Evaluative Commentary

Subsequent of the guidelines of MUS205, a piece of music had to be either composed or arranged and then performed. I composed an aria using Ophelia’s monologue from Shakespeare’s Hamlet- Act 3, scene 1, lines 159-70. To do this I used the software Sibelius and then performed it live to a backing track which I created.

My aim for my composition was to write an aria in an operatic format to suit the style of my voice, a dramatic soprano and explore Shakespeare’s work through song instead of a narrative traditional monologue. Creating the piece for myself was beneficial as I know what style of singing I am best at, and where my voice sits at its best when singing. Using legato lines in my upper register were elements which I wrote as I knew that is an aspect of my voice I produce well. Also adding long high notes to the most important aspects of the lyrics created an expressive intention which mirrors my dramatic voice and gave me elements to specifically express the emotion in my final performance. I believe it’s beneficial to compose a piece of music for yourself to perform because nobody knows your voice better than anyone but you. Even though you derive influences from other artists when performing a well-known piece, this completely allows you to be an individual and shows your unique style.

‘While one should always study the method of a great artist, one should never imitate his manner. The manner of an artist is essentially individual, the method of an artist is absolutely universal. The first is personality, which no one should copy; the second is perfection, which all should aim at’. (Tao (Oscar Wilde, A critic in Pall Mall, p. 195);N.A)

Before this assignment I was adamant that I was a performer and not a composer, so the idea of writing my own piece was a foreign prospect to me but decided to challenge myself anyway. Using the software Sibelius I wrote a score for a soprano voice and piano. An element which I was conscious of throughout the writing process was the idea of foreshadowing the characters fate. As Ophelia ends up going mad and then dies in the play, the use of dissonance in my piece creates an uneasy element this was used to show there is something negative awaiting her. ‘The musical score can only give the audience a sense that something will happen (good or bad) but cannot communicate what that will be, and this is a wonderful way to engage the audience’(Mayrand;2008)

If I were to perform this piece again, I would perform it with a pianist accompanying me instead of a backing track as it would sound better than the automated instruments which was used. I believe it would also be better for me as a composer as I could use more rubato and communicate verbally to the accompanist exactly what I want and my intentions of the piece. I would also like to arrange this piece for a full orchestra as I felt sometimes through the piece the voice sounded unsupported and bare with just the piano.

Bibliography

Alain Mayrand (2008). Getting the Score [online]. Available from: <http://gettingthescore.com/?p=78>. [Accessed 16/01/15].

Terrence Tao (Oscar Wilde, A critic in Pall Mall, p. 195) (N.A). Write in your own voice. N.A. wordpress [online]. [Accessed 16/01/15]. Available from: <https://terrytao.wordpress.com/advice-on-writing-papers/write-in-your-own-voice/>.

 

 

The Human Nature of the Singing Voice

After going through a few books in the library I came across the book, ‘The Human Nature of the Singing Voice- Exploring a holistic basis for sound teaching and learning’ by Peter T Harrison. To me the work ‘holistic’ made me jump to the conclusion of a more all natural method, which is something I believe to be a bit controversial and also I regard the word ‘natural’ is overused when training the voice. Therefore this would be something in a different direction to which I have been trained and taught, so immediately I thought this book would be a good source of literature to critic. The Chapter ‘Trial and Error’ was the one in which I was immediately drawn to, and to my surprise the majority of what is written in this chapter I agree with.

Harrison writes, ‘the emotional state of the singer has a direct impact on his ability to vocalise.' (Harrison;2006)

This is something which I strongly connected with as I always used to think of myself as 'Sophie the singer', identifying myself as a singer all the time. So what happens when you loose your voice, due to illness or anything else, i.e. nerves? When I lost my upper register last year for three months, I felt that I had lost apart of myself and my identity. It effected my emotional state and I became a more withdrawn character. After talking to my vocal coach he gave me a new prospective of thinking about myself and my voice as separate elements- that it wasn't me that was unable to sing- it was just my instrument at fault. If a guitarists string breaks or goes out of tune, its purely the instrument at fault and it does not make him any less of a musician, this was the way to which I needed to view the situation.  From this I've learnt that my emotional state did have an effect on my voice, that is why I have learnt to refer to myself and 'the voice' as separate elements, then if anything does go wrong with it, its not me but the instrument 'the voice' and my emotional state therefore has no effect.

My Voice Type and Influences

'The characteristic of a dramatic soprano is that she can sing over a full orchestra and at the same time command the attention of the audience with her imposing and electrifying presence. Her voice is full, rich, and powerful, and her dark timbre can arise feelings of awe.'(Banis;2013)

Being a dramatic soprano and being trained in Opera my influences stem from  composers such as Puccini, Mozart and Handel. The stately character of Contessa from Mozarts ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ and the vocal line of ‘Porgi, amore’ and also Handels  ‘V’adoro Pupille’ sang by Cleopatra, I felt echoed in the character of Ophelia as she has that stately air about her, which I feel all of these characters have. And it is these aria's which I am best at singing.

As the composer and performer of the piece, it is obvious that you want to write things that show off your voice bests and brings our the best attributes of your voice. That is why I wrote a slow, stately piece, as it is what I sing best.

'Though a dramatic soprano is expected to cover the full soprano range, i.e. from a C4 to a C6, her tessitura is lower. This doesn’t mean that she won’t be called to sing long hight notes. On the contrary, many dramatic sopranos are know for their intense and full fermatas on high notes.' (Banis;2013)



I wanted to show off my range in my piece that is why I added in a top Bflat on the most dramatic part and climax off the piece. Not only for dramatic impact I decided to write that in, but taking influence from Mozart of the theory behind the Bflat. After critique and analysing his work, it is said in theory that he only ever made the soprano's sing a Bflat when her character was truly in love. I believed this would be a good element to be placed in my piece as I believe Ophelia's love for Hamlet is true.

Creative Process and Theory

To write my composition I used the software ‘Sibelius’ and started placing down chords in the piano line. – I wrote my composition for just voice and piano.  And I wrote the first few bars of piano first without having any idea of a vocal line. When the vocal like comes in I have written in the style of recitative as she is upset and is telling us how wonderful hamlet used to be and giving an insight of how he used to be and not what he is now.

My Composition ‘The Rose’ is in a minor key (F minor) to mirror how Ophelia is feeling, the tempo is 4/4 and andante. The major element throughout the piece is the motif, which is used in both the piano part and the vocal line. I used a motif because it’s a recurring theme of sadness and neglect which Ophelia is feeling. If I were to write a full opera, the motif would be used over and over especially in the ‘madness scene’ where Ophelia eventually breaks. The motif is foreshadowing the plot as it creates uneasiness and tension to the piece.  Also the use of word painting was a large aspect to the piece as I felt it added to the element of maintain this composition as mainly a piece of drama. This is shown in bar 43-45 where the use of vocal runs are used on the word ‘Jangled’. Then on the word ‘harsh’ the voice is forte as well as singing an A flat.

In bar 59 it is the start of the ending of the piece, and it is here when I have used repetition from the opening segment, but in bar 59 I put the accompaniment up a semi-tone to show there is a change from the beginning of the piece, that Ophelia's thought process and intention has changed.

Learning to Adapt my Voice

Another aspect of vocal training I have been working on is adapting my voice to suit other styles. The main one is musical theatre, in this genre I’ve had to allow myself to use my chest voice something which I haven’t been comfortable using before and been discouraged from using as it. But after gaining the confidence and a lead role in musical ( Guys and Dolls, playing the role of Sarah Brown)it has pushed me to perform this genre more. Singing the duet ‘I still believe’ not only forced me to sing in chest voice at the start when I got higher the classical training was still relevant. In this piece performing with another singer taught me to be aware of projection and dynamics, as our vocal lines overlapped it became more about the blend of our voices and not our individual sounds.
'Singing in duet, or in a duo requires acquiring the correct melodies and harmonies. This is because, without this, one singer could detract from the other’s singing. You have to maintain your individual melody and correct notes, whether singing soft in volume, or singing loud on a high note. Working with this in mind would lead to a nice blending of harmonies and make singing in duet sound good. Since there is another person singing with you, don’t let your performance go astra' (Wilson;2015)

The Use of Recordings

Post by Sophie Dalrymple Wedding Singer.

This is me singing at the age of 17, this is useful as the use of recording allows me to see what I’m doing wrong or elements which I can improve on.  In this piece my top notes were breathy so immediately I worked on closing my vocal chords which releases less air, which therefore gives it a purer note, but still keeping my natural vibrato. Watching this back now it shows how much my voice has changed as it has become richer in tone and supporting my voice becomes second nature now. To help my vocal support I use songs which are very legato and push my range. Also singing a full length of a song to one vowel like ee, or zz allowed me to feel the support which you sometimes forget about. Doing exercises like this for years has ultimately created muscle memory and has become a natural part of singing now.

Dodici Voce

I have been in a 12 piece, all female group called ‘Dodici Voce’ for two years now which has helped immensely to learn how to blend my voice and sustain a harmony line .I usually sing as 2^nd soprano in the group so it’s lower than I am used to singing as a soloist and I’m right in the middle of the upper harmony and lower harmony line, so I have to be very aware of my tuning. Not only have I learnt to blend my voice well, but have also learned to sight-read music faster and perform at a professional level with the group.  In this extract of 'Rocking Robin' you can see how as a group we become one voice, and have to be aware of the melody line, to do this the dynamic of the backing vocals need to lower than the melody line, but when the chorus comes in all voices unite and become forte.

• 'Blending your voice with others means that you'll need to be aware of vocal dynamics and not sing significantly louder or softer than those around you. If one voice stands out from the group, the entire balance of sound is disrupted. Most good choral singers will never sing at their greatest level of volume, because it's almost impossible to unify very loud voices. But you also can't sing so softly that you don't contribute your voice to the group. Each voice is needed to properly balance the sound.'(Sheppard;N.A)

Strengths and Weaknesses as a Singer

As a singer my strengths are my vocal range, projection and portrayal of characters, which is an essential part of opera - the industry in which I want to become a professional in. My weaknesses are diction of words, learning the music quickly and also timing. To resolve this I made a resolution to learn a new piece every week as this will also help in concert as there is more variety of repertoire to choose from. Another weakness of mine is harmonising and group singing. Before coming to university I had never sang in a choir before or worked with close harmonies, which is why it is one aspect I have worked on and successfully cracked.

Ach Ich Fuhl's - Wolfgang Mozart

A piece which I have been in the process of learning is 'Ach ich fuhl's' from Mozart's opera '

Die Zauberflöte'. It's been one of the hardest aria's I've had to learn to date which I didn't expect it to be. I think it has been so hard for me to learn due to of the lack of support from the accompaniment and also the time signature of the piece. The aria is written with a 6/8 time signature which I really struggled to keep in time with. I think I struggled learning piece as the accompaniment had a vamp style element which completely separated the accompaniment from the vocal line, to me the accompaniment and vocal line could of been two separate pieces because they felt so distant. To resolve this I wrote all the counts in over my score as well as recording my self counting 1-6 for the entire piece. To learn the piece I sang along to my recorded voice counting which kept me in time and made me aware of where I was in the score, it also aloud me to see what was being played under my voice and what to expect to hear when I'm singing.

Rocket Opera Chorus and Sight Reading

'You should be able to sight-read your music. Good musicianship is an important skill for choral singers, since it would be tedious and almost impossible to learn everything you'll need to know by ear. Most professional rehearsals don't involve teaching each line of music, but rather concentrate on perfecting the overall sound of the ensemble.' (Sheppard;N.A)
In my opinion a large aspect of becoming a successful singer is picking the music up fast and learning it efficiently, which is why this is one element of my musical development I have particularly made a conscious effort to work on.
Recently I was a part of the Rocket Opera Chorus for Rocket Opera's 'Festive Treats' and had the opportunity to sing with professional singers, conductor and a full orchestra. Being in this environment it was expected that you knew your music promptly and within a short space of time. I got my score on the first rehearsal, so my sight reading skills were quickly tested, but this gave me the opportunity to push myself as a musician and better my knowledge of operatic choral repertoire which normally I wouldn't have had the opportunity to sing due to singing as a soloist for the majority of my performances.

The Pieces which we sang were ‘Chers Tyriens’ from Berlioz’s ‘Les Troyens’, ‘Les voice! Les voice!’ form Bizet’s Carmen and two excerpts from Johann Strauss’s ‘Die Fledermaus’ which were ‘Mein Herr Marquis’ and ‘Champagne Finale’. It was really interesting singing in the chorus for ‘Mein Herr Marquis’ as it is something I have sang before as a soloist- both in English and German. Another element which this opportunity allowed me to explore and improve on was my languages as we were singing in French and German, this was also good as I usually sway to singing in Italian more than any other language. it gave me the opportunity to improve my knowledge of the languages and also pronunciation.