Impostazione della voce

I found it mentioned in two places: William Huckel’s Practical Instructions for the Cultivation of the Voice (1820) and an article by Clara Brinkerhoff in The Vocalist (1896).

What am I talking about?

The use of the lower lip in singing—according to the teaching of Nicola Porpora, considered one of the greatest voice teachers to have ever lived.

Brinkerhoff, whose mother Clara Rolf was a student of Domenico Corri, himself a student of Nicola Porpora, wrote…

In the human being you first teach him how to stand. Then this action of will-force from brain to under lip muscle to diaphragmatic action at belt, is the work done for the instrument before the voice proper issues into buccale cavity and outward, into surrounding air, to be modified in tone-quality by the acoustic environment given it.”

William Huckel also studied with Domenico Corri and wrote…

“The lower lip should be inclined to the smile, so that the tip of the under teeth may just be seen; for if the lip is allowed to remain in its natural position during practice, the probability is, that it will weaken and damp the tone.”

In the first instance, the lower lip must be connected to “diaphragmatic action at belt,” in the second, it is “inclined to the smile.”

Why is there interest in this technique on my part?

Anna Schoen-René taught her students a vocal technique that resonates with the descriptions provided by Brinkerhoff and Huckel—Schoen-René being an exponent of Pauline Viardot-García and Manuel García—vocal descendants of Porpora through their father, Manuel García, who studied with Giovanni Anzani, a student of Porpora.

Schoen-René’s teaching is also more comprehensive.

What did she teach?

An expression that involves the sizeable circular muscle surrounding the upper and lower lip (orbicularis oris)—one that is memorably described and executed by her vocal descendants as Prissy-Lemon-Face.

What is the fancy name for it?

Impostazione della voce—or the “setting of the voice.”

Prissy-Lemon-Face is used to feel the muscles of the head, face, neck, and throat and is best acquired when inhaling gently with the mouth closed. It’s a priming exercise and a deft bit of vocal yoga. It is also better understood when the mouth can be opened without losing hold of the muscles involved and without making a face. It is also better understood when practiced in front of a mirror.

How will the head, face, neck, and throat muscles feel when the maneuver is executed correctly and the mouth is opened? They will feel plush, inflated, lengthened, and lifted.

Please note: The feelings described above will only be evident when Prissy-Lemon-Face is connected to the back of your head—as though you are getting a face-lift.

I’ll explain what this means in a subsequent blog, though I will give you a hint: we’re talking about the setting of the ear.