Shulamit Hoffmann © 2015
Expression is perhaps the most deeply meaningful aspect of musical performance both for performers and for their audiences. Yet, even as expression has long prevailed as the raison d'itre of music, it remains elusive to define and difficult to achieve. "Expression is arguably one of the most discussed subjects in music performance. It is part of the everyday parlance of performers, teachers, and listeners and is used as a measure
of the aesthetic value of the performance. Despite its ubiquitous presence, the notion of expression seems to escape a straightforward and unambiguous understanding" (Alessandrini, 2014, p. 22).
Many hold the view that "the primary purpose of music—and the arts in general—is the communication of expression and emotion" (Woody, 2000, p. 14). How do choral ensembles convey emotion and communicate expressively?
Music and text, most would agree, are the two primary modalities for choral expression.
Music is usually considered and rehearsed first; depending on historical style, text may be considered next in the hierarchy of choral tasks or of equal importance to the music, or text may take precedence over music. Whatever the relationship in particular repertoire, the choral marriage of text and music holds manifold
communicative power. Custer and Henson, 2014, write persuasively of the richness of this
relationship.
A third modality, seemingly less generally attended to, may be as important as music and text in communicating expression to an audience: character, the visual or theatrical statement the ensemble makes about the feeling content of the music and text. I use "theatrical" not in the melodramatic sense, but in the
sense of good acting: convincingly portraying credible character. Creating character requires as much craft and technique as do the musical and textual requisites of intonation, rhythm, diction, and blend. These latter, however, can take so much energy that the theatrical portrayal of character may receive short shrift in
rehearsal.
Exasperated by choristers who sing buried in their binders, haven't we all used the adage, "Either the music's in your head or your head's in the music!" Looking up is a first step toward an ensemble being visually convincing. To this end, I exhort my choir, "Your eye lids are not nearly as expressive as your eyeballs!" or "You are singing `joyful' but you look so worried that what the audience will get is "Worry!' Some of my singers (usually older adults) have countered my requests for looking engaged: "We were trained not to show emotion while singing in chorus; we were taught it would be distracting." What does an impassive on-stage presence convey? To me, as an audience member, this feels like trying to have a conversation with someone who won't look at you.
Choirs have a different mandate than instrumental ensembles, in that they can visually engage their audiences in the character of what they are singing. At the very least, a choir will surely better hold an audience's interest if all the choristers' faces are readable. On-book or off-book, a choir connects with an audience when music, and text are presented authentically, theatrically, and character-fully.
"The goal of good acting singing is to communicate all the nuances of the music, text, and characters so that the audience has a fulfilling aesthetic and emotional experience. You can achieve this goal if you create believable characters whom you evoke with expressive singing. When you are believable as your character, you engage the audience's empathy. Once they empathize they respond with their feelings and are moved" (Ostwald, 2005, p. 20).
I cherish the traditional choral canon, but while I accept its proscribed visual performance features as a function of its liturgical origins, I envy the expressive resources of opera and of theater—costumes, sets, lighting, yes, but mainly I covet the acting. Might choristers use the dramatic techniques of opera singers and actors in order to create character with face and posture? Stanislavski's (1938-2010) Method enables the actor/singer to make the text personally meaningful in order to achieve authenticity in performance.
Carter explains, "Singers must identify the objective, the other, the story, the spark, and the stakes in order to have a reason to sing" (2005, p. 93). Michael Chekhov's Psychological Gesture is another technique that may be employed: Used only in rehearsal, a physical movement incorporates and expresses the thoughts, feelings and desires of the character portrayed and recollecting this gesture can help the performer vivify character. body postures, and arm-hand gestures that are employed by the singers. If that kind of nonverbal expressive involvement is minimal or missing, then observers will be less able to engage empathically with the words and music" (Thurman, 2000, p. 171).
Research supports not only the efficacy but the predominance of the visual modality of expression in human communication. According to Mehrabian, (1981) spoken words account for just 7 percent of message, tone of voice, 38 percent, and body language, an astonishing 55 percent. Music performance
research finds that performers' movements strongly influence and even overrule the auditory information they deliver.
"Music is a rich form of nonverbal communication, in which the movements that expert musicians make during performance can influence the perception of expressive and structural features of the music" (Rodger, Craig, & O'Modhrain, 2012, p. 1147). Choristers may need to be persuaded of the necessity of character. Prior experience or innate shyness may inhibit their embracing character as an integral part of choral training and performance.
The three modalities of choral expression—music, text, and character—are, of course, more interconnected than they are discreet. A lifted chest, a widened eye, a smile—all of these carry visual messages, but they may also make a perceptible difference to the sound and to the clarity of the text. "When singing, human beings credibly express as-if feelings; the feeling-stuff is ensymboled by the words and the music, of course, but also by the voice qualities, facial expressions, body postures, (and arm-hand gestures employed by the singers). If that kind of nonverbal expressive involvement is minimal or missing, then observers will be less able to engage empathically with the words and music" (Thurman, 2000, p. 171).
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, of the Manhattan School of Music, goes to the heart of why character is so desirable as
a modality of choral expression: "When choirs are primarily concerned with blend and ensemble, we listeners hear a big expression of pretty sound, signifying nothing. If you can get choral singers, especially amateurs, involved in the character and intensity of what is being said or sung...then maybe some communication will occur, some meaning will be conveyed, and some human experience will be had by all."
Utilizing all three expressive modalities—music, text, and character—choruses may communicate more expressively, affectively, and effectively with their audiences. Like a fine cuppa espresso, coro espresso packs a potent punch with the rich-bodied taste and aroma of music and text. Character adds the crema on top!
References
Alessandri, E. (2014). The notion of expression in music criticism. In D. Fabian, R. Timmers & E. Schubert, (Eds.) Expressiveness in music performance: Empirical approaches across styles and cultures. Oxford University Press.
Cooper, K. (2013). Personal correspondence with the author.
Carter, T. (2005). Choral charisma: Singing with expression. Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Music Publishing.
Custer, G. and Henson, B. (2014). From words to music: A user's guide to text.* choral musicians Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
Dahl, S. & Friberg, A. (2007). Visual perception of expressiveness in musicians' body movements. Music Perception: An interdisciplinary journal, 24, 433-454.
Dewey, J. (1934/2005) Art as experience. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group.
Keller, P. (2014). Ensemble performance: Interpersonal alignment of musical expression. In Fabian et al. (Eds.) Expressiveness in music performance (pp. 260-282). London: Oxford University Press.
Mehrabian, A. (1981). Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and altitudes. (2' ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Nusseck, M. & Wanderley, M. (2009). How music-related ancillary body movements contribute to the experience of music. Music Perception: An interdisciplinary journal, 26, 335-353.
Ostwald, D. F. (2005). Acting for singers: Creating believable singing characters. Oxford University Press.
Rodger, M. W M., Craig, C., and O'Modbrain, S. (2012). Human movement science, 1137-1150. Article in press retrieved September 2014 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. humov.2012.02.012
Stanislavski, K. (2010). An actor prepares and building a character: A contemporary translation. Benedetti, J. (Trans). (Original work published 1938). Abingdon, Oxon, England: Routledge.
Thurman, L. (2000). Bodymind, human selves and communicative human interaction. In Thurman, L. & Welch, G. (Eds.) Bodymind & voice: Foundations of voice education. Revised ed. Vols 1. Pp. 134-187. Collegeville, Minnesota: TheVoiceCare Network, Iowa City, Iowa: National Center for Voice & Speech, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fairview Voice Center, Roehampton Lane, London: Centre for Advanced Studies in Music Education.
Woody, R. H. (2000). Learning expressivity in music performance: An exploratory study. Research studies in music education, 14, 14-23.
From CANTATE • VOL. 27, No. 3 • SPRING 2015 •
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