Chris Bonds wrote:

>... the suspicion lingers that all too many mediocre musicians look to HIP
>as a sort of salvation, something to distract them from doing the work of
>getting good.

Only with those who don't frequent early music concerts in the last few
years.

I spent 8 years in a symphony chorus environment, explored early music
sounds for another 12 years (while still enjoying the symphony sounds) and
went back to the chorus for a year of 9 performance weeks, loving every bit
of it while still loving the early music sounds.

But in chamber music concerts, I have heard very good modern musicians
with good reps play baroque and even Beethoven music severely out of tune.
Since I think good-tuning a basic prerequisite of "getting good" ...  the
quality depends on the individuals, and generalizations of the type you
make might have held some substance in the 60s but no longer.

>Somewhere along the line it's what the music has to say that matters, and
>HIP is only worthwhile to the extent it makes the music happen.

ANY style of attempted music making is only worthwhile to the extent it
succeeds...

  - A
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