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How the British Library Sounds Archive helped my research
August 18th, 2009
How the British Library Sounds Archive helped my research
I was asked to write a short report on how the Edison fellowship from the British Library, Sound Archive, helped my research.
Rare recordings
The Edison fellowship granted me access to recordings that were not available to me otherwise. Apart from one recording, the library had all the recordings that I needed. One very rare recording, for example, was acquired by Jonathan Summers via HMV Japan.
With the help of the computer software that I am using on premises, I discovered interesting aspects of the gestures that the various early performers do while doing the Sprechstimme part. This sheds light of how exactly performers interpreted the work at its very early interpretation history.
Access to books and articles
The fact that the Sound Archive is part of the library is very convenient since I had access to many books and articles. I found that two books were published in the last two years that quote my research and are important for that chapter that I am writing now.
Recording reviews
One of the things that I found most helpful is the availability of almost all the reviews of recordings that I needed. These reviews give an idea of what people heard and focused on while listening to these early recordings.
I plan offer in my chapter criteria for building and evaluating Sprechstimme interpretations, based on what these performers did. An understanding of the performance legacy of performers from Schoenberg’s circle, and other performers mentioned in the discography, is important for appreciating the initial historical interpretation of this music.
Meeting people
Coming to London created an opportunity to meet Jane Manning who is a famous performer of Pierrot (she recorded the piece three times). This meeting gave much material for thought. Jonathan Summers gave me interesting ideas for finding materials and was very helpful with other information concerning copyright procedures.
Peace and quite
The fellowship helped me to arrange time to research these materials with the peace and quite that is needed for doing such work.
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