À la recherche de la technique perdue : le Bel Canto au XXIe siècle

Details

Supervisors

Ceulemans, Anne-Emmanuelle

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation musicologie, à finalité spécialisée: musique-musicologie

Abstract

enLooking for the lost technique. The Bel Canto during the 21st century. The aim of this work is to question directly the relation of classical singing to the score. In order to do so, a method to analyze and approach the vocal repertory is developed. It is indeed possible to isolate one type of repertory that is not only the most played one all over the world but would also be the one with the most influence on today’s vocal didactic. This repertory is the Italian opera of the 19th century, which can be called Bel Canto. Because the main sources of this repertory are scores, the creation of a method to analyze how the voice is written in the score enables the highlighting of certain ways to read the score today. The result of this analysis is the establishment of the ideal vocality, a fictive voice that can then be used as an analysis tool. Thanks to this tool, it is possible to uncover the vocal writing mechanisms of certain compositors. The technical concept used as reference is the concept of vocal registers, because of its presence throughout vocal music’s history and his anatomical nature, which makes it a central concept. Because it is linked to the notes’ height and because their heights are the best communicated musical aspect in the traditional occidental notation, it can be used be used for many different types of music. To do so, this Master thesis consists of three parts. In the first part the current uses in vocal music will be identified, both through the analysis of anatomical treatises on the vocal organ and through the analysis of the music education institutions’ program in French-speaking Belgium, meaning the academies and conservatories. On this basis, the reflection on classical singing, its repertory and origins can be deepened. In the second part, the origins of vocal education will be used to understand how to approach the repertory identified as Bel Canto. By analyzing the technique used then, it is possible to get as close as possible to what the scores contain in terms of techniques. The third part establishes the steps to the score’s ideal vocality on the basis of the questions addressed in the first part and the techniques uncovered in the second part. The analysis method is finally tested on the aria “Casta Diva” and the seventh scene of the first act of the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.