Singing and Communicating in English: A Singer's Guide to English Diction

Kathryn LaBouff, Singing and Communicating in English: A Singer's Guide to English Diction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Paper, xviii, 326 pp., $29.95. ISBN 978-0-19-531139-6 www.oup.com The ultimate goal of lyric diction study, writes Kathryn Labouff in the introductory chapter of her book on singing in English, is communication. The path to this objective often is thwarted by the singer's emphasis upon tone at the expense of text, or the use of foreign pronunciations for English. Clear communication also can be undermined by inconsistency in pronunciation among cast members in a production, or a lack of attention to English diction if it is the native language of the singers. LaBouff, who teaches English diction and English vocal literature at the Juilliard School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Curtis Institute of Music, as well as serving as the diction coach for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington Opera, shares her expertise on the subject in Singing and Communicating in English. Labouff identifies three dialects used by professional singers: American Standard, the neutral pronunciation used for North American repertoire; Received Pronunciation (both historic and modern), used for repertoire by composers of the British Isles; and Mid-Atlantic Dialect, a hybrid of North American and British diction used in European works that are not specifically British. The author begins the book with an introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and tailors the orientation to both the North American English speaker and the British Commonwealth English speaker. From the outset, LaBouff clearly indicates there is a world of difference between learning the correct IPA symbols and communicating the text. Stress, syllabification, and the technique of "pulsing the phrase" (a means of emphasizing the strong syllable of stressed word types without adding accents or disturbing the legato) are techniques that will move the singer beyond correct enunciation and pronunciation to clear and communicative lyric diction. The author warns, however, that technique cannot be obvious to the audience. If the tips for clarity-such as vowel modifications for upper registers or passaggio-are discernible to the listener, they are overdone, distracting and defeating the purpose. LaBouff methodically presents the sounds of English, and offers advice, based on the physiology of speech, on how they should be sung to maximize vocal ease and diction clarity. …