That hokum recording of Bruckner's
August 16, 2007 5:34 AM   Subscribe

pronunciationguide - for aspiring classical radio announcers
posted by Gyan (9 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
That's a nice resource, Gyan. Thanks!

I've also found the guide developed by WOI Radio to be very helpful.
posted by LinnTate at 6:35 AM on August 16, 2007


Yeah, cool post, Gyan! I like how the site is so matter-of-fact, and not stuffy. You know they've got a casual vibe about all this when you read something like:

"German names, and others that might as well be"
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:52 AM on August 16, 2007


Hm, I couldn't find it in either of the guides, so maybe someone can fill in an embarassing gap for me: how to pronounce Les Noces? I generally dodge the issue by pronouncing it "Svadebka".
posted by Wolfdog at 8:17 AM on August 16, 2007


Awesome... from the Middle English page: The following is intended to give general advice rather than exact formulas: the trick is to sound authoritative and plausible, if not always exactly right.

Great find Gyan! This is something I don't think I'd ever have thought to go looking for, but will definitely use in the future.
posted by Bugg at 8:28 AM on August 16, 2007


Awesome link - truly Metafilter-worthy. :)
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:38 AM on August 16, 2007


Les Noces - I've always heard it pronounced: Lay Nos (long "o" - as in the English "nose" but with an "s" sound at the end rather than "z")
posted by imposster at 8:42 AM on August 16, 2007


I wish I could be enthusiastic, but I found too many mistakes right off the bat. Just in the Russian section:

Vladimir Ashkenazy vla-dee-meer ahsh-ken-ah-zee (Anglicized vla-di-meer is also fine)
The stress is on -nahz-, not -ahsh-.

Marina Mescheriakova mesh-chehr-yah-ko-va
The stress is on -ko-.

Modest Mussorgsky mo-dest
What happened to the last name? (It's moo-sor(k)-skee.)

Rodion Shchedrin ruh-dyohn sheh-dreen
It's ruh-dee-ohn (three syllables, not two).

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky pyoh-tr eel-yich chiy-koff-skee

It's eel-yeech (stress on second syllable). And "iy" is a very odd way to spell the vowel in the first syllable of Tchaikovsky.

Similar problems with LinnTate's link; for Godunov they say "gah-DOO-nuff" rather than the correct gah-doo-NOFF.

You know they've got a casual vibe

For some reason I don't find that inspiring in a reference site. If you're just rappin' about music, fine, but if you're trying to give accurate pronunciations, I'd like to feel you care enough to, you know, look things up. In a non-casual way.
posted by languagehat at 9:21 AM on August 16, 2007 [1 favorite]


Some words of wisdom from the BBC Pronunciation Unit and their phonetic guide (pdf)
posted by patricio at 9:58 AM on August 16, 2007 [1 favorite]


György Ligeti was pronounced totally differently than I had learned. I learned gee-yurg-hee li-gay-tee, but these guys thought it was juurj lig-et-ti. Who knows from pronunciation? I feel silly not knowing.
posted by nonreflectiveobject at 11:33 AM on August 16, 2007


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