I read an article this weekend, about Bach in the 21st century. I’ll post details about it later – it was a good article. However, before I forget to comment on it, I wanted to write about the one of the parts that stuck with me. Would Bach have used modern instruments if they had been available at the time? The author of this article – whose name escapes me at the moment – says, yes. I think I agree. I still want to play Bach on a traverso, but my decision to never perform on one seems to be a good one.
We know from the range of the Sonatas that they were written for flute, not recorder. One could argue that Bach was using the most technologically advanced flute of the time when he wrote for the one-keyed traverso. If this is the case, shouldn’t we continue to play on the most technologically advanced instruments? Wendy Carlos’ brilliant Switched on Bach comes to mind when arguing this point. Does the fact that the performance is on an electronic instrument diminish the virtuosity of the playing? I think not. In fact some have said that S-OB is one of the most technically perfect recordings of these works.
So why should I feel bad about playing on the Miyazawa I have? Maybe I don’t need that traverso after all…
