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Hello, everyone,
This column will take a slightly different turn. You know that I rant on and on during rehearsals about the importance of consonants in clarifying rhythms in choral texts, making the words communicate more effectively. "If we didn't have words, we'd be a band" is my pre-recorded message.
True. I love words; my minor was in English. But lately I've realized that I have been failing to shine the light on vowels as the purveyors of beauty! We instinctively recognize a fine choir by its tone, which is only beautiful when all of the singers' vowels are unified. It's my goal to help us to achieve that goal, but It doesn't help much when I just call out hearing "i" pronounced "e" in Latin as the words fly by! In this column I hope to make you almost as obsessed as I am at recognizing vowel colors that don't fit. Here are some things I've heard in just the past few days:
- Skull pronounced as "skoal" rather than "skuhl"
- Culture pronounced as "coalture" rather than "cuhl-ture"
Now speak those two examples aloud and pay particular attention to what's happening to your mouth, especially your tongue and lips, as you compare them. I find that exercise fascinating. Those first examples are probably regionally based (the first speaker is from Wisconsin and the second was talking on the radio). The speakers are clear enough, and not doing any harm—until they join a choir, where the aim is to unify all vowels!
Now try this example, which drives me absolutely crazy: pronouncing the pub "McMinamins" when the word is actually "McMenamins." Why do so many people do that, even radio announcers? It's because they don't really see the vowels in the word, and simply go by what they've heard incorrectly spoken! There's no "e" in the title at all! Now compare saying the two versions slowly aloud, paying attention to the difference inside your mouth. Your lips pull back in the real pronunciation. Huge.
Considering the common habit of adopting something you've heard, rather than the letters in the word, what about the widespread mistake of saying "Nordstrom's" when the store does not in fact have an apostrophe "s" after its name?
Maybe you're crying "picky, picky" at all of this, but unified vowel color is essential to a beautiful choral sound, and the more we pay attention to spelling, the greater our chance of unifying or sounding beautiful. Think of our singing a legato piece as a beautiful still lake; then picture that lake with chunks of wood floating in it. Those chucks are vowels that don't match.
What I'm now asking you to do is to just catch different pronunciations that you come across from day to day, and try them out in your mouths. The first assignment asks you to pay more attention, the second is to see how different versions FEEL in your mouth! You see, if everyone in choir heard and physically experienced every vowel the same, we wouldn't have to be reminded: some people actually aren't aware they're the ones who differ! That's not to say they need to be taken out behind the dumpster and shot, just that they need different ways of recognizing vowel color.
Of course I'm particularly sensitive to all of this because it's my life's work, but I really find it fascinating to catch different shades. OK, put another way, I'm obsessed.
End of lecture.
Next Tuesday we'll encounter the remaining movements we haven't yet seen:
- Bach #12 Gloria Patri
- Rutter #7 Gloria Patri
Take care, and stay healthy,
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