The Singing Self: An Exploration of Vocality and Selfhood in Contemporary Vocal Practice

<p>Every vocal training technique relies on understandings of how a singer’s “voice,” both literal and metaphorical, participates in the act of interpreting the works of composers. Western classical singing, as codified by the early twentieth century, typically puts the singer in the role of the “medium” or “channel” for the composer. Later twentieth-century reactions promised liberation from the composer’s “voice” with a validation of the singer’s “authentic” or “natural” voice. This dissertation questions both sides of this binary and asks: what alternative models are possible? This work is in three parts. The first section provides an overview of pedagogical constructions of the singer’s “self” and “voice.” Next, an in-depth examination of singer and composer Cathy Berberian, whose collaborations with avant garde composers and use of expanded vocal techniques brought about new models for the relationships between composer and singer, singer and self. The final section of this work envisions new practices that draw upon the work of Berberian and others, seeking to offer contemporary singers tools for expanding artistic capacity and agency by exploring different understandings of the relationship between voice and self.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Musical Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York

Year dc:date.available

2021

Author dc:creator

• Eagen, Emily C

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Norman Carey

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Eliot Bates
• Thomas Bogdan
• Johanna Devaney

• Arts and Humanities
• Music
• Music Pedagogy
• Music Performance
• singing
• vocality
• performance
• selfhood
• Cathy Berberian
• vocal pedagogy

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4212

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:gc_etds-5274