Recorded Performance Traditions

Individual recordings, or recordings by individual performers, do not exist in a vacuum. They form part of a wider recorded performance tradition. Without an awareness of this wider tradition, our understanding of specific recordings and the output of individual performers remains limited. Furthermore, general observations about the performance style of a certain era cannot be made based solely on such limited information. If someone discovered a recording of Vivaldi performing one of his concertos, for example, it would be remarkable, but we would only be able to make accurate observations relating to that particular performance document and not to the era or to Vivaldi’s own general style. José Bowen articulates this idea further, stating that when listening to a recording, it should be remembered that ‘not all nuance is due to individual choice’, and one must find a way to distinguish between ‘the general style of the period, the specific traditions of the musical work, and the individual innovations of the performer’. ¹ The surest way to distinguish between these traits is to listen to as many different recordings, by as many different performers, from the largest span of time possible. To appreciate whether Vivaldi’s accelerando on every ascending semiquaver passage was a trait unique to the piece, unique to Vivaldi’s violin playing, or a part of the general performance practice of Vivaldi’s time, one would have to hear other recordings of Vivaldi and of as many of his contemporaries as possible. To frame Vivaldi’s recording historically, one would need to hear examples made both earlier and later. With access to such a timeline, one could trace aspects of interpretative approach, possibly identifying the origins of Vivaldi’s style and possibly identifying to what extent Vivaldi influenced his contemporaries and subsequent generations.