| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
CONCEPTS OF INTERPRETATION |
*39 |
||
|
|
|||
|
[op. cit.] The very fact that the voice is human endows it with certain individual characteristics that distinguish it from a mechanical sound product. Minute individual deviations in performance exist, even among artist singers. The experiments of Seashore and others tend to confirm the belief that the entire process of voice production is motivated by the singer's expressional impulses or, in other words, by his desire to communicate to a listener the intimate, individual thoughts and feelings that are engendered by his understanding of the song. These, in brief, are the general theoretical concepts underlying the pedagogy of interpretation in singing.
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Techniques of interpretation in singing are many and varied, but only those are considered that pertain to the basic training of the vocal artist. The 317 methodological statements gathered in this area include concepts of visualization, motivation, the importance of text, song selection, foreign language study, memorization, note connection, variety and tone color, techniques of song analysis and certain aspects of artistic performance. These concepts are briefly summarized as follows:
Visualization. Interpretation follows a preconceived mental pattern. It is not a haphazard or impromptu vocal utterance of the thoughts contained within the text of a song. In this respect, singing differs from speaking. The former is a prepared expression, preceded by a reflective process that requires the mental anticipation (visualization) of each phrase before it is sounded; the latter is largely improvised utterance. The singer really sings in his mind, the body merely serving as a passive instrument or channel of expression.
Motivation. In a certain sense, the voice is an emotional barometer because the slightest variation of feeling is instantly registered in the quality of the vocal sound emitted by the singer. Hence, the vocal interpretation of a song is motivated by the desire to express emotional as well as intellectual and musical effects. The singer must project his own personality by accentuating individual feelings, real or apparent, as part of his poetic portrayal of the varying moods in the song. In other words, to be artistically successful, interpretation must express personality attributes along with other musical values, and the techniques of tone production are thereby completely subordinated to interpretative factors during the performance of a song.
Mastery of the text. The text epitomizes the intentions of the composer. It imparts, through its verbal context, the story or conversational |
|||