Performance Practice Seminar Spring 2019

3-page paper

Guidelines

Select a short (2-5 minute) performance originally recorded before 1930, preferably a recording on an instrument or voice-type similar to your own.

If possible, find a score online that is similar to the one used in the performance.  Use the score to assist your listening experience.

In three pages (double-spaced, 12 point), do three things:

First, note your impressions when listening to the recording the first few times.

Second, analyse the early 20^th-century  performance by comparing the performance characteristics you notice in the recorded performance with your expectations based on your own experience as a performer.  Be as detailed as possible while staying within the constraint of a three-page discussion.  Possible points for observation include the relationship of soloist and accompanist; intonation;  vibrato;  tempo and tempo modification; tone production; recording technique.

Third, revisit the recording a day or two after having completed your analysis, and describe how your perception of the recording after the analysis compares with your initial perceptions.