Klarinet Archive - Posting 000072.txt from 1994/02

From: "Jay Heiser (Product Manager, Govt Systems" <jayh@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: vibrato (what's history of vibrato in singing?)
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 11:22:19 -0500

-->From sco.sco.com!vtbit.cc.vt.edu!vccscent.bitnet!klarinet Tue Feb 8 11:11:10
1994
-->Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 07:32:43 -0800
-->Reply-To: leeson@-----.edu
-->Sender: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network
<KLARINET%VCCSCENT.BITNET@-----.EDU>
-->From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
-->Subject: Re: vibrato
-->Comments: To: klarinet%vccscent@-----.edu
-->To: Multiple recipients of list KLARINET
<KLARINET%VCCSCENT.BITNET@-----.EDU>
-->Message-ID: <9402080804.aa05484@-----.COM>
-->

-->First let me suggest that, to whatever extent there is romantic emotion
-->in music, the player wants to convey that feeling in his/her playing.
-->Such emotions are inherently related to tremors (or trembling) and I
-->suggest that vibrato is an attempt to simulate this characteristic in
-->our speech when emotion overcomes us.
-->
-->In effect, when (and if) we turn on vibrato during a performance, we
-->do so partly deliberately and partly because the emotion of the moment
-->is best (or perhaps only) expressed by this trembling which vibrato
-->simulates.
-->
Learning yesterday that wind vibrato probably predates string
vibrato, I started to get curious about vocal vibrato. Dan's
posting reminded me. Does anyone know the history of vibrato
in singing? I'm going to go out on a limb & guess that it predates
instrumental vibrato. Where did the idea and desire for
vibrato originate?

It seems to me that just about every musical expression that
can get vibrato uses it. Bowed string instruments do and
fretted string instruments do (guitars do, I don't know about
banjoes & mandolins). Organs do. Even the Xylophone does.
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Garden Status:
Started pruning the grape vines.