Sprechgesang
Sprechgesang, Sprechstimme (Ger.). Spoken song, speech-song. Type of vocal perf. between speech and song. First used by Humperdinck in first version of his opera Königskinder (1897), where singers were told to approximate the pitches but were doubled by instr. playing exact pitches. Schoenberg used the idea in his Gurrelieder (1900–11), in Die glückliche Hand (1910–13), and especially in Pierrot Lunaire (1912) and in his opera Moses und Aron (1930–2). Berg used the device in Wozzeck, and many others have used it since. Schoenberg was liberal in his attitude to manner of perf., as his recording of Pierrot Lunaire shows. In general usage, Sprechgesang is the term for the vocal technique, Sprechstimme for the v.-part employing it. A well-known example of Sprechgesang is that of Rex Harrison (and his successors) as Prof. Higgins in My Fair Lady.
More From encyclopedia.com
Barcarolle , Barcarolle from Les contes d'Hoffmann. Retrieved by Offenbach from his much earlier opera, Die Rheinnixen, 1864 (a failure). In this it figured as a… Thomas Hampson , Hampson, Thomas
Opera singer
Thomas Hampson is an enormously gifted, versatile baritone who combines a commanding stage presence with a rich, warm, f… Song , song. Short vocal comp., acc. or solo. Song is the natural human means of mus. self-expression (as it is for most birds). There are various types of… Singspiel , Singspiel (Ger.). Song-play. Type of opera, Ger. equivalent of dramma per musica, which developed c.1700, term orig. being applied to all operas. Fro… Woody Guthrie , Guthrie, Woody
Singer, songwriter, guitarist
“Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was a short, wiry guy VV with a mop of curly hair under a cowboy hat, as I first… Chris Ledoux , LeDoux, Chris
Singer, songwriter
A real rodeo cowboy in a musical world saturated with artificial ones, Chris LeDoux has pursued an unusual country m…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Sprechgesang