Style in Singing | Page 7

the emotion. The opposite sentiments of joy, love, courage, hope, are fittingly interpreted by gradations of the clear and brilliant timbre. The dark or sombre voice will be used in varying shades for the recitative from Samson (Handel), "Oh, loss of sight:"
[Music: Oh, loss of sight, of thee I most complain!]
while the clearest and most brilliant timbre possible to be obtained is plainly indicated for the same composer's "Sound an alarm!" from Judas Maccabaeus.
[Music: Sound an alarm, your silver trumpets sound!]
It was a rule formulated by the old Italian school of singing, when l'arte del bel canto in its true sense did really exist, that no phrase--musical or verbal--should be repeated with the same nuances. Very many instances might be given of the happy effect obtained by observing this rule. One will suffice. It is taken from the Lamento of Queen Catherine (of Aragon), who, slighted by Henry VIII. for Anne Boleyn, sighs for her native Spain.
[Music: Lamento
Henri VIII: Act IV
Saint-Saens
Mon Espagne cherie! Mon Espagne cherie!]
Sudden contrasts of colour are of great dramatic effect. A good illustration is found in the air "Divinites du Styx," from Gluck's Alceste. This contrast is still further heightened by a sudden change of both Intensity and Tempo.
[Music:
Divinites du Styx! Divinites du Styx! Ministres de la mort!]
This last phrase, "Ministres de la mort!" should be sung in a very sombre voice of almost guttural character.
It is, indeed, in the recitatives and declamatory passages of Gluck, Handel, Sacchini, that lyric artists will find unsurpassable material for study. Requiring, as such works do for their perfect interpretation, all the resources of Colour, Accent, and Phrasing, such study is the best possible preparation for the fitting musical presentment of the lyric drama in some of its later phases.
Colour, then, is the basic element of Style in singing. It is reinforced by Accent, which, as the name implies, is the accentuation of details that require to be brought into prominence. This subject, therefore, next claims attention.
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ACCENT
In singing, two kinds of accent are recognized, the Musical accent, and the Poetic, or Verbal, accent. The first appertains to the domain of sound; the second, to the domain of significance. The first, for aesthetic reasons, throws into relief certain tones of a musical phrase; the second brings into prominence the sentiment underlying the poem or text. Note, also, that in spoken declamation, accent applies to a syllable only; in singing, the verbal accent affects an entire word.
In its relation to Style, the Musical accent must be carefully distinguished from the Metrical accent which is determined by Time, or Measure, as well as from the Verbal accent whereby the import of a word is rendered clear to the listener. Here is an example of Musical accent, from Act III of Verdi's Ballo in Maschera:
[Music: Saper vorreste di che si veste quando l'e cosa ch'ei vuol nascosa.]
The accents (marked thus [accent symbol]) give to the musical phrase a piquancy that is admirably in keeping with the gay and careless character of the page, Oscar, who sings it. In fact, as regards Style, Musical accent is particularly valuable in song for the purpose of setting forth the true character of the music. Hence, it may be regarded as a means of characterization.
This use of accent for characterization is also quite distinct from its use with "accidentals," or tones foreign to the prevailing tonality. In the former case, sentiment dictates its employment; in the second, the accent guarantees, as it were, the accuracy of the singer's intonation. By the faint stress laid on the foreign tone, the listener is assured that the executant is not deviating from the true pitch. In the following examples, the tones marked [accent symbol] are "accidentals," and for that reason should receive a faint stress. The first example is from La Forza del Destino.
[Music: Verdi
Madre, Madre, pietosa Vergine, perdona al mio peccato, m'aita quell'ingrato]
[Music: "Je dis que rien"
Carmen: Act III
Bizet
Vous me protegerez, Seigneur!]
These different uses of accent are well illustrated in the following example.
[Music: "Come unto Him"
Messiah
Handel
Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him.]
The tone allotted to the second syllable of the word "upon" is accentuated to affirm the accuracy of the singer's intonation; the slight emphasis of the word "Him" brings into relief the meaning of the text. This latter, then, is an illustration of Verbal, or "Poetic" accent which, I repeat, throws into relief, without consideration of its musical value or position, some word of special significance in the verbal phrase. To render the poetic meaning of the text clear to the listener, a correct use of verbal accent is imperative. Its importance and effect, particularly in recitative and declamatory singing, are analogous to the importance and effect of emphasis in spoken language. The example is from Samson (Handel):
[Music: O loss of sight, of