Looking
for a hobby where you can tune in to the harmony of the spheres and have
a good time with friends as well? Try early music. No, early music is
not 50's rock-n-roll, nor even 30's big band. It refers to
compositions written before the Classical Era, that is, before the
time of large orchestras and grand opera--before Beethoven--when music
was played in smaller, intimate spaces, mainly by amateurs for
their own enjoyment.
The instruments that people played back then (before 1800) were
different than they are today. Even some that look the same were were
built very differently. A 17th Century violin, for example, had gut
strings, not steel, and a flatter bridge and shorter neck than modern
violins. (Yes, all those Stradivarius violins played by famous solists
today have been drastically altered--only the body is the same.) The
sound was sweeter and softer, perfect for a living room.
Early music and the instruments it was played on were largely forgotten
through the 19th Century. About 80 years ago they were rediscovered by
European musicologists, but the big revival did not come until the
1960s, when many of those pioneers began making recordings and giving
concerts.
The one early instrument that really
swept onto the scene was the recorder--a kind of flute that's easy to
play because you blow straight into it. These come in a variety of sizes
and shapes, and instruments that play reliably and in tune can be
purchased fairly inexpensively. The rediscoverers of the recorder
revisited the music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras and found that
it could be played--and sounded great--on the
recorder. (Unlike music today, where parts are usually written for
specific instruments, most early music does not specify instrumentation,
and it is generally assumed that people of the time played it on
whatever they had handy.)
The other odd old instrument that has made a comeback is the viola da
gamba. Literally a "leg viol" (that is, held between the legs,
as opposed to an "arm viol" like the violin), it looks a bit
like a cello, but has six strings like a guitar and frets like a guitar.
It's even tuned a lot like a guitar. And that's basically what it is--a
bowed guitar. And like the guitar, it's an instrument that a
non-professional can pick up and figure out how to play. That's what
amateurs did back in the 17th and 18th Centuries, when the viol was at
the peak of its popularity, and that's what enthusiasts do today.
Although there is a large body of solo music for the viol, there is also
a lot of so-called "consort" music, for anywhere from 2 to 6
viols (which, like the violin family, also come in different sizes).
This music was written for amateurs, and it is as accessible to amateurs
now as it was 400 years ago. The biggest barrier for viol players today
is the cost: you don't need to find an antique--there are many stringed
instrument builders who make viols, but they are pricy. It can cost
$1000 or more for the small treble size, $2000 and up
for the cello-sized bass.
It should come as no surprise that organizations sprang up to support
playing these instruments, to advocate for their study and to bring
players together. The American Recorder Society was founded in 1939, the
Viola da Gamba Society of America in 1962.
Both are flourishing today both as
national advocacy groups and at the local chapter level that put
on "play-ins" and workshops. (The VdGSA has both rental and
rent-to-own programs to help people get hold of viols inexpensively.)
Both of these groups are organizational members of Early Music America,
a national advocacy organization for early music in all its forms.
Many people think that you have to have
innate talent to play music, or that you can't possibly learn an
instrument as an adult. False! It certainly helps to have natural
ability, and it's easier to learn anything when you're younger, but
really all it takes is desire and patience. No, you're not likely to
become a virtuoso at this late date, but then that's not why you're
playing, is it? People pick up music at all ages. The Viola da Gamba
Society of America surveyed its 1000 members about 5 years ago (average
age: 52) and discovered that many had started on the viol in retirement,
one at age 76!
Here are links to websites of the organizations mentioned in this
article. They're all inexpensive to join, and when you do you'll receive
their regular publications that will inform you of special events and
opportunities to socialize.
Early Music America
http://www.earlymusic.org
American Recorder Society
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/recorder
Viola da Ga,mba Society of America
http://vdgsa.org
Ken Perlow is the Interim Executive Director of Early Music
America and Treasurer of the Viola da Gamba Society of America.
A retired computer scientist, he played the oboe until he got to
college, then got caught up in the early music revival and switched
to the recorder and other period wind instruments. He picked up
the viola da gamba 20 years ago, never having played a stringed
instrument before; he hates to put it down.
|
