Vocalist.org archive


From:  Ernie Valenzuela <erniev@2...>
Ernie Valenzuela <erniev@2...>
Date:  Wed Oct 4, 2000  2:38 am
Subject:  [vocalist-temporary] Text and Singing


Damn! This is good!!

Doctor Hanson, you know, feelings of guilt envelop my being every time
I read posts like these because I feel like I'm stealing as I sit in on
these
cyber lessons & I'm not writing out checks for tuition payments.
This post goes in the vault, thank you. Thank you!

----Original Message-----
>From: Lloyd W. Hanson <lloyd.hanson@n...>
>From: Lloyd W. Hanson <lloyd.hanson@n...>
>Subject: [vocalist-temporary] Text and Singing
>Date: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 6:43 PM
>
>Dear mike and Vocalisters:
>
>Song text and song melody are not always of equal importance in all
kinds of song material.
>
>Art Song such as German Lieder, French melodie and the ever present
English/American Art Song is often defined as an attempt to blend text and
music such that a new form of art is synthesized from this combination; a
synthesis that has value in and of itself and is no longer beholding to
either of its forming roots. Thus a song by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf or
Faure, Debussy, Dupark etc. cannot be analyzed according to just the text or
just the music. (This is also sometimes true of Brahms but he did have a
habit of writing the song first and "jamming the lyrics in afterward" as you
put it).
>
>Other forms of song do not attempt to fit this mold. Either the text is
most important and the musical expression takes a back seat or the music is
most important and the text basically doesn't much matter. Any time a true
synthesis of text and music is created, however, one is listening to Art
Song regardless of the time frame or the composer. We have difficulty
knowing what to call these itinerant masterpieces of popular song when they
appear. Some call them "classics" some "American Standards" etc. etc. But
there is a common recognition of them as very special and different from the
run-of-the-mill songs that pour out of the popular music field in any age.
>
>Opera is not song. Opera is not dialogue. Opera is not libretto. Opera
is not scenery. Opera is not lights. Opera is all of this and its sum is
greater that the whole of its parts. The primary dramatic force in opera is
not the story, nor the voices, not the scenery nor the lighting, but the
music. This is the most easily understood element of opera because it does
not need any pre-arranged explanation nor teaching. The music of opera
gives it a dramatic impact that is known, not understood, felt not
evaluated, intuited not analyzed.
>
>Because music, as found in all of its forms in Opera (sung, played,
danced), is the primary dramatic element it is most necessary for the
performers to attempt to convey that musical primary element ahead of their
own personalities. To do so in no way deprives them of "becoming" the role
they are playing, it only deprives them of projecting their own, non-opera
personalities into the mix. In legit theatre this is called good acting, in
opera it is called the same.
>
>But many who wish to hear every word or have the subtle dramatic force
of the music explained through pantomime or choreographed acting have
already eliminated themselves for what opera can offer. They are more at
home with music without words or words without music.
>
>This latter point is substantiated by many statistical polls developed
by National Public Radio and Public Television. "Do not play sung songs
(instrumental transcriptions of songs are OK), nor choral music, nor opera
on these mediums except at out-of-the-way times or at one special time per
week (Met Broadcasts)". I believe the reason for this response, which now
dominates the programming decisions of NPR and PBS, is the fact that song,
choral music and opera demand too much attention from the listener and the
listener's use of public radio and television is not within this spectrum of
attention.
>
>mike, if I understand you correctly, it is your assumption that the
German Opera model uses a strongly emphasized cover (Deckung) in the upper
reaches of the voice in order to maintain a consistent vocal quality
throughout the range of the voice. Actually, the Deckung approach was
developed to assist the singer through the passaggio area of the voice and
it is most often criticized as a poor approach precisely because it distorts
the more natural color of the upper reaches of the voice and tends to
destroy the consistent vocal quality that is desired throughout the vocal
range.
>
>The Italian system of "aggiustamento" or vowel adjustment (modification)
is a more natural, more easily taught, and more easily listened to
correction to assist the voice through the vocal passaggio, especially in
forte singing. This system is based on accurate acoustical principles of
what can and cannot be accomplished with vocal resonance in this area of the
voice and above. It does not distort the vowel excessively and makes
possible intelligible text in even the farthest reaches of the female voice.
>
>All of this is from Miller and he is the first to say it is not his but
what he was taught by Ricci years ago in Italy and that through Ricci it has
come down to us from the Bel Canto period of opera singing. Miller has done
us the great service of re-examining these early and most successful
teachings methods in light of modern science and justified their value
through a more objective analysis.
>
>Opera singing is sometimes done well. For me, when it is done well,
there is no music on earth that is more satisfying. Listen to Warren,
Bjorling, Price, Tebaldi, Callas (early recordings), etc and allow the
totality of their expression to move you. I know you do.
>
>--
>Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
>Professor of Voice, Pedagogy
>School of Performing Arts
>Northern Arizona University
>Flagstaff, AZ 86011
>



  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
5099 Re: Text and Singing RALUCOB@a...   Wed  10/4/2000   3 KB
5105 Re: Text and Singing Bobby Kravitz   Wed  10/4/2000   3 KB
5124 Re: Text and Singing qed   Wed  10/4/2000   5 KB
5197 Re: Text and Singing Patricia M Smith   Fri  10/6/2000   3 KB
5215 Re: Text and Singing RALUCOB@a...   Fri  10/6/2000   2 KB
5266 Re: Text and Singing Patricia M Smith   Sat  10/7/2000   3 KB
5288 Re: Text and Singing RALUCOB@a...   Mon  10/9/2000   2 KB
5294 Re: Text and Singing Patricia M Smith   Mon  10/9/2000   2 KB

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