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