An Acoustic Disc in the Making: Re-enactment of Eugène Ysaÿe’s Recording of Schubert’s Ave Maria

Joanna Staruch-Smolec

Click the photo above to listen to the recording.

Franz Schubert, Ave Maria op. 52 no. 6

Re-enactment of an acoustic disc recorded by the Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931) with the French pianist Camille Decreus (1876–1939) for Columbia Records in 1914 (matrix number 36907-2)

Joanna Staruch-Smolec (violon) and Inja Stanovic (piano)

Recorded on December 20, 2023, at the University of Surrey, Guildford, on a 10-inch acoustic disc by Duncan Miller, following the methodology of historically-informed recording established by Inja Stanovic (University of Surrey, Early Recordings Association).

piano: Streicher, 1881; violin with gut strings  (romantic set: round-wound G, plain gut 1.26mm D, 0.88mm A, 0.68mm E)

My emulation of Ysaÿe's gestures is based on my PhD research at Université libre de Bruxelles and Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, under the FNRS Research Fellowship. I analysed his 12-inch discs (Columbia 1912-1914) using computational tools, emulation processes, and historically-informed recording techniques, complemented by a comparative approach involving Ysaÿe’s handwritten annotations on musical scores.

Click the photo for a short example comparing Ysaÿe's gestures as I studied them, with a general idea of modern style and 19th-century German style, all recorded on a 10-inch disc --->

Note that this is not how I would play this piece in a concert. I've adapted my playing to make it sound as well as possible on the disc recording. If today's musicians often modify their playing to suit a concert hall's acoustics or a microphone's specificities, acoustic technology arguably requires even more adaptation due to space constraints, balance issues, the need to send enough volume to the tube, etc. 

Click the photo for the modern recording of the Ave Maria session --->

Previous experience of acoustic sessions, including phonograph recordings, has guided me through the adaptation process. Acoustic cylinder technology is slightly different from disc (notably in terms of the frequencies captured), but it provides valuable experience since you can listen to the cylinder immediately after recording it (unlike discs, which require a lengthy pressing procedure).

Click the photo for an example of cylinder recording and listening process --->

Acknowledgments:

Huge thanks to Inja Stanovic for organising the session and playing with me, to Duncan Miller for recording and sharing his knowledge about the process, to Catherine Janssens for setting up and lending me the violin, and to Philippe Graffin for his artistic support during the session.


For more information about the methodology:

Stanovic, I. & Stanovic, A. (2021). A Chip Off the Old Block? Introducing the Practice of Historically-Informed Recording. Seismograf, Sounds of Science. https://doi.org/10.48233/SEISMOGRAF2603

For other acoustic recordings made according to this methodology, check the websites:

Redefining Early Recordings as Sources for Performance Practice and History AHRC-funded research network

Early Recordings Association (ERA)


My publications on the subject of Ysaÿe's violinistic gestures:

Staruch-Smolec, J. (2023). Towards a better understanding of Ysaÿe’s portamento: A comparative study of recorded and annotated evidence in a practice-based approach. In I. Stanovic & E. Moreda Rodriguez (Eds.), Early sound recordings: Academic research and practice (pp. 137–164). Routledge.

Staruch-Smolec, J. (2024). Reinterpreting Ysaÿe’s annotations: Musical sources relating to Franck’s Sonata in Viola Mitchell’s Collection (Juilliard School Library). Revue belge de Musicologie, 75-148. Recordings linked to this paper on RC: https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.2703490