Word: valveless
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Bach Choir presented an idealized--doubters might say distorted or impossible--image of the Mass. Far larger than the composer himself could have imagined this was not a purist's performance. It was honest enough to appreciate its own potential: valveless trumpets, natural horns, and wooden flutes all would have been senseless against a modern string section and mixed (rather than all-male) chorus. An unhappy marriage of old with new produces a far less satisfying result than either extreme followed completely...
...case, the playing of Tarr and Kent was excellent. Tarr handled four different varieties of trumpet extermely well; and his mastery of the valveless trumpet is a great wonder considering the art was lost for nearly two centuries. The program had unusual offerings, but except for the Greene suite those that were not unusual were dull. There are far better ways to employ the skills of first-rank artists...