HIP, Embodied Knowledge, and the Practice of Harmoniemusik

A case study of the period-instrument Harmonie ensemble Boxwood & Brass is used to show how theories of embodied knowledge from theatre, anthropology, and musical performance studies can illuminate the epistemic nature of historically informed performance as a form of practice-research. It is argued that practice itself should be acknowledged as a primary research method in both historically informed performance and historical musicology rather than being located ‘downstream’ of documentary study. The argument is illustrated by a discussion of how performing late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Harmoniemusik arrangements suggests a reconsideration of the historiography of the Harmonie. Practice-based insights are supported by a close reading of written sources suggesting that far from being ‘mere’ functional music for social occasions, Harmoniemusik arrangements were at times valued more than original works as a site for wind players to express their artistry and develop their own embodied artistic practice.