The Recorded Sounds of Music
L. K. Kammain reference: Peter Johnson, “The Legacy of
Recordings,” in Musical Performance: A Guide to Understanding, ed. John Rink (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2002), 197–212.
The Legacy of Recordings
His Master’s Voice presence or
absence? Advantages of
Recordings perfection
but inauthentic? permanence
but lifeless?
Voice and Persona
Whose Voice? performer (foreground) composer (middleground) producer/engineer (backgro
und) Performer’s Persona
same voice, different personae
different voices, same persona
musician vs. person
Recordings as Evidence Problems
quantity of recordings condition of recordings complexity of the art of performance
Methodology depth instead of breadth
one music example with many recordings one aspect at a time
Recordings as Evidence Methodology
what you want to see and where to look for
historical trends geographical and genealogical styles personal style hermeneutics
the better the musician, the better research!
Recording Methods
1877 Thomas Edison: Tinfoil Phonograph (Cylinder)
Recording Methods
1887 Emil(e) Berliner: Grammophon (Disc) "Grammy" awar
ds of the US Recording Academy
Recording Methods: History 1888 Acoustic (with recording horn)
1888 tinfoil cylinder 1894 shellac disc
1904 Mechanical: piano-roll, ex. Welte-Mignon 1925 Electrical (with microphone and amplifier)
upper frequency from 3 kHz to 5 kHz realistic balance for larger ensemble
1936 Magnetic tape for masters (length unlimited) 1948 mono vinyl LP (long-playing disc) 1955 stereo vinyl LP 1963 compact cassette 1981 digital CD
Recording Methods: Problems
early recordings: more distortion but less manipulation no monitoring and editing for early ’78’ records
live vs. studio production spontaneity vs. idealization
ex. Culshaw/Solti/VPO’s Ring miss-/unnamed performers, ex.:
Schwarzkopf for Flagstad in Furtwängler’s Tristan Casadesus for Ravel in Miroirs
Instruments and Technique
Instruments “authetic”/period instruments
ex. wooden flute, narrow-bore trombone, gut-stringed violin
ex. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A, K622, II. Adagiomodern (Karl Leister )basset clarinet (Antony Pay )
Instruments and Technique
Instruments locality/regionality
ex. the Stokowski/Philadelphia Sound the Wiener Klang
Technique ornament cadenza
Case Study 1: Tempo and Timing
early recordings and tempo: shorter recording time, faster tempo? e.g. operatic arias
abridged score rather than hurried performance Francesco Tamagno’s Otello, 1903
e.g. Beethoven, String Quartet in F, op. 135, iii (Lento assai, cantabile e tranquillo)
Busch Quartet (1934): = 32, 3 sides Flonzaley Quartet (1927): = 58, 1.5 sides [rather h
alf side empty than slowing down]
Case Study 1: Tempo and Timing
tempo changes in ca. 70 years
Flonzaley 1927
Busch 1934
Case Study 1: Tempo and Timing
Case Study 1: Tempo and Timing
Flonzaleys (1927) vs. Lindsays (1987) both hold before subito piano in bars 7, 8
Case Study 1: Tempo and Timing
“change of gear” in bar 7–9: Flonzaleys (1927) more explicitly than Lindsays (1987)
Case Study 1: Example
Beethoven’s 5th,transition from III–IV score recordings
Furtwängler1943 Leibowitz1961
tempo maps
Case Study 1: Example Wilhelm Furtwängler
(b. Berlin 1886; d. Baden-Baden 1954) Influenced by Schenker
René Leibowitz (b. Warsaw 1913; d. Paris 1972) Influenced by Schoenberg, We
bern…
Case Study 2: Vibrato
unaffected by recording technology fast, continuous vibrato in early
Italian singing (vs. today’s wide and slower one)
strings and winds followed in the 1920s, but resistance until 1950s
Case Study 2: Example 1Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
Case Study 2: Example 2
Guttman 1928
Domingo 1980
Interpretation of Recordings
to reveal the diversity of interpretations to specify and support criticism to discover changing aesthetics
Elgar’s two “authetic” recordings of his own Violin Concerto (soloists: 1916 Marie Hall, 1932 Yehudi Menuhin)
Software
TIMING.EXE Sound analysis software
by Dr. Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, Department of Music, King's College, London
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