Exposition

A Study on Ornamentation and Expression in French vocal Music (1650-1750) (2021)

Kitty Lai
open exposition

About this exposition

This study aims to understand and learn about the historical performance practice in the 17th century. As an early music singer, I am attracted to the sweet and charming 17th-century French vocal music. In particular, I am interested in the relationship between French ornamentation and expression. This research investigates the background of 17th-century performance practice in France in relation to the ornamentation, the pronunciation of 17th-century French, the different types of ornaments and the expression implied by the ornaments. The performance practice in the 17th century was different from now since it was undergoing a major change from polyphonic to solo music, which emphasised more the text than the music. The knowledge of ornamentation was an expected requirement for all well-trained singers in the 17th century, ornamentation was not merely a decoration, but a tool in emphasizing the importance of the text. Thus, it is necessary to learn ornamentation for a complete 17th-century French vocal performance. Since text was the main element in 17th-century French vocal music, it is important to know the characteristics of French language in this period. The ability to distinguish French long and short syllables was important because ornamentation could only be applied mostly to long syllables. The pronunciation of certain French vowels has undergone a significant alteration, and the ‘old’ way of pronouncing them is included in the study. The research findings also show that some ornaments were meant to be used only in certain expression and they help me to better ‘compose’ French ornamentation in future performances.
typeresearch exposition
keywords17th century, performance practice, Art of Interpretation, Ornamentation
date25/02/2021
published18/06/2021
last modified18/06/2021
statuspublished
share statusprivate
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1167751/1167752
doihttps://doi.org/10.22501/koncon.1167751
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue1. Master Research Projects


Copyrights

nameOil Canvas
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameFigure 1: A comparison between vowels of 17th-century and modern French
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameJacques Brel 24 Greatest Success
copyrightJacques Brel
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameMersenne Picture
copyrightMarin Mersenne
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameBallet de cour
copyrighthttps://cmbv.fr/en/introducing-baroque/ballet-de-cour
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameballet de cour 2
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameLully Atys
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameList of French Vocal Ornamentation
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLe Port de Voix
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLe Tremblement
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameL'Accent
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLe Doublement du Gosier
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLe Coulé and Coulade
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLa Chûte
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLe Sanglot
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
namechute
copyrightMonteclair
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameLa Conversation - CD booklet
copyrightVincent Dumestre 1999
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameSonnet Sacrez murs du soleil
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesaudio
nameSonnet Je songeois que Phyllis (trimmed)
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesaudio
nameOde Un corbeau devant moi
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesaudio
nameChabanceau de la Barre - CD booklet
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameAirs à deux parties cover
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesimage
nameUn feu naissant vient d'enflamer mon coeur
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesaudio
nameLe bourgeois Gentilhomme
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameJe languis nuit et jour
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameLully-Molière - Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Dialogue en Musique
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesvideo
nameDialogue en musique
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameDialogue en musique image
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesimage
nameje languis nuit et jour
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesvideo
namePar mes chants Tristes et touchants
copyrightLai Ngok Man
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLambert - Par me chants Tristes et touchants (Airs à une II III)
copyrightMichel Lambert
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespdf
nameLambert - Par mes chants
copyrightMichel Lambert
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesimage

comments: 1 (last entry by Elisabeth Laasonen Belgrano - 23/06/2021 at 00:10)
Elisabeth Laasonen Belgrano 23/06/2021 at 00:10

Dear Kitty,

Lovely to see your expo! I wanted to make you aware  of work that you may  find interesting concerning 17th century vocal ornamentation and artistic research. 

 - a CD with Air Serieux that i did  in 2004 (Eclatante Amamrante) https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/229531/229532

- My thesis: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/397858/397859

- a performance: Moving through the garden of senses: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/313732/313733

- and my  portfolio: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/378762/430811

 

Best wishes for your future vocal research and performance studies

Eli. Laasonen Belgrano

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