MUHST 509

Seminar in Historical Performance Practice

Professor Bozarth

Brahms a la Brahms

Pianists, Singers, String and Wind Players, Conductors!

So

you think you know how to play the music of Johannes Brahms the way he and his
contemporaries did? Surely the devotees of historical performance practice are leaving
Brahms alone, for the performance styles of his time still live on intact, right? Wrong!
Its been over a century since Brahms died, and a lot has happened since then, musically,
artistically, and culturally. Modernism influenced the style of new art and music throughout the
20th century, so why should we think that it left the manner of performing the music of Brahms
and his contemporaries alone?
But how did they play his music back then? This is the question at the heart of much current
research, as performers and scholars try to learn to play this repertoire on instruments of the
period and in styles described in performance manuals, correspondence, reviews, annotated
scores, and other documentary sources, and heard on early recordings by performers with strong
ties with Brahms.
Scrutiny of the book Performing Brahms (Cambridge University Press) will be our starting point,
reinforced by consideration of other research based on performances preserved on reproducing
pianos and early acoustic recordings. Seminar members will have access to 19th-century grand
pianos by Graf/Bsendorfer (1830s), Chickering (1867), and Erard (1869).
Seminar projects may focus on solo instruments, art song, chamber music, choral compositions,
or orchestral works, and may apply newly discovered approaches to live performances of the
music. (Im especially looking for a piano trio to work on the C-minor Trio, Op. 101.)
Prerequisite: MUSIC 500 or its equivalent, entry code required
Tuesdays, 9:0011:50

3 credits

Room 212 & the Seattle Early Keyboard Museum