Latest news with #NicolaBoud
ABC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Inside the world of musicians playing period instruments from history
People often say that classical music is a centuries-old tradition. But scratch under the surface, and you'll quickly discover that classical music has been around since before Bach and Mozart were alive, and has continued to evolve. Instruments like violins and clarinets have changed more than you might think. Others from earlier times such as crumhorns, cornetti and shawms disappeared from most stages for centuries. In one corner of the music world, a group of musicians known as period instrumentalists are dedicated to making music with historical research. Comprising players, academics and instrument-makers, they unearth manuscripts written centuries ago, learn to play using older techniques, even reproducing instruments from paintings and copies of museum pieces. Baroque violinist Madeleine Easton says entering this world is like "getting in a TARDIS, going back in time and discovering all this different music, different instruments and different tunings." Many Australian musicians who are drawn into period instruments have pursued their studies in Europe, where archives and old instruments are more readily available. Some have founded groups of like-minded musicians to champion the music they love for Australian audiences. When she discovered baroque violin during her university studies, Easton had to unlearn everything she thought she knew, from the way she was holding her instrument to using a baroque bow. Similarly, historical clarinettist Nicola Boud says hearing Mozart's music played by a wind ensemble specialising in the music of his era was a revelation. "It makes perfect sense to play the music of Mozart on the instrument that he knew," Boud says. The clarinet during Mozart's time was a simpler instrument with fewer keys and constructed from a lighter type of wood than its modern counterpart. "They're made mostly of boxwood, the same decorative hedges you see in gardens and plant nurseries," Boud explains. To play them, "you use something called cross-fingerings." Concert venues were much smaller and instruments were softer in the 18th and early 19th-centuries. This means contemporary audiences at historical performances also have to listen differently. "Audience ears often have to come towards the ensemble instead of the ensemble throwing out the sound," Boud says. Easton says even though the violin's body remains the same since its conception in the late 15th-century, virtually every other part of the instrument has been modified. "The neck, the fingerboard, the bridge and the tailpiece have evolved over the years," she says. Easton specialises in playing music written during the baroque period between 1600 to 1750. So playing baroque violin as opposed to a modern instrument gives Easton a better understanding of the sound world of those times. Boud says notes on the classical clarinet have more character, which is why it's her instrument of choice to play Mozart. Many period instrumentalists are aware these slight differences might sound nit-picky to casual listeners so they try to balance their passion for historical accuracy with a sense of humour. But ultimately they want to highlight how adding an understanding of history can enrich audiences' experience of music. Pursuing his research of historical wind instruments took musician Matthew Manchester to libraries and museums across Europe. "I spent an afternoon playing a pair of cornetti that were commissioned for James II's visit to Oxford in 1605," Manchester shares. Manchester has also played other museum pieces, including natural trumpets from the late 17th century. "[it's] like a long single pipe that loops back over itself before ending with a bell," Manchester describes. To understand how these old instruments work, Manchester poured over archives of musical manuscripts, as well as letters and other documents written by musicians. Interest in medieval, renaissance and baroque music rose in the latter half of the 20th-century, with makers reconstructing surviving instruments. They even recreated instruments from paintings. Manchester owns copies of bagpipes historically found in Germany, Belgium and England. These places aren't known for bagpipe traditions, but the bagpipers were featured in paintings and documents across Western Europe. "Bagpipes don't keep particularly well because they were literally made from guts of animals, so they tend to wear out," Manchester says. "But there's a whole repertoire of amazing dance music that survives." There were trials and errors with modern reproductions. "Modern makers used to 'fix' what they thought were problems when they were making copies," Manchester says. "But actually, those problems turned out to be the things that give those instruments their characters." Sometimes, instruments from the past can even make a comeback. "The plastic recorders we all played as kids are copies of a really great baroque recorder," Manchester says. There are several ensembles in Australia dedicated to specific periods in musical history or championing works by particular composers. Easton is the Artistic Director of the Bach Akademie Australia, an ensemble which almost exclusively perform the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. "There are more than 300 dedicated Bach ensembles around the globe, more than any other composer," Easton says. It takes a certain kind of player to play Bach's music the way Easton envisions, which "requires you to be a little bit Buddhist." "You need to have someone who is super nerdy, but who also has the capacity to play straight from their heart to the audience," Easton says. Manchester regularly performs with historically-informed ensembles and choirs in Australia and the UK. He says although we can never recreate exactly how music in the past sounded, the sharing of research and knowledge has its own rewards, including rediscovering music which hasn't been heard for centuries. "There's hundreds of years of western music before the romantic revolution got into the groove with the [classical] cannon," Manchester says. Boud, who is currently touring Australia, regularly performs with European ensembles specialising in the classical and romantic periods of music history. She has made the Netherlands her home. "I went on to study with the historical clarinettist from the Mozart concert I attended all those years ago," Boud says. "[After he retired], I took up his position teaching in The Hague." Nicola Boud is touring Australia with Musica Viva in July. Hear her Melbourne concert on ABC Classic later in 2025.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Carmen in Sydney, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon in Melbourne and Mozart's Clarinet across Australia
Opera Australia's new production of Carmen opens in Sydney, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates Deborah Cheetham Fraillon's music in Melbourne and Mozart's Clarinet tours Australia for Musica Viva as Alice Keath checks out the most exciting classical music events around the country this week. Bizet's Carmen in Sydney Opera Australia's new production of Bizet's Carmen opens in Sydney on 10 July, playing until 19 September. The production moves to Melbourne in November. Deborah Cheetham Fraillon in Melbourne To mark this year's 50th anniversary of NAIDOC week, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates the Strength, Vision and Legacy of Yorta Yorta / Yuin composer and soprano Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, Yinya dana: lighting the path at Hamer Hall on 11 July. Mozart's Clarinet tours Australia Historical clarinettist Nicola Boud joins cellist Simon Cobcroft and early keyboard specialist Erin Helyard for Mozart's Clarinet, touring nationally for Musica Viva Australia 15-28 July. Javier Perianes in Brisbane Javier Perianes performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra 11-12 July. Ravel and Falla in Sydney Jaime Martín conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in music by Ravel and Falla 10-13 July. Benaud Trio's 20th birthday in Melbourne The Benaud Trio celebrates its 20th birthday at Melbourne Recital Centre with a program pairing piano trios by Jakub Jankowski and Antonín Dvořák. Schubert, Britten and Brahms in Perth Edward Gardner conducts the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Schubert, Britten and Brahms 11-12 July. Piano Quartets in Perth The Chimera Ensemble performs piano quartets by Mendelssohn, Elfman and Schumann in Perth on 13 July. The Darwin Chorale celebrates 40 years The Darwin Chorale is celebrating 40 years of music making with a Ruby Jubilee concert on 11 July at Darwin Entertainment Centre. Aura Go in Melbourne and Werribee Pianist Aura Go joins the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra for music by Samuel Barber, Doreen Carwithen and Peter Sculthorpe in Melbourne 10 and 13 July and Werribee 12 July. Do you have a classical music event you would like to hear featured in What's On? Please complete this form to let us know the details and we'll consider it for inclusion. Event Submission Form
