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CONCEPTS OF INTERPRETATION sag |
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9. "Talking" songs which tell a simple melodic story are the best
singing materials to use for the first year's study. [Barbareux-Parry 34,
P- 279I
10. The pieces you love are the best music to choose for your singing
repertoire. [Wood 686, p. 18]
Three general comments are added to guide teachers in selecting song materials for their vocal students. Jacobsen advises against the use of texts that have been translated from another language. They are more difficult to handle in early studies and they often "seem to lose a good deal through translation" and the changing of the vowel sounds. [297] La Forest takes exception to the exclusive use of easy and simple songs for early repertoire. Simple songs are often too exacting and are therefore really difficult to the student. In simple songs, "the bare tone has to stand forth sustained, unaided and with perfect evenness." [326, p. 143] Finally, Easley points out two common differences between opera and concert songs; differences that are likely to influence the choice of early study materials. The opera aria is usually much more difficult than the concert song because a) it contains more "vocal gymnastics" and b) it usually expresses "more than one mood or emotional tone/* [154]
FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY AS A FACTOR
The literature of song is varied and extensive, encompassing many nationalities and many languages. Grove's Dictionary lists seventeen separate categories of national song literature in Europe alone. "The song of each nation has qualities and idioms of its own as distinct and definite as those of its language.** [708, vol. V, p. 1] Although many translations of favorite foreign song texts are available to English speaking vocal students, nevertheless* a vast foreign song literature is still inaccessible to beginning singers who are unfamiliar with foreign languages. The question of studying foreign languages as an essential factor in the early training of the singing voice is therefore of pedagogical interest. Of the 28 authors who discuss this subject, 21 endorse foreign language study, with emphasis upon Italian, and 7 are opposed to the foreign language requirement. The following arguments, pro and con, are interesting, though inconclusive:
Frances Aida would have the singer wha is preparing for opera study four basic languages: Italian, French, German and English. [5] Blather-wick adds Spanish to the four mentioned, claiming that "versatility is acquired through studying the songs of many languages." [52] Wharton's unusual argument is that singing a song in a foreign language allows the |
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