Transforming Nineteenth-Century Historically Informed Practice (Transforming C19 HIP)

Contemporary performances of C19th repertoire by HIP ensembles reflect little of what is known about historical style. This has for many years led to unimaginative and ossified performances, frustrating historical performance scholars whose research and insights have had little or no impact on the professional sphere, and is increasingly causing problems for period performers as they struggle to establish a distinct identity in a marketplace where they are increasingly in direct competition with 'modern' orchestras (often playing the same repertoire with the same conductors and soloists in a similar style).
A number of factors currently impede the impact of scholarship on the HIP industry: 1) not enough research has been practice-led, leading to outputs which are not easily accessible, relevant, or serviceable to performers; 2) HIP groups are cautious about changing an aesthetic that has been popular with audiences and is now the expected norm. Little has been done to facilitate aesthetic experimentation amongst HIP professionals in a non-commercial environment, and there have been no significant attempts to engage audiences in knowledge exchange about C19th performance style; 3) existing research has been overwhelmingly performance centred (as the terms 'performance practice' and 'performance studies' suggest), despite the fact that performance is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the process that leads from initial preparation through rehearsal to public presentation. Transformation of performance is impossible without first transforming 'pre-performance' - the rich and complex set of practices that precede performance. The development of a performance consists of much more than rehearsal, and we use the term 'pre-performance' to recognise that there are many other factors, processes and interactions involved that take place beyond the practice room and away from the instrument (eg selection of performance material, personal practise and preparation) ; 4) Some historically evidenced characteristics of C19th style are fundamentally at odds with modern day performance training and methods of performance preparation:
-Unified/synchronized ensemble was not a priority for C19th performers, and being 'untogether' (cf. also hand asynchrony in keyboard performance) was deliberately used as an expressive device. Similar expression is not likely to be achievable using exclusively modern rehearsal practices even if ensembles accept non-alignment as an artistic objective.
-Rehearsing without a full score or bar numbers (as performers before the mid-C19th would have done of necessity) significantly affects inter-player dynamics and leads to a different awareness of harmonic, structural and expressive elements.
-The use of metronomes, and (over) familiarity with modern recordings contributes to an aesthetic where rhythmic precision is inappropriately overvalued, contributing to a lack of tempo fluctuation and expressive interpretation of rhythmic notation that has been widely observed in professional HIP.
Transforming C19th HIP will address each of these factors with a combination of scholarly research; empirical investigation; and practical enquiry and experimentation, combining historical performance and performance studies scholarship for the first time in a significant long-term research project. Centred on rigorous academic research, this integrated approach offers the possibility of far greater impact and influence than that of a traditional musicological approach alone. The research team brings together experience and knowledge of C19th performance practice, professional performance, psychology of performance, empirical musicology, performance studies, the study of creativity in performance, and professional HIP artistic direction. The project has two partner organisations: the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE), a leading ensemble in C19th HIP; and the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), a prestigious conservatoire.

Transforming C19th HIP aims to deliver demonstrable change in professional performance in addition to making an important contribution to scholarship. The project is carefully planned to maximise impact with numerous targeted outputs aimed at non-academic beneficiaries in the following areas:
(a)Professional HIP Ensembles & Performers
As the title suggests, the project seeks to effect a transformation of professional 'period' performances of C19th repertoire. Current HIP practices produce artistic results which are fundamentally at odds with both self-professed aims (including 'problematic' concepts like historical fidelity or composer intention), and with many aspects of C19th style. Scholarly criticism of this state of affairs has been largely ignored by professional performers; but increasingly testing economic and artistic conditions, mean that Transforming C19th HIP is very timely. We will work with HIP professionals to develop approaches and practices that engage with C19th performance practice scholarship in more informed and dynamic ways. Engagement activity related to Holden's AHRC project on string playing in Beethoven has paved the way and developed momentum for a more holistic re-evaluation of C19th HIP. The project's innovative multidimensional approach, which has been enthusiastically received by performers and HIP management professionals, will be crucial to delivering the impact objectives, producing world class research that is disseminated practically as well as academically. The involvement of an renowned HIP ensemble will be hugely important in achieving this objective, and since many of the OAE participants also work for other leading ensembles and teach in conservatoires, we expect impact to reach well beyond the partner organisations.
Audience engagement aspects of the project will provide HIP organisations with valuable data on audience attitudes to non-mainstream performance styles, in addition to 'educating' the public about C19th style and initiating important dialogues about artist/audience interrelationships. The Early Music movement established its audience base by presenting a distinctive and often 'edgy' alternative to mainstream performances of Baroque music; by clearly articulating the value of innovative yet historically aware, research-led approaches to C19th repertoire this project similarly aims to rejuvenate public interest.
(b)Student performers
The RAM partnership, spans academic dissemination and impact. The graduate students we will engage will, in many cases, emerge as the next generation of HIP professionals within a matter of months. The project will thus connect young specialist performers with research-led scholarship throughout a critical developmental period from full-time study, to transition into the profession. The impact on these performers will be broadening of musical horizons, active engagement with historical performance and performance studies research, questioning of restrictive and prescriptive elements of standard pre-performance methods, and the opportunity to (re)assess their individual artistic approaches to received notions of 'period-style'.
(c)Audiences
The project is unusual in placing audience engagement as integral to the research as well as dissemination. Consequently the project will deliver meaningful reciprocal knowledge exchange. The uncommonly high level of targeted audience engagement offers a real opportunity to break down barriers between HIP providers and consumers, giving both groups greater understanding of each other's attitudes and priorities.
Transforming C19th HIP brings audiences, performers, scholars, and professional organisations together in one project, with the prospect that it will result in some of the most publically discernible impact on HIP since the late 1970s, reconnecting scholarship and professional performance, and helping to define a new public identity for HIP at a crucial juncture in its continuing development