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by
Bruce Schoonmaker
The following worksheet,
with questions to be answered in writing by the performer, helps prepare
the performer mentally for interpreting songs and arias in performance.
1. Name of song.
2. Name of
composer.
3. Name of
poet.
4. Translate
the poem word-for-word. Render idiomatic phrases both literally and
figuratively. Try to translate from a dictionary even if you have a
word-for-word translation available.
5. Paraphrase
the translation. Write the same thoughts using your own words.
6. Fill in
between the lines. What is the hidden meaning of the poem?
7. What is
the general subject of the poem? (Life, death, love, joy?) Try to state
it in one word.
8. Define
the Super-objective: What does the song say concerning the subject?
For example: Love is joyous; departing wrecks lives; love consumes me
(this is the super-objective).
9. How does
the composer manifest his feelings about the poem? (Analyze the song
for performance, especially content of the accompaniment and the melodic
contour.)
10. Describe
in as much detail as possible the speaker of the text, both physically
and emotionally. What is her story? What is happening to him? What happened
to her just before the song? In other words, describe a situation in
which the speaker would be motivated to say the text.
11. What
is the speaker's eye-focus for the song? What is she observing? Describe
it in as much detail as possible. Does it change during the song? Where
does it exist in the performance space? (Above the audience, below,
somewhere in the audience)?
12. Have
you ever experienced an emotion similar to the speaker of the poem?
Describe in as much detail as possible the situation in which you felt
that emotion. (Search for your emotional key, the part of the memory
that allows the fullness of the feeling to resurface.)
13. In what
other ways than similar emotions does this song relate to your life?
Do you agree with the answer to number 8? Do you like the speaker? If
the eye-focus is another person, do you like (love) that person? Why
or why not? What can we learn from this song?
14. Sing
the song before a mirror. Do your eyes and face reflect the emotional
content defined above? Do your posture and body-language reflect the
emotional content defined above?
15. Tape
yourself singing the song. Do your vocal colors and articulation reflect
the emotional content defined above?
16. By what
other vocal and non-vocal techniques can you best convey to the audience
the meaning of the song?
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