Gathers together for the first time Taruskin's influential and insightful essays and articles on musical performance practice written over the past decade. Links issues in musical performance with wider cultural scene. Author's highly respected and controversial viewpoints and reputation will spark intellectual debate in the musical field. Text and Act, a collection of essays and reviews, published over the last dozen years, offers a brilliant evaluation of the early music movement, transforming the debate about "early music" and "authenticity". Demolishing the argument that the movement to revive period instruments and performance practices represents the recovery of an ancient truth or a reinstatement of a lost tradition, these writings show that the movement actually represents the triumph of a modernist esthetic - and consequently that "period" performances are in fact the only truly modern performances of classical music on offer.
Yet far from impugning the movement's claim to authenticity, Taruskin argues that as the only truly contemporary performance practice, "early music" is authentic in a much more profound and relevant sense than a mere historical verisimilitude could ever be. These essays cast fresh light on many aspects of contemporary music-making and music-thinking, with lighthearted debunking taking its place alongside impassioned argumentation. A wide-ranging, newly written introduction explores the relationship between issues surrounding musical performance and other areas of contemporary intellectual ferment in the humanities and the social sciences, including philosophy, law, history, and anthropology. Bringing his considerable skills as a scholar and a performer to bear on the situation, Taruskin's essays, ranging from theoretical speculation to practical criticism, cover a repertory that includes Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Stravinsky.
Industry Reviews
"This is not a book, it's an education, and a joyous one. Richard Taruskin's stylistic flair and incisive wit make it an endless pleasure to pick his fertile brain."--James R. Oestreich, Classical Music Editor, The New York Times
"This deliciously readable collection by America's most brilliant musicologist is a model of how to think independently, even before that becomes fashionable, and of how to articulate values, even after that becomes unfashionable. When other books on music are forgotten, Taruskin's essays, like those of Berlioz and Tovey, will be savored and relished as the best musical writing of their time."--Rose Rosengard Subotnik, Professor of Music, Brown
University
"Little escapes his sharp eye, and his incisive commentary spans developments from the Middle Ages to the present era. The author is sometimes whimsical, often bitingly critical, occasionally self-indulgent, and always provocative. Highly recommended."--Library Journal
"Should be consulted by everyone interested in the performance of old music."--Choice
"Taruskin's prose is remarkably readable, and the content is very thought-provoking. He readdresses old concerns (tempo, authenticity) in a most refreshing way."--Dr. Gary Miller, Southeast Missouri State University
"This is not a book, it's an education, and a joyous one. Richard Taruskin's stylistic flair and incisive wit make it an endless pleasure to pick his fertile brain."--James R. Oestreich, Classical Music Editor, The New York Times
"This deliciously readable collection by America's most brilliant musicologist is a model of how to think independently, even before that becomes fashionable, and of how to articulate values, even after that becomes unfashionable. When other books on music are forgotten, Taruskin's essays, like those of Berlioz and Tovey, will be savored and relished as the best musical writing of their time."--Rose Rosengard Subotnik, Professor of Music, Brown
University
"Little escapes his sharp eye, and his incisive commentary spans developments from the Middle Ages to the present era. The author is sometimes whimsical, often bitingly critical, occasionally self-indulgent, and always provocative. Highly recommended."--Library Journal
"Should be consulted by everyone interested in the performance of old music."--Choice
"Taruskin's prose is remarkably readable, and the content is very thought-provoking. He readdresses old concerns (tempo, authenticity) in a most refreshing way."--Dr. Gary Miller, Southeast Missouri State University
"In an age where all tradition is being thought of as tainted by a lesser intellect, this book strikes a balance between holding on to the values and widsom of the past in an effort to find meaningful change for the future."--Professor and Chair Russell Shelley, Juniata College
"It is rare to find an author who can address so many types of readership with equal skill. Indeed, it is rare to find a scholar who makes such a successful journalist, or to find a music journalist who is both scholarly and stylish: this writing places Taruskin on a par with Shaw, Tovey and Virgil Thomson."--Early Music
"A fascinating and thought provoking collection of essays. It gives me, as a teacher/performer, the courage, after all the scholarly study and analysis, to be the whole-hearted interpretor."--Patricia Laliberte, University of "Minnesotta, Duluth
"Great ideas on `old and new'."--Dorothy E. Schecter, California Lutheran University
"Brilliant essays, forcing performers and scholars of music to reavaluate their field."--Jurgen Thym, Eastman School of Music
"[Taruskin] is the most devastatingly acute of the growing band of critics and philosophers who question the whole idea of authentic performance practice....a splendid and heartening book."--Music Magazine
"Taruskin must rank as one of the most fluent writers on music in modern scholarship."--The Musical Times
