"Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy," by James
Stark
Kennedy-Dygas, Margaret
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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT)
Reviews Stark's study of bel canto, the historic vocal method developed in Italy during the baroque period (U of
Toronto Press, 1999, 325p, $75). Examines some of the early figures in bel canto and proposes a new definition of
the method. Discusses each chapter in the book. Opines that Stark's volume joins the best of the recent studies in
voice pedagogy.
FULL TEXT
Margaret Kennedy-DygasHope College
Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy.
By James Stark. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. [xxv, 325 p. ISBN 0-8020-4703-3. $75.]
James Stark's study of bel canto, the historic vocal method developed in Italy during the baroque period, follows in
the tradition of pedagogical inquiry begun by Victor Alexander Fields more than half a century ago. Fields's Training
the Singing Voice: An Analysis of the Working Concepts Contained in Recent Contributions to Vocal Pedagogy
(New York: King's Crown Press, 1947; reprint, New York: Da Capo, 1979) was a first attempt to sift through the
mass of confusion in the published account of the science and art of singing in the early twentieth century. His
approach was systematic and quantitative, and as such did not extend to the bold historical judgments attempted by
Stark. Nonetheless, Fields's work, in creating a bibliography of vocal treatises examined by category, began a trend
of greater objectivity. This was continued by Philip A. Duey ( Bel Canto in Its Golden Age: A Study of Its Teaching
Concepts [New York: King's Crown Press, 1951; reprint, New York: Da Capo, 1980]), John Carroll Burgin (
Teaching Singing [Metuchen, NJ.: Scarecrow Press, 1973]), and Brent Jeffrey Monahan ( The Art of Singing: A
Compendium of Thoughts on Singing Published between 1777 and 1927 [Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1978]).
Stark identifies the pivotal figure of Manuel Garciía (1805-1906) as the individual through whom the earlier bel canto
teaching tradition was united with the modern scientific approach in the teaching of singing. The singing profession
has credited Garciía with inventing the laryngoscope, but Stark has done his homework and frames this traditional
claim in a more accurate historical context. Though others in the nineteenth century experimented with laryngeal
examinations, Garciía was unique in desiring to study the singing voice. Stark also makes the point that Garciía's
examinations were performed only on himself and extended only so far as to produce evidence to support his
evolving theories about the function of the glottis. Stark's project examines Garciía's major claims about vocal
technique in order to (1) substantiate them insofar as possible by means of modern scientific measurements, and (2)
trace their roots from the earliest developments of the bel canto tradition. Stark's scientific explorations of Garciía's
claims are summarized in an appendix.
In chapter 7, Stark proposes a new definition of bel canto, one based on the representative vocal techniques
involved and on the style of composition developed for their expression. His definition, more functional than
historical, fills a need that voice teachers, confronting the array of alternative vocal techniques arising from popular
idioms and the relatively recent advent of electronic amplification, will understand. While bel canto has its roots in
the historic Italian tradition, it is still the predominant technique of the classically trained acoustic opera and concert
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singer. Stark's book spans the chasm separating the empirical approach to bel canto of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries from the more recent scientific attempts to quantify it.
Each chapter tackles a major area of controversy in the historical record, beginning with Garciía's coup de la glotte .
Stark argues that Garciía was identifying firm adduction of the vocal folds as the necessary first step to a balanced,
operatic onset and continuing phonation. Further, the coup de la glotte was greatly misunderstood, and much
incorrect science in the early twentieth century was cited to argue against it. Stark traces the views of glottal closure
from the time of Garciía through more recent research, concluding that Garciía's technique probably reflected the
actual practice of many operatic singers then and now. Continuing in this process of reconciling the
p.113
historical record with modern scientific inquiry, Stark examines the timbral question of chiaroscuro, concluding that
singers engage the vocal tract in producing this quality of both ''cover'' (by lowering the larynx) and brightness (by
intensifying the singer's formant).
The chapter on vocal registers is necessarily somewhat tentative, as more scientific research is needed to
understand the interplay of factors in the control mechanisms of trained singers. Clearly, in the bel canto tradition,
the goal is to produce a seamless texture of sound throughout the vocal range. The number of distinct registers of
the voice, or the question of whether separate registers exist at all, was a matter of bitter controversy at the time of
Garciía. Science today has established certain distinct functional positions of the vocal folds, but much more
research must be done to reconcile the historic treatises with actual vocal function. In regard to breath control
(termed appoggio in the bel canto tradition), similar difficulties emerge. Voice science affirms that the resistance
work of breath for bel canto singing is significantly different than in other techniques of singing or speaking.
Nevertheless, the strategies employed by individual singers involve such a wide range of variables that further
research is necessary to understand this process more fully.
The chapter on vocal tremulousness begins to examine the phenomenon of vibrato and its causes. This quality of
the singing voice is related to the interaction of muscular efforts in phonation and is therefore affected by breath
pressure, glottal closure, and a number of other factors. Historic treatises commonly consider vibrato a controlled
element of the singing voice. Its presence is often more pronounced in the delivery of heavier roles in nineteenth-
and twentieth-century opera. Stark proposes that vibrato results from complex functions of the singing voice and that
it is controllable, if indirectly, since it is measurably variable. Again, his conclusions are tentative, as more research
is needed in this area as well.
Stark's discussion of idiom and expression begins with an examination of the heavy emphasis on producing word
and meaning encountered constantly in treatises from the earliest period of bel canto. He adds to this discussion the
insights of contemporary aesthetics and science.
The culminating chapter proposes a new approach to understanding bel canto. Stark's thesis is that the technique
was invented and advanced in the late sixteenth century by court singers in northern Italy, many of whom were
women; he gives much credit to Giulio Caccini for its early development and dissemination. The phenomenon of the
castrato followed the development of the bel canto style quite naturally, as the castrato voice was capable of
producing the bel canto sound in a highly successful way. Had the castrati not emerged, argues Stark, the bel canto
tradition would still have held sway in Europe, as its roots predate the popularity of the castrato voice on the secular
stage.
This book joins the best of the recent studies in voice pedagogy. It is impeccably researched and compellingly
written.
p.114
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©Copyright 2001 by the Music Library Association, Inc.
DETAILS
Narrow subject: Bel canto, Vocal Pedagogy, Baroque era, Singing Styles
Broad subject: Musical Sound Sources, Vocal Music
People: Stark, James
URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/notes/v058/58.1kennedy-dygas.html
Publication title: Notes - Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association; Ann Arbor, Mich., etc.
Volume: 58
Issue: 1
Pages: 113-114
Publication year: 2001
Publication date: Sep 2001
Publisher: Music Library Association
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, Mich., etc.
Country of publication: United States, Ann Arbor, Mich., etc.
Publication subject: Bibliographies, Music History and Archives, Music, Education, Library And Information
Sciences, Music Theory/Analysis/Composition, Sound Recording And Reproduction
ISSN: 0027-4380
e-ISSN: 1534-150X
Source type: Scholarly Journal
Peer reviewed: Yes
Language of publication: English
Document type: Book Review
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ProQuest document ID: 1109836
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Last updated: 2017-08-23
Database: Music Periodicals Database
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