Dear Linda and Vocalisters:
You wrote:
>I think what causes consonants to break up the legato line is what
>happens when singers unwittingly sing like pianos (very slightly). If
>the singer momentarily drops the vowel tone to go and do another, to
>wit, a consonant, this break with legato will be perceived. It's
>interesting how often this happens without realising. If the singer
>makes a concentrated effort to maintain the tone right up to and into
>the consonant and out the other side, I see no reason why the consonant
>should break up the vowel line, even when it is unvoiced and has length,
>like ss or ff.
COMMENT: I agree completely with this description of how to maintain
the vowel line through consonants. You presented a nice articulation
of factors that are in play during the process.
You also wrote:
>On the subject of colouring vowels, do you think this is more an
>Italian/German phenomenon? With the recent death of Suzanne Danco there
>have been a lot of recordings of hers played on UK radio this past two
>weeks, and I was struck with how different the French sound often seems
>to be, with a greater differentiation and definition of the vowels.
>Lloyd, do you find the "French Way" different from the Italian, and if
>so, do you think they are both suited to the performance of music from
>each other's tradition?
COMMENT: Sorry to say, I am not familiar enough with the singing of
Suzanne Danco to use it as an example.
Here is a limited American view of vowel coloring as I have noticed
it in singers and from teachers in these countries. There is a
difference, and a marked one, between the use of vowel coloring in
Germany, Italy and France. Germans generally do not care much for
chest voice in female singers but would rather that a low form of the
middle voice be used. Italians seem to find the female chest voice
sensuous and encourage its use when appropriate. French singing
seems to fall clearly into two camps, one of great delicacy in which
mf is often the loudest dynamic and a much more dramatic vocal
expression. But the French are very careful about vowel accuracy
because it is such an important part of their language, not only for
meaning within words but for inflection which is more subtle. I
would agree that the French sing "with a greater differentiation and
definition of the vowels".
But I find nothing in any of these variations that would be a
detriment to performing operas or songs from any country with the
vowel usage that is common to the singers language and their singing
tradition.
Randy has made mention many times about the distortion of vowels in
the female lower voice and he appears to attribute this not only to
some pedagogical techniques but to the opera tradition itself. The
singing of Rene Fleming, in particular, has been mentioned as
displaying very distorted vowels in her lower range. From the little
I know of the technique she has been taught by her teacher it would
appear that the closed vowels, especially [e] are used on a regular
basis for vocalizing and that she is encouraged to "hang the jaw" as
much as possible. If this is so, and that is a big if, it is logical
that she would not be as able as she should to form all of the vowels
in all portions of her range. And if that is true, and it is a big
if, then I would not consider that technique to be adequate for the
needs of her roles.
Personally, I do not find her low voice to be that offensive nor do I
find her vowels that off base. But I do find the overly bright,
highly emphasized vowel production of Dawn Upshaw more than a little
upsetting. I wish for a better balance between bright/dark in her
voice.
All of the above, when it applies to individual voices, is only my
personal likes and desires. It is of no real importance unless it
indicates some malfunction of the vocal mechanism and I do not think
this is displayed by either singer. They both have fine technical
use of the their voices.
So the question remains, does Opera require a distortions of the
vowels in order to create that operatic sound? Lets tackle that on
in another series of exchanges.
PS.
This discussion has brought me back to one of my resources. I would
like to quote Miller regarding the "The Well Balanced Vowel", page 74.
"The ideal (singing tone) is acoustic mobility rather than acoustic
stabilization".
"Balancing resonance factors is best accomplished through timbre
uniformity, not through uniformity of buccopharyngeal positioning".
"Unification of vowel timbre results when each vowel is permitted, in
freedom, to assume its own distinctive acoustic shape while
'tracking' the frequencies that provide the voice with its carrying
power".
Thanks for the discussion.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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