Studien zu Cathy Berberians New Vocality

Abstract

During the 1950s and 1960s the musical avant-garde developed a new type of vocal composition (often for solo voice) that recognized and incorporated everyday vocal sounds, such as gestural utterances or expressions of affect, into the aesthetic parameter of a work. The chanteuse Cathy Berberian, who took center stage in this development thanks to the extraordinary range of her vocal capabilities, inspired numerous composers to write in this emerging style and was herself engaged in the creative process. Her unique vocal treatment became known as New Vocality. Part A investigates the significant role of the voice in contemporary music in general and within several compositions written for Berberian by John Cage and Luciano Berio in particular, taking into special consideration the criteria of vocal gesture and affective utterances. Part B focuses on Berberian’s own composition Stripsody, a showpiece of New Vocality, especially as it relates to musical transformations derived from pop art and onomatopoeia in comics.