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UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Extended From What?: Tracing the Construction, Flexible Meaning, and Cultural Discourses of "Extended Vocal Techniques" Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6qn119zh Author Noble, Charissa Joann Publication Date 2019 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ EXTENDED FROM WHAT?: TRACING THE CONSTRUCTION, FLEXIBLE MEANING, AND CULTURAL DISCOURSES OF “EXTENDED VOCAL TECHNIQUES” A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in MUSIC by Charissa Noble March 2019 The Dissertation of Charissa Noble is approved: Professor Leta Miller, chair Professor Amy C. Beal Professor Larry Polansky Lori Kletzer Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Charissa Noble 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v Abstract vi Acknowledgements and Dedications viii Introduction to Extended Vocal Techniques: Concepts and Practices 1 Chapter One: Reading the Trace-History of “Extended Vocal Techniques” Introduction 13 The State of EVT 16 Before EVT: A Brief Note 18 History of a Construct: In Search of EVT 20 Ted Szántó (1977): EVT in the Experimental Tradition 21 István Anhalt’s Alternative Voices (1984): Collecting and Codifying EVT 28evt in Vocal Taxonomies: EVT Diversification 32 EVT in Journalism: From the Musical Fringe to the Mainstream 42 EVT and the Classical Music Framework 51 Chapter Two: Vocal Virtuosity and Score-Based EVT Composition: Cathy Berberian, Bethany Beardslee, and EVT in the Conservatory-Oriented Prestige Economy Introduction: EVT and the “Voice-as-Instrument” Concept 53 Formalism, Voice-as-Instrument, and Prestige: Understanding EVT in Avant- Garde Music 58 Cathy Berberian and Luciano Berio 62 Bethany Beardslee and Milton Babbitt 81 Conclusion: The Plight of EVT Singers in the Avant-Garde “Prestige Economy” 91 Chapter Three: EVT, Innovation, and Individualist Identity in the Composer- Performer Tradition: Joan La Barbara, Deborah Kavasch, and Meredith Monk Introduction: EVT, Innovation, and Collective Identity 98 The Composer-Performer Tradition and its Values 102 Resituating EVT: Joan La Barbara as an “Experimental Singer” 106 EVT on the West Coast: Deborah Kavasch and the EVTE 121 Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble: EVT and Interdisiplinarity 137 The Composer-Performer Tradition and EVT: Cross-Sections, Issues, and Implications 147 iii Chapter Four: EVT, Technology, and “Voice-as-System”: Trevor Wishart, Laurie Anderson, and Pamela Z Introduction: Technology’s redefinition of the body 158 Trevor Wishart (b. 1946) 160 Laurie Anderson (b. 1947) 173 Pamela Z (b. 1956) 184 Concluding Thoughts: EVT, Technology, and Voice-as-Network 196 Chapter Five: Towards a Conceptual, Cultural, and Pedagogical Reformation of the Voice Concluding Thoughts: Overview 199 EVT: A Conceptual Framework 200 EVT: Context, Meaning, and Gender in La Barbara’s Interview 202 EVT: Re-Negotiating Vocal Normativity in Experimental Music 204 Vocal Pluralism: EVT, Bel Canto, and the Conservatory 207 Vocal Pluralism: EVT and Electronics 209 Radical Inclusivity: A Call for Collective Reformation 212 Appendix A: Interview with Joan La Barbara 214 Appendix B: Interview with Deborah Kavasch 231 Appendix C: Interview with Pamela Z 242 Appendix D: Interview with Jessie Marino 267 Recommended Listening 289 Bibliography 291 Archives 291 Interviews 291–292 Secondary Sources 292 iv LIST OF FIGURES Introduction Fig. 0.1 A chart representing a list of vocalists mentioned across several historically significant publications on EVT. 3 Fig. 0.2 A chart representing a list of vocal techniques mentioned across several historically significant publications on EVT 4 Fig. 0.3 A visual representation of bel canto as a framework of listening in which various techniques might be heard as extended 5 Fig. 0.4 Positioning EVT within several overlapping music making approaches 6 Chapter Two Fig. 2.1 Left to Right: Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luigi Rognoni, Photo uncredited, Darmstadt 1956. 68 Fig. 2.2 Berberian and Berio in rehearsal, October 21, 1961. 75 Fig. 2.3 Berberian in elaborate costume for her September 14, 1973 recital, “À la recherché de la musique perdue” at Town Hall, New York City. 76 v Charissa Noble Extended From What?: Tracing the Construction, Flexible Meaning, and Cultural Discourses of “Extended Vocal Techniques” ABSTRACT This study traces the usage and development of the concept of “extended vocal techniques,” [EVT] from its early appearances in musical discourse in the 1970s to the present. Though many authors suggest a long lineage for EVT, the actual term is relatively new. In fact, this term is virtually absent from scholarly or journalistic literature before the 1970s. Vocal pedagogues and music scholars have contributed substantially to the discussion concerning which vocal practices, artists, and performance literature might be considered part of the EVT tradition. Musicological work more specifically focused on EVT has profiled individual performer-composers working experimentally with their voices, and many have woven critical theory into their analyses of these artists’ vocal practices. Curiously, few of these musicological studies have attended to their own acceptance of the EVT label, commonly applied to artists such as Meredith Monk, Joan La Barbara, and Pamela Z, among others. The oversight of the historical and critical issues underpinning the term itself has allowed EVT's definition to be tacitly shaped by each author’s cultural assumptions. These unacknowledged assumptions drive various definitions and responses to EVT, forming a hidden transcript that this project seeks to unearth. vi By locating the appearances of the term EVT in musical discourse from earliest to latest, this work specifies the time period, social context, institutional affiliations, and musical background for each contributor to the EVT record and profiles representative artists from different social-historical contexts who have been frequently associated with EVT. Through an investigation of EVT’s various historical definitions, cultural implications, and power dynamics, I formulate a rhizomatic account of the development of EVT as a concept. Moreover, I examine how its differences and similarities over the years indicate our shifting perspectives on voices, bodies, music, and identity. Recasting EVT as a culturally-situated mode of listening holds the potential to move conservatory singing toward a more flexible, inclusive understanding of vocal practice that celebrates different bodies, abilities, and backgrounds. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEDICATIONS I would like to dedicate this work to numerous people, all of whom have supported me through the years I have spent on this project. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Leta Miller, who has continually made herself available to me, fielded my questions, and guided my inquiry into this area of research. I would also like to thank the generosity of other faculty members who have lent me their time, resources, and personal connections to make this dissertation possible: Amy Beal, who has enriched my understanding of experimentalism and embodied practice through independent studies; Larry Polansky, who has continually connected me with recordings, scores, and personal insight into the Experimental community; Nicol Hammond and Dard Neuman, who fostered classroom communities in which critical theory and music could be discussed in transformative, holistic ways; and my first advisor, Eric Smigel, who encouraged me on the path of scholarship and research, and who first introduced me to the musicians who have revolutionized my understanding of art, culture, and my own singing voice. Moreover, my interviewees made this project possible, and their generosity with their time and resources truly humbled me. My deepest thanks goes to Joan La Barbara, Pamela Z, Deborah Kavasch, and Jesse Marino. I am overwhelmed by the support I received from each of them. I would also like to thank my peers for their encouragement and solidarity through a long, arduous process: Kira Dralle, Madison Heying, Jay Arms, and Sacha Peiser, who have done more for me as friends and colleagues than I can express. viii Additionally, my understanding of the singing voice underwent a sort of revolution, thanks to the semester-long group project in 2010 to mount selections from the John Cage Song Books: without Eric McAdams, Jude Thomas and Siobahn Sung, I would have never experienced the different (and completely liberating) way of engaging with my voice that started this project. Another huge thanks must go to the people in my life who have contributed to this project through the love and care they have shown me throughout this journey. I would like to thank Hawthorn Coffee, who provided a beautiful space, physical sustenance, and innumerable small kindnesses as I have worked on this project. I would like to thank my family, Ed, Linda, David Noble, and Bethany Lindsay-Noble, all of whom have always believed in my work and encouraged me at every point: Linda, who has invested hours of her time and effort helping me edit; Ed, who has processed concepts and ideas with me; Bethany, who has been with me in the midst of the emotional highs and lows of research; David, who has continually encouraged me by showing me the relevance