Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie

This article studies how gestures used in the past to play musical instruments can be reconstructed with the help of textual and visual sources. It examines on the one hand the way sources can be used to find out about the gestures made by musicians in the past, and on the other hand, how gestures w...

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Main Authors: Cyril Lacheze, Marion Weckerle
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université de Bourgogne 2018-07-01
Series:Interfaces
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/490
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author Cyril Lacheze
Marion Weckerle
author_facet Cyril Lacheze
Marion Weckerle
author_sort Cyril Lacheze
collection DOAJ
description This article studies how gestures used in the past to play musical instruments can be reconstructed with the help of textual and visual sources. It examines on the one hand the way sources can be used to find out about the gestures made by musicians in the past, and on the other hand, how gestures were represented in art works and texts. The first part of the article deals with the violin in the early modern period. Researchers use separate sources, first didactic handbooks, without any illustrations, secondly art works representing violin players. In this case, the information retrieved from books can be supplemented by the art works. The second part deals with the nineteenth century and a later instrument, the clarinet. The case is different, as didactic manuals were now illustrated and the invention of the instrument left traces in patents that explained how to play the clarinet, via images and text. In this way, we are able to give a survey of relations between gestures, texts and images, over four centuries in the domain of musical interpretation. The earlier period emphasises technicity, whereas the later period is the locus of social as well as technical conflicts. The article also considers how musicians were likely to learn how to play by observing the gestures made by performers, and so focuses on actual practice alongside literary and artistic representation.
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spelling doaj.art-e4887b21ce364da495385f50c6907f0d2024-02-14T08:36:19ZengUniversité de BourgogneInterfaces2647-67542018-07-01399111410.4000/interfaces.490Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographieCyril LachezeMarion WeckerleThis article studies how gestures used in the past to play musical instruments can be reconstructed with the help of textual and visual sources. It examines on the one hand the way sources can be used to find out about the gestures made by musicians in the past, and on the other hand, how gestures were represented in art works and texts. The first part of the article deals with the violin in the early modern period. Researchers use separate sources, first didactic handbooks, without any illustrations, secondly art works representing violin players. In this case, the information retrieved from books can be supplemented by the art works. The second part deals with the nineteenth century and a later instrument, the clarinet. The case is different, as didactic manuals were now illustrated and the invention of the instrument left traces in patents that explained how to play the clarinet, via images and text. In this way, we are able to give a survey of relations between gestures, texts and images, over four centuries in the domain of musical interpretation. The earlier period emphasises technicity, whereas the later period is the locus of social as well as technical conflicts. The article also considers how musicians were likely to learn how to play by observing the gestures made by performers, and so focuses on actual practice alongside literary and artistic representation.https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/490gesturetechnicitymusicviolinclarinettreatise
spellingShingle Cyril Lacheze
Marion Weckerle
Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
Interfaces
gesture
technicity
music
violin
clarinet
treatise
title Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
title_full Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
title_fullStr Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
title_full_unstemmed Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
title_short Les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l’iconographie
title_sort les gestes de la musique ancienne dans les textes et l iconographie
topic gesture
technicity
music
violin
clarinet
treatise
url https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/490
work_keys_str_mv AT cyrillacheze lesgestesdelamusiqueanciennedanslestextesetliconographie
AT marionweckerle lesgestesdelamusiqueanciennedanslestextesetliconographie