Music Performance Issues: 1600-1900

With some justification, a commentator has described today's typical early-music performance style as the most modern thing around, despite its claim for historical accuracy. Early accounts reveal this to be a valid assessment, for today's technology and high education standards give us a massive advantage. In contrast to music composition, which needs no technology, music execution requires skills that can be greatly enhanced through technology. For example, the metronome (invented in 1816) is