How to pronounce the names of composers

Started by BobsterLobster, August 03, 2013, 04:24:54 PM

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pencils

Excellent, thanks.  Being a non-Danish speaker, I have never known how to pronounce Vagn Holmboe. Less than a minute of looking? I know have my answer.

lescamil

forvo.com is another great resource. You can hear a wide variety of words and names pronounced by natives, including many composers.
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http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,19772.0.html

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Opus106

Brilliant! I appreciate the emphasis on repeating the particularly difficult names.
Regards,
Navneeth

prémont

Quote from: pencils on August 03, 2013, 04:46:22 PM
Excellent, thanks.  Being a non-Danish speaker, I have never known how to pronounce Vagn Holmboe. Less than a minute of looking? I know have my answer.

Being a Danish speaker, I do not think the spoken pronunciation of Vagn Holmboe is quite correct. The melody is wrong, the highest "note" must fall on the stressed syllable "Holm", which we also pronounce with a stronger "stød" (see:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B8d) than the speaker does. And his vowels suffer from an unmistakable English/American accent. A pity they did not ask a Dane to do the speaking.
Any so-called free choice is only a choice between the available options.


prémont

Any so-called free choice is only a choice between the available options.

Marc

Har du rode med mig?

Is it really excellent?
Because it was meant as a dull joke.

It's from google translate!

lescamil

#8
You could also learn how to read IPA symbols (like many of you singers do, I'm sure) and read the IPA for composers' names, many of which are given on Wikipedia. The IPA for Vagn Holmboe is [ʋɑʊ̯n ˈhʌlmb̥oːˀ], which roughly sounds like "vaughn HUHLM-boh", except that the v is somewhat between the letters v and w, the first O in Holmboe is pronounced like the U in the word "bump", the letter b is devoiced, and there is a glottal stop on the end of the last vowel in Holmboe (the aforementioned stød). This makes it sound a bit different from the sound file from Google Translate. I'd love to hear a native Dane pronounce this to compare with the IPA, for there is really no substitute.
Want to chat about classical music on IRC? Go to:

irc.psigenix.net
#concerthall

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,19772.0.html

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prémont

Quote from: lescamil on August 04, 2013, 10:35:35 PM
You could also learn how to read IPA symbols (like many of you singers do, I'm sure) and read the IPA for composers' names, many of which are given on Wikipedia. The IPA for Vagn Holmboe is [ʋɑʊ̯n ˈhʌlmb̥oːˀ], which roughly sounds like "vaughn HUHLM-boh", except that the v is somewhat between the letters v and w, the first O in Holmboe is pronounced like the U in the word "bump", the letter b is devoiced, and there is a glottal stop on the end of the last vowel in Holmboe (the aforementioned stød). This makes it sound a bit different from the sound file from Google Translate. I'd love to hear a native Dane pronounce this to compare with the IPA, for there is really no substitute.

Even the IPA symbols represent an approximation. The "v" is a "v" as in very, and the "stød" is on "Holm" , not on "boe".

Actually the soundfile from Google translate is very similar to the way a native Dane like me would pronounce the name, except that the "stød" on "Holm" should be a little stronger.
Any so-called free choice is only a choice between the available options.

pencils

If someone doesn't teach me how to say his name correctly, I might just have to cry  :'(

prémont

Quote from: Marc on August 04, 2013, 09:24:55 PM
Har du rode med mig?

Hvad i alverden betyder "rode" i den sammenhæng?
Jeg er bange for, at ordet ikke kan bruges på den måde,

http://ordnet.dk/ods/ordbog?query=rode
Any so-called free choice is only a choice between the available options.

Ten thumbs

One name that is almost always given wrong:

Bartók Béla Viktor János
A day may be a destiny; for life
Lives in but little—but that little teems
With some one chance, the balance of all time:
A look—a word—and we are wholly changed.

North Star

Yeah and so is Takemitsu Toru, but so what. It's better that we don't mix which of the names is the surname.
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jochanaan

Quote from: Ten thumbs on August 07, 2013, 02:11:21 PM
One name that is almost always given wrong:

Bartók Béla Viktor János
Yes, I knew about "Bartók Béla."  But I didn't know he was also named Viktor and János...?
Imagination + discipline = creativity

Roberto

Quote from: jochanaan on September 25, 2013, 02:05:13 PM
Yes, I knew about "Bartók Béla."  But I didn't know he was also named Viktor and János...?
Wikipedia states it but I haven't read it in Bartók biographies.

Ken B

Wish I'd had this when I was in radio.

Did I ever have Kuijken wrong!

But I believe the guide had Dufay wrong, as I do know it was pronounced with three syllables.


prémont

Quote from: Ken B on February 20, 2014, 01:49:24 PM
But I believe the guide had Dufay wrong, as I do know it was pronounced with three syllables.

Yes, I have learnt to pronounce it dy-fa-y, but is it the right pronounciation? If it is right, it should be spelled Dufaÿ, I suppose.
Any so-called free choice is only a choice between the available options.

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen