Vocalist.org archive


From:  mikebarb@n...
mikebarb@n...
Date:  Fri Oct 13, 2000  12:16 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] opera and speech (smarta** answer)




Elizabeth Finkler wrote:

>
>
> BTW, which version of "How Beautiful Are the Feet" are we discussing?
> Soprano, alto, or that weird duet-with-chorus in the "alternate takes"
> section of Watkins Shaw?
>
> Incidentally, the sweet old ladies at church tell me they can ALWAYS
> understand what I'm singing about.
>

The soprano version. My teacher stresses vowel modification and care with
consonants in the passagio are and above for the sake of vocal health. He
believes that all vowels should modified to one or two vowels above the
passagio. I know that is not an universally held, but it is not an uncommon
either. I had this piece when I first started voice and I was concerned that
the the audience would not understand when vowels , ect. My teacher told me
not to worry. Since words are repetitive, he felt that the audience would
already know the words and would think they were hearing the same thing again
when it was repeated in the higher portion of the voice, and tbecause of thus
modified. Anyway I suppose that one can most easily sacrifice clear diction of
repeated words, if it is in otherways useful.





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