I 'b~ ' ' ' v l ' y1 , , I
f f

pare it with a 1977mainstreamrecordingby the Alban arms,delicatelyappliedvibrato,ubiquitousslidingpor-

BergQuartetand a 1985releaseby the Salomon Quartet tamenti, and above all their fertileimaginationsto imi-
on periodinstruments.'6Though all threerecordingsare tate the human voice, especially the great singers
appealingin differentways, I will try to explain in part contemporarywith them. When the melody jumps up
why the Flonzaleyperformanceis especiallyexemplary the intervalof a loth for the second time in bar 6, for
and the other two much less so. example,Adolfo Betti, the firstviolinist, delaysslightly,
The remarkablequalitiesof the Flonzaleys-whom I shiftingupwardswith a delicateand mournfulslide that
shall dub 'Romantic'for purposes of this discussion- speaksdirectlyfrom the heart.'7The sense of unaffected
are evident in their readingof the very first bars of this sincerityevokedby the such gesturesis perhapsthe most
great quartet:they are alreadyanticipatingthe height- touching aspect of the Flonzaleyperformanceand it is
ened pathos of the opening theme in bars5-8, so thatthe all the more moving to realize how these gestures are
sotto voce exposition in bars 1-4 begins with a hushed communicatedas if self-evident,without fuss or fanfare.
urgency(ex.i). This 'breathy'pathos comes about by an Upon first hearing of these three recordings, one
inspired local 'rushing' of the off-beat quavers in the might think-given the gut strings and more sparing
second violin and viola, a kind of minute rhythmicdis- vibrato-that the earlymusic performancehas more in
placementthat depicts,not just the subjectivedistressof common with the Romanticthan with the Mainstream
the melody,but the anguisheddisruptionof the musical one. Certainly,many early music devotees will be sur-
microcosm. prised to hear how articulationspractisedearly in our
Here is stringplayingattunedto nuance and gesture. own century,for example, are far more variegatedand
Ratherthan being hoodwinked by the demand to pro- interesting than those heard in mainstreamperform-
duce an unfailinglyeven tone-a feature shared, curi- ances today.On the other hand, it is strikinghow many
ously enough, by both the mainsteam and the early values the early music performance shares with the
music schools-the Flonzaleys use their nimble bow mainstream.Forboth the Salomonand Bergrecordings

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 301


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BAROQUE,
CLASSICALand
ROMANTIC
20-26 July 1992
KennethGILBERT,
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JaapSCHRODER,violin masterclass
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302 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992
takepains to preservethe effectof a damnably'Classical'
repose, a stylistic posture anxious to avoid Romantic
expressionand depth. The Berg playersachievethis by
avoiding rubato and slides, the Salomon by observing
the letter of 18th-centuryperformance practices, but
both emit a stifling air when compared to the wit and
graceof the Flonzaleys.The liner notes on the Salomon
recording(writtenby StephenJohnson)even go so faras
to assurelistenersthat, althoughthe D minor quartet:
maysoundmoretroubledthananyof its companions,[its]
stillhasanobjectivequality.. . a longwayfromthe
expression
'confessional'
outpourings of someof thelaterromantics. The
openingtheme of the first movementis certainlyhighly
expressive,but the music'seleganceandconcisionmakeany
attempt personaldramaticinterpretation
at sound faintly
ludicrous.
This remarkablebit of propaganda,with its puritanical
disapprovalof personalizedrenditionsof Mozart,makes
sorryreading.But can one takeseriouslythe implication
that the D minor Quartet is about 'eleganceand con-
cision'?Althoughit is dangerousto impose the viewsof a
writerof liner notes on the recordingartists,a reaction
against 'confessionaloutpourings' and a decided pro-
hibition on 'personaldramaticinterpretation'is sadly
evidentin the recordingas well. One wonders,though, if
the musiciansapprovedsuch an explicitapologiafor an
anti-Romanticapproach,this in one of Mozart'smost
compellinglytragicworks.
What prevents the Salomon and the Berg Quartets
from a more engageddialoguewith this profoundwork?
For one thing they mostly play in strict time, another
sign of an anti-Romanticattitude:one can almost hear
the carefulcounting of the quaversthroughoutmuch of
the firstmovement.In the opening four-barphrases,for
example, there is no 'give' in the semiquaverpassing
notes in bars 3 and 7-8; marching quaversdictate the
character of the accompaniment, and, predictably,
expressiveportamentiareavoidedat all costs. When the
first violin in the Salomon begins the forte restatement
on the high d"' in bar 5, his instrumentcan only shriek
with the shrill insensibilityso often encounteredin the
string playingof earlymusic. It is a moment that could
stand as an emblem for Nietzscheanressentiment: avoid
too much sentiment or risk 'selling out' to Romantic
expression.18Elsewhere,though, the Salomon appear
fixated on a consort-likeensemble sound to the exclu-
sion of vivid characterizationand fluid phrasing;as a
result they seem unaffectedby the emotive paths tra-
versedby the music.
The Berg players also concentrate on their individ-
Ex.2 String Quartet, K421, i, bars 25-32

25

-rJ WO "J
1J'm J 7 C
r ^L^ ^

o^^^^^j
ij ; J r1JB
C J

W Jp r J J r r r J I J t

28
1-
25 p <}J 3 Stn
3 3- n3

cresc. p

cresc.
E^-J=JfaUn
' ur^ LI I LliJ L simile
cresc. cresc.
^i J tr f j < J r J r

3" J
rC] ~1 i I P

U^U UM UM ^-r LK ,.
J:^^
9f j- K
f p sf

ually beautiful sounds, but their wide vibratos-which
often mimic a saxophone-likewailing-preclude even
the possibilityof a confessionalsottovocethat opens the
piece. (And why else does one speak sotto voceif not to
confess?) This nervous intensity-so emblematic of
mainstreamstringplaying-makes it difficultfor them,
moreover, to vary the emotional temperature of the
movement. They can scarcelyheightenthe dramaof the
developmentsection if, from the very outset, they have
been speakingin hyperbole.Theirinterpretationsuffers
as well from the baleful influence of metrical subdiv-
ision-happily absentfrom the Flonzaleyperformance.
This compulsivecounting placesan equallyoverbearing
weight on every quaver and is closely allied with the
dreadedportato ('wah-wah')effect that is the downfall
of any flowinglegato.The problemwith these frequently
encountered mainstreammannerismsis that they can
only pose as signs of emotional depth ratherthan being
supersededby a musicalitythat actuallyexperiencesit.
The resulting expression, exquisitely crafted as it is,
remainsdecidedlysecond-hand.
The expressivedepth of the Flonzaleys,by contrast,
lies with the changing moods that they portray so
insightfully. Consider the second theme group (bars
i5ff.) in F major (ex.2). Here the slight rubato in the first
violin's semiquavers(bars 15-18) evoke a delicacy and

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 303

Ex.3 String Quartet, K421, bars 94-102

94 ~>

mf P

r : 9-; r i pi r ? ,trr _ L Li
LT ?rIteL
'-- 3 3 3 3 3
3

,^ss,^ I
|^b t8;J IJ cresc. p
J J

9b r rj' r ( r rr r t

100 i -
~ T -. .r
rLLfi i fjEm~
f
F
ld 4 -I ..,
1. U
UIp . I
II
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._r _. "_ r r ; ! ; r - I_ m do I'
f _ _a I I
ll~ I r ru I fJ-.
Fr rI rFr
f
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r Il
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lf rP
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f
P

wistfulness,while the ornamentedtripletfiguresand the miniature, heaven-bent preghiera.The foursome, in

pairedduplets in the second violin (bars19-22) suggest turn, react to this inevitable turn for the worse. High
playfulhigh jinks. The closing materialculminateswith jinks revertto frenzied struggle.The playersrush pre-
what the playersseem to hearas a brief buffapatter-song cipitously toward the close, taking time only momen-
sung, perhaps,by elfin-like spirits. tarilyfor the somber,concludingreflectionsby the cello.
When the recapitulatedtransformationof this very While this is surelynot the only way to play this move-
same materialoccurs in the minor (ex.3) the Flonzaleys ment, the vividnessof the Flonzaleyperformanceseems
effect a tone of unfathomable adversity.Betti refuses, to presagea warning:banishMozartto a remotestylistic
tellingly,to overplaythe moment; instead he introverts realm, and his works will speak only from a distance.
it. The gestureis personal,intimate, yet desperate(ver- It might seem from this discussionthat I am advocat-
zweifelt)in the manner of the Pamina's'Ach,ich fiihl's'. ing an intentionallyanachronisticperformancepractice
His airy legato phrase, sweet yet unsentimental,slides for Mozart,therebymounting an attackboth on recon-
dolefullyto the harmonic on a",creatingthe effect of a structivescholarshipand on performanceinformedby a

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 305

historicalconsciousness.This is not the case.What I am
suggestinginsteadis threefold:(i) that researchon 18th-
century performance practice has severe limits in
addressingthe most profound issues of musical inter-
pretation-far less is known about alleged stylistic
anachronismsthan it often appears;(ii) that the appeal
to an 18th-centuryMozartmay inhibit an intimate rap-
prochementwithhis music;and (iii) thatwe look beyond
traditionalmusicologicalsourcesfor nurtureand inspi-
ration-good ideas are welcome regardless of their
source. An inspired rethinking of interpretivefunda-
mentals,not a rote imitation of any particulartradition
is the kind of agendaI am contemplating.This is why I
stress the implications of the Romantic idealizationof
Mozart-still, in my view, the fundamentalbasis for his
late 20th-century reception-instead of idealizing
Romanticperformancepracticeper se. Ratherthan par-
ticipating in the musicological debate about the prog-
nosis for-or the impossibility of-a 'historical
performance'of Mozart, my aim is to suggest ways to
enhance and enliven these performances.
I shall conclude these polemical ruminations on a
hopeful note by invoking one of the 19th-centurytexts
that captures so brilliantlythe aura of the Romantic
Mozart. Eduard M6rike's Mozart on the Journey to
Prague (1853) recounts the composer on the way to
Prague,where he is to produce Don Giovanni.Takinga
breakfrom his journeyin an elegantgardenin the Mor-
avian countryside, Mozart unthinkingly plucks an
orange from a tree and is immediatelyconfrontedwith
his theft by the gardenerof the local Count von Schinz-
burg.The Count, once Mozart'sidentityis madeknown,
invites him and Constanzeto join an engagementparty
that will shortlybe under way at the castle.Mozartper-
forms an excerpt from a piano concerto for the
assembled guests as well as accompanies the Count's
niece, Eugenie,who singsSusanna'sariafrom the garden
scene in Figaro,in which, M6rikewrites, 'the streamof
sweet passion breatheslike the spiced air of a summer
night'.The young singer is herself'transfigured'by 'the
uniquenessof the moment' and is even more overcome
when, late in the evening, Mozart plays through the
apocalyptic penultimate scene from Don Giovanni.
Transfixedby this captivatingpersonalityand his artistic
vision, Eugeniereflectson her experienceat the veryend
of the story afterthe Mozartshave departed.
She feels, M6rikewrites:
inwardly seized by a slight foreboding for the man whose wood and
charmingpresencegaveher such delight;this forebodingper- many others; I cannot think of one of them who would
sisted at the back of her mind during the whole of Mozart's say you should throw out Dinu Lipatti and Edwin
306 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992
recital, behind all the incredible fascination and the music's
mysteryand awe;finallyshe was startledand shakenby how he
had casuallytalkedabout himself in the same vein. She had a
conviction, an absolute conviction, that this man would rap-
idly and inexorablybe consumed in his own flame, that his
presence on earth was fleeting and ephemeral because this
worldwas, in truth,not capableof enduringthe overwhelming
riches which he would lavish upon it. This and many other
things weighed on her heart after she had gone to bed that
evening, while the echoes of Don Giovannicontinued to ring
confusedlyin her head.Only towardsdaybreak,exhausted,she
fell asleep.'9
It is a commonplace of Romantic aesthetics that music
does not merely imitate the world but rather penetrates
to the deepest cores of meaning without, as Wacken-
roder put it, 'any painstaking detour through words:
feeling, fantasy, and the power of thought are one'.20
Musical performance, according to this nearly inescap-
able model, amounts therefore to a cipher of meaning: it
paradoxically portrays musical sense while embodying it
at the very same time. Morike's dream-like account of
Eugenie's experience aims not at containing the mean-
ing embodied in Mozart's music but rather tries to evoke
its haunting power; only sleep, long delayed, furnishes
respite and escape.
Why do I cite such a remarkable passage? Because I
think the poignant experience it conveys is not limited
to some distant period of cultural history but rings true
as an authentically Mozartean moment, a moment that
musicians of whatever persuasion can revive as they
make Mozart intelligible to us today. There is clearly no
one demonstrable path that will lead to this kind of
genuine encounter, but I suspect that being attuned to
its existence will enhance the incalculable value of play-
ing and hearing Mozart this way.
Laurence Dreyfus, author of Bach's Continuo Group:
Players and Practices in his Vocal Works, is Associate Pro-
fessor of Music at Stanford University and performs
actively as a viola da gambist and cellist.
Discussion
MALCOLM BILSON If I had time, I would try and refute
almost everything you had to say, but the thing that has
to be refuted at once is the accusation that those of us
who play on period instruments think that great old
players should be dismissed. Who has said that? I have
worked with John Eliot Gardiner and Christopher Hog-
I know Steven Lubin and Melvyn Tan and
Fischer.This music is huge;it is big enough to takewhat
we do to it and what Rachmaninovdid to it.
LAURENCE DREYFUS But even if you personallyadmire
players from earlier in the 20th century,Mr Bilson, I
think it's fair to say that the musical insights of such
playershave been essentiallyignored in the ideological
pronouncementof earlymusic performanceas well as in
its practice and pedagogy. My point is that the his-
toricism of early music has no obvious way to incor-
porate the audible refinementsof great musicians into
its imagined reconstructionof the i8th century.
NEAL ZASLAW It's easy to parody the excesses of both
sides and I would preferthat we only dealwith those on
each side who make serious points about music. But I
feel quite certainthat I am not the only one who strongly
prefers Haydn's characterizationof Mozart's gifts as
'taste and the most profound knowledge of compo-
sition' to Wagner'sromanticfantasizing.
ROBERT LEVIN Tastefor a human being is a completely
randomlyassembledgroup of prejudices.Mozart'staste
was randomly assembled from all those influences he
heard around him, and those prejudicesof his turned
into a style which we now think was one of the most
remarkablehappeningsin Westernculture.I think Larry
Dreyfusis right,becauseat an earlystagein this process
therewerepeople who did saythat a performanceon old
instruments was better than one on modern instru-
ments, period. These were not performancesat all, but
demonstrationsof what certainbow strokesand timbres
and instrumentscould do. Now we have to formulatea
differentposition, and say that the deepest issue is, of
course, whether our art is expressive and communi-
cative. I believe that there are propitiousways in which
to convey very specific rhetorical devices in Mozart's
music on period instruments.I would saythat it should
be possible on a modern instrument to realize those
things too, but it may be significantlymore difficult in
certainways!
[FROM THE FLOOR] We cannot find a single traditionof
Homer that exhaustsall the possibilitiesof those texts,
nor a singleproductionof a Shakespeareplay.Surelythis
appliesto music, and suggeststhat all performancesare
valid views of the work.
LAURENCE DREYFUS But if all performanceswere valid
views of the work, then music criticism of any kind is
superfluous. In fact, I am not arguing for a uniform
point of view nor suggestingthat earlymusic perform-
ances of Mozart are invalid. Instead, I want us to re-
examinethe assumptionsunderwhich the performance
of Mozart operatesand rethinkthem if we like.
308 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992
[FROM THE FLOOR] Well, everygenerationasks different
questions,and one reasonfor the extremepopularityof
Mozartjust now is maybe that he provides answersto
the particularquestionsour generationasks.Welook for
what we want, and find what we get.
LAURENCEDREYFUS What I'm proposing is a kind of
paradigmshift that will reawakena traditionalaesthetic
need and then help us fill it.
'I wish to thank KarolBerger,LewisLockwoodand RichardTarus-
kin for their helpful criticismsof this essay.
'The alternativewould be to hear Mozart'sdeepest creationsas a
brilliantlyexecuted game. Yet even a demystifying,ostensibly anti-
Romantic play like Peter Shaffer'sAmadeus (1981)or an ironically
detached biography like Wolfgang Hildesheimer's Mozart (1977)
merelyservesto reinforcethe common perceptionthat Mozart'sgreat-
est musical works are removed from his bawdy and scatologicalper-
sona, that they are, in fact, manifestationsof another realm, that of
pure spiritualitymade accessibleonly by an old friend,Romanticism.
3Thisis not to saythatMozartdid not haveadmirers-even passionate
ones-in his own day,but thattheirregardlackedthe ecstaticenthusiasm
(Schwarmerei) of the first generationof Romantics.For althoughnew
notionsof both the sublimeandthe centralityof instrumentalmusicwere
beingformulatednearlyunderMozart'snose,the actualcriticalreception
of the composer's music during his lifetime never seems to have
embracedthe newly emergingaesthetic.As late as 1796the influential
criticJohannFriedrichReichardtbemoans the greatloss of Mozartat
such a young age, and yet views his music as lackingin proprietyand
naturalfeeling:'Whoeverwantsto warm his hearton Mozart'sworks;
whoeverwantsto seeka connectivesequenceof feelings[Empfindungen],
an organicallyemergingpassion;in short,whoeverawaitsin Mozartten-
derness[and]sentiment[mustrealize]thatMozartis not his man.'Allthe
limitlessmelodic invention and remarkableorchestration-everything
thatwe prizein Mozart-Reichardtseesas 'betrayingnothingotherthan
a spirited,troubledgenius,who hurriesalongand tireshimselfout danc-
ing, andbecauseof this finallycollapseswhenhis gluttedimaginationhas
wanderedabout long enough ... in the endlessrealmof possibilities'.
JohannFriedrichReichardt,'UberdasgrosseMozartscheTheaterkonzert
im BerlinischenOpernhause',Deutschland(1796),ii, pp.363-7;cited in
H.-G. Ottenberg,ed., Der CritischeMusicusan derSpree:BerlinerMus-
ikschrifttumvon 1748 bis 1799, Eine Dokumentation(Leipzig, 1984),
pp.341-2.
E. T. A. Hoffmann, Schriftenzur Musik(Berlin,1988),p.59
5L.Trilling,Sincerityand Authenticity(Cambridge,Mass., 1972),
P.97
6Trilling, Sincerityand Authenticity,p.98
7RichardWagner,Storiesand Essays,trans.Osborne(London,1973),
p.11i;Germanin Wagner,GesammelteSchriftenundDichtungen(Leip-
zig, 1888),i, pp.114-35.While I do not mean to suggestthat all Roman-
tic attitudes,particularlythose heldby musiciansand composersin the
19thcentury,were uniform in their idealizationof Mozart,it seems to
me that one can demonstratea more or less continuous traditiondat-
ing from the beginning of the 19thcenturythat placed the composer
definitivelywithin the pantheonof musicalgiantswhose metaphysical
significancewas never in jeopardy.
'Trilling,in a lengthyfootnote (p.98) goes so faras to assertthat 'the
facultyof "taste"has re-establisheditselfat the centreof the experience
of art',which no longer can 'be said to make exigent demandson the
audience'.ThoughTrillingis rightto lament the loss of these 'good old
days',there are surelymany for whom greatmusic still makes'exigent
demands'.
9My guess is that, given the little time devoted to rehearsalsin
Mozart'sday,we would probablybe deeplydissatisfiedto hearorches-
tral performancesfrom the 18thcentury;we would also be justifiedin
 our dissatisfaction,especially today when the standards for audi-
tioning orchestralplayersnearlyapproachthose of soloists and when
the parleyof conductorsroutinelyappealsto the values and practices
of chambermusic. -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'"Acommonly encounteredsign of this reactivethinkingis the ped-
agogicalattitudethat presupposesan adversarialrelationshipbetween
period style, asserted as historically ascertainable,and mainstream
style, pitied as hopelesslyanachronistic.
LASEUD'URGELL
"Examplesof such clean slates are notated accents and dynamic August 22 - 30, 1992
markingsthat are exaggeratedin an aggressivemannerirrespectiveof
characterand context, sforzandoand fp markingsthat are mercilessly
attackedwithout preparation,and sets of adjacentdupletslursthat are
XIIEARLY
MUSIC
COURSE
uniformlyclipped and separatedregardlessof the overallshape of the INCATALONIA
phrase.
"Neitheris there evidence that good musicians played with invar-
iable tempos, observedarticulationmarksuniformly,avoidedthe use
ANDANDORRA
of the pedal, or resisted the temptation to slide for purposes of Director: Roma Escalas
expression.
'3L.Dreyfus, 'EarlyMusic Defended againstits Devotees' MQ, lxix
(1983),pp.297-322,esp. pp.300-304, 320-22
'4SeeRichardTaruskin'silluminatingcontribution in this issue on
the question of changing traditions and their transmission. I might
add that when earlymusic is thought of as an evolvingculturalpractice
in its own right-rather than merely a progressiveprogram of his-
torical reconstruction-it makes more sense to dip more freely into
neighbouringtraditionsfor inspirationand nurture.
'STherewas also an earlier 'acoustic' Flonzaleyissue (recorded in
1920) of the final movement of K421 on Victor 74652 (Matrix
B-23551-4).This equallyfascinatingperformancewaswith violist Louis
Bailley (1882-1974)rather than with Nicolas Moldavan (1891-1974),
who playsin the 1929release.The Flonzaleysalso recordedmovements
from K387 (1922), K499 (1923), K575(1918 and 1927). See J. M. Samuel, 'A Jordi Albareda:Vocaltechnique
Complete Discographyto the Recordingsby the FlonzaleyQuartet, MontserratFigueras:Vocalinterpretation
ARSCJournal,xix (1987),pp.28-62. (I am gratefulto RichardKoprow- Jean Pierre Canihac:Cornet
ski of the StanfordArchivefor RecordedSound for locating this dis- Roma Escalas:Recorder
cographyfor me). The other membersof the quartet,founded in 1902, Daniel Lassalle:Sackbut
included Adolfo Betti (1873-1950),Alfred Pochon (1878-1959)and AlfredoBernardini:Shawmand baroqueoboe
Iwand'Archambeau(1879-1955).Theylast appearedtogetherin public Josep Borras:Curtaland baroquebassoon
in March1929.See also anotherdiscussionof a Flonzaleyrecordingin HopkinsonSmith:Lute and vihuela(24, 25 and 26)
J.W. Finson,'PerformingPracticein the late NineteenthCentury,with Rolf Lislevand:Luteand vihuela(27, 28 and 29)
SpecialReferenceto the Music of Brahms'MQ, lxx (1984),PP.457-75, Jordi Savall:Violada gamba
esp. pp.468-73. Guido Morini:Harpsichord
'6Mozart,D minor String Quartet, FlonzaleyQuartet,RCA Victor VOCALAND INSTRUMENTALENSEMBLE
7607-A/7608B(Camden, N.J., 1929);Mozart, Die 10 gropen Streich- Jordi Savall,conductor
quartette,Alban Berg QuartettWien, Telefunken6.35485(Hamburg, Thosewho are interestedin takingpartin the vocal ensemble,
1977[1979]);MozartStringQuartets:D minor, K421-C Major,K465, shouldsend a curriculumand audio material
The Salomon String Quartet, HyperionA 66170stereo LP (London,
(Deadline:10thJuly 1992)
1985)
'7Theearly19th-centurytheorist J.-J.de Momigny (1762-1838)may Concertswill be held in Andorra
have overextendedhis hermeneuticlicence when, as an exampleof an and La Seu d'Urgellduringthe course
analysisof expression,he supplieda poetic text to the first movement Registrationdeadline:20th July 1992
of K421 with verse representinga scene between Dido and Aeneas,but
he certainlyunderstoodthe elevatedtragictone in which the musical Informationand registration:
discourseof the firstmovement is conducted.The analysisis found in Area de Musica
his Cours completd'harmonieet de composition(Paris, 1803-6), iii, Departamentde Cultura
Ramblade SantaMbnica,8 - 3r.
pp.lo9ff., and is cited in I. Bent, 'Analysis',New Grove,pp.348-9. 08002BARCELONATel. (34-3) 318 50 04
i8Thegut stringscannot be at fault, as one is often assured,since the
Flonzaleysplay on them as well. Indeed, early music players could
learn volumes from the Flonzaley'srefined use of gut strings, which
Generalitat de Catalunya
invariablysound sweet and human, and never harsh or strident.
'"EduardM6rike,Mozart'sJourneyto Prague,trans.L. von Loewen- Departament de Cultura
stein-Wertheim(London, 1957),pp.40, 91-92;originalGermantext in
GesammelteErzihlungen(Leipzig,6/1902) j Andorra
"'WilhelmHeinrich Wackenroder,Werkeund Briefe (Heidelberg, v Govern
1967),cited in L. Treitler,Musicand the HistoricalImagination(Cam- Conselleria d'Educacio i Cultura
bridge,Mass., 1989),p.184

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