The most obvious source of historical performing practice information for the nineteenth century is the instrumental treatise. Since much of this book relies upon treatise evidence, a chapter devoted to the topic might appear superfluous. Fundamental issues of what treatises discuss – posture, physical movements involved in the act of playing, left-hand and right-arm technique and style – are addressed throughout this book. The aim in this short chapter is to consider not so much what information they convey, but more what form of literature they comprise. Scholar-performers tend to invoke treatise evidence rather in the manner of biblical scholars arguing over points of theology, and behaving in a learned way in this discipline hinges somewhat upon a deploying a catalogue of quotations that support or refute various performance standpoints. Equally, it is normative for ‘micro-histories’ to concentrate in some considerable detail upon particular items of evidence, or on geographical/chronological contexts. Neither of these approaches is bad, and I demonstrate both in this handbook. My objective here, however, is distinct from both of these; it is rather to take a step back, so to speak, to consider the potential effectiveness and limitations of treatises as a form of evidence for performing practices. Just as theological scholars need to understand the nature of the materials they handle in order to ascertain meaning and context, so, too, historical performance scholars need to move beyond a literal understanding of their texts.

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF UNDERSTANDING

Treatises of the nineteenth century, beginning perhaps with the Méthode of the Paris Conservatoire, evidence great variability of detail, purpose, audience, and intention. These four poles need to be borne in mind by any investigative scholar. A list of key materials is provided in Appendix 3 on the book website. As with any historical document, careful thought needs to be applied to the witting testimony (explicit outlining of ideas and principles), and unwitting testimony (the importance of that unsaid; inferred attitudes and meanings) of a treatise. This is all elementary to the historian or literary scholar, well aware of the ‘figured worlds’ in which many writers comment in specific cultural and activity contexts. Not all performance scholars think in such ways though, and users of historical performance materials should beware of the perils of blind faith! Furthermore, many historically interested performers are not primarily ‘musicologists’.