From Dr. Whitmire: Dear Singers – I have spoken many times about how to sing the unstressed [E] vowel. You may remember me saying “not eh and not uh, more like the French vowel in boeuf.” Here is a perfect example: Silent Noon sung by John Shirley Quirk. Listen at 3:25 when he sings”when two-fold silEnce was the song.”
Enjoy-DrW
PS- John Shirley Quirk, the great English baritone, gave premieres of several Britten operas. Beginning in 1991 he taught at Peabody, and for a time he lived in Fairlington. I once ran into him at Five Guys. He died on April 7 of this year.
Tags: dr. whitmire, rehearsals