So it's been a while since I've posted anything with this blog and that is due, in large part, because my laptop was stolen at my work. I never got it back and I gave up scanning Craigslist for it a couple of weeks after it went missing. I did however get a new laptop and hope to one day even launch my own website. Until then this blog will do all I need it to.
For me the thing that happened in the last few weeks that I'd like to share was the release of the Library of Congress "National Jukebox" program/website which has made available 10,000 historic recordings, most of which recorded on the old cylinder recording system.
Although there are very few that I would bother putting on my iPod so I could listen as I work out or drive there are a ton of really interesting recordings available. The Atlantic monthly made a list of the 9 best recordings 9 best recordings from the national archive.
In case you are too lazy to go look up that article I have decided to include some of those recordings as well as my commentary on them.
The first recording for your amusement is "O Soave Fanciulla" from La Boheme, performed by Enrico Carusso and Nellie Melba.
When I was in college and obsessed with opera singers and trying to be one I listened to everyone I could and read any book or magazine that came my way. It seemed like was always hearing about the "golden age" of opera singers and truth be told I was never sure when that was but my best guess would have been about the first half of the 20th century, give or take a decade.
As I was an aspiring tenor I was always hearing referances to names like Jussi Bjorling, Enrico Caruso, Franco Corelli, John McCormack and on down the line and of course purchased and borrowed recordings. To my modern ears tempered by studio recordings I just can't get over the tone quality. To me these singers all sound thin and unattractive with none of the richness or "ping" that I would expect a great singer to have.
Beyond the tone I am frankly unimpressed with the phrasing, breathing or dynamic contrast one can hear on those recordings. Now, I will say that I imagine this is due to the recording quality not being able to capture any of those subtleties. Moreover, I think it's possible that singers had to altar their interpretations to coordinate with the orchestra and achieve some sort of balance for this technology.
That being said, there is an odd shift in vibrato over the scope of recorded history. It seems that vibratos have become increasingly wider and as a result slower than you can hear on this recording. In fact, at times I don't hear any vibrato in the sopranos voice which would be virtually unacceptable by today's standards.
What I do find rather interesting and illuminating is to contrast this with purely instrumental recordings in which tone and technique have changed little in this time.
This next recording is alleged to be the first true "Jazz" recording in that it is not just ragtime music with a swing rhythm but it also incorporates the syncopation and most importantly improvisation that we come to expect of jazz music.
What is of particular interest to me is the tone of the Clarinet in this recording. The most notable on first listen is the extreme high notes it chimes in at the "head" of the piece. The high note, an E flat, makes me think that it is possible that the clarinetist is using the smaller and therefore higher E flat clarinet but that is a rare instrument used primarily in orchestral situations so is not likely.
Aside from the remarkable tessitura of the clarinet is the tone of the instrument on the record. It is rather shallow and not nearly as rich as I would expect from a player who clearly has a solid grasp of the clarinet technique. Though I am no expert on Clarinet or even woodwinds in general I am confident that a beginning to intermediate player would easily be capable of a more rich tone. The vibrato while fast is not unusual in Jazz music and is similar to the rate of the vibrato of the singers in the previous recording.
I find this important because from that observation I realize that the tone quality is inherently altered in these recordings. You are probably thinking "no duh" but the distinction is important to me because I can fairly easily imagine a higher quality clarinet in that mix but I find myself unable to do that with the singers. I'm not sure if this is because I'm more critical of the singers or if it is because there are still other stylistic elements that have changed more over time and I can't seem to reconcile them.
At any rate I find these recordings fascinating and I hope you take the time to explore them and let me know what else I should listen to!
For more listening
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/
For me the thing that happened in the last few weeks that I'd like to share was the release of the Library of Congress "National Jukebox" program/website which has made available 10,000 historic recordings, most of which recorded on the old cylinder recording system.
Although there are very few that I would bother putting on my iPod so I could listen as I work out or drive there are a ton of really interesting recordings available. The Atlantic monthly made a list of the 9 best recordings 9 best recordings from the national archive.
In case you are too lazy to go look up that article I have decided to include some of those recordings as well as my commentary on them.
The first recording for your amusement is "O Soave Fanciulla" from La Boheme, performed by Enrico Carusso and Nellie Melba.
When I was in college and obsessed with opera singers and trying to be one I listened to everyone I could and read any book or magazine that came my way. It seemed like was always hearing about the "golden age" of opera singers and truth be told I was never sure when that was but my best guess would have been about the first half of the 20th century, give or take a decade.
As I was an aspiring tenor I was always hearing referances to names like Jussi Bjorling, Enrico Caruso, Franco Corelli, John McCormack and on down the line and of course purchased and borrowed recordings. To my modern ears tempered by studio recordings I just can't get over the tone quality. To me these singers all sound thin and unattractive with none of the richness or "ping" that I would expect a great singer to have.
Beyond the tone I am frankly unimpressed with the phrasing, breathing or dynamic contrast one can hear on those recordings. Now, I will say that I imagine this is due to the recording quality not being able to capture any of those subtleties. Moreover, I think it's possible that singers had to altar their interpretations to coordinate with the orchestra and achieve some sort of balance for this technology.
That being said, there is an odd shift in vibrato over the scope of recorded history. It seems that vibratos have become increasingly wider and as a result slower than you can hear on this recording. In fact, at times I don't hear any vibrato in the sopranos voice which would be virtually unacceptable by today's standards.
What I do find rather interesting and illuminating is to contrast this with purely instrumental recordings in which tone and technique have changed little in this time.
This next recording is alleged to be the first true "Jazz" recording in that it is not just ragtime music with a swing rhythm but it also incorporates the syncopation and most importantly improvisation that we come to expect of jazz music.
What is of particular interest to me is the tone of the Clarinet in this recording. The most notable on first listen is the extreme high notes it chimes in at the "head" of the piece. The high note, an E flat, makes me think that it is possible that the clarinetist is using the smaller and therefore higher E flat clarinet but that is a rare instrument used primarily in orchestral situations so is not likely.
Aside from the remarkable tessitura of the clarinet is the tone of the instrument on the record. It is rather shallow and not nearly as rich as I would expect from a player who clearly has a solid grasp of the clarinet technique. Though I am no expert on Clarinet or even woodwinds in general I am confident that a beginning to intermediate player would easily be capable of a more rich tone. The vibrato while fast is not unusual in Jazz music and is similar to the rate of the vibrato of the singers in the previous recording.
I find this important because from that observation I realize that the tone quality is inherently altered in these recordings. You are probably thinking "no duh" but the distinction is important to me because I can fairly easily imagine a higher quality clarinet in that mix but I find myself unable to do that with the singers. I'm not sure if this is because I'm more critical of the singers or if it is because there are still other stylistic elements that have changed more over time and I can't seem to reconcile them.
At any rate I find these recordings fascinating and I hope you take the time to explore them and let me know what else I should listen to!
For more listening
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/
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