Nikolaus Harnoncourt has been able to add to his impressive career as a performer and director, no less dense and influential repertoire of writings and analysis of what might be called the "philosophy of ancient music." Originally published in 1984, this collection of essays contains some of the juiciest Harnoncourt contributions to the musical thought of our time. Considered by many as the true "creed" of one of the most authoritative historical musical interpretation voices, texts gathered here are an excellent compilation of thirty years of experience and reflection for a better understanding of early music, and very particularly the baroque. A music that speaks to us from a code that the interpreter and the listener of our time need to know to fully understand the "speech sound" of each era.