Orpheus (painting 1 of 6 in the series ‘The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture’) by James Barry (1741–1806)
A different view of COVID – and what it might mean for singers
VOICES
Tutor: Evelyn Tubb
Location: Natland
Reviewer: Jenny Murphy
A different view of COVID – and what it might mean for singers, or
Colours of Orpheus: using Vocalisation and Imagination to lead to new Discoveries
Recovering from Covid was the theme of this workshop: not recovering from the virus itself necessarily, but the whole experience of the last two punishing years of being isolated, wearing masks, losing our confidence, and mostly singing on our own (even if sometimes Zoom gave the impression of singing with others). It was about recovering from what Covid has done to us as musicians, singers and people. Getting out there again to connect with others and re-finding our voices. Remembering our technique and, not least, the joy that singing brings to ourselves and others.
We were led by the ever inspirational, down to earth and all round lovely Evelyn Tubb. Evelyn, one of the world’s greatest early music specialists, known for her innovative and original performances, didn’t disappoint in her equal ability to draw great singing out of us all. The workshop gave us a chance both to sing as a group, and solo (which about eight of us did). The message was that we need to sing out as soloists even when we’re singing in a group, to fully commit to the music we’re making.
The solo repertoire ranged from folk songs and early chansons to Schumann and Finzi, much of it unaccompanied. For each performance Evelyn latched onto a few key aspects of vocal technique or emotions that were getting in the way. We worked on inhaling our voices, freeing up our jaws and our bodies, breathing (of course), finding our energy, consonants (spitting them in, not out) and most of all imagining our vocal cords running horizontally not vertically so top notes don’t sound strained and bottom notes blended.
By the end of the day we had heard some incredibly touching performances and, just as movingly, had watched some amazing journeys of transformation from those of us struggling with health issues, not having sung for a long time and bruising past experiences.
We were privileged to hear 21 year old Faye Bowness’ masterly rendition of Schumann’s ‘Heiss mich nicht reden‘. Faye’s is definitely a name to watch out for and we all wished her well with her future operatic career.
The ensemble pieces were deceptively simple, no vocal pyrotechnics (or pyrotechniques) here; the perfect vehicles to get our singing muscles back in shape. We started with “Adieu, my native shore” by Robert Lucas Pearsall, a nineteenth century madrigal on the theme of leaving one’s native land -poignantly reminding us of the Ukrainian refugees to whom we dedicated it.
We followed it with Purcell’s “Thou knowest Lord” from the Funeral Sentences and finished up with two rounds. Byrd’s three part “Non nobis domine” came first, followed by a mesmeric round based on Dowland’s “Flow my Tears” which had been anonymously gifted to Evelyn by one of her students.
At one point Evelyn remarked that ‘everyone can sing, but not everyone is a singer’. By the end of the day we were definitely all singers and had a wonderful time making new discoveries inspired by the colours of Orpheus.
Jenny Murphy
First published in April 2022 Newsletter
