# Classical vocal music and art



## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

What do you think...
My idea is to mix classical vocal music with art/cartoon drawings.
I myself am a singer, I sing songs and arias in German, Italian, Russian and I always have this feeling that people don't have a true understanding of what I sing about.
This is usually because of the languages and even though the music is beautiful there is always like a barrier between the audience and full understanding of the piece. 
Because of this I thought that it would be a great idea to mix the classical songs with art...

So for instance if you put your video on youtube and instead of your performance people would see drawings of what a you where singing about. Kind of like the whiteboard drawings that are popular right now.
While a person was listening to a beautiful song he would see pictures and understand the full meaning of the context. I think this would bring more interest to this kind of music and a deeper understanding of what a person and the composer is really trying to say.

I am just wondering what people think about this kind of mix...

I made a DEMO "Ich grolle nicht" by Schumann




These are not professional recordings or drawings =)

Is this interesting to anyone? does anyone have advice?


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## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

I think its a great idea DimiFrang!


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

It's a good idea, but I'm not sure if "Ich grolle nicht" is the best song to use, as it mostly revolves around the inner-emotions of the narrator. I think it would better with songs which have more of a story or narrative, like this one:


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## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

Hello Winterreisender!!!

THANKS FOR THE INPUT!!!!! 
I actually haven't heard this song and couldn't find the translation. Do you have it?

I like Fischer-Dieskau he is very good but even with his amazing vocal technique I feel that most of the people are not enjoying any of the music to its full potential just because of the language barrier.

What do you think?


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

Here is the text and translation to _Der Alpenjäger_: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=14440. It's a poem by Schiller and it makes for one of my very favourite Schubert songs because of its wonderful narrative potential.

You're definitely right that the language barrier can prevent people from fully enjoying vocal music. When I listen to songs in an unfamiliar language (or even in a familiar one) I find it helps enormously to have the text/translation at hand, because it is of course this marriage of words and music which makes lots of songs so special.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Hate it to the point of detest the idea.

I don't at all want to be influenced by another person's idea of a particular image evoking a particular emotion: no matter what images you choose, they will be the wrong ones for many of the listener / viewers.

A scrolling or line by line undertitle / supertitle translation, perhaps a landscape from the period, or period and place of origin of the song, but a sort of story board? Horrors. Your images won't be mine, I will begin critiquing their appropriateness or lack of appropriateness with the music and lyric, and instead of bringing me in, you will close me out.

ADD: What you propose is a sort of literalism, providing specifics for the imagination vs. the listener using their own imagination. The world is currently awash in literalism, illustrating things our minds used to illustrate from our imaginations (a film of the globally popular J.R.R. Tolkien books, the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings). The more of this there is, the more there will be a demand for art to be specific, directly representational, and flights of imagination in writing, art and music will be less and less understood, or desired. 

Don't illustrate your songs' texts; instead, simply translate them, add perhaps maybe some period art, those images non-specific to the narrative of the poetry.. but please do no mistake not knowing the language sung as a lack of imagination on the part of your audience, or their lack of imagination beyond directly not knowing the texts of the songs.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

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