Early music, musical practice and musicology. Thoughts on the historicity of historical performance practice

Early music, performance practice and musicology have a relationship to one another that is as stimulating as it is contradictory. Historical performa nce practice in particular, both as a term and in itself, has exerted influ ence on this relationship in recent decades. Whereas formerly the consisten t use of "current" performance practice attempted to soften or eradicate an y estrangement that may have existed between a "historical type of music" ( Handschin) and any given contemporary audience until well into the twentiet h century, current musical performances appear to be governed by the idea o f "historical" performance practice. What are the reasons for this developm ent? What are the benefits of attempts to reconstruct authentic representat ions of early music and past realities? A reflection upon the historicity o f all musical performance practices leads to the realization that historica l performance practice, when based on the application of historical rules, takes on the role of a specific style of rendering the music of earlier tim es. The purpose of historical performance practice lies in the music and it s listeners, who wish to experience the fleeting vision of a work at every hearing.