# Dikmans on Historically Enlightened Performance
![[assets/Greg-Dikmans-Barossa-Festival-1995.png]]
<small>Greg Dikmans playing at the Barossa Festival (Australia) in 1995</small>
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## 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.
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[[What is a Versuch?]]
[[What is Historically Enlightened Performance?]]
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> [!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.
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![[chapter-ornament-1.png]]
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## 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]]
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## 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]]
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## 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]]
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## 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]]
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## 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]]
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## 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]]
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## Recordings
Live performances and excerpts from my CDs.
You can also download the scores to study or just follow along when you listen.
[[§ Recordings]]
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## 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
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<small>© Greg Dikmans</small>
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