Vocal Performance

A starting point of looking at the meaning of music is to consider the idea that music has some sort of link between the way it is performed, and those who perform it. This leads to a question of authenticity. Authenticity is a multi-faceted subjective word that can mean different things for different people. Consequently when the term “authentic” is used, I will use it to answer the question of: What does it mean for music to be played authentically? Using “authentic” this way allows me to define it as a mode in which originality functions towards the true meaning of the music 's intent. This definition, as we shall see, does not escape some of the conundrums of musical meaning. In fact, these conundrums might destroy the concept of authenticity as even something that should be talked about in musical theory.

Music should be understood, but not at the expense of the performer creating a “right result” and in turn taking away from the listeners enjoyment of the work being presented.

“On Broadway, although some female roles are narrow, demeaning, passive, or long-suffering and convey weakness, the performer sings with incredible strength. Listening to the female singing voice is a more complicated phenomenon. Visually, the character singing is the passive object of our gaze. But aurally, she is resonant; her musical speech drowns out everything in range. A singer, more than any other musical performer, stands before us having wrested the composing voice away from the lyricist and composer who wrote the score.” Said Musicologist Carolyn Abbate (Wolf, p.31)

Cypress Lake High School presented a night full of performances by vocal majors and vocal minors. Being the Fall Cabaret one can look forward to a year filled with talented voices filling the school auditorium.

Stereotypes are assumptions made about a group and its member but stereotypes sometimes have a slight truth in it. Stereotypes are not just produced out of the blue and Staples’ understands that. People have their opinions about others; those opinions come from somewhere, either an experience or something they heard before, than these opinions lead to stereotyping. Appearances have a lot to do with assumptions that are made about people. Therefore towards the end of his essay, Staples’ states, “I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers. Even steely New Yorkers hunching toward nighttime destinations seem to relax and occasionally they even join in the time” (2). His actions allow people to assume the opposite of what they would assume if he was not singing classical composers. People assume only educated people would know about classical songs, therefore Staples’ found a way to make fewer people if not all, to stop stereotyping him as someone he is not. If he did not use this approach, he would remain to be stereotyped as most black males are. This is persuasive because although he changed and began singing melodies, he shows everyone that he is better than what they would have assumed about him if he was not singing those melodies. Staples’ reminds us to be receptive because people do judge based on appearances as well as actions. If someone wants another person to stop profiling

Singer makes his audience feel guilty for not being generous and those who cannot give; he makes them feel pressured in to giving. No one wants to see another human suffer however, one cannot coerce people to do something that is

For this particular question, I am going to choose Juliek. Juliek was one of the musical performers back in one of the previous concentration camps. Coming from Warsaw, he was really passionate musician who became good friends with Elie. However, he ends up dying by the end of the chapter. He died by the suffocation caused from the many bodies piling him. Though, he was playing his violin as the bodies of other Jews were piling him. In a way, his death could be symbolic. He went out in life, doing something he loved.

The results of using the constructs of authenticity to evaluate music are therefore shown to be superfluous due to its foundations built upon opinions. Authenticity does not allow for a overall sound level of analysis as it relies upon a preconceived notion of what is authentic. These preconceived notions were more than likely criticised within their begins, thus leading to an endless evolution of authenticity. The quest for a composition to be utter authentic is an ongoing, impossible feat which will not be accomplished if the authenticity of music is based upon opinions. Therefore, Little Mix's cover of the Cameo song, Word Up demonstrates that ramifications that criticisms of authenticity. This is more clearly evident through analysing the

They were not singing the words, or even the correct notes, they were singing because they simply wanted to. At this moment I realized why the Parisians sang along to Bruce Springsteen’s song of being born in America. They were singing along not because they wanted to imitate Americans, but because the music made them feel something. The music elicited a response that created pride in the audience, the same pride as felt through the lyrics of the song. Music draws out every emotion conceivable, as I have seen grown men cry over Frank Ticheli’s haunting piece,

Censorship in music is a topic that has brought about much controversy over the past two decades. There have been many different arguments on the topic, however the question still lingers is should censorship still remain. Before you can form an opinion on this, you must hear both sides of the argument on this much-debated topic. Some people believe that music should be censored so all audiences can hear it without it containing any offensive lyrics. Others believe it should not be censored and musical artists should be able to speak, sing, rap, or rhyme freely without anyone censoring them. "Whether a person finds a work obscene depends largely on his or her moral or religious

Bono is hoping that their discussion will help “unlock” artists who he thinks are trapped into the pressure of not giving a wrong impression of themselves to the public. He said a great song that pleases God should contain honest expression of an artist’s experiences.

Any musical insight was obscured by the former problem, while the combination of the latter with ignorance on the part of both Stamey and the audience resulted in acceptance of racist elements of the performance. A singer-songwriter’s first ever performance with a large orchestral ensemble should have been a musical step forward; in reality, it was a cultural step

There’s a bigger song emerging from the music wing this year, but even though the women’s choir has more than doubled from the 36 girls in the fall of 2012 to the 82 girls enrolled this fall, choir director Elliot Kranz said that teaching that many girls at one time isn’t any different than teaching any other ensemble. There are just more girls.

The theory of authorship often challenge the ideals of authenticity, especially within the context of cover songs. This is due to the fact that the composer of the song is a separate entity from the performer. Society has often valued composer-performers as it has been encoded in culture within the past century. "the attempt to understand the past in terms of the past is - paradoxically - an absolutely contemporary phenomenon." Authenticity is a historically specific abstraction and therefore, will continuously be subjected to reconsiderations as our societal construction of authenticity changes through time. A cover version is seemingly an art form that contains a thin line that dictates the authentic an artist presents their image within

The Women’s Choir Festival included many different singing groups from Baylor and the community. The women’s choir and Bella Voce each performed two songs. The third part of the concert consisted of 4 soloists singing in opera style. The final performance was a large group of singers from 9 high school and the Baylor Choirs. Everyone got on stage for the final performance and sang 3 songs together. All the songs that were performed varied in qualities. Some had a very fast tempo while others were very slow and sorrowful. Most of the music was under four minutes in length, except for the final composition which was a blend of songs and therefore went on longer. After each section, had performed they would either sit on stage and watch the other groups go, or they would move into the first few rows of seating for the crowd and wait for their turn again to go. All of the soloists came from