MUSICnBach at thenBarricadesnby Dale Volberg ReednReprise: The Extraordinary Revivalnof Early Music by Joel Cohen andnHerb Snitzer, Boston and New York:nLittle, Brown; $25.00.nIn the Middle Ages and Renaissance,nas far as 1 can tell, people played onlyncontemporary music. Since then, itnseems, there has been a completenturnaround, and only contemporarynmusic is not stylish. Beginning in then18th century, interest in old music hasndeveloped gradually, erratically, butninexorably, despite some resistancenfrom musicians and music-lovers.nThroughout the 19th century, thenpast was a source of inspiration in thenarts, from Greek revival furniture andnarchitecture, through Gothic revival,nthrough the Anglo-Catholic revival innthe Anglican church (which encouragednold church music as well as oldnliturgy, vestments, and architecture),nto the Rococo revival, and even tonrevivals of revivals (“Gentennial revival”nfurniture, a hopeless mixture ofnstyles from the past). The works of thenpast were, however, viewed through andefinitely contemporary lens.nIn music, the text had never beennthe last word for performers. The Baroquencomposers simply wrote notes,nand not even all of those. Training andngood taste were supposed to guidenperformers in the elaboration of thosentexts. In the 19th century, composers’nmarks became more detailed but werenstill treated as guidelines. Editors freelynadded tempo marks, dynamics, andnarticulation without concern for identifyingntheir additions as such. Performancentraditions, usually transmittednfrom teacher to student rather thanncodified in textbooks, were equallynsusceptible to distortion. Within remarkablynfew generations, knowledgenof earlier performance practices hadnfaded.nOpposing forces were at work, however,nparticularly in Germany, wherenthe discipline of musicology was burgeoning,nproducing, for example, ele­ngant, scholarly editions of Bach. Universityncurricula began to include earlynmusic and to encourage student performances.nA few concert artists begannto be interested in how early musicnhad originally been played and to performnit in public.nDuring the 20th century, bothnscholarship and performance of earlynmusic have gradually progressed. Then1950’s saw a flood of important booksnand editions. For those of us who werennot scholars, a shocking lag often separatednthe publication of these booksnand our discovery of them. The worknof the musicologists took years to affectnthe commercial music publishing industry,nand even longer to reach pedagogicalnliterature. Even in the 1950’snand early 1960’s, when I was a student,nwe usually played from old edi­ntions in which editorial alterationsnwere indistinguishable from the composer’snmarks. We rarely discussed editions,nbuying whatever was in stock.nBeethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and evennChopin were all published in heavilynedited disguises. Now small-townnpiano teachers like me routinely buynurtexts when possible and worry aboutnchoosing the most scholarly editionsnfor students. We ask questions aboutnarticulation and style that did notnoccur to us a few years ago. We arenmore likely to offer our students choices,nor even dilemmas, than to say,n’Tlay it this way.” We are, to benhonest, often uncomfortable with ournignorance and rarely confident of ournsolutions. I, for one, however, find thenexhilaration of the process outweighsnthe discomfort of the uncertainty.nAnnouncing a new LP:naivePiG.nA Sense of the Size of the WorldnWhat Pig sounds like (some expert opinions):nMr. Pig sounds like Dr. Robert of the Blow Monkeysninterpreting the songs of John Otway —nNew Musical Express (London)n…a sonic mating of T. Rex and the Violent Femmes —nBoston Rockn…perhaps a significant answer to Elvis Costello —nFortnightly College Radio Reportn… reminiscent of latter-day Bowie crossed with then3 Mustaphas – Folk Roots (UK)n… Zappa-lil