This study investigates the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice among the South African flute-playing fraternity. Consequently, grounds are established on which to claim a lack of the implementation of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South African flute pedagogy and playing. The main research question that underpins this study is: <ul> <li>Why is there a lack of integration of Historically Informed Performance Practice into the mainstream of current flute performance practice among South African flute pedagogues and players?</li></ul> This research question is addressed through three sub-questions: <ul> <li>Is there an awareness of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa as outlined by performance and pedagogy internationally?</li> <li>How is Historically Informed Performance Practice incorporated into the South African flute examinations system? </li> <li>Does the knowledge of Historically Informed Performance Practice prepare one to be a balanced musician or flautist?</li> </ul> The findings that emerge from the investigation of the research questions are: <ul> <li>South African flute pedagogues fail to differentiate between Historically Informed Performance Practice and ‘authenticity’. This could be attributed to the fact that relatively little research and discourse into Historically Informed Performance Practice has been conducted by South African scholars and musicologists. </li> <li>While Historically Informed Performance Practice is thought to enhance students’ performances of Early Music, resulting in better-balanced musicians, it has not been significantly exploited by South African flute players.</li> <li>South African flute students are superficially aware of some elements of performance practice, but are generally not historically informed with regard to the performance of Early Music.</li> <li>There is no clear indication of Historically Informed Performance Practice being incorporated into the South African independent flute examination system.</li> <li>While there are numerous specialists in Early Music locally, flute pedagogues and players perceive them to be scarce, perhaps due to a lack of discernable demand for historically informed performances by South African audiences.</li> </ul> The research synthesises questionnaire and interview data from local flute pedagogues, Early Music specialists and both national and international flute students in an attempt to discover the reason for the lack of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa. Additionally, a survey of websites detailing South African Early Music activity is performed using the Internet, in order to ascertain if the basis for a future in Historically Informed Performance Practice exists nationally. Lastly, content analyses of the three primary South African independent examination boards’ syllabi and of the former flute periodical, Flufsa News, elucidate the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice nationally. / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Music / unrestricted

Dans ce mémoire, nous avons étudié l’impact du mouvement HIP (Historically informed performance) sur la manière dont les flûtistes interprètent le répertoire baroque depuis 60 ans. Nous avons analysé avec Sonic visualiser des enregistrements de cinq flûtistes, réalisés tant sur la flûte baroque que la flûte moderne. Le logiciel a permis de générer des données graphiques qui appuient objectivement les constats observés en ce qui a trait au tempo, aux ornements, aux articulations, aux nuances et au vibrato. En comparant ces enregistrements, nous avons remarqué qu’il existe plusieurs points communs entre les interprètes qui jouent sur un instrument baroque et ceux qui jouent sur un instrument moderne, au point où l’on peut parler d’un transfert des pratiques d’interprétation de l’un vers l’autre. Nous avons aussi fait une synthèse de quelques sources baroques afin de vérifier dans quelle mesure les interprètes observent ces indications. Nous avons observé qu’au cours des années, le mouvement HIP a changé la définition de ce qu’est une interprétation authentique et qu’il a modifié la manière dont les flûtistes modernes dans leur ensemble interprètent la musique baroque. / In this master’s thesis, we studied how the historically informed performance (HIP) movement has impacted the way flutists have approached Baroque repertoire since 1960. We analyzed recordings from five flute players with Sonic Visualiser. We used this software to generate graphical data to objectively support our observations on tempo, articulation, dynamics, and vibrato. By comparing recordings made on baroque and modern instruments, we found that in the past 20 years, flutists who are performing this repertoire on the modern flute started integrating performance practice from the baroque players in their own performance of early music. To contextualize the performance practices, we synthesized a few baroque sources to verify the extent to which flutists have respected these indications. Through the process of this research, we observed that the HIP movement has changed the definition of an authentic performance of early music and that it has modified the way modern flutists perform Baroque music.