Technical and Expressively Meaningful Functions of "Transitional Tones” and “Primary Tone” in the Context of Vocal-Register Performing Strategy

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the technical and expressive functions of “transitional tones” and “primary tone” in vocal art. The methodology is based on the holistic analysis of the performing, teaching experience of prominent singers, teachers, the author's own experience in synergy with the works of musicologists and scholars, used to study the specific functioning of the “transitional tones” and “primary tones” in the structure of the opera part as an artistic whole; performing analysis, aimed at determining the technical specificity of vocal singing in “transitional tones” and “primary tone”, defined as an embodiment of the specific musical content of the “soaring human spirit” over the “prose of life”; a condition for the study of the subject of research is the historical approach, with the support of which the opera singer has to select the appropriate performance-stylistic perspectives of the opera part for the sake of revealing the “artistic truth” of vocalisation. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the identification of the specifics of the synthesis of the doctrine of “transitional tones” and “primary tone”, formed in the Italian and German schools, which have gained importance as a component of the domestic vocal performance; interpretations of the singer's voice as a tool for revealing the artistic content of the musical work in terms of basing on the principle of interaction of the performing registers. Conclusions. The technical and expressive-content functions of “transitional tones” and “primary tone” in the context of vocal-register performing strategy are determined; the significance of “transitional tones” and “primary tone” as representations of the performing musicology in the process of formation of stylistic erudition and technical mastery of vocalists-performers is determined; the experience of performance technique and expressive emotional value of the “transitional tones” and the “primary tone” acquired by the Odessa school of vocal performance has been revealed.

Key words: vocal performance, opera singing, “transitional tones”, “primary tone”, vocal-register strategy.