Rachel asked:
Can any of our sages give me some advice on taking quick breaths? I'm working
on a Handel aria ("Rejoice greatly") and have to take quick breaths in two of
the runs. When I breathe "in rhythm," I can't seem to get enough air to
complete the passage, but breaths that allow me to get adequate air take too
much time and interrupt the flow of the music.>>>
Hi Rachel! I sing this aria all the time, and I was wondering about your
needing to breath in the middle of any of the runs. I find I do not have to
take a breath at all if I manage my air correctly, and part of that
management includes using my back at the very end of the runs. Also, the
16ths have to be 'on the breath'. I don't know if you have heard that term
before, but if you can do it, you can sing 16th notes for days! I am sure
there are people on this list who have explained what this phrase means, and
could oblige again, because I'm not sure I can explain it well enough without
being able to demonstrate what I'm talking about.
Of course, the tempo has a LOT to do with this. What metronome marking are
you singing this at? I do around quarter note = 116. If you are going
slower than this, maybe you can speed up a bit to the point where you don't
need to breath.
You may not be able to go faster or do it all on one breath--a lot of
sopranos, esp. lyrics, can't do this. I am lucky to be a coloratura, and
this is my bread and butter. I actually had a conductor ask me why I wasn't
taking a breath, and I explained that I didn't need to and that Handel really
intended it to be sung all on one breath. I guess he was used to sopranos
always needing to take breaths.
I'm sure I know which 2 runs you are talking about---the really long ones!
In the first one, m.20-23, if you really must breathe, I would do it at m.22
after the second C in the measure (the 7th 16th note in that measure),
because that is the end of one musical idea. Pavarotti says that you have to
remember to relax enough to take air in. I don't know if you have tried that
yet. If it still is impossible to get the breath without breaking the line,
then go ahead and drop the very next note after that second C--the E, and
take your breath there. Then just come in on beat 3 with the F.
In the second run that's really long, m. 71-75, it is harder to take a good
breath because instead of 4 mini-phrases that are all alike, like he had in
the previous long run, there are 6 of them! There just is not a good place
to breath there at all. So the next best thing is to take a not-so-good
breath, and I would do it in m.73 on the 'and' of beat 3, where the two 16ths
F and E are. Just don't sing them and come back in on beat 4. You will
hardly notice the missing notes at all---there are so many other ones!!!! :-)
Hope this is of some help!
Elise Curran
Orlando, FL
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