Language resources for classical singers: IPA, recordings and more…

Hello, singers!

Finding the right library resources to support your studies can often be a challenge, so here I thought I’d go over some of the key resources we have in the Jerwood Library that singers in particular can make use of while singing in unfamiliar (and familiar!) languages, including IPA, diction books, and recordings of performances.

IPA resources

One of the most important tools for singers is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The IPA is a system of phonetic notation that allows you to accurately represent the sounds of different languages, and recognise the same sounds and shapes across the various languages you’ll sing in during your studies.

‘Almen se non poss’io’ by Vincenzo Bellini. Literal translation and IPA transcription © 2020 by Bard Suverkrop.

For online access to IPA, you can access IPA Source, which has thousands of pre-prepared IPA transliterations and word-for-word translations of song and aria texts.

Aside from IPA Source, there are also a number of printed volumes of translations and IPA transliterations of songs and operas, most of which are the volumes produced by Nico Castel, found in the reference section at 784.86. These are really useful for working on whole operas, as they include IPA versions and translations of recitative too.

Language-specific diction books

In addition to IPA resources, we also have a range of language-specific diction books that provide detailed information on correct pronunciation and articulation, as well as interpretation in different languages.

We don’t just have the languages you’d expect, too! We have books on Polish, Czech, and Greek. Many of these books can be found on the library catalogue using the subject heading Languages — Diction, or you can have a browse on the shelves at shelfmark 781.45.

Using recordings for foreign-language singing

Another key way to develop your skills singing in other languages is by listening to recordings of world-class singers, including native speakers. We have a large collection of recordings available in the library, from physical CDs and DVDs of operas and concerts, to recordings available to stream on Naxos Music Online and Alexander Street.

Alexander Street also has a number of video recordings, which can be even more useful than audio recordings as you can see how the singers use their bodies to produce a particular sound. In live performances especially, you know the singers are actually singing the sounds you are hearing in the moment, so there are visual clues to how they are doing it.

DeutscheOperBerlin, Giuseppe Verdi DON CARLO „Dio, che nell’alma infondere amor” (Highlight). Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed).

Thinking critically about language resources

All the above resources are fantastic, but there are a few questions you might want to consider when working with these types of resources:

1. Native speakers
   • Are they a better model than people singing in their second language? A lot of the time, the answer is yes, but can you think, for example, of any English-speaking singers who perhaps don’t sound like they are really singing in English, or pronounce English words in a slightly strange way?
2. IPA and accents
   • Like in English, every language has multiple different accents and ways of pronouncing things; an IPA transliteration or any description of how to pronounce something is only demonstrating one accent. Might there be some issues with this? Imagine an IPA transliteration of a Scottish folksong using received pronunciation – would that be ok, or would you want to pronounce it differently? The same goes for foreign languages, but you might not know what accent decisions the transliterator has made.
3. IPA across languages
   • Are the sounds represented in IPA symbols really the same across all languages? Using IPA, the French et and Italian e would both be [e] and the French est and Italian è would both be [ɛ]. This is quite a simple example, but is it really true that each of these pairs has a single pronunciation? You might need to look at other resources to find out more.
4. Videos and recordings
   • Are they really live? It’s worth being careful using videos and recordings as sources for diction and singing technique unless you know they are live performances. Is the shape of the singer’s mouth in the video really the shape their mouth was when they recorded the audio track? Did that tenor really just sing 9 piano top Cs in a three-minute aria, or was it really over the course of a three-hour recording session? Would the singer perform it differently live?

We hope this post has been helpful in highlighting some of the language resources that we offer at our library for singing students, and some of the critical questions you might ask about those resources. If you have any questions or need assistance in locating these materials, please don’t hesitate to contact the library. Happy singing!

What’s On…? Chamber Music Kickstarter Week November 2021!

This week sees a celebration of all things chamber music, with Chamber Music Kickstarter Week taking place here at Trinity Laban, where students and staff come together and perform in a series of Side by Side concerts. If you enjoy listening to chamber music, why not check out the What’s On webpage for more details of performances – which are all free to attend! (Please note that booking may be required.)

To launch the week, we have Carne Trust Guest Visiting Artists, the Piatti Quartet, performing music by Haydn and Elgar.

https://piattiquartet.com/about-us/

However, if you can’t wait till their live performance on Wednesday 3rd November, then fear not! Current TL students and staff have access to a wide range of recordings online, so you can listen from the comfort of your own sofa (or armchair, or beanbag, or whatever…).

Listen to their recording of jazz performances with saxophonist Justin Swadlin, via our playlist on Music and Dance Online.

Or if you prefer, you could go for some chamber music with flute by Hoffmeister or with piano by Mozart, as well as a contemporary string quartet by Gavin Higgins, via our playlist on Naxos Music Library.

Happy listening!

London String Quartet with Charles Hallé, before 1898 – unknown author.

Library e-resources: Finding documentaries on Alexander Street

By Everton137, CC BY 3.0, Link

This year marks the 180th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the well-known 19th century Russian composer. The Jerwood Library has a variety of online resources for researching particular composers, from journal articles to performances.
However, did you know that as well as audio and video recordings, the online resource Music and Dance Online (Alexander Street) has additional content for research, including documentaries? This resource can be used by all current students and staff.

If you are looking for a specific type of resource, you can narrow down your search results by using the filters on the left hand side of the screen.

For example, to find documentaries about Tchaikovsky, first enter the search term “Tchaikovsky” in the search box.

Then you can narrow your search further to make sure that only items that have only Tchaikovsky (and the correct Tchaikovsky!) as the composer are shown, by clicking on his name under the “Composer” filter:

Most of the 912 results are recordings, so it would take a while to go through the whole list to find other resources! However, there is an easy way around this – to limit the results to documentaries, select “content type” filter and click on “more”:

This gives you the option to include only documentaries in your search results: 

When you update the list, you are left with just the five documentaries all about Tchaikovsky – happy researching!

For more information about Music and Dance Online (Alexander Street), take a look at last year’s blog post!