|
I'm so proud of all my students who auditioned for Region. While always a challenging audition, having the after-effects of Hurricane Harvey made this audition cycle even more time-pressed! Results are posted here.
If you are in choir or have taken voice lessons, you have probably sung in multiple languages: English, Latin, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian etc...However, with almost no exception, the language that really trips people up is French. It sounds funny, looks nothing like it is pronounced, and even has these annoying nasal vowels; how on earth did a Western language come to sound so different from its peers?
The answer is a long class in French politics and history. If you like history, this blog is for you! In the early 1600s, Europe was in a state of turmoil. The old feudal order of lords was starting to be supplanted by larger political organizations - countries. France was the furthest along in this political evolution, and due to its immense military and diplomatic power, came to dominate Europe for a century or so. The French kings were convinced of the French monarchy's and culture superiority. In order to protect the uniqueness of French culture, the French kings took the extraordinary step to setup government institutions that would essentially regulate culture. There was a ministry of music, a ministry of theater, and yes, a ministry of French language! The goal was to codify and establish rules on how the French language was to be spoken and written. While languages in other European countries naturally evolved and absorbed new influences from surrounding countries, France attempted to "wall off" their culture in order to preserve the unique sound of French music and literature. What does this mean, practically, for a singer? Well, in French, there any many sounds that are just not found in other Western languages. French has nasal vowels and mixed vowels EVERYWHERE! In addition, words drop several letters at the end if a vowel is nasalized. Ending 'e's often become neutral "schwa's" while singing, but curiously enough, are not pronounced at all when you are speaking. Basically, singing in French is truly a unique experience that drives students insane! The saving grace is this; while very different in pronunciation, French language has very strict rules that once you get used to, you can predict how a word will sound with nearly 100% accuracy. In this way, French is the exact opposite of English; English has so many contradictory rules that unless you are fluent, learning English is very difficult. DS If you are a serious singer in the 8th-11th grades, I highly recommend you apply for the scholarship below. It is not a college scholarship. It is intended to pay for your artist education (voice lessons, concert attendance, college audition fees and travel etc...) Break a leg and let me know if you are applying and we will work on your application!  |
Archives
March 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed