ResearchWorks: Simon Wills - Inauthenticity: A Historical Perspective

Understandably, studies of London's musical life in the nineteenth century have concentrated on artistic achievement but a comprehensive survey cannot escape the conclusion that artistic achievement was a scarce commodity. Concerts were put on to make money: even the Royal Opera, which had many of the characteristics of a court opera, was run as a commercial enterprise - usually with catastrophic financial results. 

Managements, driven by the need to sell tickets, advertised not musical refinement but the number of musicians engaged and the amount of noise they made. 'Replenishment' of scores became widespread so that a Gluck or Handel opera generally featured tubas, ophicleides, clarinets and plenty of percussion. Matters were made worse by a culture of absenteeism among players, who either sent inadequate deputies or simply failed to show up for work.

Drawing on archives in the UK, USA and France, this ResearchWorks talk by Simon Wills sets out to understand a chaotic musical environment by examining its economics and working practices. It considers the idea that the thoughtful orchestral performances that are given nowadays using period instruments are not accurate reproductions of what was done. Should they be? How much authenticity can we really stand?

Speaker:

Simon Wills has taught at Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 1986 and has been a visiting professor at the Conservatoire Superieure in Paris, the University of North Texas, Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Osaka, Tallinn Academy, Kurmangazy Institute in Almaty and the Kazakh National University of the Arts in Astana. He set up the western music teaching faculty and chamber concert series at the University of Trinidad and Tobago and taught composition and brass ensembles at the Institute for the Arts in Havana as part of the Cuba/Europe orchestral academy. 

Simon spent some years in the London Symphony Orchestra and was simultaneously principal trombone of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, a post he held for fourteen years. During his time with COE, the orchestra recorded its celebrated Beethoven and Schumann cycles with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Simon's work in historical performance has included the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Orchest van de Achttiende Eeuw, Gabrieli Consort and Freiburger Barockorchester. He has a particular interest in the role of brass in popular and low-class entertainment and the role of music as an engine of social mobility. He contributed two chapters to the Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments and wrote a number of entries in the recent award-winning Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Brass Instruments.

Guildhall School’s ResearchWorks is a programme of events centred around the School’s research activity, bringing together staff, students and guests of international standing. We run regular events throughout the term intended to share the innovative research findings of the School and its guests with students, staff and the public.