# Dikmans on Historically Enlightened Performance ![[assets/Greg-Dikmans-Barossa-Festival-1995.png]] <small>Greg Dikmans playing at the Barossa Festival (Australia) in 1995</small> --- ## Welcome to my *Versuch* My name is Greg Dikmans and I’m an Australian [musician, educator and scholar](http://elysiumensemble.com/biographies/greg-dikmans/). I play the **traverso** (18th-century flute) and recorder. Here you will find some of my thoughts, research and materials that I’ve amassed in over 40 years as a practitioner and teacher of **Historical Performance Practice**. > [!nb] **Curiosity and self-driven exploration and discovery** > My aim is to help you deepen your understanding of historical performance practice, to foster your curiosity and promote the importance of self-driven exploration and discovery. --- [[What is a Versuch?]] [[What is Historically Enlightened Performance?]] --- > [!external-link] Related Websites > - I write about Historical Performance on my [blog](https://blog.dikmans.net) >- The [Elysium Ensemble](http://elysiumensemble.com) website has information about my recordings. --- ![[chapter-ornament-1.png]] --- ## Historical Performance > [!quote] *The notation gives us the raw but lifeless material from which we have to reinvent the actual music, applying the reading and performing conventions of different times and places.* > — Barthold Kuijken: *The Notation is Not the Music* (2013) [[§ Historical Performance]] --- ## Rhetoric and Oratory > [!quote] *The passions are the only orators who always convince. They have a kind of natural art with infallible rules; and the most untutored man filled with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without.* > > – François Duc de La Rochefoucauld: *Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales* (Paris, 1665). [[§ Rhetoric]] --- ## Johann Joachim Quantz on Performance > [!quote] *Musical execution may be compared with the delivery of an orator. The aim is to **master the hearts of the listeners** and **arouse or still their passions**.* > > — Johann Joachim Quantz: *Versuch* (1752) [[§ Quantz on Performance]] --- ## Jacques Hotteterre on Performance > [!quote] *As the transverse flute is one of the most pleasing and fashionable instruments, I believed I should undertake this small work to support the inclination of those who aspire to play it.* > — Jacques Hotteterre: *Principes* (1707) [[§ Hotteterre on Performance]] --- ## Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach on Performance > [!quote] *[The aim of the musician is to] sway in gentle undulation the ear rather than the eye, the heart rather than the ear, and lead it where they will.* > — CPE Bach: *Versuch* (1753) [[§ CPE Bach on Performance]] --- ## Francesco Geminiani on Performance > [!quote] *THE Intention of Musick is not only to please the Ear, but to express Sentiments, strike the Imagination, affect the Mind, and command the Passions.* > — Francesco Geminiani: *The Art of Playing the Violin* (London, 1751) [[§ Geminiani on Performance]] --- ## Recordings Live performances and excerpts from my CDs. You can also download the scores to study or just follow along when you listen. [[§ Recordings]] --- ## Traverso Study Resources ![[quantz-flute-engraving.png]] [[§ Traverso Study Resources]] **Music | Recordings | Source Materials** - Aimed mainly at traverso players, but there are resources and information that can be used by all instrumentalists. - Resources you can study and download. - Topics: - Technique and Daily Practice - Music with Audio Demonstrations - Recordings (with scores) - Evolution of the flute --- <small>© Greg Dikmans</small> ---