Dissertation historique sur la vielle by Antoine TerrasonReview by: Robert DoningtonNotes, Second Series, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Dec., 1968), p. 242Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/893996 .

Accessed: 17/06/2014 04:41

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.146 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 04:41:55 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

the same time. One doubts very much that there is a sufficiently large public for these works to justify the printing of two different editions. I regret that the schol- arly edition should be the one to get started second.

J. MURRAY BARBOUR Michigan State University

Dissertation historique sur la vielle. By Antoine Terrason. Unchanged reprint of the original edition published in Paris, 1741. Amsterdam: Antiqua, 1966.

[104 p.; Fl. 28.-] It is impossible to read an eighteenth-

century book on music without learning anything at all about the history or prac- tice of the times; and there are some small points of interest in this one, here reprinted without introductory matter. But it does not really demonstrate much except that curious, ill-informed, and un- informative little amateur essays could be published in the eighteenth as in other centuries. The author demonstrates to his own satisfaction that the vielle flourished in antiquity and revived in the Middle Ages, to reach its perfection (it is no great surprise to find) in the eighteenth century. For the first two, it all depends on what you call a vielle, and on this crucial matter the author remains discreetly inconclusive; for the last, where one expects to find the value of such a book, there is mention of one or two oddities inflated beyond their real proportions, and also a disproportionately long but mouth-watering description of one very royal viol, yet no mention of any of the great French or other makers, composers, and performers whatsoever. A book to have seen, but hardly necessary to own.

ROBERT DONINGTON University of Iowa

Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch- musikalischen Trompeter- und Pauker- Kunst. By Johann Ernst Altenburg. Unchanged reprint of the original ed.

published in Halle, 1795. Amsterdam:

Antiqua, 1966. [ix, 144 p.; Fl 45.-] The apostle Paul once described him-

self as "like one born out of due time";

the same time. One doubts very much that there is a sufficiently large public for these works to justify the printing of two different editions. I regret that the schol- arly edition should be the one to get started second.

J. MURRAY BARBOUR Michigan State University

Dissertation historique sur la vielle. By Antoine Terrason. Unchanged reprint of the original edition published in Paris, 1741. Amsterdam: Antiqua, 1966.

[104 p.; Fl. 28.-] It is impossible to read an eighteenth-

century book on music without learning anything at all about the history or prac- tice of the times; and there are some small points of interest in this one, here reprinted without introductory matter. But it does not really demonstrate much except that curious, ill-informed, and un- informative little amateur essays could be published in the eighteenth as in other centuries. The author demonstrates to his own satisfaction that the vielle flourished in antiquity and revived in the Middle Ages, to reach its perfection (it is no great surprise to find) in the eighteenth century. For the first two, it all depends on what you call a vielle, and on this crucial matter the author remains discreetly inconclusive; for the last, where one expects to find the value of such a book, there is mention of one or two oddities inflated beyond their real proportions, and also a disproportionately long but mouth-watering description of one very royal viol, yet no mention of any of the great French or other makers, composers, and performers whatsoever. A book to have seen, but hardly necessary to own.

ROBERT DONINGTON University of Iowa

Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch- musikalischen Trompeter- und Pauker- Kunst. By Johann Ernst Altenburg. Unchanged reprint of the original ed.

published in Halle, 1795. Amsterdam:

Antiqua, 1966. [ix, 144 p.; Fl 45.-] The apostle Paul once described him-

self as "like one born out of due time";

the same time. One doubts very much that there is a sufficiently large public for these works to justify the printing of two different editions. I regret that the schol- arly edition should be the one to get started second.

J. MURRAY BARBOUR Michigan State University

Dissertation historique sur la vielle. By Antoine Terrason. Unchanged reprint of the original edition published in Paris, 1741. Amsterdam: Antiqua, 1966.

[104 p.; Fl. 28.-] It is impossible to read an eighteenth-

century book on music without learning anything at all about the history or prac- tice of the times; and there are some small points of interest in this one, here reprinted without introductory matter. But it does not really demonstrate much except that curious, ill-informed, and un- informative little amateur essays could be published in the eighteenth as in other centuries. The author demonstrates to his own satisfaction that the vielle flourished in antiquity and revived in the Middle Ages, to reach its perfection (it is no great surprise to find) in the eighteenth century. For the first two, it all depends on what you call a vielle, and on this crucial matter the author remains discreetly inconclusive; for the last, where one expects to find the value of such a book, there is mention of one or two oddities inflated beyond their real proportions, and also a disproportionately long but mouth-watering description of one very royal viol, yet no mention of any of the great French or other makers, composers, and performers whatsoever. A book to have seen, but hardly necessary to own.

ROBERT DONINGTON University of Iowa

Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch- musikalischen Trompeter- und Pauker- Kunst. By Johann Ernst Altenburg. Unchanged reprint of the original ed.

published in Halle, 1795. Amsterdam:

Antiqua, 1966. [ix, 144 p.; Fl 45.-] The apostle Paul once described him-

self as "like one born out of due time";

the same could be said of Johann Ernst Altenburg (1734-1801), who studied the art of "heroic" clarino playing as a young man and served as a trumpeter in the Seven Years' War, but subsequently eked out a marginal existence as an or- ganist. His book is therefore a testament of a glorious age of music which had virtually disappeared.

No exact date can be given for the end of the art of clarino playing, and there are a few survivances of this style of per- formance in the Classic period; one thinks of the divertimentos for five trumpets, two flutes (fifes?), and two pairs of tim- pani by Mozart, K. 187 and 188, or wonders how the trumpet parts were per- formed in the productions of Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast in Weimar in the early 1780's. Neither can one de- termine exactly when the wind band re- placed the trumpets of the Feldstiicke during the eighteenth century and thus reduced the trumpeters to the status of playing signals or serving as envoys, but the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) may easily have been the final period of glory for the heroic trumpeter. Attempts to relate Altenburg's book to the musical practices of his time show that the mili- tary and traditional music of the eight- eenth century and military sociology and its impact on music need to be investi- gated further.

Altenburg's book is "historisch, theo- retisch, und praktisch beschrieben"; though his historical information is not especially reliable, he was conversant with current theoretical writings (especially those of Albrechtsberger and D. G. Tiirk), aware of such recent trends as the key- bugle and cloth-covered timpani sticks, and alert to the practical problems of trumpet playing. His lists of trumpeter- composers on page 58 and of late Baroque composers of trumpet music on page 62 (Telemann and Fasch, probably Johann Friedrich, are the only familiar names) provide an area of investigation for the scholarly trumpeter seeking to expand the corpus of literature for his instrument. The book contains a chapter on the tim- pani, a "concerto" for trumpets and tim- pani in the appendix, a chapter on orna- mentation, and many musical examples, mostly in what was an archaic style for the time. One can, nevertheless, discern

the same could be said of Johann Ernst Altenburg (1734-1801), who studied the art of "heroic" clarino playing as a young man and served as a trumpeter in the Seven Years' War, but subsequently eked out a marginal existence as an or- ganist. His book is therefore a testament of a glorious age of music which had virtually disappeared.

No exact date can be given for the end of the art of clarino playing, and there are a few survivances of this style of per- formance in the Classic period; one thinks of the divertimentos for five trumpets, two flutes (fifes?), and two pairs of tim- pani by Mozart, K. 187 and 188, or wonders how the trumpet parts were per- formed in the productions of Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast in Weimar in the early 1780's. Neither can one de- termine exactly when the wind band re- placed the trumpets of the Feldstiicke during the eighteenth century and thus reduced the trumpeters to the status of playing signals or serving as envoys, but the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) may easily have been the final period of glory for the heroic trumpeter. Attempts to relate Altenburg's book to the musical practices of his time show that the mili- tary and traditional music of the eight- eenth century and military sociology and its impact on music need to be investi- gated further.

Altenburg's book is "historisch, theo- retisch, und praktisch beschrieben"; though his historical information is not especially reliable, he was conversant with current theoretical writings (especially those of Albrechtsberger and D. G. Tiirk), aware of such recent trends as the key- bugle and cloth-covered timpani sticks, and alert to the practical problems of trumpet playing. His lists of trumpeter- composers on page 58 and of late Baroque composers of trumpet music on page 62 (Telemann and Fasch, probably Johann Friedrich, are the only familiar names) provide an area of investigation for the scholarly trumpeter seeking to expand the corpus of literature for his instrument. The book contains a chapter on the tim- pani, a "concerto" for trumpets and tim- pani in the appendix, a chapter on orna- mentation, and many musical examples, mostly in what was an archaic style for the time. One can, nevertheless, discern

the same could be said of Johann Ernst Altenburg (1734-1801), who studied the art of "heroic" clarino playing as a young man and served as a trumpeter in the Seven Years' War, but subsequently eked out a marginal existence as an or- ganist. His book is therefore a testament of a glorious age of music which had virtually disappeared.

No exact date can be given for the end of the art of clarino playing, and there are a few survivances of this style of per- formance in the Classic period; one thinks of the divertimentos for five trumpets, two flutes (fifes?), and two pairs of tim- pani by Mozart, K. 187 and 188, or wonders how the trumpet parts were per- formed in the productions of Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast in Weimar in the early 1780's. Neither can one de- termine exactly when the wind band re- placed the trumpets of the Feldstiicke during the eighteenth century and thus reduced the trumpeters to the status of playing signals or serving as envoys, but the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) may easily have been the final period of glory for the heroic trumpeter. Attempts to relate Altenburg's book to the musical practices of his time show that the mili- tary and traditional music of the eight- eenth century and military sociology and its impact on music need to be investi- gated further.

Altenburg's book is "historisch, theo- retisch, und praktisch beschrieben"; though his historical information is not especially reliable, he was conversant with current theoretical writings (especially those of Albrechtsberger and D. G. Tiirk), aware of such recent trends as the key- bugle and cloth-covered timpani sticks, and alert to the practical problems of trumpet playing. His lists of trumpeter- composers on page 58 and of late Baroque composers of trumpet music on page 62 (Telemann and Fasch, probably Johann Friedrich, are the only familiar names) provide an area of investigation for the scholarly trumpeter seeking to expand the corpus of literature for his instrument. The book contains a chapter on the tim- pani, a "concerto" for trumpets and tim- pani in the appendix, a chapter on orna- mentation, and many musical examples, mostly in what was an archaic style for the time. One can, nevertheless, discern

242 242 242

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.146 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 04:41:55 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions