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OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »

Commentary

02 Jun 2005

Alex Ross: THE RECORD EFFECT — How technology has transformed the sound of music

Ninety-nine years ago, John Philip Sousa predicted that recordings would lead to the demise of music.

The phonograph, he warned, would erode the finer instincts of the ear, end amateur playing and singing, and put professional musicians out of work. "The time is coming when no one will be ready to submit himself to the ennobling discipline of learning music," he wrote. "Everyone will have their ready made or ready pirated music in their cupboards." Something is irretrievably lost when we are no longer in the presence of bodies making music, Sousa said. "The nightingale's song is delightful because the nightingale herself gives it forth."

Click here for remainder of article.

Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music

Capturing Sound: How Technology
has Changed Music
Setting the Record Straight: A Material History of Classical Recording

Setting the Record Straight:A Material History of Classical Recording
Performing Music in the Age of Recording

Performing Music in the Age of Recording

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