Vowel-Pitch Matching, from Senta to Kundry
Faculty Advisor Name
Kevin McMillan
Description
Richard Wagner stands out distinctly from most other composers because he wrote both the musical scores and the librettos for his operas. His librettos were considered by some to be masterworks on their own merit and Wagner was keenly interested in ensuring that the words he had written were intelligible to opera audiences. A common practice among sopranos which may work against intelligibility, is to modify vowels to achieve uniformity of tone, which works well when words are not present. However, when composers set the libretto to music, the vowels may not work well with the corresponding notes, especially if the frequency of the vowels differs from the frequency of the pitches. Previous research identified a demonstrated preference for vowel-pitch matching in Wagner’s operas featuring the soprano roles of Brunhilde and Isolde (1854 -1874). The present study was conducted to determine if Wagner’s preference for vowel-pitch matching could be demonstrated in an earlier work featuring the soprano role of Senta (1840) and in a later role featuring the soprano Kundry (1882). In contrast to previous findings, analysis of the data for Senta and Kundry showed an unfavorable preference for vowel pitch matching regarding open vowels at high pitch range.
Vowel-Pitch Matching, from Senta to Kundry
Richard Wagner stands out distinctly from most other composers because he wrote both the musical scores and the librettos for his operas. His librettos were considered by some to be masterworks on their own merit and Wagner was keenly interested in ensuring that the words he had written were intelligible to opera audiences. A common practice among sopranos which may work against intelligibility, is to modify vowels to achieve uniformity of tone, which works well when words are not present. However, when composers set the libretto to music, the vowels may not work well with the corresponding notes, especially if the frequency of the vowels differs from the frequency of the pitches. Previous research identified a demonstrated preference for vowel-pitch matching in Wagner’s operas featuring the soprano roles of Brunhilde and Isolde (1854 -1874). The present study was conducted to determine if Wagner’s preference for vowel-pitch matching could be demonstrated in an earlier work featuring the soprano role of Senta (1840) and in a later role featuring the soprano Kundry (1882). In contrast to previous findings, analysis of the data for Senta and Kundry showed an unfavorable preference for vowel pitch matching regarding open vowels at high pitch range.
