Wednesday, May 4, 2011
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Welcome to the blog for IS 380 Song and Poetry. Here is where you will post comments, reactions, and questions to assignments and classroom discussions. Please use this source with complete respect. It will be an excellent way to learn from your colleagues, as well as your instructors. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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As I am not certain where I should post the comparative listening assignment/analysis upon this blog, I shall post it here since this base post seems more appropriate than the one about jingles.
ReplyDeleteIn the fall of 2010, I enrolled in a class entitled Oral Interpretation of Literature. In it, each student performed a variety of texts throughout the semester, but on occasion a few of these performances would be based upon the same text. Whenever this phenomenon would occur, the students were able to experience firsthand the variability in performed interpretations. Likewise, with this listening assignment, we the students are intended to notice the variance in interpretations of Schubert’s Heidenröslein. Barbara Bonney’s performance of the piece is light hearted aesthetically, an ironic approach to Goethe’s original poem (on which Heidenröslein is based) that many interpret to be about rape. Despite the talent Bonney displays by singing in an upper register, the performance fails to capture the power of Goethe’s original and, because of the cadence provided by the piano, seems to represent a lighthearted moment about a boy picking a rose rather than a metaphor for a boy stealing a girl’s virginity. If Bonney intended irony to reinforce the darkness of the lyrics or to represent a society who plays little attention to women’s rights, then these elements do not transfer over as well to an audience who does not speak German. Schreier’s performance, while it does contain the occasional high note, consists primarily on a lower octave and, in certain instances, is recitativelike, which is much more appropriate for piece, but unless an individual has a translation in front of himself or herself, the severity of the actions that occur in the poem are not fully recognized. While this is certainly not like Bonney’s Sound of Music styled narration, it is still somewhat impartial, which is perfect for a German audience but not for an international demographic. Both performances are enjoyable, but material such as Heidenröslein should not leave the audience feeling joyous without capturing the darker aspects of any interpretation of the piece.
In the comparative music for Heidenröslein, D257 - Franz Schubert. The first version I listened to was Hermann Prey - Heidenröslein, D257 - Franz Schubert. It was steady and sounded like a solid tempo building up. It was sung by a man. The second version of Heidenröslein, D257 - Franz Schubert was light and had good harmony. It was sung by a women. It had articulation in the notes and sounded really nice.
ReplyDeleteThis is Brittany Long and I really don't know where I am suppose to post this at but this is my analysis of the two videos:
ReplyDeleteThe obvious contrast between the two videos of Heidenröslein is one is sung by a man and the other a woman. Another differences in the video is their sound quality. The live recording sung by Peter Schreier seems to have a poor sound quality when compared to the rendition sung by Barbara Bonney, maybe it is because it is live and not digitally recorded and it seems to be an older video. This I believe makes it more abstract because their is nothing added or taken away from the original sound of the singer himself. To me I related more to him because it allowed me to focus in more on his actually vocal abilities as a singer and catch mistakes if any in his rendition. He conveyed the text of the song well in the live recording and because his voice was more powerful in singing I believe it but more emphasis on what the original artist was trying to convey.
On the otherhand, the rendition of the song by Barbara Bonney was good as well but her voice was not as strong in certain parts of the song that I thought should of have more emphasis on them. The quality of the video was better than the live recording because it was digitally enhanced. By it being that way I believe it was easier to be able to catch mistakes in breathing and emphasis in the song that might not be as easy to catch in a live recording. Even though, I thought the live recording was better, the digital recording was more pleasant to the ears because it was less of a strain to hear. She also conveyed the text of the song well besides her many soft points in the selection. The one thing I would probably change about her version would be to switch it to a live recording as well to test how abstract she is as a singer live.