Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Invitation for Bach performance practice research

Hi, I am a doctoral student from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I am investigating if people are able to estimate the recording date of a performance based on the performance practices heard in the recording.

The work that I am using is JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations performed on the piano.

The survey is conducted online. You will hear several recordings of different sections of the Goldberg Variations. You then have to attempt to match the recording to its performance date.

The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

The survey and more information can be found here:
Goldberg Variations performance practice research


Many thanks
Stephanie

Of course an opinion means nothing when it comes to surveys, but I'm guessing that the recording quality will overshadow any difference in performance characteristics that have changed over the years. Also, individual pianistic style will predominate an era that only includes audio-recorded history. If you could hear a performance of Bach, say, from 1700 then I'm sure pianistic style could be better correlated to era.

The Goldberg Variations is a strange choice, given that perhaps the most influential piano recording (for both musicians and general listeners) of the 20th century was Gould's 1955 version. But perhaps that is what you are researching. Had you chosen say English Suite number 5, it would bring with it far less baggage.

Hi, thanks for your comment, you are correct in what you say re. audio quality.The audio samples used in the survey are normalised so that they all have the same sound quality. There has been much written about changing performance styles of Bach through the 20th Century. The purpose of this research is to see if people are able to identify how old a performance is based on the performance practices trends that they can hear in the recordings. Hopefully this will give an idea if there are trends that are recognisable.

The reason that the Goldberg's was selected was because it was one of the most regularly recorded work of Bach on the piano. The performances that were selected were based on reviews written at the time of their release. The performances were considered to be in the taste of the day. Interestingly Gould's 1955 recording was reviewed in a positive light on its release but certainly was seen as something different and unusual to how Bach was being performed at the time of its release.

I am not sure how valid this particular "research" is, given that your test subjects will have such widely varying ranges of listening experience and perhaps limited knowledge of twentieth-century Baroque performance practice. If the recordings have all been normalized to have the same sound quality, is it not going to take experts in the field to determine the dates of the recordings on the basis of idiosyncrasies of performance?

I think it is erroneous to assume - as your question suggests - that all performers at given time were indulging in the same performance practices. Your above statement about Gould's first Goldberg recording suggests just the opposite, so how would one judge?

Regards,

That would be assuming that the point of the survey is to (1) test the listener's accuracy, and not (2) to test whether a listener could determine the era.

(1) would require input consistent with era trends, and (2) doesn't require much of anything.

But neither answer really affects us, and we should just take the survey anyways.

When it comes to style of performance, a lot is subjective since there were no recording devices until after the 1900s with Thomas Edison's first recording. A lot of later 19th century work, we know more or less how the pieces should be played based on surviving students of great composers in the 20th century.

Back in the 18th century, even the tempo is guesswork because the metronome hasn't been invented and a lot of music does not have the number of bpm indicated. In the 20th century, the instruments were tuned to the 440-A. Around the 1985 during the 300th year celebration of Bach & Handel, there was a period instrument movement. We're talking about older instruments that are available in the Baroque period and the tuning was dropped to 415-A to give a more historical sound.

For keyboard instruments you have the 2 main ones: harpsichord & piano. The Brandenburg #5: 1 performance may be on a harpsichord with the tuned to 415-A while another may be on a piano tuned to 440-A. The 440 version may be earlier than the 415 version. We're making the assumption that piano is a later instrument and therefore, the piano performance (tuned to the standard 440 pitch) should be later than the harpsichord (tuned half a pitch lower to 415) but this isn't always the case.

Not sure if all the performances in the survey are piano or harpsichord versions?

Back when I listened to a lot of music, I could pretty accurately name the performers of recordings I never heard before. It wasn't perfect, but by and large some piece would come on the radio, GF would say "whose playing cello/piano/whatever" and I was pretty reliable, though of course sometimes I'd get it wrong.

So, back then I would probably score very high on your test unless all performers are relatively unknown. But it proves nothing about my ability to detect performance styles, and a lot about my knowledge that Perleman recorded with Askernazy in the mid/late 70s, for example.