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TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE |
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brings tht song to birth." [143] Thus, a multiple function devolves upon
the verbal context of the song. [Lawrence 335, p. 15]
Another frequently mentioned element in interpretation is style, a term that Webster defines as "a distinctive or characteristic mode of presentation, construction or execution in any art." In singing, style is the distinctive or characteristic manner or method of performing a song that exhibits "the spirit and faculty" of the artist. (W) Greene stresses the importance of individuality in style. "Individuality," he says, "is the antithesis of self-consciousness and conventionality." [209, p. 36] Haywood uses style to denote general or group characteristics of singers, while interpretation is used to describe individual characteristics and differences. [233] In a later discussion of interpretation, he lists such factors as rhythm, tempi, phrasing, melody, nuance, diction, and the use of accent, climax and contrasts in word and phrase. All these song factors are subject to personal differences of interpretation. [234; also Herbert-Caesari 269, p. 6] According to Henderson, style is distinguished from interpretation in that the former is general and denotes the character of a period, school or master, while the latter is particular in that it discloses the individuality of the singer. It is apparent, therefore, that individual differences in singing are more obvious in the interpretative than in any other aspects of vocal expression. [243, p. 149]
Artistic deviations in performance. One of the most striking discoveries
in the field of interpretation is the prevalent tendency of leading vocal artists to make minute individual deviations from the notated values in a musical score, during their singing performances. Scientific measurements taken by Seashore, Metfessel, Stevens and Miles, and others, clearly indicate that absolute standards of performance among artist singers are practically non-existent. Metfessel sums up his findings as follows in the Bulletin of ike American Musicological Society: "No two musical performances, or for that matter, no two behaviors of any kind, are exactly alike. The notated pitch and rhythm of a musical selection are never rendered precisely. From measurements of sound waves from the violin and the voice, it is possible to find out just how much deviation there is in artistic performances." [391]
Seashore and Tiffin believe that these minute individual differences in performance, in their totality, serve to distinguish one artist's interpretation from another and contribute to the aesthetic effect. "One is struck with the great liberty that the artist takes with the conventional musical notes. Presumably the beauty in the rendition lies in the artistic deviation from the conventional notes, both as to pitch and time." [508] As a result |
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