Today's music culture is the result of the intersection of two ways of experiencing music: traditional live music and technology-mediated music (from record players to radios and from Walkman to smartphones). Since the days of Berliner’s gramophone, there has always been a conflict between these two types of music. This conflict is mirrored by the coexistence of opposing visions among musicians and music critics in the early twentieth century: the increasing encroachment of technology into musical life was perceived both as a "threat" and as a new opportunity capable of broadening the horizons of composition and interpretation. This thesis highlights two representative examples of this conflict in the second half of the twentieth century: Sergiu Celibidache (conductor) and Glenn Gould (pianist). The former refused to make records and only performed live concerts, while the latter abandoned his concert career and devoted himself heart and soul to studio recording. Far from offering a comprehensive perspective on an issue that transcends the boundaries of Western art music, this thesis proposes an introductory reflection on a subject that in Italian musicology has not yet received adequate attention – unlike Anglo-Saxon, German and Japanese musicology. The writer believes that such a reflection is particularly urgent in a social and cultural reality that, especially in the West, has in effect relegated live music to "non-essential activity" during the most acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
La cultura musicale odierna è il risultato dell’incrocio tra due modi di esperire la musica: la tradizionale musica dal vivo (o live) e la musica mediata dalla tecnologia (dal giradischi alla radio, dal walkman allo smartphone). Che tra queste due tipologie di musica ci sia sempre stato un conflitto, sin dai tempi del grammofono di Berliner, è dimostrato dalla compresenza di visioni opposte tra i musicisti e tra la critica musicale del primo Novecento: la crescente invadenza della tecnologia nella vita musicale venne percepita sia come una «minaccia» che come una nuova opportunità in grado di ampliare gli orizzonti della composizione e dell’interpretazione. Come esempi emblematici di questo conflitto nella seconda metà del Novecento si sono presi in esame due posizioni: Sergiu Celibidache (direttore d’orchestra) e Glenn Gould (pianista). Il primo rifiutò di incidere dischi ed effettuò solo concerti dal vivo, mentre il secondo abbandonò la carriera concertistica e si dedicò anima e corpo alla registrazione in studio. Lungi dall’offrire una prospettiva completa su una questione che evidentemente trascende i confini della musica d’arte occidentale, la presente tesi vuole essere una prima riflessione su un argomento che nella musicologia italiana – differentemente da quelle anglosassone, tedesca e giapponese – non ha ancora trovato adeguato spazio. Lo scrivente ritiene che una riflessione di questo tipo sia particolarmente urgente in una realtà sociale e culturale che, specialmente in Occidente, ha de facto relegato la musica dal vivo ad “attività non essenziale” durante le fasi più acute della pandemia di COVID-19.
Il dibattito tra musica dal vivo e registrazione nel Novecento
SAMARANI, DARIO
2021/2022
Abstract
Today's music culture is the result of the intersection of two ways of experiencing music: traditional live music and technology-mediated music (from record players to radios and from Walkman to smartphones). Since the days of Berliner’s gramophone, there has always been a conflict between these two types of music. This conflict is mirrored by the coexistence of opposing visions among musicians and music critics in the early twentieth century: the increasing encroachment of technology into musical life was perceived both as a "threat" and as a new opportunity capable of broadening the horizons of composition and interpretation. This thesis highlights two representative examples of this conflict in the second half of the twentieth century: Sergiu Celibidache (conductor) and Glenn Gould (pianist). The former refused to make records and only performed live concerts, while the latter abandoned his concert career and devoted himself heart and soul to studio recording. Far from offering a comprehensive perspective on an issue that transcends the boundaries of Western art music, this thesis proposes an introductory reflection on a subject that in Italian musicology has not yet received adequate attention – unlike Anglo-Saxon, German and Japanese musicology. The writer believes that such a reflection is particularly urgent in a social and cultural reality that, especially in the West, has in effect relegated live music to "non-essential activity" during the most acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/14855