'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'

Subject: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 04 May 01 - 03:59 AM

This question has cropped up a few times--most recently on this thread, but nobody seems keen to answer it.

The question:
Why do people say "a cappella" when, up till a few years ago, everyone said "unaccompanied"?

In the UK most of the older folkies (which I suppose must include me, on purely chronological grounds) hadn't even heard the expression. Nobody desribes a folk song as "con brio" or "largo" or whatever ...

Comments and opinions please.

Steve

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 04 May 01 - 04:25 AM

I expect at some point the phrase burst into the popular conciousness on the back of some current fad. Anyway - it sounds posher than unaccompanied, though its probably technically all wrong for current usage?
Language eh? Its a battleground.

Kris

Subject: RE: 'A cappella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 May 01 - 04:26 AM

There certainly has been a shift in meaning, Steve. I believe the term first referred to choral music without accompaniment. 30 years ago, I heard the term mostly in connection to church music. I think it has been just in the last decade that it has been used to refer to music that was previously known as doo-wop (and to rap that wasn't nasty). Now it seems the term has been broadened again to include all unaccompanied music.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: English Jon
Date: 04 May 01 - 04:28 AM

A Cappella, I.E, "in the chappel style"

Strictly speaking is polyphonic, I.E. partsong.

Any solo singer who claims to be "a cappella" is therefore not quite right.

I think the phrase has come through pop music. (Lots of producers talk about "a cappella" mixes etc.)

Not that it matters.

Cheers, English Jon

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:03 AM

I think the first time I heard it was in refereance to a version by the Flying Picketts of Only You.

As King Brilliant said, it's probably caught on because "it sounds posher than unaccompanied" - though why anyone would want to sound posh singing folk songs is a bit of a puzzler.

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:25 AM

Bit of complete trivia here. It was St Martin, I think, that, upon seeing a cold and cloakless beggar, tore his own cloak and gave half to the beggar. The early roman christians all liked to have bits of relics in their meeting places and a lot of these were bits of cloth allegedly from St Martins cloak or, in Latin, Capella. Hence the meting places became capellas, latterly chapels. So when someone says they are sing A Capella you can now ask them why they want to sing in the style of a cloak!

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:57 AM

Dave! Can I sing in the style of an old boot?
Quack!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:09 AM

Who're you calling an old boot????

You can sing any style you want, Geoff. Anyone who can play dueling banjos on his own, on 2 different instruments, at the same time, can do anything he wants!

Enjoy Whitby

Have one (or two) for me

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Callie
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:32 AM

Hey Dave - you'll find the word is 'cappella' with 2 'p's. One 'p' means 'hair'. Music in the chapel makes sense. Hair music doesn't (unless you're talking "Welcome sulfur dioxide" etc).

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:45 AM

I must confess my ignorance here (nothing new!). I always thought it meant "in the head" ie an "off the top of the head" improvised vocal harmony as well as unaccompanied.
I learn something everyday here!
RtS (Just off his head)

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 07:13 AM

Whoops! Latin was never my strong point - cheers Callie. Good job I don't use it much. Mind you my French is no better. I went to a bar in Paris and asked for a glass - They gave me an ice cream....;-)

DtG

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Callie
Date: 04 May 01 - 07:25 AM

That's ok - I once asked for a lemonade and coke (in my home town) and got BOTH IN THE SAME GLASS!

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dani
Date: 04 May 01 - 07:55 AM

And really, shouldn't the term, if we're going to get furrin', be 'au naturele'? French (and especially its spelling) is one of the many things I know nothing whatsoever about, but sometimes they have the darndest way of saying things.

My point is, from the beginning, ALL singing was 'unaccompanied', and then became instrumentalized until singing alone - or together, but sans instruments - began to seem unusual. Especially in my church, whenever I have an opportunity to share music or ask folks to sing, I try to do it without instruments whenever possible. Not because I don't like them, because I do, I like all kinds. Especially kazoos. I like 'em with voices sometimes, too. But more and more I find that when our voices are used AS the instruments they are, they are more powerful, and orchestrate beautifully WITH EACH OTHER.

An analogy that comes to mind is how, when it started to become 'the norm', at least in some people's minds, for parents to leave their children in someone else's care to work for pay, we began to develop an underclass of underpaid and underappreciated child-care workers, and we developed the term "working mothers", as if they hadn't existed before!

Let me backpedal and apologize to all those who MUST have help raising their kids for economic or other reasons, as I don't wish to sound judgemental. Just pointing out how cultural shifts change perceptions, and vice versa.

Dani (who should probably shut up and go practice her banjo before someone throws something at her)

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:02 AM

I thought 'Au Natrele' was in the nude! I don't mind singing unaccomplished but if I stood up starkers I would't like to be held accountable for all those killed in the rush to get out;-)

DtG

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dani
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:04 AM

Some people would say I DRESS unaccomplished, which is not at all the same as being nude...

Dani

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: MMario
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:59 AM

well - not sure why, but way back when I was being taught musical terms - (early 60's) "a cappella" and "unaccompanied" were given as synonyms - which means it goes back at least 40 years...

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Snuffy
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:10 AM

"a cappella" is a type of unaccompanied singing (not solo and not unison). But they are no more synonyms than "guitar" and "instrument" are

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:18 AM

Je m'excuse, mais c'est au naturel où à la naturelle.

Étiennot

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: MMario
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:25 AM

Snuffy - didn't say they were correct just that as early as 40 years ago people were SAYING they were synonomous

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Kim C
Date: 04 May 01 - 10:04 AM

As a once classically-chained (I mean, TRAINED) musician at the college level, I was always told that a cappella meant without accompaniment. There was never any distinction between solo, unison, parts, etc. Maybe them PhDs don't know any better.

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Burke
Date: 04 May 01 - 10:06 AM

Sheila K.Adams tells a story about having a school teacher tell the class she sang a cappella & that she did not have a clue what was meant.

Both OED and Mirriam Webster give the one p & 2 p spellings as alternatives. As an English word it does not appear before the later half of the 19th century. OED gives 1876, Webster says 1864. I wonder what was being used before. Unaccompanied is a longer word & implies that folks playing their instruments with a singer called what they were doing accompanying. Did they really say & think that, or was it, just playing along?

Here's more of what I found when I "looked it up." I love the Webster definition: without instrumental accompaniment. No mention of singing at all! OED seems to prefer the unaccompanied choral music definition.

Britannica is the best: Italian: "in the church style"), performance of a polyphonic (multipart) musical work by unaccompanied voices. Originally referring to sacred choral music, the term now refers to secular music as well.

The a cappella style arose about the time of the composer Josquin des Prez, in the late 15th century, and reached preeminence with Palestrina in the late 16th century in the music that he wrote for the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Because no independent instrumental parts were written, later scholars assumed that the choir sang unaccompanied, but the evidence is now that an organ or other instruments exactly "doubled" some or several of the vocal parts. By the 17th century, a cappella music was giving way to the cantata, for which parts were written specifically for instruments as well as for voices. Italian: "in the church style"), performance of a polyphonic (multipart) musical work by unaccompanied voices. Originally referring to sacred choral music, the term now refers to secular music as well. "a cappella" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [Accessed May 4 2001].

But in the doo-wop article: "The popularity of doo-wop music among young singers in urban American communities of the 1950s such as New York City, Chicago, and Baltimore, Maryland, was due in large part to the fact that the music could be performed effectively a cappella. Many young enthusiasts in these communities had little access to musical instruments, so the vocal ensemble was the most popular musical performing unit." "doo-wop" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [Accessed May 4 2001].

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 04 May 01 - 11:02 AM

"A cappella" is a term that's rising in popularity, especially on college campuses, for a type of small-group singing very similar to doo-wop but with a wider range of styles. Click here and here for a lot more info than you need on the huge variety of groups out there that call themselves a cappella.

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 11:13 AM

I just kissed my pretty bride to be goodbye this morning and wished her luck in the World Championship Sweet Adeline competition being held this weekend in Springfield, MA. Maggie is a baritone with the Royal River Chorus of Yarmouth, Maine. These gals are HOT! Their a cappella singing always gives me goosebumps.

"The Royal River Chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest music education association for women singers. Sweet Adelines is dedicated to the promotion of a cappella 4-part harmony in the barbershop style, an original American art form. The organization has over 30,000 members worldwide, with choruses in the U.S., Sweden, England, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand."

To learn more about the Royal River Chorus and Sweet Adelines just search for The Royal River Chorus on the web. Sorry I can't do the blue clicky thing yet. You can catch many photos of Maggie and see how large this chorus is when you get to the website. Maggie is the pretty petite blonde in the front row to the right in most of the photos. There is also a calendar of events if anyone wants to see and hear them perform live.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:07 PM

On the first of the links that Animaterra posted above -- the Swingle Singers were very well-known and got a lot of play (and a lot of imitators) in the early to middle Sixties. Amazingly good group. Sort of "skat-sang" a lot of Bach instrumental pieces.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: mousethief
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:16 PM

When Catholics first introduced organs into churches in northern Europe, the Protestants turned up their noses and swore THEY would never have musical instruments in their churches! For a long time organs were resisted in Protestant churches as being too "popish."

Alex

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:22 PM

Organs in church? Hmmmmm.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Bert
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:30 PM

Skiff, I thought that you KNEW that it was Italian for "I don't know the Chords".

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: GUEST,Judy Cook
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:32 PM

I thought they meant pretty much the same (I see now that's not true for everyone). I started using a cappella trying for a quick, positive way to refer to solo voice alone (something that doesn't start with "un"). I'd love to hear some alternatives - less posh would be better.

--Judy Cook

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: MMario
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:33 PM

?? MT? I thought church organs predated Martin Luther. I know that there are surviving organs installed in the 1520's, which is before his death.

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:51 PM

What did people do before then -- leave their organs at home?

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: mousethief
Date: 04 May 01 - 12:52 PM

I think they were in the south (italy etc) before they came to Germany, Mmario. It would be an interesting study.

Alex

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 04:25 PM

Whistle Stop,

Not Hardly.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Burke
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:39 PM

After checking the online dictionaries I decided to do a bit more research in print & online. A great source for how words were used in the past is The American Memory Project. This is scanned & searchable texts from the 19th century. It turns out to include a number of dictionaries and encyclopedias. I did a number of searches using capella, cappella, a-capella, and a-cappella. Capella by itself had too many hits so I searched for when it is found on the same page as music.

It turns out, that like a number of other 19th century constructions, the definition depends on a misunderstanding of what was meant by the term originally. This from the current edition of the New Grove, extends the information from Britannica that I posted earlier, "Originally (c1600) the term was used to distinguish works composed in the older polyphonic style of the Renaissance from those written in the newer concertato style of the early Baroque. During the 19th century the Roman Catholic Church idealized 16th century polyphony and the works of Palestrina in particular. Noting that no instrumental parts were included in the sources containing this music, and unaware that instruments were often used during the Renaissance to double or substitute for vocal parts, musicians came to believe that a cappella referred to unaccompanied choral singing. since that time, the term has become synonymous with 'unaccompanied singing,' both religious and secular." (v.1, p. 46)

I found some interesting 19th century stuff defining alla cappella as having to do with tempo. Just to help settle the usage debate I found this dictictionary entry from the 1870's. Acapella or Alla capella, a term applied in old Italian church music to vocal compositions in the severest state without any accompaniment. This was up to the time of Claudio Monteverde, in the second half of the 16th c., the usual state of church music. In modern times A. capella denotes a piece of vocal music, sacred or profane, without accompaniment, or with the instruments playing in unison with the voices. This came from the American Memory Project in: The Globe encyclopaedia of universal information. Edited by John M. Ross. Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1876-79, p. 12

I expect the organ issue will have solved itself before I get back here.

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 01 - 05:43 PM

It's Allapecia???? Yo mean that it's unaccompanied thats made my hair fall out...

Drat!

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:09 PM

Today it's a cappella.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:32 PM

OK, I'm a naughty boy induldinging in Mudcat while Maggie is away enduring the grueling moments of competition down in in Springfield, but I am with her 110%. She is a member of the Royal River Chorus, World Champions! A cappella like you have never heard. I am so proud of Maggie and th Royal River Chorus or can't you tell.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 04 May 01 - 06:36 PM

Or, for the hispanically inclined, acapulco.

Mark

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Dani
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:36 PM

I thought that was the animal that gives us such nice wool.

Dani

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 08:46 PM

Dani,

Enough with the sheep jokes, I have endurerd them for 17 years. I got me a fox now and I am so proud of Maggie I could spit.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: John Routledge
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:00 PM

As a guy that sings alone without accompaniment the description "unaccompanied" appears a sufficiently accurate description for my singing. GB

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: wdyat12
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:11 PM

Geordie,

You might feel great singing with a chorus. As I have mentioned earlier, The Sweet Adelines are looking for a few GOOD men.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: GUEST,megs
Date: 04 May 01 - 09:46 PM

I'd have to say, as a college student who is constantly inundated by a cappella groups, that unaccomanied would be solo singing and a cappella would be when a group of people sing a song and make noises to imitate instruments. That's a throughly modern definition, though. I've always wanted to join an a cappella group and make the cool little accompaniment noises. *grin*

Subject: RE: 'A capella' vs 'unaccompanied'
From: Boab
Date: 05 May 01 - 03:14 AM

I usually have a wee dig at accepted convention and use either "Acapulco" or "unaccomplished". Boab