A different voice, a different song : reclaiming community through the natural voice and world song / Caroline Bithell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bithell, Caroline, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural voice singing.

Singing--Social aspects.

Singing.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xxii, 351 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

A Different Voice, A Different Song traces the history of a grassroots scene that has been gently gathering force since the 1970s. At the core of this scene today are the natural voice movement, founded on the premise that "everyone can sing", and a growing transnational community of amateur singers participating in multicultural music activity. Author Caroline Bithell reveals the intriguing web of circumstances and motivations that link these two trends, highlighting their potential with respect to current social, political and educational agendas. She investigates how and why songs from the world's oral traditions have provided the lynchpin for the natural voice movement, revealing how the musical traditions of other cultures not only provide a colourful repertory but also inform the ideological, methodological and ethical principles on which the movement itself is founded. Bithell shows how amateur singers who are not musically literate can become competent participants in a vibrant musical community as they find their voice both literally and metaphorically. She theorises these trends in terms of the politics of participation, the transformative potential of performance, building social capital, the global village and reclaiming the arts of celebration and conviviality. The stories that emerge reveal a nuanced web of intersections between the local and global, one which demands a revision of the dominant discourses of authenticity, cultural appropriation and agency in the post-colonial world, and ultimately points towards a more progressive politics of difference. A significant study in the fields of ethnomusicology, music education and community music, A Different Voice, A Different Song will interest practitioners and scholars studying the democratisation of the voice, world musics in performance and the potential of music-making for sustaining community and aiding intercultural understanding. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Natural Voice, Community Choirs, and World Song: Setting the Scene 10

Singing for Water 10

The Bigger Picture: Definitions and Perspectives 16

Siging in the Spotlight 19

Researching Contexts: Surveying the Literature 21

Voice and Voicework 21

Singing and Choirs 21

Community Music and Community Music Therapy 25

Ethomusicology and World Music in Education 28

Musical Tourism 30

Digging Deeper: Themes, Issues, and Concepts 30

Networks, Scenes, and Movements 31

Global Flows, Cosmopolitan Cultures, and Transnational Connections 33

World Music, Cultural Appropriation, and Intercultural Engagement 37

The Politics of Participation and the Art of Celebration 39

Dancing in the Streets 42

2 In Search of the Natural Voice 45

The Original Instrument 45

Frankie Armstrong and the Natural Voice Practitioners' Network 47

NVPN Philosophy and Concepts of Music in Society 47

The Giving Voice Project, Theatrical Roots, and the Natural Voice in Performance 55

Kristin Linklater and Michele George 56

Alfred Wolfsohn and Roy Hart 58

Jerzy Grotowski and Wlodzimierz Staniewski 60

Giving Voice as Culture and Community 61

A Meeting of Worlds: Giving Voice and the Natural Voice Network 63

The Natural Voice in Perspective 65

3 Natural Voice Practitioners and Their Journeys: Histories and Connections 69

A Gathering of the Natural Voice Clan 69

The Roads That Lead to the Natural Voice 72

Frankie's Singing Journey 73

Meetings with Voice Practitioners: Contexts and Continuities 78

Musical Lives 79

The Folk Connection 81

The Political Connection 83

The Theatre Connection 84

The Classical Connection 86

The Community Music Connection 87

The Therapy Connection 89

The Circle Dance, Summer Camp, and Alternative Community Connection 92

The World Music Connection 96

The NVPN as Community of Practice 99

4 From Principles to Practice: the Culture of Natural Voice Choirs and Workshops 107

If You Can Talk, You can Sing 107

Working with the Voice 109

Preparing to Sing: The Function of Warm-Up Exercises 110

Arriving and Tuning In 111

Voice, Body, Breath, Mind 113

Paving the Way for Singing in Style 116

How Times Have Changed 118

The Aural Method: Teaching and Learning by Ear 120

Repertoire: Songs from the Oral Tradition 123

Resources for Teachers 127

Expanding Horizons 130

of Learning and Living 140

5 Singing the Songs of Others 140

A World of Song 140

The Attraction of Songs from Elsewhere 142

Entering New Sound Worlds 143

Entering the Lives of Others 147

Deeper Resonances: Lost Pasts and Present Yearings 149

The Politics of Uintelligibility 152

Songs from Taize 155

Text and Meaning in the Vernacular 157

Vocables in Georgian Song 158

Our or Theirs? of Boundaries and Crossings 160

6 Performing the Other: Appropriations and Transformations 165

Framing Intercultural Encounters 165

The African American Continuum and Gospel's Global Journeys 169

Back to Africa 173

Songs and Dances from South Africa 178

Songs of the Aka and Baka 181

Balkan Bridges 184

Gifts from Georgia 189

Authenticity, Alterity, and Possession 200

7 Singing Communities: The World of Community Choirs 206

Singing in the Streets 206

Choirs, Choirs Everywhere 209

Choirs in the British Media 209

Amateur Choirs in Britain: Social and Political Legacies 214

International Perspectives: Building Bridges through Song 217

Locating the Community Choir: Worlds within Worlds 219

The Choir in the Community and the Community in the Choir 223

Singing, Health, and Happiness 233

The Place of Performance 241

Opening Doors 247

8 Scenes from the Global Village: Singing Camps and Travels 252

The Singing Village 252

Reclaiming Paradise: of Fields, Festivals, and Foreign Shores 256

Tapping into the Festival Current 257

Theorising Travel and Tourism 259

A Village in a Field: The Unicorn Natural Voice Camp 263

The Unicorn Experience 264

The Unicorn Repertoire 265

The Unicorn Community 270

Choirs on the Move 273

The Village on the Move: Village Harmony's Overseas Camps 276

Village Harmony in Corsica 278

Village Harmony in Bosnia 281

Village Harmony and Other Travels in Georgia 284

Of Refashioning Identities and Living Differently 287

9 The Voice of the Future 294

Gathering the Threads 294

Fallacies and Other Truths 299

A Quiet Revolution 308

A River of Music 312.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-333)and index.

ISBN:

0199354553

9780199354542

0199354545

9780199354559

9780199354566

0199354561

9780199354573

019935457X

OCLC:

875674594

Publisher Number:

99961080696