Comparisons Between Two Recordings of the Same Composition
Assignment Prompt
Early in the history of Western art music, notation was sometimes quite vague and did not specify every aspect of a performance – there were a lot of choices left up to the performers. This means that two modern recordings of the exact same composition may actually vary quite a lot.
For your first longer paper, select a pair of recordings from the options at the bottom of this page, and write a paper of 1,000 words (MIN 900 words, MAX 1000 words) explaining some differences between the two recordings. Be specific, detailed, and use the musical features from class wherever possible. Your analyses of these pieces should be entirely your own. You may include outside sources for the background information on the composers or groups, but these must be cited, and this text does NOT count towards your word count.
You will have to listen to the recordings a few times to get to know them properly and compare them closely.
First listen to the two recordings with an ear towards the five musical features outlined in class: 1. meter (duple or triple), 2. mode (major or minor), 3. musical device (ostinato, bass framework or imitation), 4. texture (polyphony, monophony, homophony), 5. instrumentation. Think of the similarities that are consistent through the recordings. Take stock of these similarities and mention them.
Then listen to the differences. While listening, use the following questions to guide your notes on the differences between the recordings:
La Quarte Estampie Royal I performed by the ensemble Hespèrion XXI
La Quarte Estampie Royal II performed by the ensemble Aurea Proportio
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I uploaded two audio, you just need to compare what are the differences between the two music, from five aspects. 1. meter (duple or triple), 2. mode (major or minor), 3. musical device (ostinato, bass framework or imitation), 4. texture (polyphony, monophony, homophony), 5. instrumentation. You can illustrate this with a time frame. A time frame must include a start time AND an end time.
Comparisons Between Two Ensembles
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Due Date Comparisons Between Two Ensembles The project examines La Quarte Estampie Royal I performed by the ensemble Hespèrion XXI, and La Quarte Estampie Royal II, performed by the ensemble Aurea Proportio. The aim is to highlight similarities and contrasts between the two ensembles. La Quarte Estampie Royal is available on Aurea Proportio as Recording Two, in addition to the initial release on Hespèrion XXI. Members of the early international music group Hespèrion XXI usually performed in the ensembles. Jordi Savall, Montserrat Figueras, Lorenzo Alpert, and Hopkinson Smith established Hespèrion XX in 1974 in Basel, Switzerland. To symbolize the advent of the new century, they changed their name to Hesperion XXI. The Catena Aurea is the inspiration for the name Aurea, a symbol of esoteric alchemy that seeks to benefit humankind (Schab, 2022). Every Aurea event is based on this alchemy, in which contradictory ingredients are turned into a divine whole. The paper aims to investigate the similarities and differences in the ensembles in the following parts. Similarities There are several similarities between the two ensembles. When I listened to the first album of Ensemble Hespèrion XXI, I was struck by the number of sudden and drastic changes in pitch that occurred, particularly between the minutes 42:01 and 50:41. Although all eight notes begin and finish on octaves, the first recording is in the primary mode with the pattern Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Semitone, particularly at 25:56. This is a similarity found within both the recordings. The piece's contrasting sharp and gentle piano passages help distinguish between the two voices. Another similarity is that these recordings showcase Johann Sebastian Bach's outstanding skill and creativity. La Quarte Estampie Royal was considered a masterpiece even during the artist's lifetime. Because of the artist's generosity, we have access to various interpretations of this masterpiece, guaranteeing that everyone will discover a version that resonates with them and serves as a means of relaxation (Lysgaard,2019). Both recordings have distinctive sonic qualities, although one is more "woody" than the other. The first recording sounds far more professional than the second one, which has a minor mode because it comes out as impudent. I thought I was listening to a jazz ensemble for a while, particularly between seconds 0:36 and 1:58. Another similarity between the two ensembles is that there is excellent pitch variation in both. After listening to the performance many times, I could pick out any alterations in pitch. In the first performance, the volume decreases at a much more gradual rate, and there is far less variation in pitch than in amplitude. After 4 seconds, the first recording's pitch suddenly dropped, while the second recording pitch rose. The humor in the first act of the second performance continued. A minute later, it begins to rise again, accompanied by a soft, amused sound. Differences The fact that there have been similarities also presents space for differences, highlighted below. The first difference is that the version by Ensemble Aurea is much crisper and more precise in all respects, and the contrast between the two is obvious. Although...