Re: Tonal Songs and glossalalia
| From: | Mathew Willoughby <sidonian@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, April 12, 1999, 19:37 |
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Sally Caves wrote:
> Are there any musical experts on this list? What does anyone
> know about "tonal songs" -- songs that are sung with meaningless
> words? Bobby McFerrin has come out with a FABULOUS new CD
> called "Circle Songs" (anybody familiar with it) where he and
> famous singers like Nick Bearde, Paul Hillier, and Janis Siegal
> get together and produce entirely vocal "orchestras" of meaningless
> words. There is one song on there, just called "Circle Song Six,"
> that is completely haunting. While the rest have a kind of jazzy
> African or Haitian quality to them, this one is hauntingly Middle
> Eastern, and it fooled me into thinking that the man was singing
> a real language. Is this how glossalalia works? The copy on the
> CD speaks of it almost in those terms: "No words are necessary, and,
> in fact, words only get in the way of the interaction between the
> singer and the Divine. Words can create separation between listeners
> due to language limitations. Tonal songs are universal in their
> appeal and feeling. Such sacred sounds can be understood and
> appreciated
> by all, regardless of their culture, tradition, or background."
> Jonathan
> Goldman.
This sounds really nice. I 'll have to look for this CD. I've never
heard of Bobby McFerrin before.
What you describe though reminds me of one of my favorite artists. Lisa
Gerrard of Dead Can Dance.
There has been much speculation among her fans as to what language she
is singing it but she has
confessed that she just "makes up" the vocals. They are not real words
at all. Her songs are very
beautiful, spiritual and powerful. I often think that raw sounds have
meanings of their own
independant of language per se and of cultural conventions.
Anything by Dead Can Dance is wonderful but one of my favorite musical
feasts is
_The Mirror Pool_ by Lisa Gerard. I can get so lost listening to her
beautiful sounds
and imagine what they could mean. Definitely good inspiration for
conlanging.
> While we're on the subject, who has heard of Sally Oldfield? (any
> relationship to Mike Oldfield?) She produced a record album long
> years ago called _Water Bearer_ in which she seemed to be singing
> a Tolkein-like language. There is another singer, more recent,
> whose CD my husband has in the attic and he promises to get it for
> me--I can't remember it by sight-- where the woman has a private
> language she sings in. I think it was a kind of tonal singing.
>
I'd love to hear these artists!
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<P>Sally Caves wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<TT>Are there any musical experts on this list?
What does anyone</TT>
<BR><TT>know about "tonal songs" -- songs that are sung with meaningless</TT>
<BR><TT>words? Bobby McFerrin has come out with a FABULOUS new CD</TT>
<BR><TT>called "Circle Songs" (anybody familiar with it) where he and</TT>
<BR><TT>famous singers like Nick Bearde, Paul Hillier, and Janis Siegal</TT>
<BR><TT>get together and produce entirely vocal "orchestras" of meaningless</TT>
<BR><TT>words. There is one song on there, just called "Circle Song
Six,"</TT>
<BR><TT>that is completely haunting. While the rest have a kind of
jazzy</TT>
<BR><TT>African or Haitian quality to them, this one is hauntingly Middle</TT>
<BR><TT>Eastern, and it fooled me into thinking that the man was singing</TT>
<BR><TT>a real language. Is this how glossalalia works? The
copy on the</TT>
<BR><TT>CD speaks of it almost in those terms: "No words are necessary,
and,</TT>
<BR><TT>in fact, words only get in the way of the interaction between the</TT>
<BR><TT>singer and the Divine. Words can create separation between
listeners</TT>
<BR><TT>due to language limitations. Tonal songs are universal in their</TT>
<BR><TT>appeal and feeling. Such sacred sounds can be understood and appreciated</TT>
<BR><TT>by all, regardless of their culture, tradition, or background."
Jonathan</TT>
<BR><TT>Goldman.</TT></BLOCKQUOTE>
This sounds really nice. I 'll have to look for this CD. I've
never heard of Bobby McFerrin before.
<P>What you describe though reminds me of one of my favorite artists.
Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance.
<BR>There has been much speculation among her fans as to what language
she is singing it but she has
<BR>confessed that she just "makes up" the vocals. They are not real
words at all. Her songs are very
<BR>beautiful, spiritual and powerful. I often think that raw sounds
have meanings of their own
<BR>independant of language per se and of cultural conventions.
<P>Anything by Dead Can Dance is wonderful but one of my favorite musical
feasts is
<BR>_The Mirror Pool_ by Lisa Gerard. I can get so lost listening
to her beautiful sounds
<BR>and imagine what they could mean. Definitely good inspiration
for conlanging.
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE><TT>While we're on the subject, who has heard of
Sally Oldfield? (any</TT>
<BR><TT>relationship to Mike Oldfield?) She produced a record album
long</TT>
<BR><TT>years ago called _Water Bearer_ in which she seemed to be singing</TT>
<BR><TT>a Tolkein-like language. There is another singer, more recent,</TT>
<BR><TT>whose CD my husband has in the attic and he promises to get it
for</TT>
<BR><TT>me--I can't remember it by sight-- where the woman has a private</TT>
<BR><TT>language she sings in. I think it was a kind of tonal singing.</TT>
<BR> </BLOCKQUOTE>
I'd love to hear these artists!
<BR>
<BR> </HTML>
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