Hi Nande,
According to what you wrote I would infer that a vocalise is defined
as a vocal etude, i.e., a melody for the voice used for learning and
not for performance. Of course there are many instrumental
compositions called "Etude" that _are performed and are worthy of
performance, e.g., Scriabin's Etude in C# minor op.2 no.1. According
to my definiton of "etude" Scriabin's "Etude" is not an etude, but oh
well. And neither is Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" a vocalise because it
was not written for the voice (at least I don't think it was) and it,
too, is certainly worthy of performance.
If an etude is defined as a melody used for learning and not for
performance, and a vocalise is defined as a vocal etude, then my
vocal quintet does not perform vocalise arrangements of instrumental
compositions and I must stop telling people that we do. Instead I
should say that we perform wordless arrangements of instrumental
compositions. Actually, that's probably better regardless of the
definition of the term vocalise, since nobody except musicians, and
maybe just singers, has any idea about what a vocalise is. When I
recently used the term "vocalise" in an audition notice in Backstage,
THE magazine, at least in New York, for a certain type of singer
(musical theater, I think), even there someone at the magazine
wondered whether I meant to use the word or whether I had mispelled
it. I think I'd better drop the term for describing my group.
Thank you for response, as it has helped me to improve the marketing
of my music!
So, is there a term that is defined as a song without words? I
remembering hearing from a friend that there is such a term in
Hebrew, maybe "niginum"?
Be well,
John
http:/www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink
Check out my CDs:
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink2 (John Link Sextet)
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink (John Link Vocal Quintet)
|
|  |
