On the Execution of Music, and Principally of Ancient Music

A musician-scholar surveys how music should be performed, focusing on early repertoires and their evolving notation, vocal practice, and harmonic language. He traces changes from chant notation through medieval diaphony to Renaissance polyphony, examines Palestrina-era conventions and later emergence of expressive devices like the dominant seventh, and critiques historical and modern renderings. He discusses instrumental accompaniment, shifts in tuning and bowing, and how changing instruments and conventions alter interpretation. Practical examples and aesthetic judgments illustrate tensions between historical fidelity and expressive modern performance, with recommendations for attentive tempo, dynamics, and voice use when reviving older music.