My favorite Christmas Song

My favorite Christmas song is "In the Bleak Midwinter." which is based on a text by English poet Christina Rosetti (1830 - 1894) and was set to music by Gustav Holst in the early 20th century.

Rosetti fell from public favor at the turn of the 20th century due to the rise of modernism and her clear Romantic sensibilities. Later readers began to appreciate her suppressed feminism and gift for prosody. What I like about this poem is not only the implied glory that Jesus would give up in order to be born as the "Son of Man" but the beauty of his earthly family's love and especially the love of his mother who "worshiped him with a kiss." But what always gets me about this poem is the last verse. Who am I to give a gift of any kind to this man? What could I possibly ever give that could be of any value? If I were a part of that original story as the shepherd or the wise man, I would have played my part but here I am thousands of years later. What could I possibly do to recognize this amazing gift? I can give only what I have - my heart.

In the bleak mid-winter

Frosty wind made moan;

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak mid-winter

Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him,

Nor earth sustain,

Heaven and earth shall flee away

When He comes to reign:

In the bleak mid-winter

A stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty --

Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him whom Cherubim

Worship night and day,

A breastful of milk,

And a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him whom Angels

Fall down before,

The ox and ass and camel

Which adore.

Angels and Archangels

May have gathered there,

Cherubim and Seraphim

Thronged the air;

But only His Mother

In her maiden bliss

Worshiped the Beloved

With a kiss.

What can I give Him

Poor as I am? --

If I were a Shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a Wise Man

I would do my part,--

Yet what I can I give Him, --

Give my heart.

Gustav Holst set the tune for the 1906 English Hymnal with the tune "Cranham." Later settings include a darker setting by Drake, and other choral settings by Benjamin Britten and others. Eric Thiman set the piece for solo voice and piano.

Gustav Holst version for Choir:

Harold Darke version Soprano and Tenor soli and choir:

The printed music scrolls along with the sound in this clip

Pop singers also love this song. Here is a James Taylor version of the song which keeps the same basic tune but adds a pop aesthetic under it with a drum set and some guitar and piano riffs. (One of the best things about this tune is that it still holds up under this kind of change!)

James Taylor:

The song also sounds great in a sort of country-celtic-bluegrass kind of feel. Fionnula O'Donnovan changes the tune a bit but it is still recognizable as the original tune.

Fionnula O'Donnovan:

The tune also works in a sort of indie singer-songwriter aesthetic. Here is Corrine May's version.

Corrine May:

Adele's vocal problems

First of all - I love Adele.

I really like her voice both in the sense of the sound and timbre she creates with her vocal instrument and in the way she "speaks" through her music. I like her music too. There is an intensity there that can survive the COUNTLESS times her song "Rolling in the deep" was played on every media outlet this summer. (It is really a great song and the way it builds is just genius.)

I am not even going to say "but" -

Her voice is fine. Some people might think that because I am a voice teacher and that I teach primarily "classical" vocal technique that I am going to take issue with the WAY that Adele sings. That I am going to criticize her vocal technique. Nope. Sure, she uses primarily chest voice and some classical voice teachers avoid "chest" voice like the plague. (I don't) Sure, she takes that chest dominant sound rather high. That's not a problem for me. Luciano Pavarotti took his chest voice pretty high too. It's cool. Yeah, there is a little raspy-ness in her sound. But it worked for her. And she is using a microphone for her primary amplification. I have no problem with that. (Unless she was going to try to sing "O mio Babbino caro" or something like that. Then we would have issues.)

Before you read what I want to say about her voice, first read HER words about the whole vocal fold hemorrhage thing. (By the way, a hemorrhage is a leaking blood vessel.)  Something to know for background. Adele smokes. According to an interview, "up to 30 cigarettes a day."

http://www.adele.tv/blog/352/important-blog

I take issue with her statement that all this happened with her voice and she had to cancel "through no fault of my own."

Even setting the smoking issue aside, Adele ignored her vocal problems to her own peril. She says herself that she was aware her voice was not behaving as normal and yet she continued to perform in the same way. (Adele's music is not just some squeaky folk songs. This is intense, muscular stuff.) What is the definition of insanity? Performing the same actions repeatedly and expecting different results. Adele knew her voice was injured and probably had been told what had caused that injury yet she continued the exact same behavior and is now surprised at the result? Please.

Adele, a personal plea for the sake of all of us who love your voice and your personality and your "BIG"ness, Go work with a Singing Voice Specialist - a voice teacher who has special training in the rehabilitation of the SINGING voice. Not just a speech therapist who also knows a little bit about singing. Or even a speech therapist who sings him/herself. They are trained in the rehabilitation of the speaking voice and can be incredibly good at that. However, that does not mean that they can help you belt a D5 like you have in "Rolling in the deep" without hurting yourself. And let's be honest. How can you avoid that high belt? That is why we love you and what you clearly love about your own voice.

Then start working with a voice TEACHER (not a voice "coach") who can help you learn how to do what you do without hurting yourself. It might even be the same person as above. There are quality people out there who REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING and use fact-based teaching techniques that are grounded in vocal function and can help you maintain that power in your chest register without trying to fundamentally change your sound. They do exist. Somatic Voicework (tm) would be one place to start.

If you were an elite athlete and injured your knee, you wouldn't just wait until it healed, you would look at the fundamentals of how that knee worked so that the injury would never happen again. Well, you are a VOCAL ATHLETE and need the same attention.

And for crying out loud, QUIT SMOKING!!! That hot smoke full of irritants is probably what caused the inflammation in your vocal folds to begin with which resulted in the bleeding. Take this time to go back and get some training because you are amazing and I personally want to be able to listen to your musical voice for a really long time.

Once More With Feeling: Respect and Awareness - A Professional Behavior!

Once More With Feeling: Respect and Awareness - A Professional Behavior!: "Sunday musings... less an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time here on the east coast... Are you simply AWARE in your professional..."

What the fach?

A supplement to a guest lecture I gave on gender roles and the fach system in a Women and the Arts class at Clayton State University.


Lyric Mezzo-soprano
Cherubino from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro

Cherubino




Dramatic Mezzo-soprano
Carmen from Bizet's Carmen

Carmen



Soubrette
Zerlina from Mozart's Don Giovanni

Zerlina


Lyric Coloratura
Gilda from Verdi's Rigoletto
(Some would take issue with this classification. Sometimes a heavier voice is cast in this role)

Gilda


Dramatic Coloratura
Lucia from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
(This role is also cast according to taste. For example, this singer does not have the heavier, darker tone often associated with this role)

Lucia



Lyric Soprano
Michaela from Bizet's Carmen

Michaela


Dramatic/Spinto Soprano
Aida from Verdi's Aida


Aida


Dramatic Soprano
Turandot from Puccini's Turandot
Turandot

Joyce Didonato will be performing a recital at Spivey Hall on the campus of Clayton State University on February 20 at 3 pm.  Here is a preview...






An interview with the Diva...


A BBC Radio interview with a few small video clips.


Dicsussing Barber of Seville in London:

Flicka speaks about her career

White with Color

I usually do not enjoy so-called "Renaissance" voices. I find them colorless and quickly lose interest. Recently in preparing for a lecture in Art Song Literature, I rediscovered Emma Kirkby who has a definite affinity for historical music.  Somehow, her voice, though arguably "perfect" for Renaissance and Baroque music still managed to have color and depth. See/Hear for yourself.