Stylistic features of the performing ancient instrumental music
Authors: Horetska Nataliia 
Published: March 2021

Background, objectives and methodology of the research. Musical performing art of the XX–XXI centuries demonstrates a steady and growing interest in a huge array of music from pre-classical eras – the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque. The baroque music occupies a leading position in the field of instrumental performing as an obligatory part of the educational (works by J. S. Bach) and concert repertoire. The problem of interpretation of early music, acutely posed by musicians of the XX century – up to the reconstruction of all historical performance parameters – retains its relevance. In this regard, we note that the performance of a piece of music does not always make off the strongest impression precisely in its “primary” – restored – form, since reconstruction is limited by the volume of our historical knowledge, while modern musical instruments have a much wider range of expressiveness, than theirs historical predecessors, and the modern interpreter – “de facto”, due to his location in the historical space – a much richer thesaurus. So, the aim of this article is systematization, from the standpoint of the teaching experience of its author in the piano class, observations and practical recommendations regarding the style of performing of ancient instrumental music and approaches to its interpretation by a pianist on an instrument of modern construction. The methodology of the study includes an appeal to the intonation theory of B. Asafiev (1971), when considering the dynamic processes of formation of the musical form and the functioning of articulatory units – motifs, phrases, rhetorical figures, strokes, etc.; to the provisions of the works of M. Mikhailov (1981), E. Nazaikinskiy (2003), O. Katrich (2000) concerning the theory of styles; V. Kholopova (1979) and G. Ignatchenko (1983), when considering performance techniques that emphasize the originality of the texture of baroque music; as well as generally accepted methods of scientific research: analysis, selection, structuring of information with its subsequent generalization. Presentation of research results. The study of ancient instrumental music in the piano class is extremely important for the formation of a competent specialist, a musician of a wide range. In the cognitive process, such stages must be passed as determining the style, genre, form of the musical work, identifying the features of the musically expressive means used in it and finding appropriate ways to embody them. It is necessary to make as complete an idea as possible of the past historical epoch, its philosophy, aesthetics, different types of art and their interaction. The purpose of work on pieces of ancient music should be directing а performer to the general laws of “style of the era” (according to M. Mikhailov, 1981), because, despite national differences, by the middle of the XVIII century, a certain “panEuropean” style was formed, which was of great importance for the formation of the next generations of musicians. One of the brightest manifestations of the musical style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is a close connection between music and the art of rhetoric. When referring to ancient music, performers must take into account the enormous influence that rhetoric had on the formation of musical thinking at that time. The close relationship of the latter with the oratory, which is based on a set of laws and rules, led to the influence of musical-rhetorical figures on the semantics of musical language, and, consequently – on the intonation-declamation sphere of musical text, ways of articulation. The latter were largely determined by the design features of ancient tools. The variety of characteristic techniques of instrumental sound production – expressive touches, among which a special place was occupied by the string strokes (legato, detache, martele, etc.) – has become an integral part of the style of European music of the XVII–XVIII centuries. Transferring them to the field of piano technique is necessary for adequate interpretation of works of this period, requiring the pianist to find appropriate analogues that allow to some extent to reproduce the figurative, articulatory, timbre-color, texture characteristics of the performed work. Modern piano, which due to a fundamentally different method of sound production does not claim to be an authentic reproduction of baroque music, has its own rich arsenal of expressiveness, which allows you to offer the listener no less interesting interpretive content of music of past eras. The art of outstanding pianists of the XX–XXI centuries, to whose audio and video recordings modern performers turn in search of a reference sound (G. Gould, S. Richter, S. Feinberg, T. Nikolaeva, M.Argerich, F. Gulda, G. Sokolov, A. Schiff and others) demonstrates this fact clearly. Conclusions. Not reconstruction, but reproduction of the style, image and spirit of early music becomes the leading principle of working on it in the piano class. And here the pianist should come to the aid of a conscious intonation, based on knowledge of both the general laws of the reproduced style and its characteristic details. The outstanding interpreter of early music V. Landowska (1991: 350) wrote: “One cannot ignore the reading of Quantz’s treatises on playing the flute, Leopold Mozart on the violin, Tosi-Agricola on singing, Fran&#231;ois Couperin, Rameau, Frescobaldi, Marpurg, K. F. E. Bach and many others – about playing keyboard instruments”. Finding “unexpected treasures” in them, “the disciples are delighted, because they begin to realize what they simply did not pay attention to before. In such cases, you find yourself witnessing an explosion of joy, somewhat reminiscent of the discovery of love”.