Vocalise

Vocalise

A vocalise (pronounced voe-ka-LEEZE) is a vocal exercise (often one suitable for performance) without words, which is sung on one or more vowel sounds. The singing of vocalise is called vocalization.

Vocalise dates back to the mid-18th century. Jean-Antoine Bérard's 1755 compilation "L’art du chant" includes a selection of songs (sans paroles) by composers such as Lully and Rameau, chosen for their value as exercises in vocal technique. Accompanying the exercises were instructions on mastering the technical challenges they posed. By the 19th century vocalises were commonly composed specifically for pedagogical purposes rather than being adapted from existing songs.

A related tradition of vocalise sprang up in the 19th century, with wordless technical etudes set to piano accompaniment, following the fashion of the time of setting even the most mechanical of études to piano accompaniment with the thought that this would inspire the performer to execute the music more artistically.

One of the best-known examples of vocalise is Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" op. 34 no. 14, written in 1912 for soprano Antonina Nezhdanova. It has been recorded numerous times and adapted for other voice types as well as orchestral and solo instrumental performance.

The first, slow movement of Heitor Villa-Lobos's "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" (1938) features a soprano aria over a cello ensemble, which evolves into an extended vocalise that floats over a pizzicato accompaniment.

Vocalese, which is a play on "vocalise," is a type of jazz singing in which new words are created and sung to existing instrumental improvisations. The Swingle Singers famously combined both these techniques.

In Indian classical music, the tradition of "aakaar" is used as a vocal exercise before singing, and also to a certain extent adds to the singing and the melody.

ee also

*Melisma

References

*Owen Jander: "Vocalise." "Grove Music" Online, ed. L. Macy. Accessed 25 Jun 05 [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)] .

External links

* [http://artfuljesus.0catch.com/Repertoire/vocalises.html List of Vocalises]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • VOCALISE — Dans le chant, mélisme développé sur une voyelle et qui en accentue le caractère décoratif, lyrique ou de pure virtuosité. Les vocalises sont aussi un exercice de chant qui, grâce à des formules appropriées, permet d’acquérir une bonne technique… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Vocalise — est un projet bénévole et gratuit, ayant pour objectif de mettre à disposition par un système de podcast, de courts textes (nouvelles) lus, d auteurs n étant pas encore (ou peu) édités. En plus de servir de plateforme à ces écrivains en herbe et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • vocalise — фр. [вокали/з] vocalizzo ит. [вокали/дзо] вокализ …   Словарь иностранных музыкальных терминов

  • vocalise — (Brit.) v. produce a sound; pronounce a consonant as a vowel; sing; express a feeling or opinion out loud; mark an unvowelled text with vowel marks (also vocalize) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • vocalise — [vō΄kəl ēz′] n. [Fr < vocaliser, to vocalize] 1. a singing exercise using sol fa syllables or other vowel sounds 2. a vocal composition or passage using vowel sounds instead of words …   English World dictionary

  • vocalise — vocalise1 /voh keuh leez /, n. 1. a musical composition consisting of the singing of melody with vowel sounds or nonsense syllables rather than text, as for special effect in classical compositions, in polyphonic jazz singing by special groups,… …   Universalium

  • vocalise — I. /ˈvoʊkəlaɪz / (say vohkuhluyz) verb (vocalised, vocalising) –verb (t) 1. to make vocal; form into voice; utter or articulate; sing. 2. to endow with voice or utterance. 3. Phonetics a. to use as a vowel, as the l of bottle …  

  • Vocalise (Rachmaninoff) — Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 is a song by Sergei Rachmaninoff, published in 1912 as the last of his Fourteen Songs, Opus 34 . Written for voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using any one vowel (of the… …   Wikipedia

  • vocalise — British variant of vocalize …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • VOCALISE — n. f. T. de Musique Exercice de vocalisation. Il se dit aussi d’un Trait de chant sur lequel on ne prononce aucune syllabe …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 8eme edition (1935)

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”