The use and importance of early recordings in performance practice research is widely known and acknowledged. In recent years, early sound evidence has been an inspiration for both performers and academic researchers in a variety of different music-based disciplines.

Unfortunately, very little research has focussed upon the production of such recordings, or the extent to which performers needed to adjust their playing in response to the recording medium and recording process. This talk discusses findings from (Re)constructing Early Recordings: a guide for historically-informed performance, a research project supported by the Leverhulme Trust and University of Huddersfield (2017-2021).

Unique and highly experimental, the project focussed upon the production of early recordings made with mechanical technologies, and aimed to understand the extent to which performers needed to adjust their playing in response to the recording medium and recording process.

Throughout four years, various recording contexts were reconstructed, including various phonograph cylinder recordings, and 7 and 10 inch records of solo piano and diverse chamber settings.

By presenting a selection of recorded materials, and discussing various mechanical recording technologies, the talk proposes a new research method in the study of early recordings, and suggests ways in which technological and reconstructive contexts form a redefinition of strategies of documentation, thus influencing future readings of early recordings and historically informed practices.

Speaker: Dr Inja Stanovic