--- John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...> wrote:
--- John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...> wrote:
> Dre,
> I wonder if the soft rolling 'r' can be a little
> related to the soft Dutch
> 'g'> though who knows? john (?)
Dear John and co vocalisters,
I think there is no relation between them, because the
Dutch 'g' is produced at the farthest end of the soft
palatum. As a matter of fact I had to learn how to
pronunciate the Dutch 'g', because my mothertongue is
a German dialect, the dialect of Aix-La-Chapelle
(Aachen) and in the beginning I had big difficulties
with the Dutch 'g'. In general: in big parts of
Germany people make an end-'r' that indeed is followed
by a schwa, bu that is still very much different from
the Englsh 'r'. (When speaking German I do that as
well.)If you use such an 'r' while singing you produce
a very ugly sound, that probably will spoil the next
word.
If you compare more modern singers with Lotte Lehmann
e.g., there is a tendency now to sing a bit more
natural, and Lieder pronunciation is closer to spoken
language than opera. But all of this is also related
to the distance between the audience and the singer.
Then there is the effect of the 'plop-filter' when
making recordings, that might filter out the rolling
aspect of the r. In general, nowadays, if you
pronunciate an r too clearly, it could be
interpretated as agressive, or at least as giving
extra emphasise to a word, especially when this word
has already been used a few seconds before. (cfg. das
Wandern: 'Das Wasser, das Wasser, das Wasser, das
Wasser'!)
I think in general the old rules are all still valid,
but you should modify them a little in the direction
of spoken language. There has been an even stronger
shift of singer's pronunciation in the case of the
'w', which is not produced as a 'v' (as it should
i.m.o.) by DFD for example and other singers. Then
there is the 'ä', which pronounced as the 'a' in
'maid' by people from the Rheinland and by others as
the 'a' in 'man', but slightly longer. The latter is
correct, but almost all Dutch singers (except for
Robert Holl and me, of course;) use the Rheinland
version. (Even worse, in cases where also Rheinländer
produce the a correct, they will still use the a as in
maid.(without the i of course).
I still think listening to Wunderlich is the best way
to learn how to do it. A nice book is 'Die Kunst des
Sprechens', also called 'der kleine Hey'. I'll look up
the publisher when I'm at home.
Best greetings,
Dre
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