Using Bel Canto Pedagogical Principles to Inform Repertoire Choices for Beginning University Singers

Using Bel Canto Pedagogical Principles to Inform Repertoire Choices for Beginning University Singers by Steven M. Groth B.M. University of Wisconsin, 2013 M.M. University of Missouri, 2017 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts College of Music 2020 Good afternoon and welcome to my lecture recital addressing Bel Canto pedagogical principles and their place in helping to inform repertoire choices for beginning University singers. Before I get started, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my committee members and professors for their flexibility during these difficult times, my family and friends, and finally Mountain View Presbyterian Church for their generous willingness to allow me to use their facilities during this unprecedented time as the country deals with the COVID-19 crisis. This lecture recital and document are given in partial fulfillment for the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. [Proceed to the second slide] The purpose of this lecture is to provide teachers with a resource in order to link Bel Canto exercises found in Manuel Garcia’s A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing with repertoire that will best serve their students’ speedy development of consistent, proper singing technique that will accelerate their achievement in lessons and performances. I will briefly cover the pre-requisites covered in the prose section of Garcia II’s treatise before covering a practical guide to incorporating his exercises into lessons in the twenty-first century studio. There are a number of publications of bel canto works that make this repertoire fully accessible that I will briefly cover as a resource for teachers searching for this repertoire. Finally, I will perform a number of these exercises and pieces, demonstrating Manuel Garcia’s preferred techniques and the many ways that these are still relevant in twenty-first century university studios throughout the world. [Proceed to the third slide] Manuel Garcia II is highly regarded as a pedagogue who organized his father’s 340 exercises to create a coherent pedagogical technique that became representative of the highest level of vocal achievement in the bel canto era. Whereas his father, Manuel Garcia I, was a famous tenor and performer, Garcia II (baritone) quickly decided not to pursue a performing career. Between 1840 and 1847 Garcia II wrote his A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing that would form the basis of his pedagogical school. He would further cement his place in history after he invented the first laryngoscope in 1854-1855. He taught at both the Paris Conservatory from 1830-1847 and the Royal Academy of Music from 1848-1895. Among his students were famous performers and future pedagogues that would continue his legacy well into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The exercises found within his pedagogical school were meant to be performed under the careful supervision of a teacher who could ensure that students successfully implement the technique required for bel canto singing. These exercises are to be practiced on the Italian vowels of [a], [e], [i], [o], [u]. Generally, Garcia intended for these exercises to be practiced on open vowels first, such as [a]. Students experiencing difficulty can alternate to more closed vowels, such as [i]. In modern pedagogical terms, the more aperta or open vowel singers will gravitate towards the open vowels whereas more chiusa (closed vowel) singers will gravitate towards the more closed vowels. These tendencies become fairly evident when students achieve an ease of vibrato more readily on either open vowels or closed ones. It should be noted that although Garcia prefers open vowel or aperta singing, this does not affect the overall achievement of the singer as Garcia’s ultimate goal is the free and easy access to consistent legato and vibrato on all vowels throughout students’ ranges. [Proceed to the Fourth Slide] Manuel Garcia addresses a number of traditional pedagogical techniques in the prose section of his treatise including posture/alignment, breathing, and the initiation of a proper singing tone. These principles are not the focus of this lecture, although they need brief attention in order to properly discuss the exercises and pieces to be covered later in this lecture. Garcia describes singing posture as keeping the feet shoulder width apart, the chest thrust out, and the head in line with the spine. While this nomenclature has changed over time, the general ideas has remained the same. The idea of the raised sternum allows for the expansion of the ribcage in the act of inspiration or inhalation and a buoyantly “raised” ribcage throughout the act of singing. These concepts are crucial for the overall execution of the bel canto aesthetic. Garcia II spends less than five pages on the breathing chapter of his book while still acknowledging its fundamental nature to all singing endeavors. Garcia II’s ideal breath is slow, relaxed, silent, and represents a full expansion of the rib cage, and by extension the lungs. This involves embracing a ribcage expansion, stomach expansion, and back expansion for a complete relaxed breath that prepares the body for the exhalation phase of phonation. Garcia’s last main idea required for a good bel canto sound is the idea that he describes as the coup de glotte, most succinctly translated as the blow of the glottis. A modern pedagogical equivalent refers to the balanced-onset that is created through the coordination of the breathing musculature that creates a clean and clear initiation of the tone. This is produced by closing the glottis before initiating the release of air from the lungs. As the subglottic air pressure increases the singer allows the glottis to open and phonation to occur through the process described by the myoelastic aerodynamic theory. Students who struggle to achieve this can employ an “athletic h-onset” in order to instigate a fast- enough airflow as they learn how to initiate the tone via a balanced onset. While Garcia found this affect to be vulgar when used in singing, it is useful in helping students discover the air-speed and air-flow required for bel canto singing. [Proceed to the fifth slide] Manuel Garcia describes different vocal effects in his exercises as vocalizations. He prescribes the use of smooth vocalization as normal legato that proceeds quickly and clearly from note-to-note. This type of vocalization does not require a special marking in music as it is the default setting of the bel-canto singer. Carried vocalization is accompanied by a slur in the music and implies a sense of portamento or sliding. It is important to note the difference between Portamento and glissando in students’ early instruction so as to avoid a distasteful sound. Carried vocalization is one of the most difficult to master, but serves as a useful tool in achieving smooth vocalization for students who are apt to disconnect between notes or aspirate between them. Marked vocalization is the use of accents (or tenuto/staccato marking) within the music and implies an accented initiation of the tone followed by a rapid decrescendo. This is prescribed to students that often crescendo their way into notes in a trombone muted-full-tone manner. Staccato vocalization is the artificial addition of spaces in between notes without excess aspiration in between articulations. Staccato likewise does not just mean short note values. This effect is demonstrated by staccato markings in the score. It is important to note that this is not the addition of ‘h-onsets’ on consecutive notes. It is rather a series of balanced onsets. Finally, Garcia’s last example of vocalization is aspirated vocalization, which is to be used sparingly and mainly as a device to make students aware of accidental non-legato and overly-breathy singing. It is most appropriately used in ornaments and cadential figures, although even then Garcia disapproves of this as a stylistic choice. [Please proceed to the sixth slide] The exercises must be approached from the standpoint of already possessing the prerequisites. These exercises, to be performed on the Italian vowels beginning on [a] for aperta singers or [i] for chiuso singers, must be initiated without a sinking of the rib cage. Garcia referred to this phenomenon as a coup de petto or strike of the chest. This instantaneous deflation of the lungs renders the airflow uncontrollable and it is therefore impossible for the singer to manage. Instead, the singer should begin the tone with a slight tucking or activation of the abdominal musculature in the manner of rolling a tube of toothpaste from the bottom. In this manner, the student is able to control precisely the air flow and speed. The rib cage should remain buoyantly outward for as long as possible before beginning to collapse slightly only at the very end of the breath. The exercises should first be attempted at a comfortably loud mezzo- forte before trying other dynamic levels. This ensures that the student can focus on the musculature required for singing and the resulting consistency of legato and vibrato. [Please proceed to the seventh slide] The first exercise I will be covering today is a carried vocalization (Portamento) exercise between two notes via stepwise motion as shown on the slide. This exercise must begin with good posture and a relaxed breath before the initiation of the tone. The singer must then keep the air flow and resonance space constant as the singer carries the voice from note-to-note with constant spin and legato. I will now demonstrate this exercise for you from the piano on [a].

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