Tonal Songs and glossalalia
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, April 12, 1999, 7:32 |
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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.
How "universal" is the tradition of tonal singing? What is its
relationship to invented languages? I ask this, because Yaguello
and Schnapp sometimes seem to confuse this kind of language invention
with the stuff that we are doing. (Schnapp's remark about "infantile"
syllables, "open vowels" etc.; he means "open syllables" Matt told me).
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.
Sally
scaves@frontiernet.net
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html
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<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><TT></TT>
<P><TT>How "universal" is the tradition of tonal singing? What is
its</TT>
<BR><TT>relationship to invented languages? I ask this, because Yaguello</TT>
<BR><TT>and Schnapp sometimes seem to confuse this kind of language invention</TT>
<BR><TT>with the stuff that we are doing. (Schnapp's remark about "infantile"</TT>
<BR><TT>syllables, "open vowels" etc.; he means "open syllables" Matt told
me).</TT><TT></TT>
<P><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><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Sally</TT>
<BR><TT>scaves@frontiernet.net</TT>
<BR><TT><A
HREF="http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html">http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html</A></TT>
<BR><TT></TT>
<BR><TT></TT>
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