Matching Items (159)
Description
The notion that a singer’s voice is an expression of their personality serves as the catalyst for an examination of the relationship between the continuum of introversion and extraversion, and the pathologies of muscle tension dysphonia, vocal nodules, and performance anxiety. This paper begins with a brief introduction defining extraversion and introversion, followed by a review of personality studies identifying opera singers as primarily extraverted. Definitions of vocal nodules and muscle tension dysphonia are then given along with a list of recommended therapies. These elements tie in with two studies in speech pathology that suggest that behaviors of extraversion contribute to the development of vocal nodules, and behaviors of introversion contribute to muscle tension dysphonia and a higher laryngeal placement. Performance anxiety is shown to compound the behaviors that lead to vocal pathologies in singers. Additional therapies are recommended to address anxiety management in vocal lessons. Finally, since personality factors that contribute to vocal pathology are psychological, it is recommended that voice teachers refer their students to a psychotherapist for proper treatment.
ContributorsCurtis, Paul Josef (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Hawkins, Gordon (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
While opera often portrays young heroes and heroines in love, only recently have children taken center stage as principal characters in opera. This paper outlines the evolution of child characters in the standard opera repertoire, beginning with the famous trouser roles of Cherubino from Le nozze di Figaro, Siébel from Faust, Stéphano from Roméo et Juliette, Octavian from Der Rosenkavalier, and Hänsel from Hänsel und Gretel, and ending with principal child roles written for boys (Amahl from Amahl and the Night Visitors and Miles from The Turn of the Screw). Examination of the history of childhood and the casting of children in opera reveals that the two are closely related; as children gained more legislative protection against child abuse and labor, children also appeared more frequently in opera. The evolution of children in opera culminates in the mid-twentieth century, when children perform principal roles in operas like Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) and The Turn of the Screw (1954).
The study of trouser roles and roles for children in opera also reveals the heteronormativity and misogyny that is deeply engrained in the art form. While trouser roles might have reached popularity because of the vocal aesthetic created earlier by castrati, it is possible that heterosexual composers, librettists and audience members may have wanted to objectify the women playing those roles. Although trouser roles may have also been conceived as a way to create vocal or comedic variety, the strength of these roles has been their openness to multiple interpretations. The primary advancements for children in opera are entwined with this ambiguous history of trouser roles, as this paper will show. These milestones only seem to occur for boys instead of girls; for the most part, if a girl character appears in opera, she is portrayed by an adult woman. This paper will also discuss heteronormativity and misogyny in opera while following the evolution of child roles and child actors in the art form.
The study of trouser roles and roles for children in opera also reveals the heteronormativity and misogyny that is deeply engrained in the art form. While trouser roles might have reached popularity because of the vocal aesthetic created earlier by castrati, it is possible that heterosexual composers, librettists and audience members may have wanted to objectify the women playing those roles. Although trouser roles may have also been conceived as a way to create vocal or comedic variety, the strength of these roles has been their openness to multiple interpretations. The primary advancements for children in opera are entwined with this ambiguous history of trouser roles, as this paper will show. These milestones only seem to occur for boys instead of girls; for the most part, if a girl character appears in opera, she is portrayed by an adult woman. This paper will also discuss heteronormativity and misogyny in opera while following the evolution of child roles and child actors in the art form.
ContributorsSchildkret, Miriam R. (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
A strong correlation exists between the effects of bullying on a singer and his or her performance anxiety. An exhaustive literature review and a survey of classical singers were used to assess this hypothesis. The survey was compiled using standard psychological and current performance anxiety questionnaires with additional questions created by the author. The data were analyzed using a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, a regression analysis, and an Analysis of Variance.
ContributorsThilakaratne, Katherine Marie (Author) / Mills, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Kopta, Anne (Committee member) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This dissertation investigates vocal performance of art songs requiring authentic and appropriate regional dialects of the American South. Through close analysis of performance practice in American opera, musical theatre, and art song, this document follows the existence of regional southern dialects on the stage from the early 1800s to today’s practice. Evidence of specified regional southern accents is discussed regarding literary depictions in librettos, lyrics, and dialogue. Other topics include the ways regional nuances and colloquialisms differentiate southern regional accents, the existence of a generic “southern” accent to stand for any representation of rural whites, and, briefly, the nonspecific ways African American southern dialects are usually rendered. Art song selections from Kenneth Frazelle’s Appalachian Songbooks (1989) and Doug Borwick’s Southern Comfort (1989), which I studied, recorded, and transcribed into singer’s IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), are the central texts of this discussion. The recording can be accessed online at https://soundcloud.com
ina-c-garguilo/sets/southern-study-through-song.
This research will benefit the performers of American art song that specifically requires “white” dialects, the native and non-native speakers of some Southern-American dialects, and scholars who seek to promote authentic performance practice of southern oral tradition in concert music.
ina-c-garguilo/sets/southern-study-through-song.
This research will benefit the performers of American art song that specifically requires “white” dialects, the native and non-native speakers of some Southern-American dialects, and scholars who seek to promote authentic performance practice of southern oral tradition in concert music.
ContributorsCole, Nina Michelle (Author) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
ABSTRACT
Korea’s first opera Chunhyang Jeon was composed by Jaemyeong Hyun in 1948. Until that time, most Korean vocal music was sung by a few native traditional artists. Inspired by their work, composer Hyun combined elements from the ancient Pansori (epic poetic forms presented by a solo singer with drum) and Western music techniques to create his opera. Hyun also used the more vernacular Hangeul (Korean alphabet) for his libretto rather than the Chinese usually heard in Korean theatrical presentations. It might be noted that in that same year (1948), the first Western opera: Verdi’s La Traviata was performed in Seoul.
This study concerns the bringing together of Korean traditional idioms (in Pansori) and Western musical ideas (harmony, orchestration, etc.) to create what is now known as Chunhyang-jeon Opera. In this regard, the author will present a brief split-analysis of the older style and the more modern musical attributes of the combined style of traditional Korean music and European style opera. It is hoped that this study might provide the basis for a future opera course and guide for both disciplines.
This study will also show that the Pansori and its subsequent operatic treatment has historical, social and artistic elements. Some similarities and differences of both forms were noted here with regard to cultural sensitivities.
While Chunhyang-ga (older form) and Chunhyang-jeon (Hyun’s modern adaptation) have some musical similarities, the latter was not composed based on the former. Chunhyang-ga consists mainly of compound meter (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 24/8), which is at the heart of Korean traditional music, while Chunhyang-jeon uses simple meter (2/4, 3/4, 4/4).
Identical words are not often used in the two works, but their libretti are of much significance. Chunhyang-ga had been traditionally handed down with Chinese characters, whereas Chunhyang-jeon constituted its libretto with more modern Korean words which were easily understood by the audience.
Pansori have been sung with traditional singing techniques, which demonstrate the flow of the melodic line found in the images of the words (as interpreted and improvised by the solo performer), while in opera, vocal music is primarily from a set of melodic and harmonic techniques.
Korea’s first opera Chunhyang Jeon was composed by Jaemyeong Hyun in 1948. Until that time, most Korean vocal music was sung by a few native traditional artists. Inspired by their work, composer Hyun combined elements from the ancient Pansori (epic poetic forms presented by a solo singer with drum) and Western music techniques to create his opera. Hyun also used the more vernacular Hangeul (Korean alphabet) for his libretto rather than the Chinese usually heard in Korean theatrical presentations. It might be noted that in that same year (1948), the first Western opera: Verdi’s La Traviata was performed in Seoul.
This study concerns the bringing together of Korean traditional idioms (in Pansori) and Western musical ideas (harmony, orchestration, etc.) to create what is now known as Chunhyang-jeon Opera. In this regard, the author will present a brief split-analysis of the older style and the more modern musical attributes of the combined style of traditional Korean music and European style opera. It is hoped that this study might provide the basis for a future opera course and guide for both disciplines.
This study will also show that the Pansori and its subsequent operatic treatment has historical, social and artistic elements. Some similarities and differences of both forms were noted here with regard to cultural sensitivities.
While Chunhyang-ga (older form) and Chunhyang-jeon (Hyun’s modern adaptation) have some musical similarities, the latter was not composed based on the former. Chunhyang-ga consists mainly of compound meter (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 24/8), which is at the heart of Korean traditional music, while Chunhyang-jeon uses simple meter (2/4, 3/4, 4/4).
Identical words are not often used in the two works, but their libretti are of much significance. Chunhyang-ga had been traditionally handed down with Chinese characters, whereas Chunhyang-jeon constituted its libretto with more modern Korean words which were easily understood by the audience.
Pansori have been sung with traditional singing techniques, which demonstrate the flow of the melodic line found in the images of the words (as interpreted and improvised by the solo performer), while in opera, vocal music is primarily from a set of melodic and harmonic techniques.
ContributorsShin, Jinhee (Author) / Britton, David (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Although opera is the last musical genre one typically associates with Latin America, Mexican composer Daniel Catán (1949-2011) found surprising success across the United States and overseas with his opera Florencia en el Amazonas (1996). Catán blends colorful music with literary elements to create a representation of Latin American culture through language, drama, scenery, and music. Among these elements is realism mágico (magical realism), a significant characteristic of Latin American literature. Indeed, the plot of the opera is influenced by Gabriel García Márquez's novel, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985), as well as the poem "Mariposa de obsidiana" (Obsidian Butterfly, 1951) and the short story "La hija de Rappaccini" (Rappaccini's Daughter, 1953), both by Octavio Paz. To create his protagonist in the opera, Florencia Grimaldi, Catán combines the dramatic qualities of several European soprano heroines. This figure's character development is conveyed largely through her Act I, Scene 2, aria, "Florencia Grimaldi," and her Act II, Scene 17, aria, "Escúchame." An overview of the opera places these two arias into context, and their musical content and text-setting are closely examined in relation to the character of Florencia. Finally, how Daniel Catán creates a soprano heroine from the Latin American perspective is discussed.
ContributorsFlores, Andrea, D.M.A (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / May, Judy (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In My Dreams is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, narrator, and piano, based on the poetry of survivors of childhood sex trafficking. It was created to raise awareness of trafficking through music and poetry through the expression of individual dreams and voices. In My Dreams recounts the devastating loss of childhood and celebrates empowering words of survival. The poetry was collected in poetry workshops held in Calcutta and Delhi India in January 2009. After the poems were selected, translated, and edited, composer Dr. Gerard Yun set them to music. This document outlines the process of creating and performing this unique humanitarian cycle. It also includes the full score, poetry, and composer's notes. Topics discussed include: experiences in finding and collecting poetry; collaboration with the composer, Dr. Gerard Yun; form and structure of the cycle; how each piece was molded to give voice to its inspired poem. Every song is analyzed from both a musical and performance perspective to give an account of the challenges and triumphs of the work and the process of undertaking it, as well as a better understanding of the background leading to its composition.
ContributorsGlenn, Melissa Walker (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Pritchard, Melissa (Committee member) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Mills, Robert (Committee member) / Rogers, Rodney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
W.A. Mozart was a masterful creator of music and drama as well as a keen observer of human relationships. Librettists were enamored of his ability to bring their words to life with his music. His truthful portrayal of human relationships, particularly involving women, was highly influenced by his own life experiences. Through these relationships he learned to create characters and music that clearly depict female sibling relationships in the eighteenth century. A review of educational opportunities for women during the eighteenth century, Mozart's personal relationships, as well as selected roles in his operas will help to explain Mozart's portrayal of the eighteenth-century female sibling stereotypes. While Mozart's self-centeredness is well documented in biographies by Cliff Eisen and Ruth Halliwell, and the argument can be made that he surrounded himself with females who fulfilled his needs, he was often drawn to operas in which he could advocate musically for a female character's liberation from the overbearing influence of powerful men. Although Mozart's "musically empowered" women appear in nearly every opera, for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the characters of Così fan tutte's Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and Le Nozze di Figaro's Countess. First, however, a closer analysis of Mozart's early life and his relationships with his sister and mother is necessary. The ways Mozart set characters created by DaPonte and Beaumarchais cannot be separated from the ways he was taught to appreciate females in his family of origin. Social structure during the eighteenth century dictated a woman's education, responsibility to her family, and therefore, played a fundamental role in defining her life. This situation often created expectations within the birth order that had an impact on sibling relationships as well as individual personalities. Many social and familial influences are represented through the operas of Mozart. Così fan tutte (January 26, 1790) and Le Nozze di Figaro (May 1, 1786) both contain a central female sibling relationship that reflects aspects of Mozart's relationships with women throughout his life.
ContributorsWalker, Anne (Author) / Doan, Jerry (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / May, Judy (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Reber, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The impact of musical theatre in the United States calls attention to its role in our cultural heritage. Art in all its forms has always been considered to be something of an ongoing history of a society's culture. Musical theatre has been very successful in synthesizing several different aspects of American culture and establishing historical markers in areas of music, drama, social issues, and even technology. The plethora of issues challenged by pieces of music theatre has created a large canon of works that contribute greatly to our culture, both artistically and socially. These works are the result of many centuries of artistic performance and the evolution that these works have gone through over time. Tracing back through vaudeville, Follies, and into the works of European opera: musical theatre has a rich and extensive background in production styles that still inform its presentation today. These styles allow for a dynamic presentation of the ideas and issues that music theatre wishes to address and challenge. When the production style and content of musical works are drawn from these past sources, the oral traditions and storytelling aspects of these works gain renewed prominence. Music theatre as a new frontier of literary study warrants further investigation into its literary merit.
ContributorsMcNay, Michael (Author) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Thesis director) / Harper, Robert (Committee member) / Yatso, Toby (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
ContributorsButler, Robb (Conductor) / McCreary, Kimilee (Conductor) / Bakko, Nicki L. (Conductor) / Schreuder, Joel (Conductor) / Larson, Matthew (Performer) / Ortman, Mory (Performer) / Graduate Chorale I (Performer) / Graduate Chorale II (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created1999-12-02