A Discussion of Early Music Technique with Nancy Zylstra

by Rachel A. Antman

Get the real skinny on the facts and myths surrounding early music and its required vocal technique.

I
n 1994, the American Academy of What sort of technique does this Many singers associate early music
Teachers of Singing issued a statement require? technique with straight tone. Is that
entitled “Healthy Vocal Technique As Max van Egmond, the wonderful also expected?
and the Performance of Early Music,” Dutch bass-baritone and early music It is disappointing if a discussion of
which raised concerns about asking young pioneer, always says, “Singing early early music singing revolves around
singers to “apply purportedly historical music doesn’t take different technique, only vibrato. Shape, gesture, phrase,
vocal techniques in the performance it takes more technique.” According to articulation, dynamic—these are all
of Renaissance and Baroque music.” Marin Mersenne, the author of Harmonie words which more accurately describe
The statement specifically mentions the universelle (Paris, 1636-7), a voice admirable early music singing style. The
demand for “straight tone,” explaining should have a “solid sostenuto without most successful use of vibrato is when it
that it can “pose advanced technical and pitch-wobble; flexibility in passage- appears as an outgrowth of the shape of a
interpretive problems.” work; accurate intonation; sweetness, note or phrase, or because of emotional,
But do these risks apply to more and a certain harmoniousness, on which textual, or dynamic intensity. I don’t
seasoned singers, and to soloists as well depends the charms which ravish the think it is necessary to vibrate in order
as choristers? Is early music technique hearers. . . .” In Histoire de la musique to produce a vibrant sound. Whether or
inherently dangerous? To find out the (Amsterdam, 1725), Jean-Laurent Le Cerf not a singer uses vibrato is less important
answers to these questions, I spoke to de La Viéville describes a “perfect voice” to me than how and when they decide
early music specialist, voice teacher, and as “sonorous, extensive, sweet, neat, to employ it. That is what makes it
historical performance coach Nancy lively, flexible.” These are descriptions expressive, or not.
Zylstra, who is on the faculty of Seattle of voices that can perform trills and To my mind, probably the main reason
Academy of Opera and the Oberlin other ornaments at many tempos, all why early music has been so strongly
Conservatory’s Baroque Performance the while “making the difficult sound associated with vibrato-less singing is
Institute. effortless” (Johann Adam Hiller quoting the choral tradition. It really is true that
Pier Francesco Tosi). In a sense, singing chords are easier to tune and voices
First, just to be clear, what is your early music requires a more instrumental are more successfully blended when
definition of early music? approach. singers are using less vibrato. Vibrato is
Early Music America, the service The daily practice schedule of the papal as individual as each voice—some voices
organization devoted to supporting singing school from around the turn of have faster or slower, more slender or
historical performance in North America, the seventeenth century also gives an wider vibratos. Removing those variables
defines early music as repertoire from indication of what was especially valued helps keep individual voices from sticking
the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and and expected from singers of that time— out of the group.
Classical periods. I also feel that implicit trills: one hour; messa di voce: one hour; I do believe that a diet of only non-
in the use of the phrase “early music” is ornamentation: one hour; and coloratura vibrato, straight-tone singing is not
the assumption that the performers will and difficult intervals: one hour. healthy, especially if at a very high
be applying the appropriate historical tessitura and loud dynamic level.
performance practices when they perform Everything in moderation! Much as
music from those periods. one might like chocolate, eating too

24 Classical Singer / November 2009

 The Not-‘So’-Straight Story

much of it is not healthy, especially if to the exclusion of other,

necessary, food groups. As a soloist, I certainly never sang with
completely straight tone all the time, and I can’t really think of
any other soloist I’ve ever heard who does, either. It is a matter
of degree.

What Fachs are particularly well suited to early music? Is it

necessary to have a smaller voice?
This is a topic near and dear to my heart. So often I have
heard from a singer that his or her teacher says, “Your voice is
too small for opera, so why don’t you sing early music?” Like
the discussion on vibrato, emphasis on the size of a voice being
German for Singers
“good” or “bad” for early music is too limiting. Performance
practice for music of any period is a state of mind, not just
and Vocal Coaches
of voice. If singers are intelligent and musical, with good A seven-week summer program in language, culture,and vocal
techniques and a willingness to let their voices be instruments performance at Middlebury College’s German School in Vermont
in service of the music they are singing right now, they can be
successful at early music style.
June 25–August 13, 2010
My favorite example of this type of singer is Stephanie Blythe.
James McDonald: Voice Lessons, Former Faculty
Here at Seattle Opera a couple of seasons ago, I heard her Member, Indiana University and New England
in The Italian Girl in Algiers and thought she was fabulous. Conservatory—Performances worldwide. Students have been
Then I was given an opportunity to hear the Met’s production winners of the Metropolitan Opera Competition, have attended
of Handel’s Rodelinda, in which she also performed. I went, major Young Artists Programs, and are singing internationally.
unsure of how her voice was going to deal with the stylistic
demands of the piece. Well, I was totally blown away by her Ruth Ann McDonald: Vocal Coach, Former Faculty
Member, New England Conservatory—Recital
wonderful, musical, masterfully stylish performance. Her
performances with George Shirley, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and
recitatives were so clear and expressive—and in the arias, she Sir Peter Pears. Coach at the Kammeroper in Vienna and pianist
had all the agility and skill you could possibly want, married in international vocal competitions.
with dynamic shading, beautiful phrasing, and solid sostenuto.
Master classes and audition training by:*
She really knew what to do with the music and had all the
G. and S. Management, Berlin, Germany
technique necessary to make it happen. Bernhard Schröder, stage director
All voices come from the factory with different standard Evelin Garbrecht, singer
equipment. Some singers are already blessed with easy Carol Blaickner-Mayo,Vienna, Austria
coloratura and a real trill. Others find it easier to spin long, Christoph Hagel, conductor, Berlin, Germany
lyrical, legato lines. In order to become compleat [sic] singers *visits are subject to change based on availability
of early music, singers must work on the techniques which are “This program was so much more than I ever anticipated—
more difficult for them and develop them after-market, so to completely and totally life changing!” —Alexandra Loutsion, 2009
say, adding them to the skills they already have.
Request a brochure:
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You had great success as a performer of early music. What The German School, Middlebury College
Middlebury,Vermont 05753
were your own technical challenges? 802.443.5203 • [email protected]
Even though I didn’t start studying singing seriously www.middlebury.edu/academics/ls
until my early twenties, after majoring in the bassoon, I was For full consideration for financial aid, please apply as early as possible.
fortunate to already have a trill and agility, clear pitch with lots
of fundamental in the tone, as well as breath control from my
instrumental studies. What I needed to learn was how to make
a long legato line, and to sound more like a singer and not an
instrumentalist with a sweet little voice.

You explained to me that your voice wasn’t large enough

to handle the big operatic repertoire. For singers that do

www.classicalsinger.com 25
 The Not-‘So’-Straight Story

Nancy Zylstra
perform this repertoire, is there any benefit in adding early music
to their capabilities, or should they leave this to the superstars
like Stephanie Blythe?
I think most voices can and should sing a variety of styles. To
quote my voice teacher, Marianne Weltmann, “The larynx likes a
change.” Singing a variety of styles can be as useful to singers as cross-
training is for athletes. There are things to be gained from training
in a variety of ways, which will ultimately help build more technique
and keep the voice from becoming locked into one approach. This is
the real problem I see—if emphasis is placed primarily on preparing
for one medium over the other, voices become less supple and more
muscle-bound.
There’s no reason that singers of modern opera shouldn’t be able
to sing early music and, by the same token, that early music singers
shouldn’t be able to sing modern opera. The main thing is that the
demands of each style must be fully understood and techniques
associated with each must be fully “owned by” (integrated into) the
voice.
The analogy I would use here is that many of us have learned
how to drive cars with standard transmission and with automatic
transmission. After a few tries, it is pretty obvious which techniques
to use when you’re in each car—some things work for the automatic This makes sense, yet there is a stigma associated with early
transmission that will get you nowhere in the stick shift machine! But music among many members of the singing community.
just because we drive one, does it mean we can’t drive the other? Why is this?
Voice faculties are not always very encouraging of their
students’ interest in singing early repertoire with the kind of
stylistic approach desired by early music groups. This is sad.
Not preparing young singers for all the possibilities out there
in the real world is a mistake. I look at it this way: the more
styles you understand and can sing well, the more varied
and prosperous your career. Groups will want to hire you
because you can sing music in the style they want. This goes
for ensembles that specialize in “new” music as well as “old”
music. In many ways, there are similarities in how one sings
these two types of music.
One of the reasons the voice faculties sometimes steer students
away from early music is that it is perceived as undermining
the aim of much of modern vocal training—to create larger and
louder voices. This aim is easy to understand since, with the
disappearance of royal and ecclesiastical patrons of old, musical
presenters have had to rely on larger public audiences to foot
the bills—which has led to concert halls and opera houses
getting larger and larger.
In contrast, when it was written, early music was most often
performed in small halls, salons, chambers, and so on, and
with smaller forces playing on instruments that didn’t achieve
the same loudness. All of these factors allow for a successful
dynamic range that can start at a much softer level. This is just
the sort of situation that allows a voice to be very flexible and
supple, sweet, neat, and lively.
Contrary to what the naysayers believe, it’s not necessary

26 Classical Singer / November 2009

 The Not-‘So’-Straight Story

to sing with half your voice or “off example, if you’re working on French EMA publishes a list of workshops, for
your voice” to attain these sorts of vocal mélodie, then Pierre Bernac and the essays example. These take place all over the
attributes. What early music does require, of Reynaldo Hahn would be required country, and you may be surprised to find
however, is an openness to the demands reading. The same is true of early music. that there is one near you.
of the music. Go beyond what your voice It’s important to learn about historical
“does” to what it can do to make the music context. Is there anything else you’d like to
come to life. 2. Read through a lot of repertoire, mention in regard to early music or
playing “two-part inventions”—just the early music technique?
How can singers learn more about early bass line and the vocal line—to get a feel I’d like singers and voice teachers to
music technique? for the music. understand that early music is not just
There are several methods: 3. Listen to recordings of early about white (or colorless), straight-tone
1. Read about these techniques in repertoire played and sung by singing. If they can overcome their concern
the many and varied publications which instrumentalists and singers well versed about this issue, they’ll discover a whole
are now available. Many famous treatises in the techniques. Usually if a group says universe of rewarding repertoire and
from the period have been translated into it is playing on “historical” or “original” enhanced performance opportunities.
English and are readily available in college instruments, this is a good way to choose
and university libraries. Of course, you between one performance and another. Rachel Antman works at LVM Group,
can always refer to the Grove Dictionary 4. Attend concerts of early music a boutique public relations firm, and
of Music as a starting point. And Google! groups. moonlights as a singer and stringer. Her
There’s a lot of useful information 5. Join Early Music America (EMA) articles (both written and ghostwritten)
available on the Web. and your local early music organizations. have appeared in the New York Times,
Incidentally, this advice applies to 6. Attend workshops that focus on the National Law Journal, Real Estate
whatever music you’re studying. For this style. There are a lot to choose from. Weekly, and several trade publications.

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