Sung Russian for the Low Male Voice Classical Singer
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Sung Russian for the Low Male Voice Classical Singer: The Latent Pedagogical Value of Sung Russian with a Fully Annotated Bibliography and IPA Singers’ Transcriptions for Musorgsky’s Sunless and Kabalevsky’s Op. 52: Ten Shakespeare Sonnets on Translations by Marshak by Daniel A H Mitton A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, Music Performance Graduate Department of the Faculty of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Daniel A H Mitton 2020 Sung Russian for the Low Male Voice Classical Singer: The Latent Pedagogical Value of Sung Russian Daniel A H Mitton Doctor of Musical Arts, Music Performance Graduate Department of the Faculty of Music University of Toronto 2020 Abstract Low male voice classical singers (LMVs) are a statistical rarity (R. Miller 2008). Their relative scarcity notwithstanding, the research undertaken in this thesis shows that LMV-specific voice pedagogy resources do exist, including a rich body of Russian vocal literature suitable for the LMV. This thesis positions singing in Russian as beneficial for LMV classical training by examining how secondary palatalization and the presence of the [i] vowel in sung Russian promote a fronted tongue, and how the prevalence of its default dark-a allophone [ɑ] facilitates a low, stable larynx. Both of these vocal tract configurations are hallmarks of fine classical singing technique (Bozeman 2013). To measure how much of net phonation time is spent singing in these corresponding vocal tract configurations, I operationalized Musorgsky’s Sunless and Kabalevsky’s Op. 52 Ten Shakespeare Sonnets on Translations by Marshak using an enhanced version of Pacheco’s Graphic-Statistic Method (Pacheco 2013). The resulting data were overlaid with values reflective of resonances of the LMV vocal tract to show where acoustic ‘pitches of turning’ fall in this repertoire (D. Miller 2000; Godin and Howell 2015). I found that the fR1/fo interaction so important to treble voices singing in ‘whoop’ coupling is largely irrelevant to LMVs. Instead, it appears that LMV vocal acoustic concerns mostly involve developing an awareness of the fR1/2fo interaction an octave lower that marks the transition between singing in ii open and close timbre; this is the primary acoustic registration event of male voices (Bozeman 2013). From an acoustics perspective, being able to identify where a given voice should appropriately ‘turn over’ is an important pedagogic diagnostic ability that normalizes how an unforced, well-coordinated timbral transition sounds and feels. I created newly annotated vocal scores for these two song cycles to make it easy to identify open and close timbre and other acoustic turning events at a glance. Considering these cycles with the analytical methods offered here equips teachers with another way to inform appropriate LMV repertoire selection. Future scholars may use this approach to investigate other voice types and national repertoires. iii Acknowledgments Robert Nesbitt is my good heart. He cheer-leads my continuing education, and is central to my life’s two great passions: to love my family, and to make good art. Bob’s love and support make my work possible. This doctorate is half his. Thank you, Husband. 143. Andrew Thompson, thank you for always having my back. Sustaining a balanced life outside of the doctoral process is tricky. Reminding this potentially dull boy to play is trickier. Thank you. The personal interactions I’ve enjoyed with Kenneth Bozeman have deepened my understanding of ‘cover’ and other aspects of practical vocal acoustic phenomena. Thank you. Dr. Judith Fisher lent her keen eye to an early draft, improving its tone and clarity. Thank you. Dr. Joshua Glasner brought structure to my methodology by sharing his lab template. Thank you. Dr. Craig Grayson kindly shared his welcome insights on my transcription work. Thank you. My friend Dr. Ian Howell’s thoughtful insights opened up new avenues of thought and new research directions that I would have been unlikely to initiate on my own. Thank you. Dr. Alexei Kochetov’s calm, scholarly input was a great and generous gift. Большое спасибо. Professor Lorna MacDonald’s editing acumen significantly improved this paper. Thank you. Dr. Julia Mikhailova’s knowledge of Russian improved my data collection. Большое спасибо. I learned many important and valuable lessons from my voice teacher Dr. Wendy Nielsen over our six years together. I bring these lessons forward into my own teaching life. Thank you. Over the past five years my supervisor Professor Steven Philcox facilitated the completion of my final DMA recital credit by producing my final recording project, and has generously invested many hours discussing, reviewing, and editing my work. Thank you. Dr. Nicholas Perna expanded my thoughts on the acoustic model explored here. Thank you. Thank you to the unnamed folks who contributed to my doctoral experience in ways seen and unseen, exposed me to new ideas, inspired me to think differently, and asked great questions. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .............................................................................................................................xi List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... xii List of Appendices ................................................................................................................ xviii Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research questions .......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Additional aims and objectives ........................................................................................ 3 1.3 Scope statement ............................................................................................................... 3 1.4 A note on International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) notation ............................................... 4 1.5 A note on pitch notation ................................................................................................... 4 1.6 A note on ‘formant’ (i.e. vocal tract resonance) notation .................................................. 5 1.7 Open and closed vowels vs. open and close timbre .......................................................... 6 1.8 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Russian lyric diction resources ......................................................................................... 8 2.2 Linguistics texts that discuss Russian articulation .......................................................... 14 2.3 Applied vocal acoustics texts ......................................................................................... 15 2.4 Paradigms for quantifying the singing voice .................................................................. 17 2.5 Voice pedagogy texts that address the LMV .................................................................. 19 2.6 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................. 22 Low Male Voices (LMVs) .................................................................................................... 22 v 3.1 LMVs defined ............................................................................................................... 22 3.1.1 LMV physical indicators .................................................................................... 22 3.1.2 Fach and the LMV ............................................................................................. 23 3.2 LMV-specific training ................................................................................................... 24 3.2.1 The LMV and ‘registration’ vs. laryngeal registers ............................................. 26 3.2.2 The LMV zona di passaggio .............................................................................. 29 3.2.3 LMV training essentials: falsetto and head voice ................................................ 30 3.2.4 Cover ................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.5 Open/close timbre, yell/whoop coupling, and micro-crossings ........................... 32 3.3 Finding LMV-appropriate Russian vocal literature ........................................................ 33 3.4 LMV presence in classical voice pedagogy ...................................................................