Valencia, Rosette M.

4 Schools of Singing.

(Italian, German, French, and British)

Throughout the recorded history of vocal development certain characteristics

can be traced to nationalistic roots. This work explores the four major schools of
singing: English, French, German and Italian and includes a brief history of the
pedagogical development and ideas of these schools' development. In addition,
specific techniques and their similarities and differences, between each school is
explored. Through the use of students as a control group, various characteristics
within the four schools are implemented in coaching. Within each school, English,
French, German and Italian, there are specific tonal, breathing and vowel
formation techniques that are successful for achieving performance level. Every
national school has produced great and accomplished scholars and singers.
However, there remains the fact that many of the reclaimed singers studied in more
than one school of pedagogy. For the most part these associations have followed
national characteristics.. The characteristic qualities of each school tend to follow
tendencies found in the languages. The English school is characterized by a white
“mouthy” quality. The French by a light nasal quality. The German by a heavier,
guttural quality. And the Italian by open throated round vowels and vibrancy
giving a bright and dark quality.

Italian School:
Breathing technique was that of the appoggio. Beginning with a straight
posture, the student was reminded to keep a high chest position while abstaining
from letting the rib cage fall throughout the exhalation cycle. Vowels formation
was to be in the manner of speech. A natural approach was taken in the shape of
each vowel. In addition, vowel modification was used in the upper and lower
registers. Resonance was to be placed forward for natural tone quality. Overall the
Italian school was successful in improving most vocal faults found in the assigned
students.

Dr. Bratt had studied with teachers who were students of Garcia and
Lamperti in Italy. He brought what he learned back to Sweden and combined it
with what the Swedes had naturally, a wonderfully vocal language. So this school
is built on the principles of the Italian school, being an upwardly stretched and
buoyant “noble” posture, a joyful exuberance for the act of singing, clear vibration
of the vocal folds and open throated resonance. This was combined with the
vocally advantageous “mixed” vowels of the Swedish language. These mixed
vowels take the weight off the voice and give a wonderful heady resonance that
adds beauty and “ring” to the voice.
The Italian school is characterized by a system which is referred to as the
lutta vocale (literally translated to “vocal struggle”) or appoggio (literally
translated to “to lean on” or “support”), which is synonymous with the former. The
term lutta vocale first appeared in a treatise by Francesco Lamperti (1813-1892),
and refers to the oppositionary forces at play during breath management (appoggio

German School:
The German school of singing is often characterized by the principles of a
muscular approach to respiration, an overexpansion of the chest, a darker tonal
preference, fabricated laryngeal position, and the emphasis on text over vocalism.
Singers, teachers of singing, musicologists, composers, and conductors rely on
astute observations and intensive study of historical artifacts, including original
writings, translated work, and secondary analyses to understand the German
approach. English-speaking audiences typically "know'" German technique
through English language writings or translated versions of scholars such as
Richard Miller and German pedagogues such as Marchesi, Stockhausen, and
Lehmann. However, omission of some seminal writings by German pedagogues
not yet translated to English limit a full understanding of both the evolution of
German technique and its applicability to teaching singing today. By comparing
the beliefs and singing techniques of important German authors, a chronological
appraisal of German style identifies the essentials of a German school of singing.
These include Italian fundamentals of diaphragmatic-costal breathing, elastic
tension of the breath musculature, imposto (breath-resonance connection),
chiaroscuro tonal quality, an importance of head voice in blending registers, use of
consonants in balancing a tone, and a gestalt approach to singing. These principles
were modified to fit German preferences and taste.
 French School:
The French have yet a different tonal preference and stylistic tendency. The
emergence of the Lied had a strong impact on the French poets as they began to
turn to elevated poetic styles “inspired by the clarity of form and declamation
found in Greek poetry.”10 With the general decline in the artistic level of early
forms of French vocal music and the new romantic poetry produced by Parnassian
writers, composers such as Berlioz, Bizet, Massenet and Saint-Saëns “continued to
develop freer forms, more lyric vocal declamation, and increased expressiveness in
the accompaniment.”11 10 Kimball, 157. 11 Ibid. Free forms and vocal
declamation were seemingly opposed to the German tastes, and the French further
solidified their aesthetic opposition with the emergence of impressionism. The
French taste, therefore, seems to oppose German sentimentality and Italian
virtuosity almost completely, forming a triangle of tonal and stylistic preferences.
Pierre Bernac Presented at the 17th Annual Convention of the Global Awareness
Society International, May 2008, San Francisco, CA, USA succinctly writes of the
aesthetic differences between the French and German tastes in his book The
Interpretation of French Song. In short, the aim [of French melodies] is to give
aesthetic pleasure through pure music, stripped of all philosophical, literary, or
humanistic significance, such as that which goes so willingly hand in hand with
German music. Debussy goes on to write that ‘clarity of expression, precision and
concentration of form are qualities peculiar to the French genius’. These are
qualities that are indeed most noticeable when again compared with the German
genius, excelling as it does in long, uninhibited outpourings, directly opposed to
the French taste, which abhors overstatement and venerates concision and
diversity.12 Mirroring the stylistic opposition, the French also maintain
pedagogical opposition with the Germans, particularly in the arena of resonance.
While the German School emphasizes pharyngeal widening, induced in part by a
lowered larynx, the French often search for methods to increase buccal and nasal
resonance.13 French singing can and should differentiate between nasal and non-
nasal vowels, however, “there tends to be rather consistently a veil of nasality in
French vocal tone which is the product of the slightly-lowered velum”.14 Richard
Miller attributes this “placement of the tone in the masque and at the bridge of the
nose” to the great Polish artist Jean de Reszke (1850- 1925) and attributes “his
principles that remain characteristic of current (but by no means all) 20th century
French voice instruction.”15 A second area of pedagogy that separates the French
School is their belief in natural breathing and laryngeal freedom, as opposed to the
more muscular approach of the German School. In its natural state, the larynx sits
slightly elevated within the throat. Therefore, the French School advocates head
elevation in order to ‘free the larynx.’ Richard Miller states that “although it may
not be completely accurate to assert that teachers in the typical French School
specifically request a high laryngeal position, such postural admonitions invariably
produce it.”

British School:
Students in the English school demonstrated a covered tone that was
sometimes “throaty”. There were improvements in breathing that allowed for a
stronger tone. The posture used for this method seemed to help the singers in
making longer phrases and have more consistency in sound. Improvements in the
upper range were noticed. Sound was fuller and throat was not as tight. In the
English school, both teachers felt that there was an improvement in the students
breathing system. The forward lean of the upper torso created more air space that
helped the students make longer phrases. Tone was stronger and well supported.
Both noted a difference in the upper range. High notes were better supported and
there was an increase in range. The pull-in upon inhalation released some of the
tension placed 77 upon the voice. Projection of the voice was noted to increase. In
addition, there were comments on “throatiness” of sound. Resonance tended to be
back and swallowed but began to improve towards end of study. Please note the
observations made for each voice student.

References:
https://slbvoicedynamics.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/hollandnationalschoolsofsinging.pdf

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/20802/Whitener%2C%20Joshua%2
0%28DM%20Voice%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

http://vocalwisdom.com/swedishitalian-school/