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
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue1. Master Research Projects


Simple Media

id name copyright license
1169815 Oil Canvas Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1169932 Par mes chants Tristes et touchants Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1169942 Lambert - Par me chants Tristes et touchants (Airs à une II III) Michel Lambert All rights reserved
1169947 Lambert - Par mes chants Michel Lambert All rights reserved
1170126 Bruce Haynes The End of Early Music Bruce Haynes All rights reserved
1170326 Bacilly Bacilly, Bénigne de All rights reserved
1170337 Musical Performance Cambridge University Press All rights reserved
1170353 Shrock Performance Dennis Shrock All rights reserved
1170367 Singing in Style Elliott, Martha All rights reserved
1170369 Singing in Style Elliott, Martha All rights reserved
1170564 Marin Mersenne Harmonie universelle 1636 Marin Mersenne All rights reserved
1170566 Jacques Brel 24 Greatest Success Jacques Brel All rights reserved
1170568 James Anthony French Baroque Music James Anthony All rights reserved
1170570 Patricia Ranum Harmonic Orator Patricia Ranum All rights reserved
1170575 Rebecca Stewart Voice Types in Josquin's Music Rebecca Stewart All rights reserved
1170613 Figure 1: A comparison between vowels of 17th-century and modern French Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1170674 Mersenne Picture Marin Mersenne All rights reserved
1170754 Ballet de cour https://cmbv.fr/en/introducing-baroque/ballet-de-cour All rights reserved
1175832 List of French Vocal Ornamentation Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175858 Le Port de Voix Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175860 Le Tremblement Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175873 L'Accent Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175876 Le Doublement du Gosier Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175879 Le Coulé and Coulade Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175881 La Chûte Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175883 Le Sanglot Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1175971 chute Monteclair All rights reserved
1176090 La Conversation - CD booklet Vincent Dumestre 1999 All rights reserved
1176100 Chabanceau de la Barre - CD booklet Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176147 Le bourgeois Gentilhomme Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176161 Je languis nuit et jour Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176589 Sonnet Sacrez murs du soleil Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176594 Sonnet Je songeois que Phyllis (trimmed) Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176602 Ode Un corbeau devant moi Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176613 Un feu naissant vient d'enflamer mon coeur Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176646 Lully-Molière - Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Dialogue en Musique Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176655 Dialogue en musique Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176656 Dialogue en musique image Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176867 Le Cerf de la Vieville Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1176894 je languis nuit et jour Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1177203 ballet de cour 2 Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1177208 Lully Atys Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved
1179782 Airs à deux parties cover Lai Ngok Man All rights reserved

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