RILM:  Particular pronunciations or dialects are important factors in the creation and execution of vocal music. Such sounds can have a dramatic effect on the coloration and rhythmic profile of a piece of music; the recreation of such sounds is thus of great importance

Leedy, Douglas

Scholarship@Claremont

Performance Practice ReviewVolume 9Number 2 Fall Article 4Historical and Regional Pronunciations in VocalPerformanceDouglas LeedyFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pprPart of the Music Practice CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion inPerformance Practice Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contactscholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.Leedy, Douglas (1996) "Historical and Regional Pronunciations in Vocal Performance," Performance Practice Review: Vol. 9: No. 2,Article 4. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199609.02.04Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol9/iss2/4Pronouncing Vocal MusicHistorical and Regional Pronunciations inVocal PerformanceDouglas LeedyWhether they commit their work to paper or create it extempore inperformance, composers usually have in their mind's ear when set-ting words to music the specific sounds that characterize a particularpronunciation or dialect, sounds that are thus an integral part of themusical conception. Correspondingly, the re-creation of the originalsounds—obviously in some part speculative where the audible re-cord is absent—or something approaching them can have a dramaticeffect on the coloration and rhythmic profile of a vocal work inperformance, and calls for as much care as other important stylisticfactors such as articulation or choice of instruments. (A seeminglysmall change can generate a large effect, as for example the bright-ening of vowel quality that occurs when English-speaking singersproduce the true dental consonants of the Romance languages.)The recent evolution of standardized, "received" pronunciations forthe major European languages (and church Latin) has brought with ita need for attention to the many musically significant regional andhistorical pronunciations: for example, the Renaissance French of164 Douglas LeedyParis and Picardy: Low (Northern) and Saxon German in the 17thand 18th centuries: and the still very diverse Italian dialects, includ-ing (among others) those of Naples, Venice, and Tuscany.The passage of the centuries has gradually brought about drasticchanges in the way most European languages are pronounced, per-haps in English most of all, where the Great Vowel Shift profoundlyaltered the crucial vocalics. (A particularly dramatic shift in timbrecan be found in the pronunciation of i as in "time"; this diphthong,which is customarily sung today as a prolonged "ah" with a last-minute "ee" offglide [a1], was generally in the 16th and 17th cen-turies a sustained "ee" that emerged quickly from an initial neutralvowel: "tuhEEEM" [gi]. The earlier i can still be heard among folk-singers of Scotland and Northern England.) Nearly as diverse as theregional dialects, and as changeable over time, have been thepronunciations of Latin, which almost everywhere and until quiterecently followed the local vernacular.Written presentation of historical and regional pronunciations can behelpful up to a point. Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (Oxford:the Author, 1990) contains a daunting wealth of information fromprimary sources, and gives specific pronunciation recommendationsnot only for Latin but also for many European dialects from medie-val to modern times that have informed the local Latin accents.There is no substitute, however, for hearing the actual sounds;coaching by a specialist is highly desirable.A Selection of GuidesEnglish:E. J. Dobson, English Pronunciation, 1500-1700(2v., 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1968).E. J. Dobson and Frank LI. Harrison, Medieval English Songs(New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1979), p. 39-51, 317-21.The Pronunciation of Texts in Musical Works 165French:Jeannine Alton and Brian Jeffery, Bele Buche e Bele Parleure: aGuide to the Pronunciation of Medieval and RenaissanceFrench for Singers and Others (London: Tecla Editions,1976; with demonstration tape).German:C. V. J. Russ, Studies in Historical German Phonology(New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1982).Italian:Gerhard Rohlfs, Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoidialetti (Turin: G. Einaudi, 1966).A. L. and G. Lepschy, The Italian Language Today(London: Hutchinson & Co., 1977).Author's Note:The just published Singing Early Music: the Pronunciation of Euro-pean Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance^ edited byTimothy J. McGee, with A. G. Rigg and David N. Klausner(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), will surely be an im-portant source for those areas and regions it covers. A specialist pre-sents each of the languages or dialects included, which are English,Scots, French, Occitan, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, Galician-Portuguese, Italian, German, and Flemish, as well as the characteris-tic Latin of each area; sample texts can be heard on an includedcompact disc. This book appeared too recently to be evaluated here.

Historical and Regional Pronunciations in Vocal Performance

Keck Graduate Institute

Performance Practice Review
Volume 9
Number 2 Fall Article 4
Historical and Regional Pronunciations in Vocal
Performance
Douglas Leedy
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr
Part of the Music Practice Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Performance Practice Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact
scholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.
Leedy, Douglas (1996) "Historical and Regional Pronunciations in Vocal Performance," Performance Practice Review: Vol. 9: No. 2,
Article 4. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199609.02.04
Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol9/iss2/4
Pronouncing Vocal Music
Historical and Regional Pronunciations in
Vocal Performance
Douglas Leedy
Whether they commit their work to paper or create it extempore in
performance, composers usually have in their mind's ear when set-
ting words to music the specific sounds that characterize a particular
pronunciation or dialect, sounds that are thus an integral part of the
musical conception. Correspondingly, the re-creation of the original
sounds—obviously in some part speculative where the audible re-
cord is absent—or something approaching them can have a dramatic
effect on the coloration and rhythmic profile of a vocal work in
performance, and calls for as much care as other important stylistic
factors such as articulation or choice of instruments. (A seemingly
small change can generate a large effect, as for example the bright-
ening of vowel quality that occurs when English-speaking singers
produce the true dental consonants of the Romance languages.)
The recent evolution of standardized, "received" pronunciations for
the major European languages (and church Latin) has brought with it
a need for attention to the many musically significant regional and
historical pronunciations: for example, the Renaissance French of
164 Douglas Leedy
Paris and Picardy: Low (Northern) and Saxon German in the 17th
and 18th centuries: and the still very diverse Italian dialects, includ-
ing (among others) those of Naples, Venice, and Tuscany.
The passage of the centuries has gradually brought about drastic
changes in the way most European languages are pronounced, per-
haps in English most of all, where the Great Vowel Shift profoundly
altered the crucial vocalics. (A particularly dramatic shift in timbre
can be found in the pronunciation of i as in "time"; this diphthong,
which is customarily sung today as a prolonged "ah" with a last-
minute "ee" offglide [a1], was generally in the 16th and 17th cen-
turies a sustained "ee" that emerged quickly from an initial neutral
vowel: "tuhEEEM" [gi]. The earlier i can still be heard among folk-
singers of Scotland and Northern England.) Nearly as diverse as the
regional dialects, and as changeable over time, have been the
pronunciations of Latin, which almost everywhere and until quite
recently followed the local vernacular.
Written presentation of historical and regional pronunciations can be
helpful up to a point. Harold Copeman's Singing in Latin (Oxford:
the Author, 1990) contains a daunting wealth of information from
primary sources, and gives specific pronunciation recommendations
not only for Latin but also for many European dialects from medie-
val to modern times that have informed the local Latin accents.
There is no substitute, however, for hearing the actual sounds;
coaching by a specialist is highly desirable.
A Selection of Guides
English:
E. J. Dobson, English Pronunciation, 1500-1700
(2v., 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1968).
E. J. Dobson and Frank LI. Harrison, Medieval English Songs
(New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1979), p. 39-51, 317-
21.
The Pronunciation of Texts in Musical Works 165
French:
Jeannine Alton and Brian Jeffery, Bele Buche e Bele Parleure: a
Guide to the Pronunciation of Medieval and Renaissance
French for Singers and Others (London: Tecla Editions,
1976; with demonstration tape).
German:
C. V. J. Russ, Studies in Historical German Phonology
(New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1982).
Italian:
Gerhard Rohlfs, Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi
dialetti (Turin: G. Einaudi, 1966).
A. L. and G. Lepschy, The Italian Language Today
(London: Hutchinson & Co., 1977).
Author's Note:
The just published Singing Early Music: the Pronunciation of Euro-
pean Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance^ edited by
Timothy J. McGee, with A. G. Rigg and David N. Klausner
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), will surely be an im-
portant source for those areas and regions it covers. A specialist pre-
sents each of the languages or dialects included, which are English,
Scots, French, Occitan, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, Galician-
Portuguese, Italian, German, and Flemish, as well as the characteris-
tic Latin of each area; sample texts can be heard on an included
compact disc. This book appeared too recently to be evaluated here.


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