Leigh Wigglesworth wrote:
> Greetings from Down Under
>
> Simple query -
> How is 'Jubilate' pronounces in US.
> Having corrected a friend into singing 'Yubilate', am now feeling
> uncomfortable because maybe, well, quite possibly, it is pronounced with a
> soft 'G' in the States.
In my experience, it is always pronounced with a "Y" here as well. I
have never heard any choirs (except maybe some poor middle school choirs
and such) pronounce it with the same initial consonant as the English
"Jubilation."
-Joachim Van Brandt
Or hearing Wagner pronounced the way it's spelled -- unless, of course, it's
in reference to Robert the actor rather than Richard the composer. ;-)
Hmm. No clear answer in my opinion. For formal music in Roman style
Latin it is probably the Y, but when in an English text it's a J. For
instance as an announcement
"Let us now sing the Jubilate Deo"
would be J.
And there's a church song in Hebrew style which goes "Jubilate
everybody" (Yes I know, I know <g>) which is therefore J.
Bernard Hill
Braeburn Software
Author of Music Publisher system
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My down and dirty suggestion is that if the text is entirely Latin, go with
the Italianate version [ju bI 'la te] because it's the most widely
understood. If you're singing a specific composer and wish to go for a
certain performance practicse angle, go nuts. I've heard it done by some
exceptionally scholarly conductors. Depending on your audience (and
singers!), you may need to be prepared to defend your choice and back it up,
lest you be accused of singing it "wrong" (especially in competition).
Sometimes the audience likes to hear something a bit different, and you
might make a splash announcing that the next mass text will be sung in a
Latin that might have been hear in Mozart's neighbourhood.
If the text is mostly in English and has the odd explative in Latin, go for
the hard "j". For example, Christmas carols in English sing "Jesu" as [gi
zu] rather the [jaI zu].
Then you get more contextual and into composer intent. Byrd's "secret"
writings for the Catholic liturgy might be argued to need Italian Latin, but
they were being sung by the English. That's another kettle of fish.
Whatever you do, go for consistency within a work or your singers will
suffer. On the other hand, it's good not to let them get too
settled...keeps 'em on their toes!
Cheers.
"Leigh Wigglesworth" wrote in message
<3.0.5.32.2002021...@mail.vicnet.net.au>...
try: You - Be - LA ( A from After )- Te ( E as A in: A song )
> try: You - Be - LA ( A from After )- Te ( E as A in: A song )
Beware! American pronouciation of these words is different!
I have sung in groups which, for historical reasons, have chosen
classical pronunciations. However, what almost all American choirs are
familiar with, or American audiences/congregations for that matter, is
Italianate church Latin. Which is to say, in this case, Yoo-bee-lah-teh
(avoiding the excessively dipthong-y -ay typical in large parts of the
coutry). The only exception I would ever make to this is the occasional
piece in English which uses the name "Jesu". Even then it might not be
worth the battle to force it into an anglicized pronunciation-- most
American congregations will instinctively sing the African hymn "Jesu,
Jesu" as "Yay-soo, Yay-soo" even though you could argue for a British
"Gee-zoo".
C. Wingate