Vocalises and similar...

[Guido]

Now I see why string players are always told to imitate singers:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fW630zFA93Y

Just stunningly beautiful.

Made me wonder what else is out there for wordless solo singers.

There's a concerto by Foulds I seem to remember, and I know of Vocalises by Previn and of course Mendelssohn.

Anything else that's worth knowing about?

[Drasko]

This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZD0XplYrI

not entirely wordless but most of it is.

[Wanderer]

Medtner's wondrous Sonate-Vocalise op.41/1 and Suite-Vocalise op.41/2.
Brief samples here (the sonata is in the very last track).

A musicweb review.

[knight66]

There is this...

http://www.zavvi.co.uk/De-Los-Angeles-Villa-Lobos-Villa-Lobos-Bachianas-Brasileiras/222918/p.jsf

Villa Lobos, only one of the pieces is a vocalise.

There is also a stunning piece by Saint-Saens called Le Rossingnol et la rose. The only recording I know is by Rita Streich; it is full of melismas. Once heard, never forgotten.

There is also an extended piece, I cannot recall the name, basically a concerto for voice and orchestra, I think it is by a Russian composer. The only recording I know of is by Joan Sutherland, vacuous, but a Vocalise.

Mike

[Wanderer]

Mike, do you mean Glière's concerto for coloratura soprano & orchestra, op.82? I haven't heard it, but your description fits.

[knight66]

Tasos, Yes, that's it. Thanks....I would not bother too hard to get to hear it.

Mike

[Wanderer]

By the way, has anyone heard this CD? The samples I've just heard don't sound bad at all.

[knight66]

Nup, I don't know those works at all.


Mike

[Wanderer]

I would not bother too hard to get to hear it.

Duly noted, Mike...

A search under the names of Glière and Sutherland only yielded this solitary result...



...a twofer indicated as containing "arias & lieder by Bellini, Delibes, Donizetti, Glière, Händel, Massenet, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Offenbach, Balfe, Bishop, etc.". It probably doesn't include said Glière concerto; is anyone familiar with this collection?

[knight66]

Tasos, Yes it is on there, disc 2 tracks three and four.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stupenda-Supreme-Joan-Sutherland/dp/samples/B00005OC0E/ref=dp_tracks_all_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1205607318&sr=1-1#disc_1

Mike

[Mozart]

They sound sort of like elevator music to me.

[Wanderer]

These must be some classy elevators you are using.

[Guido]

These must be some classy elevators you are using.

Haha!

Thanks for the Medtner tip - I will look into that right away. I had forgotten all about the Villa Lobos piece - another truly beautiful work.

In the review it lists quite a few more:

Vocalise was something of a fashion in the 1930s. In addition to the two Medtner works there are a host of others including John Foulds' recently premiered Lyra Celtica (soon to be out on Warner Classics), Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Alfvén's splendidly OTT Fourth Symphony From the Uttermost Skerries, Bliss's Rhapsody, RVW's Pastoral Symphony and Nielsen's Espansiva.

Would anyone care to comment on the Bliss and Nielsen?

[pjme]

The use of wordless singers ( or chorus) with (or without!) orchestra dates back to the late 19th century, I think. Claude Debussy's "Sirènes" is a good example, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé ( complete, with wind machine!), Gabriel Pierné's "Cydalise et le chêvre pied" ( complete with vocalising chorus on Timpany - very beautiful!), Florent Schmitt has Salomé killed to the sound of a wailing women's chorus and Arthur Honegger uses alto's and mezzo's in a very evocative scene of "Phèdre" ( once available on Olympia).
Gustav Holst "Pluto" comes to mind aswell.

In Belgium and the Netherlands : Lodewijk de Vocht's "magnum opus", the Choral symphony ( ca 1935) . Wynn Morris conducted a spectacular performance some years ago. It's a big, late Romantic, late Impressionistic piece, full of joy & sentiment... A large chorus is part of the orchestra - used as another instrumental group.
In the early 20th century Dutch composer Daniel Ruyneman experimented with wordless choruses....

Carl Nielsen has introduced a ravishing duett for soprano and tenor in the slow movement of symphony nr 3 - Espansiva.

Another gorgeous example can be found in Erki Melartin's Summer symphony ( nr 4/ 1912) - soprano, mezzo and alto voices intone a Finnish folksong which Melartin gives a very lush and haunting treatment....Very, very beautiful. ( available on Ondine)

[Tsaraslondon]

Now I see why string players are always told to imitate singers:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fW630zFA93Y

Just stunnignly beautiful.

There's another wonderfully soupy version of this on disc, with Anna Moffo, conducted by Stokowski. No idea if it's still available or not. I have it on a lovely disc, which also includes the Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras no5 and a selection of Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne.

[Ephemerid]

Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel

AND

while there is some English text, most of Feldman's Three Voices is wordless.

[Tsaraslondon]

This is the Moffo version of the Rachmaninov, played, rather incongruously, against a backdrop of Russian Orthodox Icons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1QPxBCcag

[pjme]

Darius Milhaud : l'Homme et son désir - ballet written for a large ensemble and vocalising quartet (sopr/alto/ten/bar) - beautiful quiet ending .
                      Symphony nr 3 (1946 - Te Deum) - in the slow movement Milhaud uses a chorus to great effect : it intones softly over loud brass chords - when the brass stops, the soft vocalise of the chorus emerges as if by magic.

Cyril Scott : The muses - symphony nr 3. From The musicweb:

The second movement is a scherzo of tremendous energy and spirit. This is not merely light comedy for the merriment is impish, Puckish, with tricks that the Gods play. Scott's brilliant scoring may surprise many listeners. The slow movement is a lush L'après-midi but with an uneasy and uncertain resolution. The last movement opens with timpani and wind machine, and immediately a steady rhythmic pulse – a sort of moto perpetuo – drives the wordless chorus (with a nod again to Daphnis) to its climax with organ. At many places in this symphony one is pleasantly surprised at Scott's feeling for momentum; there is nothing here of the languid want of direction one has felt in lesser works.

[Tsaraslondon]

And of course Vaughan Williams adds a wordless soprano vocalise to both his 3rd and 7th symphonies, the latter with chorus as well.

[wagnernn]

Are "vocalises" suitable with spinto soprano?