Authenticity in performance : eighteenth-century case studies / Peter Le Huray.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-196) and indexes.

The spirit of authenticity -- Bach's C major prelude BWV 870 and 870a -- Corelli's Violin sonata op. 5 no. 11 -- Couperin's Huitième ordre -- Bach's Ouvertüre in D BWV 1068 -- Handel's Messiah -- Bach's C minor passacaglia BWV 582 -- Mozart's D minor string quartet K421 : a contemporary analysis -- Leopold Mozart and the K421 string quartet -- Haydn's 'Drum roll' symphony in E flat no. 103 -- Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata and late eighteenth-century pianism.

In the last ten years or so an interest in 'authenticity' has reached a wide public. Many of the best-selling records of Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart are those in which period techniques and period instruments are used. There is however a danger that new 'authentic' dogmas of style and interpretation will come to replace the anachronistic dogmas of the late romantic tradition. 'The search for an 'authentic' interpretation', writes Peter le Huray in his opening chapter, 'is not the search for a single hard and fast answer, but for a range of possibilities from which to make performing decisions.' This book introduces the performer to the problems that must be faced when preparing an 'authentic' interpretation. It does so by focusing on nine representative and well-known works from the Baroque and Classical periods, defining some of the more important questions that the performer and listener should ask, and suggesting fruitful lines of enquiry. It is essential reading and reference material for player, student and listener alike.