Russian Lyric Diction: a Practical Guide with Introduction and Annotations and a Bibliography with Annotations on Selected Sources
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©Copyright 2012 CRAIG M. GRAYSON Russian Lyric Diction: A practical guide with introduction and annotations and a bibliography with annotations on selected sources Craig M. Grayson A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts University of Washington 2012 Reading Committee: Thomas Harper, Chair Stephen Rumph George Bozarth Bojan Belic Program Authorized to Offer Degree: School of Music College of Arts and Sciences University of Washington Abstract Russian Lyric Diction: a practical guide with preliminaries and annotations, and a bibliography with annotations on selected sources Craig M. Grayson Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Associate Professor Thomas Harper Music The purpose of this dissertation is twofold — to investigate, in brief, the available guides to Russian lyric diction and to present my own comprehensive guide, which gives singers the tools to prepare the pronunciation of Russian vocal pieces independently. The survey examines four guides to Russian lyric diction found in popular anthologies or diction manuals — Anton Belov’s Libretti of Russian Operas, Vol. 1, Laurence Richter’s Complete Songs series of the most prominent Russian composers, Jean Piatak and Regina Avrashov’s Russian Songs and Arias, and Richard Sheil’s A Singer's Manual of Foreign Language Dictions — and three dissertations — “The Singer's Russian: a guide to the Russian operatic repertoire through a collection of texts of opera arias for all voice types, with phonetic transcriptions, word-for-word and idiomatic English” by Emilio Pons, "Solving Counterproductive Tensions Induced by Russian Diction in American Singers" by Sherri Moore Weiler, and "Russian Songs and Arias: an American Singer's Glasnost" by Rose Michelle Mills-Bell. The annotated guide introduces the sung sounds of Russian and the corresponding Cyrillic letters, advancing in difficulty and covering elements of articulation, phonological rules, and Cyrillic orthography. As the chapters advance, the most important elements of Russian phonological theory are explored in greater depth. The appendices supply additional information such as charts of the Cyrillic letters with their associated phonemes and allophones in IPA, the pronunciation of the most popular Russian composers’ names, expanded discussions of historical and phonological topics, a lexicon of Russian words with exceptional pronunciations, and a concise guide to Russian grammar with tables of grammatical forms and their pronunciations. This guide should fulfill a broadly expressed need for detailed instruction in the formation of the Russian speech sounds and their application for singing. Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of numerous people and institutions, known and unknown. First inspiration came under the tutelage of several UW professors who required and encouraged strong writing and solid research in their classes, including Profs. Claudia Jensen, JoAnn Taricani, and George Bozarth. Further motivation came from the singer colleagues who had the courage to venture into the great Russian song literature with little to guide them. Strongest in my memory are the efforts of Elizabeth Bakke and Amber Sudduth Bone. The Internet, through databases and services such as WorldCat, ProQuest and JStore (all made available through the UW Library), has allowed much of my research to be done from home, while the Interlibrary Loan system, the UW library, and their staff members have completed the loop with most all the necessary books and articles, some of which have been in my possession for many years. Special notes of thanks go to Dr. Emilio Pons, who, without hesitation, graciously sent me an electronic copy of his 2008 dissertation, “The Singer’s Russian…,” to include in my literature survey, when a hard copy was unavailable, and Dr. Anton Belov, who also generously provided me his most recent work on Russian lyric diction. Much help and guidance has come from several Russian colleagues and friends including Garry Aganesyánts, Aleksei Girsh, Anna Kazakova, Tatiana Benbalit, and Mikhail Myznikov. Many thanks must go to the hard working members of my committee — Profs. George Bozarth, Stephen Rumph, and Bojan Belic. Special thanks are given to my Chair, Prof. Thomas Harper, for his hard work, many challenging, tough and spirited conversations of critique, and his unwavering enthusiasm and encouragement, especially since taking on the role of Chair after the passing of my teacher and mentor, Julian Patrick. Also, deep appreciation is given to Dr. Belic of the UW Department of Slavic Languages for bringing his much needed expertise to this project, rather late in the game, with positivity and vigor. I could not have pursued any of my dreams, including this one, without the constant love, support and encouragement of my parents, Drs. Marion L. Grayson and Alvin J. Grayson, and my brother, Jon Grayson. Of course, I could not have borne any of the challenges of this project without the strength, patience, and love of my partner in life, Katie Barndt. I owe her everything. In Memoriam Two members of the UW faculty and staff who touched my life during my doctoral work have since left us: Karin V. Stromberg (1954-2004) Graduate Advisor Karin was always warm, thoughtful and supportive, as she guided me and many others through the graduate morass. Julian Patrick (1927-2009) Professor in Voice, Doctoral Committee Chair, Mentor Julian taught this old dog many new tricks, just as I thought my singing career was waning. He taught best by example. Julian was a consummate singer, actor, musician, colleague, professional, and mentor, and his care for and encouragement of his students were unbounded. He has been and always will be deeply missed. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... ix Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 — Survey of Relevant Texts involving Russian Lyric Diction.............................. 3 Overview........................................................................................................................ 3 The Survey .....................................................................................................................6 Anton Belov, Libretti of Russian Operas. Vol. 1 ....................................................... 6 Richard F. Sheil, A Singer's Manual of Foreign Language Dictions ........................ 16 Laurence R. Richter, Tchaikovsky's Complete Song Texts...................................... 32 Jean Piatak and Regina Avrashov, Russian Songs and Arias ................................... 39 Emilio Pons, "The Singer's Russian: a guide…”...................................................... 52 Sherri Moore Weiler, "Solving Counterproductive Tensions…” ............................. 55 Rose Michelle Mills-Bello, "Russian Songs and Arias…”....................................... 56 Chapter 2 — A Practical Guide to Russian Lyric Diction with Annotations.........................57 Preface ................................................................................................................................58 Preliminaries .......................................................................................................................60 Approach and Layout of the Guide ................................................................................60 On the International Phonetic Alphabet of 1993 (Revised 1996 and 1999).....................61 Russian Lyric Diction versus Speech Pronunciation, and IPA Transcription ..................62 A Note about Syllabic Stress .........................................................................................65 Phonemes, Allophones, Features and Assimilation: Definitions and Importance............67 On Transcription: Virgules and Brackets and Unorthodox IPA Usage............................73 Acknowledgement of Major Sources .............................................................................78 i Chapter 3 — The Vowels (Sounds and Printed Letters).......................................................80 Section 1 — The Cardinal Vowels and Allophone [0] in the Stressed Position...............81 Section 2 — The Semi-vowel /i/....................................................................................96 Section 3 — The Cardinal Vowels and Allophone [0] in Unstressed Positions ...............97 Section 4 — Intermediate Allophones Only in Stressed Position ................................. 104 Section 5 — Reduced or Centralized Allophones......................................................... 108 Section 6 — The /i/+Vowel Clusters........................................................................... 114 Introduction........................................................................................................... 114 Stress and Assimilation.......................................................................................... 115 The Cyrillic Letters -z-, -t-, -/-, and -.- as Indicators of Palatalization.................. 115 The /j/+Cardinal Vowel Clusters...........................................................................