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In the Forum: Musical Discussions
In the Thread: Ophelie Gaillard renders Bach Suites
Post Subject: Dynamics and musical stylePosted by steverino on: 6/21/2012
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Romy says: It took for me a bit
time to get accustomed to slightly higher pitch of viola and perceived
narrowed dynamic range but I went over it very fast and nowadays feel
that dynamic starving is beneficial to the suites as it highlights the
structural and chromatic beauty of the work.
People are so used to the frequently shifting dynamics of Romantic and 20th century works that they don't realize that such orchestrating is specific to those styles. In music from medieval times up to the 18th century dynamics were either viewed as indoor (soft) and outdoors (loud) or used in a terraced manner. A passage might be played at mezzo piano then mezzo forte or vice versa. Large stretches would be kept at a certain dynamic level. Crescendos and decrescendos were regarded as affectations in playing to be used sparingly if at all. Perhaps it was opera singing that suggested the use of more rapid fluctuations of dynamics to composers. Modern performers are so used to the Romantic manner of dynamics that they tend to apply it to earlier periods of music which didn't use it customarily. It is also true that large dynamic swings are rather disruptive to concentrating on the musical form. The stronger a stimulus the more that attention narrows to just that stimulus and blocks out less intense or subtler events.
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