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Pirita Beach, with Tallinn skyline in the
distance
I have been fascinated with this week’s observations of Muusikakeskkool and Ellerhein girls’ choirs! There is a lot to learn before I begin to
work with both groups in January. Though the girls, ages 14 through 18, speak
English fairly well, there are so many cultural differences, I am afraid that
old remedies I pull out of my pedagogical bag of tricks will be met with stares
and bewilderment. All of my clever American
cultural expressions and clichés are off the table! Teaching musical concepts, vocal
technique, and engaging students in textual comprehension and expression will
present a new challenge.
To that end, I have begun coaching with a voice teacher,
Vilja Sliževski, Professor of Choral Studies from the EAMT (Estonian Academy of
Music and Theatre) who works solely with undergraduate and graduate choral
conductors. EAMT choral conducting students take private lessons with Vilja focusing
on choral vocal pedagogy for the duration of their degree program.
Vilja talks about how language and cultural conditioning
uniquely influences the development of small muscles in spoken and sung Estonian
diction. Estonians do not ‘emote’ in their speech patterns as American do.
Inflection and word stress is much more varied in our speech than in theirs.
They do not speak loudly, especially in public; their speech is lyrical and
fluid. In Estonian diction, word stress is more predictable and cadenced, with
the first syllable in most words receiving primary stress. Estonian lacks the
plosives and fricatives that are common in English. There is no discernable
spoken difference between /d/ and /t/, and /p/ and /b/. These consonants are very
softly articulated. In general,
articulators such as the lips and the tongue are not as engaged in the
production of Estonian as they are in American English. By comparison,
Americans are outwardly emotive in speech volume, inflection and facial
expression; Estonians’ expression resides more in the interior realm. This may
be why it seems they are a little ‘stiff’ outwardly in choral performances I
have witnessed.
Estonian vowels tend toward to be formed more toward the middle
and back of mouth. As a result, much
time is spent in rehearsal and warm-ups getting the girls’ sound more
‘forward.’ Estonians use three vowel sounds that we do not /ö/, /ü/, and /õ/.
The two former are similar to the mixed vowels found in German and French, with
a little less rounding of the lips. The latter, /õ/ has no equivalent in the
Romance languages. Interestingly, these mixed vowels are constantly in vocalises;
what a great idea for balancing resonance! For example, the brightness of the /i/
combined with a back vowel /u/ works beautifully for finding a nice chiaroscuro (light-dark) balance in the
voice. Too bad that this mixed vowel sound is so problematic for speakers of
American English. Another sound prevalent in Estonian is the trilled [rr]. This
r-trill is considerably elongated—much longer than I have observed in Spanish.
Sitting on the bus among the teenagers, I hear the r-trill standing out—a
brilliant light percussion that sounds like the vibrating wings of a
hummingbird. Many of the vocalises used here precede the mixed vowels with the
r-trill. This is a great way of establishing the right kind of breath pressure
for a balanced onset:
Sample
vocalise: Do-mi-so-me-do. Sung on /rö/ - /ü/ - /i/
Just looking at these singers and listening to their sound
is an education. What appears to be a lack of overt jaw movement seems to be
normal for sung Estonian diction. The direction to ‘open your mouth,’ which is
certainly valid in in making modifications for upper registers, becomes a
potentially confusing pedagogical direction for these young Estonians.
When it is my turn at the podium, I will be teaching
literature from the States; that’s what they want to sing! Therein lies the
challenge: finding ways to teach American diction to non-native speakers. I am
very excited about undertaking the task! I have begun to appreciate the
challenge as I coach the Ellerhein Girls’
Choir on their English diction for Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. Goodness! Our language is certainly complex!
Too bad our spellings and pronunciations are so inconsistent! For native
Estonian speakers, the open /Ɛ/ and the open /I/ just don’t exist. Words such
as less come out sounding like lace. Well sounds like whale. Tim sounds like team!
They tend to produce a mixed vowel /ö/ wherever a single /o/ appears in
English. The word Estonian comes out
sounding like Estönian, making it
sound like the diction feigned by Hollywood actors in LA! Initially, the girls
could not hear the difference between /e/ and /Ɛ/ (as in lace and less)! Imagine
teaching English appropriate for an African American Spiritual, or a folksong
from the Southern Appalachian tradition!
Stay tuned. I will
let you know what it’s like!
Nägemiste (see you later)!
Tim
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