V ow el M odification in S inging 153

The oft-quoted statem en t of Pacchierotti, "P ronunciate chiaram ente,

ed il vostro can to sa rà p e rfe tto ” ("Pronounce clearly and y our sing­
ing will be p e rfe c t”) is a basic ten e t of the historic Italian School; it
w ould ap p ear to endorse a different aesthetic viewpoint from that
w hich produces th e "dark” voice. To claim that "open" or "w hite”
tim bre w as th en th e aim is to ignore evidence from the literature
itself. (Nor should one accept the highly questionable notion that .1
singer uses one approach for dram atic literature anil anothei loi
lyric singing.) H eavy "covering,” as found in n orthern si hoi ils, is to
be avoided n ot only because it causes language and diction dr.lot
tion, b u t because it distorts vocal tim bre.
Is it possible to rem ain free d u ring singing while constantly
depressing the tongue, spreading the pharyngeal wall, m aintaining .111
extrem e velar elevation, and low ering th e larynx excessively- .ill
concom itant w ith the yawn? Is the text intelligible in any part ol IIn­
voice? Despite the need for vowel m odification in u p p er range, Ian
guage sounds should alw ays rem ain defined in artistic singing. A
fault of vowel distortion should not be raised to a pedagogical tenet.
T eachers of singing, except in certain N ordic schools, ten d not to
w ant a "d ark ” voice th a t resem bles th e tim bre one h ears w hen a
person “yaw ns and speaks at the sam e tim e.”
The alternative to the depressed larynx is by no m eans a high
laryngeal position. Slight laryngeal descent with initial inspiration for
singing is norm al. If the singer is already in the “noble” position, very
little descent of the larynx takes place upon inhalation. In any event,
following the slight descent th at accom panies inspiration, the larynx
should th en rem ain in a stabilized position. It should neith er ascend
nor descend, either for pitch o r power, beyond the m inim al require­
m ents of vowel an d consonant articulation. It should stay "put.” The
singer’s physique determ ines the degree of depression.
R esearchers F rom m hold and H oppe (1966, p. 89) did a series ol
experim ents devoted to laryngeal m ovem ents during singing, u l.it
ing th e larynx posturally to the cervical vertebrae. A sum m ary ol
their findings underscores the need for a stabilized laryngeal position
during singing:
In an investigation of the problem of voice production In
trained singers, the m ovem ents of the cervical vertebrae
w ere studied by m eans of tom ogram s, as providing a fixed
bony point of attach m en t for the cxlrlmtk laryngeal mus
culature. Im portant postural differenced w e ir found depen
dent upon th e level of training and ability ol the slnyei I)m
sta n d in g in tern ation al artists w ere consph lions w ith ou t
exception for a con stan t posture over tin 1 en th e vocal Hinge,