Per Dahl – paper 2009

Presented at the Grieg Conference in Berlin May 14, 2009

Per Dahl, Norway
Professor, Department of Music and Dance
University of Stavanger

Intimacy versus Intensity
The impact of the microphone on the interpretation of songs by Grieg.
The title says “songs by Grieg” but I am sorry to say that I have not been able to study different recordings of several Grieg songs. On the other hand, a new listening to my 210 recordings of “Jeg elsker Dig!” exposed some very interesting contextual facts that I would like to share with you today. These recordings made between 1899-2005 made me conscious, the impact on the interpretation of Grieg from the microphone and other recording technologies. It seems that the traditional concert singer’s attitude is different from those singers where the use of microphone was essential to their career as singers. And there has been a change in the expression of intimacy in the performance of this song on records.

Download the whole paper here
Per Dahl paper 2009

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