I believe another reason that music is frequently used by soloists in
oratorio has to do with the fact that frequently the soloists lines fall
within the context of a chorus. I covered the soprano part for rehearsals
of Mozart's "Solemn Vespers" recently & many of the solo lines were 4-6
bars in the middle of the chorus & then 4-6 more bars 25 bars later, etc.
Not following along in the score could be disasterous in works such as
this.
Pat
On Thu, 10 May 2001 14:51:38 -0400 Naomi Gurt Lind <omigurt@m...>
On Thu, 10 May 2001 14:51:38 -0400 Naomi Gurt Lind <omigurt@m...>
writes:
> Karen wrote:
>
> >I believe the reason we "accept" (and, for me increasingly,
> *prefer*)
> >soloists in oratorio using their music is that it is wholly
> inappropriate
> >for an oratorio/sacred soloist to gesture with the hands, face,
> body,
> >etc. Sacred oratorio is not meant to be *acted*. The "book in
> hands" is
> >not there so much as a reference for the singer as a prop to
> prevent the
> >singer from indulging in gesticulations, etc. IN oratorio, *all*
> >expression should be through the voice, possibly reinforced by the
> eyes
> >and a subtle change in facial expression. The music is meant to be
> wholly
> >NON-self-serving - to glorify God, not the singer. The singer is
> merely
> >the vessel and instrument by which the music glorifying God is
> conveyed.
> >Obviously, most human beings are to fallible to be truly egoless
> when
> >performing sacred music. The next best thing is to *try* to be
> egoless and
> >to at least *appear* to be egoless so that your concern with self
> is not
> >conveyed to the listener.
>
> I've always wondered about this, actually. For the sake of being
> devil's
> advocate, I have to ask how a singer could *separate* vocal
> expression from
> acting. To my way of thinking, the acting and singing come from the
> same
> place! I don't agree that *any* music is "not meant to be acted",
> since I
> believe that acting is part of singing. And of course many of the
> oratorios are stories; surely there should be some kind of acting
> involved.
>
> On the other hand, as you say, expressive choices in opera ought to
> be
> designed to draw the listener's attention to the meaning of the
> music and
> text, rather than to draw attention to the skill of the performer.
> (I
> believe this to be true for most music, not just oratorio. But then
> again,
> I don't sing bel canto...) And I can think of few things more
> repugnant
> than an oratorio soloist miming or gesturing the intent of the
> words!
>
> Ideally, glorifying God in oratorio singing doesn't entail standing
> still
> like a bump on a log, nor does it entail prancing about. In the
> wise words
> of my friend Alexa, "Just sing the notes and mean the text."
>
> Naomi Gurt Lind
>
>
>
>
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>
>
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