Thanks to Reg, Isabelle, Sally, Tako, Peggy and Lee Morgan for a multitude
of responses. After being on the list for almost two years Vocalist, in
whatever form, continues to be a rich source of the kind of information I'm
hungry for.
Re: Vibrato. Well, we settled that once and for all, didn't we? %^] My
current experience is that my best breath support results in quite a deep
(and, I think, pleasant) vibrato, but, as astute listers may have gathered,
I'm still, at almost 44, exploring my voice and any statement I make has to
be considered as 'in progress' rather than 'ex cathedra'.
Yes it can become tasteless, but taste varies so. Sort of re Peter
Schreier: there was a violin student here many years ago who would 'warm
into' a vibrato on long notes, keeping the speed the same but gradually
increasing the amplitude from imperceptible to quite vibrant. I really
liked that. However I think any change in the *speed* of vibrato would draw
attention to it as a 'thing' rather than as a component of something larger
and richer. (regarding Schreier himself: I've never whole-heartedly liked
his vocalism, or basic sound, and would have made different aesthetic
decisions than he.)
Re: difficult vs. good. Peggy made a good point, which I might paraphrase
as: just because something can only be performed effectively by
accomplished musicians, it need not be badly written. In vocal music this
can go in different ways: I may find Verdi very challenging, but goodness
does he know what the voice can do, if developed well! Schubert, as I am
discovering profoundly, requires mastery over the passaggio, but given that
and other development of technique, is an absolute joy to sing. Wagner
writes very gratefully for the developed voice, if once can only counter
the desire to push when the orchestra seems ready to overwhelm (it almost
always backs off for the singer anyway) and instead to focus (one feels a
pin in a big bed because it's pointy, not because it's big!).
Re: congregations singing in parts. The Hutterites, who have many colonies
in this region, are also developing this. As a secular beast I lament that
such elements of high culture don't seem to have found any secular
establishment, though for myself a nice mass or motet setting tends to blow
almost all secular choral music out of the water, if you'll excuse my
metaphor.
Re: register events etc. I know that over simplification is dangerous, but
I feel that more than just convention and convenience may make male singers
an octave lower version of female singers. john
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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