| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
CONCEPTS OF INTERPRETATION |
221 |
||
|
|
|||
|
phasize the personality of the singer; and c) those that emphasize general
interpretational factors.
Emotional emphasis. In a broad sense, an emotion is a state of mind characterized by feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness, in varying degrees and combinations, accompanying mental or physical experiences. (W) To emphasize the emotional content of a song is to give force, prominence or vividness of expression to the more or less variable complex of feelings that accompanies its interpretation. Sherman reports (in the Journal of Experimental Psychology) that emotional characteristics of the singing voice can often be apprehended from qualitative vocal attributes, without the aid of outside clues. [547] However, two schools of thought are represented in the 25 opinions gathered on this subject. In the first group are those who believe that the emotional interpretation of a song should always be simulated; that genuine emotional feeling would be dangerous if not destructive to the singer's voice. "The effect of every moment of every scene must be prepared, calculated, studied and rehearsed in advance many times/* Furthermore, the experienced artist knows exactly what tones, looks and gestures he must employ to secure these effects. This is the opinion of Bidu Sayao, well known Brazilian soprano of the Metropolitan Opera Company. [491] Her opinion is seconded by A. M. Henderson who emphatically adds that it is not the singer's business to feel emotions but to make the audience feel them. Therefore, a singer's interpretation must always be convincing, though simulated. [240, p. 73] "We must distinguish between the having of an emotion and the expression of it," says Seashore. [505] Do not sing your personal feelings, no matter how real they are. Get entirely away from yourself when you sing the song. [Roland Hayes 232; Dunkin 150]
In the second group are those who believe that a singer must genuinely feel the emotions of his song and must impart his actual feelings to his listeners while singing. The following representative concepts summarize this viewpoint:
1. Always "give back" the mood of the music you sing with sincere feeling. [Geraldine Farrar 171]
2. "The trick is ... to live one's song." [Emma Otero 440]
3. "The emotional significance of the song*' must be thoroughly absorbed before the singer can communicate it through his voice. [Lawrence Tibbett 614]
4. Singing is something you feel, rather than something you do. [Kirkpatrick 317; Brainard 60] |
|||