@zpedro, back in my other guise.
Okay, I just wanted to say first that it was a good article and I enjoyed reading it. However, I would return back with a couple of nuances. Also, unless our director replies (he is more studied than I), I am less historically orientated and more performance... I'm sure he could provide better feedback.
For the bow example. If we only used discarded or lost bows to recreate the past then I would agree, perhaps we are on the wrong path. But we do have knowledge about the making techniques and designs that have been documented in writing and also in other sources. I would have to follow up by asking the makers here in NL, but they have studied their craft to an equal depth as what we have done as performers.
With the wine bottle analogy, I think it is a bit of a flawed analogy as it can be read in many ways. Too much is left to personal experience, I would prefer to drink the good wine instead of the bad. Money and potential future value is of less importance to me than the pleasure of actually experiencing the wine! But I'm not sure I understand the point completely!
I think the "forbidden" argument holds some weight, on the other hand writing that something is forbidden doesn't necessary indicate something was common either?
I agree with the fact that we only have hints and clues and that we can never (especially in such an ephemeral art as music) know the complete truth. However, I would argue that we need to inform ourselvesproperly (so beyond memorising a few sentences and stereotypes from a couple of famous treatises) before we make an artistic decision. Our musical "instincts" are only born from experience (of which scholarship is part of it). That said, I would argue that after we study, we should drop the books and not be extremist or ideological about our choices. However, I know in Early Music, that is not necessarily the prevailing view!
Hope that makes sense, it's late and I'm tired. I agree with you, that we can't know the complete truth, however it is not a futile effort to try and inform ourselves!
Of course, I'm not saying we should dump what it's written! After all, that's all we got. But creativity, science and logic make as much difference as reading what is left from the past, and that's what I meant about the "upside-down" History.
For example, I have a friend that wanted to prove that Portuguese guitar descended from the Arab citar, but of course nothing is written about such a instrument from the lower classes... He went after the police reports, finding someone that was playing citar at 4am beneath a beautiful lady's window or something like that... Clever studying!
Anyway I agree with you 100%! There's this difficult balance between reading and respecting the early music sources and images and whatever is left, and following musical "instincts" and let creativity flow. Some people do too much of one thing and become dull and boring... Some people do too much of the other and become a bit of circus players disregarding everything.
About the wine analogy, I should say I'm talking about collecting wine bottles, and not the wine itself :)