While preparing this early music issue and looking for ideas, I did what any twenty-first-century, knowledge-seeking person would do: I asked for input via a status update on Facebook. The ideas from my musical friends started rolling in.
First, someone suggested an article about a tracker organ and pipes.
Next, a friend referenced Disney’s early music expert, Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast. (“If it ain’t Baroque . . . “)
Another friend quipped, “Early music doesn’t mean 6 a.m.!”
Someone else posted a link to an early music version of the popular children’s book “Where’s Waldo?” featuring the cartoon “Where’s Gesualdo?”
And the final piece of advice: “Make sure to throw in a Guidonian Hand.”
While some of these references inspired an immediate chuckle, others sent me searching first for my dictionary and then to the recesses of my brain for some cobwebbed recollection of music history classes gone by.
The world of early music does have its own language and unique set of rules. Many of these rules are clear, others are incredibly vague, and some are plain myths and misunderstandings. All of this can make early music seem like a special club, with secret handshakes and special code words required for admittance.
Perhaps someone has told you your voice is perfect for Handel, or you’ve felt a kinship with Bach. But how do you get from there to a masterful, historically and stylistically accurate performance of their works? Throw in the whole question of ornamentation, and it becomes that much more complicated.
Once you begin to establish a firm footing in the performance realm of early music with a solid technique and good historical understanding, what performance opportunities are available? How do you find auditions and gain the needed onstage experience to work in the field? And how does the early music job hunt differ from more mainstream operatic pursuits?
I invite you to peruse the pages of this issue for the answers to these questions and more. You will find fascinating discussions on early music myths like how much straight tone singing is actually required. You’ll discover that singing in the chorus or doing small parts doesn’t carry the same stigma in early music as in more standard operatic repertoire. You’ll read about established music festivals and programs that create amazing networking opportunities for singers. You’ll also be inspired by successful entrepreneurs who share ideas for creating your own early music performing opportunities.
So whether you reached for your Norton Anthology to look up “tracker organ” or “Gesualdo,” or if you already know the difference between a trillo and a trill, you are sure to find something just for you in this special early music issue of Classical Singer.
