[Harp-L] Re: When Did Fast Become Good?

[martin oldsberg <martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Rowe wrote:
"When
 did we develop the mindset that playing at breakneck speed was the 
hallmark of a good player?  So often I'll hear a player rip through a 
run of 1/128th notes and the audience cheers like it was the second 
coming of Christ."

1795 or thereabouts, I´d say. Give or take a few years. The instrumental (thats a key word!) name is Niccolò Paganini. But of course ha tagged on to an existing tradition so that´s a simplification. "Fast is difficult so fast is good" seems to be the formula.

  Also N.P. was perhaps more associated with The fallen angel than with Christ -- a bit unfair I´d say: after all he only played the fiddle. His influence, though, is undeniable.
/Martin