Abstract guest lecture Matthias Heyman
The past century has seen the rise of an interest in the historical recreation of western classical music. Specialist-performers have reconstructed music from the medieval to romantic eras on stage, in the studio, and in historical venues. Often, the goal was to perform the music in its assumed ‘correct’ historical context. This practice became known as historically informed performance practice (HIPP). Recently, HIPP has been adopted to later classical music, including ‘jazzy’ compositions such as George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924).
Yet, HIPP is not an established practice in jazz and popular music. Many repertory bands are dedicated to a historical repertoire, but few attempt a full-scale recreation, be it live or on record. Indeed, note-for-note reproductions such as of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (1959) by Mostly Other People Do the Killing on their album Blue (2014), are notable–and hotly debated—exceptions. This begs the question: Does historical recreation have a place outside of classical music? My answer is an unequivocal yes.
