Vocal gestures and articulation describe an area where tension arises between the opposite poles that Adriana Cavarero defines as voice and meaning, phonic and semantic. Philosophy, anthropology and the recent field of voice studies have addressed this issue from multifarious perspectives and in different musical genres. There is, however, another angle from which to consider the role of the voice in mediating between the body and meaning, interiority and exteriority. The author takes as her starting point the actual and self-reflexive use of vocal performance in the negotiation between composer and singer. The most significant vocal music between 1950 and 1980, as Luciano Berio put it, "has been investigating the possibility of exploring and absorbing musically the full face of language". A consistent strain of this enterprise was involved in vocal experimentation with the actual voice of singers and actors. Drawing on examples from Berio, Luigi Nono, Domenico Guaccero, and the exploration of vocal potential by Demetrio Stratos, the chapter investigates the performative aspects of the voice at the intersection of the individual and the social, the semantic and the emotional, as a contribution to the aesthetics of voice.

The physiognomy of the voice: Vocal gestures in Italian experimental music (1960–1970)

Michela Garda
2020-01-01

Abstract

Vocal gestures and articulation describe an area where tension arises between the opposite poles that Adriana Cavarero defines as voice and meaning, phonic and semantic. Philosophy, anthropology and the recent field of voice studies have addressed this issue from multifarious perspectives and in different musical genres. There is, however, another angle from which to consider the role of the voice in mediating between the body and meaning, interiority and exteriority. The author takes as her starting point the actual and self-reflexive use of vocal performance in the negotiation between composer and singer. The most significant vocal music between 1950 and 1980, as Luciano Berio put it, "has been investigating the possibility of exploring and absorbing musically the full face of language". A consistent strain of this enterprise was involved in vocal experimentation with the actual voice of singers and actors. Drawing on examples from Berio, Luigi Nono, Domenico Guaccero, and the exploration of vocal potential by Demetrio Stratos, the chapter investigates the performative aspects of the voice at the intersection of the individual and the social, the semantic and the emotional, as a contribution to the aesthetics of voice.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11571/1435815
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