Music Research Forum - Professor Robert Toft

"Sing as You Speak: The Secret Fire of Rhetorical Delivery, 1500-1625".

Abstract

The close connection between speaking and singing is well documented in earlier times, especially between the late 15th and early 19th centuries. The presentation uses period sources to demonstrate how singers today can employ principles of rhetoric not only to free music from the "confining rigidity" of its notation but also to move the passions of listeners. Case studies: Monteverdi's "Sì dolce è'l tormento" and "Baci soavi e cari".