Klarinet Archive - Posting 000020.txt from 1997/04

From: Lord Rob <rteitelbaum@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Songs Without Words
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 16:42:44 -0500

Yes, Tchaikowsky wrote a number of songs without words, the most =
well-known of which is "None but the Lonely Heart." There's also =
Rachmaninoff's famous Vocalise, as was discussed a few days ago.
While a strict interpretation of the dictionary definition of "song" =
(Webster's, "That which is sung or uttered with musical modulations of =
the voice, whether of a human being or of a bird, insect, etc.") may =
make the phrase "song without words" seem self-contradictory, if we view =
instruments as extensions of the voice (why are teachers forever telling =
their students to SING?), then it doesn't seem quite so silly.
Another definition offered by Webster's is "A trifle", as in the phrase =
"A professional clarinetist's pay is a song." :) So perhaps titling a =
non-vocal composition a "song" is a composer's way of telling us that =
this is not a piece to be taken very seriously. This would extend the =
"songs without words" concept to those compositions titled as bagatelles =
(the word means "trifle"), as in Finzi's "Five Bagatelles."
Just a few thoughts from a lit. major.

Rob Teitelbaum