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In this
fascinating book, John Potter, himself a professional singer,
examines why singers are more likely to sing in certain styles
than others, and furthermore, how singing styles evolve, change
and relate to one another. Basing the project on his PhD thesis,
he constructs the book in conventional fashion, beginning with
singing in the earliest times and ending with the present day.
Two chapters, one on the relationship between singing and social
processes, and the other outlining a theory of vocal style,
provide a conclusion.
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The reader
is invited to explore the seemingly uniquely authoritative status
of 'classical' music and the inherent ideologies behind different
styles. The relationships between different types of singing
are shown to change as various influences shape the performances
of singers and the demands of audiences. There is a strong focus
on an intriguing attempt to discover how the transmission of
meaning is enhanced or inhibited through different singing styles
or techniques. The concealed messages of slave songs, the effect
of microphones and recordings, and the emergence of the singers
as songwriters are all investigated for their influences on
the way meanings are communicated.
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Some interesting
notions emerge from Potter's journey. From the earliest Christian
times, singing was associated with discipline and restraint
and it is but a short step to also include the idea of morality.
This is easy to
understand when we think of the inhabitants of monasteries using
Gregorian
chant in the performance of religious offices, but is more
vividly illustrated with the example in the baroque era of young
castrated boys training to be singers in religious seminaries
for many years and being drilled in vocal technique for up to
fourteen hours a day. As we enter the nineteenth century the
foundations of the modern voice are laid. The larynx is lowered
in order to maximise resonance, breath control is all important,
and vibrato is ubiquitous. The result is that the quality of
the sound produced is more important than the audibility of
the words being sung. In contrast to this , the singing of ordinary
people does not concern itself with such techniques. A folk
song, for
example, is sung using the larynx in its natural, high position,
the sound is allied to speech and the words audible. The two
modes are contrasted in the book with an analysis of Barcelona,
the album by pop singer Freddie Mercury and opera diva Monserrat
Caballe, whose photographs appear on the front cover.
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Potter has
some important things to say through his expansive survey. The
link he provides between singing and English Received Pronunciation,
which even extends to the performance of songs by American composers
such as Aaron Copland, demonstrates the influence of class on
the 'art song'. Important also is his opinion that what he describes
as an elite form of singing will eventually be reduced to a
stylized art form with little relevance to modern society. This
process can similarly be identified in other art forms, much
in the way of the Noh Theatre of Japan. All in all, Vocal
Authority is an intriguing book which, while covering some
familiar ground in its historical survey, provides valuable
insights. Potter writes fluently with an easy, confident style,
and is fully in command of his material. He has achieved that
rare publication that is of interest to academics and at the
same time a 'hard to put down' bedtime read.
Ian
Spiby and Judith Ackroyd
University College Northhampton
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