Bach's Musical Journey: Exploring Chromatic Fantasies - Essay Sample

Introduction

In his entire lifetime, Bach composed approximately one thousand two hundred pieces of music. There were also twenty-three works which were either unfinished or lost. Bach is well known for his compositions like Toccata and Fugue in D minor, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, and Air on String among others. However, in his two recordings of Chromatic Fantassy; the harpsichord performance by Trevor Pinnock and the harp performance by Andrew Lawrence-King he explored various musical elements to give an exceptional rendition. This paper focuses on examining the differences between the harpsichord performance by Trevor Pinnock and the harp performance by Andrew Lawrence-King across various musical elements and transition.

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In recording 1, Trevor Pinnock's performance, the recording used the harpsichord as the mains instrument of the pieces. On the other hand, in recording 2, Andrew Lawrence-King performance used the harp instrument. The two devices differ significantly from the two recordings. Similarly, the two recordings have significant differences in their timbre. For instance, in Andrew Lawrence-King's performance, the musical and tone quality is resonating and exceptionally balance. The harp usage produces explicit tone quality as compared to recording 1 recording where the tone is extraordinarily high and sounds irritating. Overall, the tonal variation exhibited in the two recordings portrays the performer's credibility and professionalism in their instruments as well as the best instrument to be used.

Additionally, in terms of pitch, the two recording exhibits a big difference. Pitch is the quality of all sounds governed by the vibration rates in its production, as well as determines the degree of lowness or highness of a sound. In most cases, it is the perceptual property of a sound that allows their frequency-related scale ordering. In the two recordings, Trevor Pinnock's performance has a low pitch, and the production of sound from the harp instrument is adversely balanced. There is a relative rise and fall of intonation and sounds while the instrument is being played. Notably, Andrew Lawrence-King's recording has a higher pitch, and the sound production starts on a more elevated tone that can irritate the audience.

The speed on the two recordings from Chromatic Fantassy by Bach is different. Speed is defined as how faster performance is within a given time frame. In recording 2 by Andrew Lawrence-King, harp recording has a rational and low speed. An increase signifies specific effect or mood to be created as compared to recording 1 where Trevor Pinnock's harpsichord recording has high speed. In the latter, the recording starts from a more top note and continues that way through the performance while in Lawrence-King's harp recording, the speed is gradual and develops as the performance proceeds. Although the quality of speed determines how best performance is, in most cases if it is not adequately evaluated and balanced, it can irritate some audience. The speed on an entire recording or production should be moderate and only increased to add or remove specific effects to the musical pieces. The feeling and taste of any musical composition depend on the speed with which it was recorded and the impacts of developments that might be initiated.

Dynamic in musical performance shows how loudly a piece of music can be played. On the other hand, articulation in a musical part shows how the note should be a song or play. Rhythm is the pattern in time of the music. From the two recordings, it is worth noting that they exhibit an exceptional difference in terms of dynamics, articulation and rhythm. For instance, in recording 1, Trevor harp, the dynamic is high as compared to recording 2, where Lawrence-Kings the dynamic is low. The artist's choices of note are also different to reveal a difference in articulation. Although there were certain similarities towards the end of each recording, the beginning showed a different pattern. As a result, it is also worth noting that they differ in rhythm, thereby making it hard to understand them properly. The music played and recorded by the two artists, Trevor Pinnock and Andrew Lawrence-King, in recording 1and recording 2 have substantial differences. The difference in tone colour or timbre revealed from the performance makes them different. Similarly, the difference in pitch and loudness reveals that each genre of the recording has unique characteristics. Likewise, Trevor Pinnock's adds an introduction and develops gradually towards the end. This shows that the introduction and developments in each piece show that they substantially different. As one starts from a high tone and maintains the pitch throughout, the latter has gradual evolution as the recording and the performance proceeds.

In recording 1, Trevor Pinnock adds ornaments to the recording to the melody lines as compared to recording 2, where Andrew Lawrence-King maintains one type of instrument. It is easier to tell what the performer is adding in Trevor Pinnock's recording. For instance, different pitches signify a different meaning and an increase of decrease shows that the performer is communicated a thought or a feeling. For example, in recording 1, Trevor Pinnock starts at a low tone and develops to high pitch before falling back to a moderate one. This variation on signifies balanced ornamentation for a specific function in the entire performance. In terms of mood or effects, the two returns are different. In recording 1, Trevor Pinnock's overall mood is rousing while in recording 2, the mood is witty. The cause of the variation is based on the difference in timbre, pitch, and speed as well as additional ornaments and a balanced tone in one as compared to the other.

After listening to the two recordings, recording 1 on the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock and recording 1 on the harp by Andrew Lawrence-King, the latter is preferable. The characteristics of an excellent musical piece are determined by its pitch, tone variation, speed, timbre and the choice of instruments. In recording 2, all these requirements are met, and the performer exceptionally balances their application to give a clear and balanced rendition. The development of the piece starts on a rational point and develops gradually as the performance intensifies. Similarly, the overall performance of recording 2 is balance in terms of the rhythm used as well as other valuable characteristics that the performer adds to make it more exciting and appealing to the ear. On the hand, recording 1 has a high pitch which is extremely hard to cope up with and listen to for a long time. The pitch is irritating, and the speed is high such that it becomes tough to follow the developments that the performer is making in his presentation. Overall, recording 2 allows one to follow the events like the performance proceeds strictly.