Chopin’s Singing Melody: Coloratura and Beyond
Issued Date
2022-11-01
Resource Type
ISSN
20798857
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85147000904
Journal Title
Journal of Music Research
Volume
37
Start Page
1
End Page
40
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Journal of Music Research Vol.37 (2022) , 1-40
Suggested Citation
Buranaprapuk A. Chopin’s Singing Melody: Coloratura and Beyond. Journal of Music Research Vol.37 (2022) , 1-40. 40. doi:10.6244/JOMR.202211_(37).01 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/87485
Title
Chopin’s Singing Melody: Coloratura and Beyond
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
“Cantabile” melodies, with ornaments similar to vocal coloratura, are commonly seen in Frédéric Chopin’s music. Even in his early years, Chopin was familiar with a diverse range of arias from operas. He attended operatic performances, accompanied operatic rehearsals, improvised on themes from arias, and composed variations on themes from operas. His song-like melodies contain different types of ornamentation which can be traced back to different singing practices. This paper compares some of Chopin’s melodies to vocal passages from different sources to demonstrate the influence from operatic music and singing traditions. Various aspects of Chopin’s melodies are classified in accordance with different types of vocal ornamentation and vocal compositional techniques, such as variations on a theme, progressions of parallel thirds and sixths as used in operatic duets, and extended melodic lines with rhythmic tension at climaxes as in Vincenzo Bellini’s operas. The comparison and classification function to suggest possible ways of rendering Chopin’s music through the knowledge of how contemporaneous singers, who are often the muse of his inspiration, performed and improvised those melodic aspects. Different sources that commend how his music should be rendered are studied, including the performance practice of operas in Chopin’s time, notated variations from composers and singers, and written records of Chopin playing the piano.