# Modern Performance Practice



## Nestraiel (May 23, 2016)

Hi,
I am writing an essay on performance practice, and I would like some different oppinion on what you consider the key elements in modern performance practice.
Thank you


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2018)

Nestraiel said:


> Hi,
> I am writing an essay on performance practice, and I would like some different oppinion on what you consider the key elements in modern performance practice.
> Thank you


I can recommend that you read books on the topic by Robert Philip. Some interesting recent developments that are also noted by David Hurwitz are an inclination to a more 'unified' string tone through either a uniform level of vibrato or a uniform ban on vibrato, depending on who the conductor is. I recently wrote an essay specifically on the usage of vibrato in orchestral playing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as opposed to today, so I can only really give you some information specifically on that.

I highly recommend libraries and online databases such as jstor. If you're in a tertiary institution you should certainly have access to required resources quite freely. Librarians there are very willing to help with searches for specific information.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Nestraiel said:


> Hi,
> I am writing an essay on performance practice, and I would like some different oppinion on what you consider the key elements in modern performance practice.
> Thank you


If you're interested in medieval music I have some thoughts about that.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There several things that have become the modern standard everywhere:
1) Absolute adherence to the printed score. Making cuts is no longer acceptable. Example: the Rachmaninoff 2nd symphony used to be played with a large number of cuts, some small, some larger. No more. Now it's usually performed complete (except the first movement repeat). Changing, re-writing orchestration is not done so much. Whether it's Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schumann or others, most conductors play it the way it was scored.

2) Rhythmic precision today is higher than it has ever been. It wasn't that in bygone eras orchestras couldn't play with razor sharp accuracy, it just didn't matter or wasn't wanted. Listen carefully to old recordings by Boult or Furtwangler. That Toscanini accuracy wasn't there and it didn't matter. Today, everyone plays with mathematical precision.

3) We've lost the sense of rubato in orchestral playing. Most younger conductors (under 50) I've heard don't have a natural sense of flow, of give-and-take, that the older generation had. Probably has something to do with #2, but also shows a severe lack of orchestral playing by the conductor. Some old time conductors used it instinctively and didn't have to think about it. It's what a makes a performance connect to the audience and lets the music breathe. Listen to Monteux, Munch, Mengelberg, Koussevitsky, Ormandy, early Karajan, Paray. It also has to do with the fact that earlier conductors learned their craft in the opera house, whereas today few conductors come up through that system.


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## Nestraiel (May 23, 2016)

Thank you all for the replys. It was really helpful!


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