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Vocal music training for college students impacts the social and emotional aspects of better learning. This impact must be classified progressively to improve the social and musical connectivity coinciding with real-time emotions. Therefore, an intermittent analysis of music learning is required for augmenting socio-emotional changes to the learning method. This article introduces Impact-centric Learning Analysis (ILA) using the Fuzzy Control Algorithm (FCA) for the purpose above. The control algorithm operates in two linear stages: in the first stage, the socio-emotional impact of the learning on the students is analyzed, pursued by the learning changes in the second stage. This first stage inputs student activity scores based on real-time implications. The lowest scores are classified independently in the second stage, and learning changes are carried out. The learning change is targeted to meet the maximum (optimal) impact score from the first stage using fuzzy differentiations based on training sessions and student performance. Therefore, the proposed algorithm generates an optimal impact for the considered features (socio-emotional), preventing trivial vocal music sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares songs in the bumba-meu-boi of Maranhão, Brazil, to reframe discussions of sotaque ("performance styles"). Songs structure performances and have a high symbolic value. Focusing on songs emphasizes the annual re-creation of performance styles and encourages further exploration of singing and songs as exemplars of ludic (cultural) capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional psychological awareness relating to vocal musical instruction often disregards the impact of earlier experiences on music learning could result in a gap in meeting the needs of individual students. Conventional learning techniques of music related to psychological awareness for each individual has been focused on and addressed in this research. Technological upgrades in Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Big Data (BD) related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) are provided as a solution for the existing challenges and provide enhancement in personalized music education. The combined approach of BD-assisted Radial Basis Function is added with the Takagi Sugeno (RBF-TS) inference system, able to give personalized vocal music instruction recommendations and indulge psychological awareness among students. Applying Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) is beneficial in capturing variant vocal characteristics as a feature extraction technique. The BD-assisted RBF can identify the accuracy of pitch differences and quality of tone, understand choices from students, and stimulate psychological awareness. The uncertainties are addressed by using the TS fuzzy inference system and delivering personalized vocal training depending on different student preference factors. With the use of multimodal data, the proposed RBF-TS approach can establish a fuzzy rule base in accordance with the personalized emotional elements, enhancing self-awareness and psychological well-being. Validation of the proposed approach using an Instruction Resource Utilization Rate (IRUR) gives significant improvements in engaging students, analyzing the pitching accuracy, frequency distribution of vocal music instruction, and loss function called Mean Square Error(MSE). The proposed research algorithm pioneers a novel solution using advanced AI algorithms addressing the research challenges in existing personalized vocal music education. It promises better student outcomes in the field of music education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology has influenced education, business, and communication in the last several years, changing many facets of human existence. Many industries have seen radical changes due to the quick development of technology, especially in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and the Internet of things (IoT). This research explores vocal music teaching against the backdrop of the twenty-first century educational reforms seeking innovation and pursuing new teaching methodologies. The goal is to develop an autonomous learning framework reinforced by machine learning techniques that use conventional neural networks. The present study aims to implement machine learning algorithms in education, because esthetic education promotes excellence and humanistic attributes in educational environments, and art is essential in social activities. The main goal is to provide a framework that enables music education majors to access a customizable learning environment by integrating a pluralistic network approach and the strength of conventional neural networks. Music education constitutes an integral facet of quality, ideological, and moral education within general colleges and universities. The mission of music education, cultivating competent teachers for various Chinese institutions, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of students' learning patterns, thinking characteristics, and behavioral phenomena. This study analyzes these facets across diverse levels and perspectives, employing empirical generalization, literature synthesis, logical reasoning, and action research methodologies. The research findings underscore an accuracy rate of 97.4%, emphasizing the augmentation of students' independent learning abilities in vocal music education at higher education institutions. The proposed approach outperforms machine learning techniques such as RNNs, LSTMs, and DNNs. This study highlights the significance and methods for autonomous music education at colleges to improve "music education" students' learning through "independent learning" theory in higher education music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many individuals, music has a significant impact on the quality and enjoyability of life. Cochlear implant (CI) users must cope with the constraints that the CI imposes on music perception. Here, we assessed the musical experiences of young CI users and age-matched controls with normal hearing (NH). CI users and NH peers were divided into subgroups according to age: children and adolescents. Participants were tested on their ability to recognize vocal and instrumental music and instruments. A music questionnaire for pediatric populations (MuQPP) was also used. CI users and NH peers identified a similar percentage of vocal music. CI users were significantly worse at recognizing instruments (p < 0.05) and instrumental music (p < 0.05). CI users scored similarly to NH peers on the MuQPP, except for the musical frequency domain, where CI users in the children subgroup scored higher than their NH peers (p = 0.009). For CI users in the children subgroup, the identification of instrumental music was positively correlated with music importance (p = 0.029). Young CI users have significant deficits in some aspects of music perception (instrumental music and instrument identification) but have similar scores to NH peers in terms of interest in music, frequency of music exposure, and importance of music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocal learning has found its proliferation in recent years due to the advancement in wireless networking. Vocal art encompasses profound cultural values and aesthetic preferences, making wireless platforms, e.g. Wi-Fi and ZigBee, essential for the enhancement of online vocal learning. ZigBee, as a wireless platform, has more recently been used quite frequently for online vocal learning and music. This paper aims to design an efficient wireless-enabled platform by using the lightweight features of ZigBee to support online vocal learning and expressions. The platform enables data transmission, storage, analysis, and playback of vocal learning sounds through the ZigBee network. It is built on a cloud platform, utilizing Docker virtualization technology to deploy a Hadoop distributed cluster, effectively simulating a distributed environment. The platform incorporates a model for recognizing musical sound and noise signals, empowering the online learning control platform to detect various characteristics of vocal music tones. Vocal music learning is enhanced by extracting endpoint fusion spectrum features and employing a tone adjustment and dynamic detection model. The proposed method improves anti-interference capability, online learning control, vocal tone recognition, and emotional expression accuracy. Simulation results demonstrate its effectiveness in vocal music, online learning control, and tone recognition, leading to more precise vocal music pronunciation and intonation registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In East Africa, Tanzania's musical expressions are rich and varied, and typically a combination of music and dance. A description of Nindo, a multipart vocal music form of the central Tanzanian Wagogo community, is provided, and a tribute is offered to the legacy of an important village artist, Mchoya, of the musical form that is begin continued by his progeny. A learning pathway, following the dimensions of World Music Pedagogy, is outlined for experiencing Nindo, and resources and references are recommended for teachers to facilitate listening, viewing, singing and dancing, and developing intercultural understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocal music teaching through E-learning platforms and in-person classrooms requires intense attention and practice. The vocals and strings with/without instrument support are required for improving the voice, pitch presentation, and learning improvement. With digitalization, the assessments are performed using a computer and process-aided technologies for musical performance evaluation. This article introduces a Leveled-Fuzzy Logic Approach (LFLA) for evaluating the musical performance of the vocal teaching method. The evaluation improves the teaching mode by matching the actual learning guidelines. The vocal music teaching guidelines vary for different musical sessions and types. Such different aspects are analyzed using leveled fuzzy; the session flow is analyzed for maximum inference with the actual learning process. The number of learning levels forms the crisp input and the input is analyzed until the fuzzification extracts precise high matching for the guided and real-time teaching. The crisp inputs are induced for combinational inference during the fuzzification process using lagging features. The lagging features such as time, sessions, and evaluation per session are considered for fuzzification. The proposed approach is verified using the metrics assessment rate, lag detection, assessment time, and errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elementary-aged students likely participate in an in-school Community of Musical Practice (CoMP) in addition to CoMPs outside of school. Therefore, knowing a student's entire Landscape of Musical Practice (LoMP) can help music teachers align in-school music practices with those outside of school to support students' developing musical identities. We studied five students at an elementary school in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, along with five parents and one vocal music teacher, to determine to what extent, if any, the students' musical identities were reconciled, renegotiated, or modulated by participating in multiple practices across their landscape. The students participated in multiple CoMPs across a LoMP and their musical identities were reconciled, negotiated, or modulated by competing demands. This study revealed theoretical terms that can aid in the understanding of how children inhabit and journey across a LoMP – the imaginary CoMP, the dabbler, and the steward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses six recent recordings of Baroque music that embrace the art of transformation. The recordings include works by Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Pietro Locatelli, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Each recording offers a unique interpretation of the music, showcasing the musicians' creativity and skill. The article highlights the historical and stylistic research that informs these interpretations and emphasizes the immersive and transformative experience of listening to Baroque music. [Extracted from the article]

The 20th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music was held in Geneva, Switzerland, allowing scholars and music lovers to gather and share their recent findings on Baroque music. The conference featured over 130 presentations by 151 delegates, covering a wide range of topics such as instrumental music in 18th-century London, the interpretation of Jean-Philippe Rameau's work, and the use of J.C. Bach's autographs. The conference also included performances by various ensembles and explored themes such as copyists, manuscripts, collections, and the relationship between music and dramatic performance. The event provided a supportive environment for PhD students and early career researchers to present their work and engage in fruitful discussions. [Extracted from the article]

An "earworm"—the experience of a catchy melody that repeats persistently in the mind—is a ubiquitous yet mysterious cognitive phenomenon. Previous research demonstrates that earworms for vocal music engage working memory resources, manifesting as "inner singing." This study investigated whether this effect is moderated by prior exposure to music. In one experimental session, participants (N = 44) were presented with four novel song choruses. To manipulate exposure, each song was presented between one and four times, counterbalanced across participants. The following day, participants undertook a serial recall task during and following presentation of each song. In addition, they rated the music on familiarity, enjoyment, their desire to sing along, and perceived catchiness, both before and following the experiment. Increased exposure to novel songs on the first day tended to result in greater interference on task performance during and following their presentation on the second day, yet the effect varied depending on the song. Ratings of the desire to sing along and perceived familiarity increased significantly between the sessions for all songs. These findings are important in understanding the relative influence of familiarity and song-level characteristics on the development of an earworm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the works of composers Louis Spohr and Carl Maria von Weber, specifically their compositions inspired by the Ossian poems. While Weber achieved recognition and popularity during his lifetime, Spohr fell into neglect after his death. The article analyzes two short compositions by each composer, focusing on their ability to capture the emotions of the characters and their use of musical rhetoric. The texts chosen by both composers are original adaptations of the Ossian poems, and the article argues that these works foreshadow their later operatic endeavors. The article also discusses the fluidity of gender identity in the early Romantic era and the figure of Duke Augustus Emil, who was known for his transvestism and liberal politics. It explores the relationship between composers Spohr and Weber and their interactions with Duke Augustus. The text provides insights into the historical and cultural context surrounding these composers and their works. [Extracted from the article]

The new media era puts forward new requirements for vocal music education and teaching in colleges and universities. Presently, there are problems such as teacher's low new media literacy, lagging teaching content and methods, and unscientific teaching evaluation standards. Therefore, it is needed for teachers and students to strengthen the awareness and improve the application ability of new media, by which to use new media platform and resources to expand the content and form of vocal music teaching, so as to realize the personalization, diversification and interaction of vocal music teaching. It is necessary to establish and improve the evaluation system of vocal music education in colleges and universities to promote the improvement and guarantee of teaching quality. Besides, we should strengthen the construction of vocal music teachers and promote the modernization and flexibility of management mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a guide for choral conductors to teaching the oratorio "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel, including choral pedagogical tools and vocal exercises. It discusses metric accentuation, articulation in macro- and micro-phasing, rhythmic alterations and notes inégales, consonant placement and rhythmic alteration, dynamic markings and communicating rhetorical gestures in study guides. Sequential technical exercises for vocal agility and accuracy in Florid music are provided.

Despite the variability of music across cultures, some types of human songs share acoustic characteristics. For example, dance songs tend to be loud and rhythmic, and lullabies tend to be quiet and melodious. Human perceptual sensitivity to the behavioral contexts of songs, based on these musical features, suggests that basic properties of music are mutually intelligible, independent of linguistic or cultural content. Whether these effects reflect universal interpretations of vocal music, however, is unclear because prior studies focus almost exclusively on English-speaking participants, a group that is not representative of humans. Here, we report shared intuitions concerning the behavioral contexts of unfamiliar songs produced in unfamiliar languages, in participants living in Internet-connected industrialized societies (n = 5,516 native speakers of 28 languages) or smaller-scale societies with limited access to global media (n = 116 native speakers of three non-English languages). Participants listened to songs randomly selected from a representative sample of human vocal music, originally used in four behavioral contexts, and rated the degree to which they believed the song was used for each context. Listeners in both industrialized and smaller-scale societies inferred the contexts of dance songs, lullabies, and healing songs, but not love songs. Within and across cohorts, inferences were mutually consistent. Further, increased linguistic or geographical proximity between listeners and singers only minimally increased the accuracy of the inferences. These results demonstrate that the behavioral contexts of three common forms of music are mutually intelligible cross-culturally and imply that musical diversity, shaped by cultural evolution, is nonetheless grounded in some universal perceptual phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a musical analysis and formal study of Sandeep Bhagwati's piece, Atish-e Zaban (composed and premiered in 2006). It touches on modalities of composing vocal music and, in particular, aspects of Bhagwati's methods for creating intercultural encounters and sonic situations. Atish-e Zaban is a comprovisation piece scored for six a capella new music singers based on a series of poems in Urdu by the Pakistani poet, Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911-1984). This text uncovers layers of Bhagwati's overall approach to vocal composition, providing an analytic guide for listening and performing, and describing the comprovisation methods used to express the connotations of the poems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familial risk for developmental dyslexia can compromise auditory and speech processing and subsequent language and literacy development. According to the phonological deficit theory, supporting phonological development during the sensitive infancy period could prevent or ameliorate future dyslexic symptoms. Music is an established method for supporting auditory and speech processing and even language and literacy, but no previous studies have investigated its benefits for infants at risk for developmental language and reading disorders. We pseudo‐randomized N∼150 infants at risk for dyslexia to vocal or instrumental music listening interventions at 0–6 months, or to a no‐intervention control group. Music listening was used as an easy‐to‐administer, cost‐effective intervention in early infancy. Mismatch responses (MMRs) elicited by speech‐sound changes were recorded with electroencephalogram (EEG) before (at birth) and after (at 6 months) the intervention and at a 28 months follow‐up. We expected particularly the vocal intervention to promote phonological development, evidenced by enhanced speech‐sound MMRs and their fast maturation. We found enhanced positive MMR amplitudes in the vocal music listening intervention group after but not prior to the intervention. Other music activities reported by parents did not differ between the three groups, indicating that the group effects were attributable to the intervention. The results speak for the use of vocal music in early infancy to support speech processing and subsequent language development in infants at developmental risk. Research Highlights: Dyslexia‐risk infants were pseudo‐randomly assigned to a vocal or instrumental music listening intervention at home from birth to 6 months of age.Neural mismatch responses (MMRs) to speech‐sound changes were enhanced in the vocal music intervention group after but not prior to the intervention.Even passive vocal music listening in early infancy can support phonological development known to be deficient in dyslexia‐risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

William Byrd was an unusually creative contrapuntist: he is known for his virtuosic double counterpoint, his expressive manipulation of soggetti (imitative subjects), his capacity for exhausting possible contrapuntal combinations in stretto passages, and his points of imitation that build toward an expressive climax (what Joseph Kerman [1981 ] has described as Byrd's "cumulative" imitation). This article addresses a cumulative technique that has not previously been identified: syllable-invariant counterpoint. Byrd often develops points of imitation where the soggetto is solmized identically in two hexachords (what sixteenth-century theorists called fuga , in contrast to imitazione). But Byrd frequently builds points toward an extra statement of the soggetto in a new, bonus hexachord; this transposition introduces a new semitone foreign to the work's local tonality. Byrd thematizes syllable invariance throughout his vocal repertory, particularly in his serious motets. This article shows how Byrd combines syllable-invariant counterpoint with a variety of distinct imitative strategies to achieve specific expressive and tonal goals. The article further considers the implications of syllable invariance for tonal structure in Byrd's music. Syllable-invariant counterpoint makes visible the constraints and affordances of Byrd's tonal system, the Guidonian diatonic gamut under hexachordal solmization. Byrd carefully controlled the tonal compass of his works by using syllable invariance, among other strategies, to manipulate his counterpoint's "chromatic" ambit. Syllable-invariant counterpoint—which Renaissance musicians would have understood as a diatonic, not chromatic, strategy—encompasses Byrd's contrapuntal, expressive, and tonal compositional techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the recorded legacy of ornamentation practice in 16th- and 17th-century music, with a focus on the influence of Nigel Rogers, a renowned singer known for his mastery of ornamentation. Rogers's recordings, particularly his rendition of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, showcased his expertise in ornamentation and throat articulation. His technique was influenced by his study of original vocal treatises and Indian singing. The article also discusses recordings by Andrew Parrott and Furio Zanasi, highlighting their unique approaches to ornamentation and vocal technique. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of vocal imitation in instrumental music, specifically focusing on the cornetto and violin. The author highlights the work of cornettist Bruce Dickey, who has dedicated his career to imitating the voice in his playing. Other musicians, such as William Dongois and Oliver Webber, are also mentioned for their exploration of ornamentation in their respective instruments. The article celebrates the artistic and intellectual curiosity of these musicians and the advancements made in historical performance. [Extracted from the article]

The article explores the concept of musical miscellany in early 18th-century English music, focusing on the book "The Power of Pastiche" by Alison DeSimone. DeSimone examines the role of variety and miscellany in music production during this time, including variety concerts, pasticcio operas, songbook publications, and the careers of musicians. The article challenges traditional views on the significance of miscellanies in shaping English identity and questions the claim that they contributed to England's cosmopolitan cultural identity. The author suggests that further exploration of a wider range of composers and genres is needed to fully understand the role of miscellany in English musical culture. [Extracted from the article]

'Scholars in other fields have called for a moratorium on studies of the sublime, yet there are remarkably few books dedicated to the sublime and music' (p. 1). As writers adopted spatial metaphors to portray the past of British music and its future glories (mountain ascents, panoramic vistas, soaring flights), they enlisted both Handel and the sublime rhetoric bestowed on his music. She focuses on British musical historiography of the late eighteenth century, and at the centre of the discussion stands Handel, the age's paragon of musical sublimity. [Extracted from the article]

The present article traces the way compositional conceptions and writing style are highlighted in the creation of Tehillim belonging to one of the most prolific contemporary composers – Steve Reich. The research starts from the composer’s ideas about what the compositional journey means, continues with a musical analysis that emphasizes the ways of development of the musical data, and ends with the observation of how the principles of composing are objectified in realities and musical choices. I chose this score because it differs from the previous ones with original elements, with musical parameters that Reich did not use in his career, so it is very interesting to find the composer’s specific compositional archetypes in this specific work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularization of smart homes, car audio systems and various speech recognition software, speech recognition systems have gradually entered people's sights and are favored by most users because of their practicability and accuracy. Cognition is an important interface for human–computer interaction. It will become a research focus in the field of artificial intelligence. It plays an important role in cultivating the basic characteristics of music and cultivating students' interest in music, and vocal music teaching. Teaching traditional vocal music education to students is in the form of classrooms, such as vocal music, arrangement, and bel canto. The disadvantage is the lack of communication between the classroom and teachers and students. On the other hand, the development of Internet technology provides a new teaching method for traditional vocal music teaching and provides a network infrastructure for building a vocal teaching system platform. Therefore, this article provides a preliminary construction of a remote vocal music education platform by combining vocal music education with Internet technology. The remote audio and video training system is a complex and relatively large project with multiple functions and is to introduce important functions in this system. At the same time, register and log in to the remote voice and video implementation requirements and system functions, respectively, to realize functions such as video training and video-on-demand training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term ‘folk music’ in Croatia is closely related to the history of its performance at festivals and other related public events. Festivals (smotre) were an appropriate field of application in the place of canonization of traditional music. Through their existence and activity, various musical genres, styles, and performers were profiled. All of the above will be defined and analyzed through the example that is the focus of this research – the Festival of Dalmatian klapa in Omiš, a festival that formatted, institutionalized, and popularized klapa singing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a conversation with Serbian composer and performer Jug Marković about his vocal music. Marković's music is described as eclectic and polystylistic, with a strong emphasis on lyricism and exploration. The article discusses specific compositions, such as "Nula," which reflects on the breakup of Yugoslavia, and Marković's collaboration with the Neue Vocalsolisten ensemble. The article highlights the challenges and changes that occurred during performances of Marković's vocal compositions. Marković also discusses his affinity for extreme metal vocal techniques and his interest in incorporating them into his work. He talks about the possibility of non-classical musicians performing his pieces and mentions specific compositions that are suitable for non-classical musicians. Marković also talks about his recent works that involve the use of voice in unique ways, such as using recorded voices as electronic sounds. He reflects on his vocal journey and the importance of taking risks and following personal preferences in his compositions. [Extracted from the article]

Vocal music is a relatively complex skill and skill course, which not only plays an important role in music education in universities, but also cultivates students' musical level and artistic cultivation. In the process of teaching vocal music in universities, how to improve the quality of teaching has become an important task and goal for teachers. The vocal music classroom teaching quality evaluation is a classical multiple-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problem. In this paper, some novel Dice similarity measures (DSM) and some generalized Dice similarity measures (GDSM) are proposed under T-spherical fuzzy sets (T-SFSs). Then, the weighted generalized Dice similarity measures (WGDSM) is used to solve the MAGDM with T-SFSs. Finally, an illustrative example for vocal music classroom teaching quality evaluation is given to demonstrate the efficiency of the GDSMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Csíkmadaras is in the southern part of the microregion called Felcsík. The latter has always been a preferred area for ethnomusicologists, beginning with Béla Bartók. After I started collecting folk songs in the area in 1993, I set out to make a monograph of vocal songs of Csíkmadaras village. Between 1999 and 2011 I spent 18 days on the field, recording more than 12 and a half hours of vocal folk music. The collection contains 441 distinct melodies, along with variants and those repeated several times, a total of 644 tunes. What surprised me during the processing of the material was the great number of songs from the old strata. Along with the new-style melodies they represent almost 2/5 of the total collection. In comparison, the relatively small number of less valuable songs was below previous expectations. From the result of the collection, it appears that, at the beginning of the XXI century, in Csíkmadaras there is still very valuable folklore material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several recent releases of early music recordings. One recording by Tasto Solo explores the connection between instrumental and vocal sonorities during the 16th and early 17th centuries, particularly focusing on Vincenzo Ruffo's Capricciin musica a tre voci. Another recording by Dulces Exuviae focuses on madrigals, frottole, and chansons that evoke the passing of the night. Le Grande Chapelle's release features secular compositions by Carlos Patiño, maestro de capilla of the Spanish Royal Chapel in the 17th century. The Gonzaga Band's recording highlights Milanese musical developments, while Richard MacKenzie's album showcases works from the press of Pierre Phalèse the Elder in Louvain. Lastly, the Fieri Consort's release centers around madrigals from Luca Marenzio's sixth to eighth books, inspired by Battista Guarini's Il pastor fido. [Extracted from the article]

Mexican composers Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chávez each wrote one song that execrates the lynching-murder of Black persons in the United States. In them, the composers pit a Mexican aesthetics of death against violent spectacle and social inequities to assert a universal dignity of life and to situate an antiracist position within the context of a broader international class struggle. In the process of airing fresh interpretations of the songs, I imply that the composers' divergent experiences in the United States--Chávez's relative proximity to establishment structures of power and Revueltas's intimacy with working-class struggle and race-based discrimination--informed their translation of Black suffering into the (differently historically colonized) context of Mexico. Both composers effected an artful indirection: a displaced deictic center from which to mediate their social thought concerning Mexico's own problems of penal excess and extrajudicial lynching. Bracha Ettinger's aesthetically activated Matrixial dimension sets a theoretical and analytical stage for an exploration of these anti-lynching songs and offers a way of understanding aesthetic expressions of allyship in a transhistorical mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 1830s and the 1880s, leading female singers such as Henriette Rossi Sontag, Laure Cinti-Damoreau, Adelina Patti, and Pauline Viardot participated in a widespread custom of inscribing original vocal cadenzas in autograph albums (also known as friendship albums, keepsake albums, alba amicorum, or Stammbücher). The appeal of album cadenzas, along with other compact inscriptions, reflects a wider Romantic fascination with remembering through small keepsakes such as miniature almanacs and annual compilations of poetry, prose, or music. Whether improvised in the presence of collectors or offered as souvenirs of earlier performances, cadenzas functioned as mementos of musical and social encounters while visually representing singers' musical personae through performative gestures. These florid pieces also allowed female singers to exercise agency as both creative artists and curators of their public images, much like the (mostly male) composers whose musical signatures fill surrounding album leaves. As performance-practical sources, vocal cadenzas preserve rare and revealing traces of singers' artistry; many, in fact, can be linked to specific concerts or performances of operas by Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Verdi, and others. In the case of Cinti-Damoreau, such music illuminates the connection between improvisation, performance, and pedagogy. The gradual disappearance of album cadenzas during the last quarter of the nineteenth century is attributable not only to a waning interest in musical improvisation generally, but also to a shift in creative authority away from singers and toward composers, particularly in the operatic realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on vocal technique and the choral warm-up process. Topics include the need for intentional and specific vocal exercises; a five-step diagnostic process for addressing vocal functionality and the importance of motor learning and expertise acquisition in effecting functional change in singers; and guidelines for efficient skill acquisition and focus in the learning process.

The article reviews the rock-opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar', specifically focusing on the performances of Carl Anderson and Ben Vereen as Judas and Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene.

James Grier's new book takes something of a middle-ground, combining discussions of some of the major conceptual arguments over the function of notation with outlines of some of the key moments in its historical development. No book aiming to cover the whole history of notation in just over 200 pages could be expected to be comprehensive, and Grier can generally be commended for the wide range of his knowledge and analytical approaches. Histories of musical notation have hitherto tended to take one of two forms: the chronological survey of notational systems following the tradition of Johannes Wolf's I Handbuch der Notationskunde i (1913-19), or the more theoretical approaches over the past half-century that have situated notational practices in various broader contexts. [Extracted from the article]

Like most of the ensembles discussed here, they first made their mark with Czech music and then branched out to focus on more canonical works with a wider appeal, while at the same time maintaining a balance with lesser-known repertory - unquestionably one of the most well-known early music ensembles working in the Czech Republic today. In 1843 the German travel writer, Johann Kohl, commented on the curious fact that although several German states border Bohemia, a large degree of mystery and misunderstanding lay between them; in doing so he cited a common German expression: "Dieß ist mir so unbekannt wie die böhmischen Dörfer" [ I sic i ] (this is as unknown to me as a Bohemian village). In the sphere of early music, few individuals of that generation were as prolific and influential as Zuzana Ruzicková (1927-2017), whose recording career was devoted primarily to the harpsichord music of J. S. Bach and who was the first to record all of Bach's harpsichord music (now available on 20 CDs, remastered in 2016, Erato 59304). The traverso player and musical director Jana Semeradová has also remained active in Prague's busy early music scene since the 1990s, notably with her own ensemble Collegium Marianum. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents a critical examination of the classification and institu-tionalisation of xiqu ... or Chinese song-drama, throughout the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the substantial increase in officially recognised genres, now numbering 348. It delves into the numerological episte-mologies that have historically informed genre definitions, tracing a trajectory from the four elemental categories of vocal music emphasised in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the dichotomous model of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which distinguished 'elegant' performances from other forms. Notably, the twentieth century saw the emergence of a wide array of state-funded genres, often linked to specific geographical areas. The study reveals that each historical period's heuristic approach is not entirely discarded by the subsequent ones. Instead, practitioners and cultural entrepreneurs continue to draw upon earlier epistemologies in various contexts. These processes of rationalisation and negotiation, shaped by sociopolitical and economic forces, have not only moulded China's theatrical traditions but also the critical discourse surrounding them. The paper emphasises the dynamic interplay between genre categorisation and cultural heritage in xiqu, advocating for a more integrated understanding of Chinese performance that extends beyond the limits of ever-expanding genre classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the specifics of chamber and vocal genres in Ukrainian music culture. Genre evolution of Ukrainian chamber and vocal music covers the XVIII-XX centuries. and consists of 3 stages: from Cantus and song-romance music of the XVIII-early XIX centuries, then romance (mid-XIX century) of strophic and threepart form, to pan-European parallels in the form of lyrical vocal miniature through type or recitative monologue, including touches of arioso expressiveness. The Ukrainian Cantus as a genesis for creation of chamber vocal culture is analyzed. It is determined that the Ukrainian Cantus becomes the basis of the national romance line in the chamber sphere, which extremely actively covered the lyrical array of singing and in the chamber variety, anticipating the aria in the Ukrainian urban-salon sphere. It is noted that the genesis and evolution of Ukrainian romance in the links with folklore and cult tradition, which determined the place of chamber vocal music in Ukrainian opera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]