| Rgale,
The Ravel Piece in the Style of a Habenera isn't a song or aria. It appears in the series of vocalises mentioned above.
Seriously, everyone. . . ask your librarian to locate the Hettich series. The Messiaen vocalise included is an early work and you won't find a more lovely piece of Impressionism to play on the trumpet.
Mike,
Interesting thoughts about "sound-painting" vs. text. Music, obviously, is filled with the former (starting as early as Vivaldi and, perhaps before). I'm personally more interested in the "musicality" of the text -- the pitch of the vowels and consonants coupled with rhythmic pentameter -- and how each composer enhances it. I remember Samuel Barber speaking of this somewhere (I'll try to find it).
Off topic, Garry Howarth's treatment of a fragment from Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre is discussed on another thread here. I love his injection of sprechstimme by both the pianist & trumpeter (HH, in that case) -- very dramatic and really catches the audience.
Returning to topic, Spanish Songs (particularly De Falla) seem to transcribe well, perhaps due to their characteristic, almost instrumental, flavor (?)
. . . still enjoying this thread. More, please?
Best,
EC |