It just did not seem that difficult. The composer wrote a piece, we studied it, and we played the work. Then, sometime in the 1980s, perhaps a bit before, everything was altered. More research had been done as to how music was played in earlier times. This caused a revolution, commencing with the recording industry and then moving into the concert hall and opera house.

Was what I learned now dispensable? It certainly caused me to put a halt to performing Baroque music. I simply could not abide the new/old way of playing these works. The same could be said of our orchestras. Aside from the yearly Messiah and perhaps a piece or two from the eighteenth century, so much of this music has disappeared from our orchestral repertoire.

What would you like to ask regarding the way we play not just the music from the golden era but all music? Do we need to obey the rules, or can we break them? Let me hear from you.