Stand Up Straight and Sing!
Page 30
invitation to join Deutsche Oper Berlin, [>], [>]–[>]
offer of role in Ariadne auf Naxos, [>]
response to decision to leave the Berlin opera, [>]
Seeger, Pete, [>]
segregation
and the efforts of African American community to provide for its children, [>]
father’s lessons, lectures about, [>]
learning about/experiencing, as children, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-worth
Janie Norman’s focus on inculcating in young girls, [>]–[>]
reinforcing of, during elementary school, [>]
role of the arts, arts education, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
through full participation in life, [>], [>]–[>]
as young teenager, negative responses to, [>]–[>]
senior prom, [>]–[>]
Seoul, Korea, performances in, [>]–[>]
“September” (Hermann Hesse), in Four Last Songs (Richard Strauss), [>]–[>]
The Sermon of Getting On with It, [>]–[>]
The Sermon of Gratitude, [>]
The Sermon of Humility, [>]
The Sermon of Respect, [>]
The Sermon of Self-Awareness, [>]–[>]
sexism, slow understanding of, [>]–[>]
Shaw, George Bernard, [>]
S. H. Kress stores, work to integrate, [>]
Shoepper, Michael, [>]
silver teas (after-church fundraisers), [>]–[>]
“Simple Gifts,” [>]
simplicity
and appreciating the small things, [>], [>], [>]
of pre-performance needs, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
See also spirituality
singers, professional
African American females, [>]
Anfänger (a beginner), [>]
breath control, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
bringing out the drama, [>]–[>]
and canceling an appearance, [>]–[>]
collaborations with composers, [>]–[>]
collaborations with other performers, [>], [>]–[>]
diverse characteristics of, [>]
and experiences of racism, [>]–[>]
honors and opportunities, [>], [>]–[>]
ignorance about, as child/teenager, [>]
importance of technique, [>]
importance of tempo, [>]
and learning to cooperate, respect others, [>], [>]
need to take time out, [>]
opportunities for continuous growth, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
paying attention to language, words, [>], [>]–[>]
physical demands and limits, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
pre-performance preparation, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]
on the radio, [>]–[>]
reinterpretations, [>]
training needs, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
See also audiences; hard work, diligence; operatic roles; rehearsals; vocal training
singing
as art, as life, [>]
before an audience, childhood experiences, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
connecting words and meaning, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
and love for all music, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
as a natural process, [>]–[>]
as pleasurable discipline, [>]–[>], [>]
as talent, gift, [>], [>]
and timbre (“color” of the voice), [>]
twelve-tone music, [>]–[>]
See also voice quality
“Singing on the Water” (“Auf dem Wasser zu singen”) (Schubert), [>]–[>]
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Italy, [>]–[>]
sitcom pilot, invitation to play role of maid in, [>]
Sitzprobe (seated rehearsal), [>]–[>]
[>] Minutes (television show), Safer interview, [>]–[>]
“slave mathematics,” [>]
slavery, slaves, [>]–[>]
“On the Sleep Eternal” (“Beim Schlafengehen”) (Hesse), in Four Last Songs (Strauss), [>]
slow drag rhythm, [>]
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” [>]
“Somewhere,” West Side Story (Bernstein), [>]–[>]
song recitals, [>]
The Songs of a Wayfarer (Mahler), [>]
Souzay, Gérard, [>]
speaking engagements, [>]–[>]
spirituality
and early beliefs about God, [>]–[>]
and the enduring human spirit, [>]
importance of church and community, [>]–[>]
and performing in sacred spaces, [>]–[>]
and showing kindness, love, and gratitude, [>], [>], [>]
manifesting through music, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]
See also sacred spaces; simplicity
Spirituals
during performance of Sacred Ellington, [>]–[>]
gospel songs, and difference from, [>]
Grandma Mamie’s singing in church, [>]–[>]
including in repertoire, [>]–[>]
as theme of Great Day in the Morning, [>]–[>]
Tippett’s use of in A Child of Our Time, [>]
spoken-word performances, preparing for, [>]–[>]
“Spring” (“Frühling”) (Hesse), in Four Last Songs (Strauss), [>]
stage parents, [>]
stage performances, enjoyment of, [>]–[>]
standards, high. See hard work, diligence
standing up straight
and modeling change and wholeness, [>]
mother’s emphasis on, [>]
and pride in African American heritage, [>]
“Stardust,” Nat “King” Cole, [>], [>]
“The Star-Spangled Banner,” [>]
statesmen and women, appearing before, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Statuary Hall, United States Capitol, [>]–[>]
Stevens, Risë, [>]
Stoltzman, Richard, [>]
“Stormy Weather” (Arlen), [>]
Strauss, Richard
Ariadne auf Naxos, [>]–[>]
Der Rosenkavalier, [>]
Die Frau ohne Schatten, [>]
performing, with Seiji Ozawa in Japan, [>]
political beliefs, [>]
popular and financial success, [>]
Till Eulenspiegel, [>]
Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), [>]–[>]
“Zueignung” (“Devotion”), [>]–[>], [>]
Stravinsky, Igor
Le Sacre du Printemps, [>]
Oedipus Rex, [>], [>], [>]–[>]
Streep, Meryl, [>]
“Stride la vampa” (“The rising blades of fire”), Il Trovatore (Verdi), [>]
student protests, [>]
Sunday school, importance, [>], [>]
Sutherland, Joan, [>]
Tabernacle Baptist Church, Augusta, GA
choirs, [>]
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at, [>]–[>]
family’s connection to, [>]–[>]
Grandma Mamie’s singing, [>]
meetings of the NAACP at, [>]
preaching style, [>]
See also First Baptist Church; Mount Calvary Baptist Church
tact, respectfulness
importance, [>], [>]
as mark of professionalism, [>]
when making criticisms and suggestions, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
talents, special abilities, developing, [>]–[>], [>]
Talvela, Martti, [>]
Tannhäuser (Wagner)
“Allmächt’ge Jungfrau” (“O Holiest of Virgins”), [>]–[>], [>]
Bumbry’s performance as Venus, [>]
debut performance, opening night, [>]
debut performance as Elisabeth, [>], [>]
“Dich, teure Halle” (“You, dear treasured hall”), [>], [>]
first and second arias from, [>]–[>]
memorizing for debut performance, [>]–[>]
Windgassen’s performanc
e, [>]
See also Wagner, Richard
Taymor, Julie, [>]–[>]
Tchaikovsky, Peter, [>]
teachers, in Augusta, [>]–[>], [>]
Tel Aviv, Israel, Till Eulenspiegel in, [>]–[>]
television, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]
Templesman, Maurice, [>]
Temple University Music Festival, Philadelphia, [>]–[>]
tempo, Nureyev’s lessons about, [>]
Tharpe, Rosetta, [>]
“There Is a Balm in Gilead,” [>]
“There’s a Man Going ’Round Taking Names,” [>]–[>]
“This little light of mine . . . ,” [>]
Thomas, Michael Tilson, [>], [>]–[>]
Till Eulenspiegel (Richard Strauss), [>]–[>]
timbre (“color” of the voice), [>]
Tippett, Michael (A Child of Our Time oratorio), [>]–[>]
Tokyo, Japan, performances of Erwartung and La voix humainein, [>]
Tokyo String Quartet, [>]
Tosca (Puccini), [>]
Toscanini, Arturo, [>]
trains, train travel, [>], [>], [>]
Tristan und Isolde (Wagner), “Isolde’s Liebestod” (“Isolde’s Love-Death and Transfiguration”), [>]–[>], [>]
twelve-tone music, [>]–[>]
Twin Oaks Baptist Church, Wilkes County, GA, [>]–[>]
“Una voce poco fa” (The Barber of Seville), [>]
unions, master mechanics, racism in, [>]
United States Information Agency (USIA)
Amerika Häuser concerts, [>]–[>]
participation in international music competitions, [>], [>], [>]–[>]
See also Bayerischer Rundfunk Internationaler Musikwettbewerb
United States Marine Band, performing with at Pres. Clinton’s second inaugural, [>]–[>]
University of Aberdeen, Scotland, honorary degree, [>]–[>]
University of Michigan School of Music, Ann Arbor
learning to connect words and meaning, [>]–[>]
lessons in agility, [>]
master’s degree in vocal performance, [>], [>]
recital on day of King’s assassination, [>]–[>]
singing Cage’s music at, [>]
USA Today, statements about being a Democrat, [>]
Vacation Bible School, Augusta, GA, [>], [>]
Vail International Dance Festival, The Duke, the Diva, and the Dance program, [>]
Vaughan, Sarah, [>]
Venus, in Tannhäuser (Richard Wagner), [>]
Verdi, Giuseppe
Aida, [>]
Il Trovatore, [>], [>]
performing roles by, [>]–[>]
Requiem, [>]
Veronia (aunt), as model for JN, [>]
Versailles, France, National Botanical Garden of France, [>]
Vienna, Austria, [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Vienna State Opera, role in Ariadne auf Naxos, [>]
Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) (Richard Strauss), [>]–[>]
Vietnam War, opposition to, [>]
Villela, Edward, [>]–[>]
vocal training
Alice Duschak’s lessons in dramatic delivery, [>]–[>]
breath control, [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Carolyn Grant’s approach to, [>]–[>]
of children, inappropriateness of, [>]–[>]
and decision to leave the Deutsch Oper Berlin, [>]–[>]
Elizabeth Mannion’s lessons in agility, [>]
learning to expand repertoire, add drama, [>]–[>]
19th-century approaches, Grant’s adaptations of, [>]
serious, when to begin, [>]
See also Howard University School of Music; Peabody Conservatory; University of Michigan School of Music
voice quality
and breath control, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
and changes related to passage of time, [>]
and fioritura/coloratura singing, [>]
and hydration, [>], [>]
and range, [>]
and timbre, [>]
and voice as an instrument, [>]–[>]
See also singing
vom Rath, Ernst, [>]
von Eichendorff, Joseph, “Im Abendrot” (“Glow of the Evening”), [>], [>]
“Von ewiger Liebe” (“Of Eternal Love”) (Brahms), [>]
von Karajan, Herbert, [>], [>]–[>]
voter registration, Janie Norman’s participation in, [>]
voter suppression laws, [>]
Wagner, Richard
enjoyment of roles written by, [>], [>]–[>], [>]
“Isolde’s Liebestod” (“Isolde’s Love-Death and Transfiguration”), [>]–[>], [>]
the person vs. the artist, [>]–[>]
See also Tannhäuser
Wallace, Mike, [>]
warming up. See pre-performance preparations
Washington, D.C. See Anderson, Marian; Howard University School of Music
Washington, Dinah, [>]
Washington, GA, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Washington Performing Arts Society, [>]
Webern, Anton, [>]
Weir, Judith, [>]–[>]
Weiser, Peter, [>]
“We Shall Overcome” (Seeger), [>]
West Africa
and the “Amazing Grace” melody, [>]
roots in, [>]
West Side Story (Bernstein), “Somewhere,” [>]–[>]
“Widmung” (“Dedication”) (Schumann), [>]–[>]
Wild Kingdom (television show), [>]
Wilkes County, GA, maternal grandparents’ farm, [>]–[>]
Williams, John, [>]–[>]
Wilson, Robert, [>], [>]–[>]
Wings Over Jordan Choir, [>]
“A Winter Journey in the Harz” (“Harzreise im Winter”) (Goethe), [>]
woman.life.song song cycle, [>]–[>]
women
and earning less than men, [>]–[>]
conductors, [>]–[>]
father’s respect for, [>]
standards of physical beauty, [>]
strong, among ancestors, [>]–[>]
and unfair focus on physical attributes, [>]–[>]
women’s rights, [>]–[>]
Woolworth’s, work to integrate, [>]
Worby, Rachael, [>]–[>]
words of songs. See language, words
work ethic. See hard work, diligence
World War II, 50th anniversary commemoration recitals, [>]–[>]
YMCA, Augusta, GA, [>]
yoga practice, [>], [>], [>]
“You, dear treasured hall” (“Dich, teure Halle”), Tannhäuser (Wagner), [>], [>]
youth culture, [>]
Yvonne (French child), [>]–[>]
“Zueignung” (“Devotion”) (Strauss), [>]–[>], [>]
About the Author
JESSYE NORMAN is one of America’s greatest and most accomplished singers, with five Grammy Awards, dozens of international prizes, the National Medal of the Arts, and a Kennedy Center Honor among her countless accolades. She lives in New York State.