Movement and the Practice of Meaning in Song

Abstract

This study intends to provide some evidence about the body involvement in the meaning production in song performance. It analyzes body actions that are not basic requirement for sound production, during the elaboration process of an interpretative performance of a work. These actions are observed in relation to structural and emotional-expressive content of the piece. A professional soprano sang an opera aria four successive times (as a rehearsal), making both technical and expressive adjustments and delineating a personal interpretation along the repetitions. Performances were filmed and micro-movements were analyzed assisted by Diglo 12.0 system. The analysis of the climax phrase of the aria reveals: (i) the first two performances with the singer’s movements showing particular common features on the highest and longest tones in the passage (always associated to some sort of expansive action); (ii) these features are elaborated and incorporated in the following trials; (iii) Expansion is not always elicited with the same gesture (as it is understood as both the shape and the physical resources of the movement), but it is identified in different axes and body parts; therefore, (iv) it is not a stereotyped gesture emulating a given feeling or dramatic content; on the contrary, (v) as its expansive qualities remain while the gesture itself is always different. Observed actions are discussed as pre-conscious and sub-personal. The singer’s intentionality does not focus on them. The action refers to a particular expressive content of music. It is a particular way of feeling. Thus, meaning come to light from non-conscious bodily movements and perceptions. Intended meaning comes out from the way in which the body shapes (feels) the dynamic qualities of the performance.