Declamation in theatrical art and vocal art
Declamation in theatrical art and vocal art

Summary/Abstract: The connections between the orator and the actor have been ambivalent since antiquity. The declamation term used mainly to refer to the actor's art will appear in the early 18th century in Grimarest's Le Traité du récitatif dans la lecture, dans l'action publique, dans la déclamation, et dans le chant (1707) with the role of distinguishing the different arts of the word, especially the spoken voice from the sung voice, but its actual practice has existed since the beginning of the 17th century. The declamation involves the articulation of the word with music for dramatic purposes, this being the result of the integration of what we call “action” of rhetorical origin in the art of the actor. The reflection on the gestural and vocal conventions through which the meaning of a speech is embodied and on their way of functioning, marks the facilitation of the rendering of the same meanings through the sung declamation. Vocal art involves, in addition to mastering a correct vocal technique, the ability to animate the body and the voice with the help of articulation, rhythm, and gesture towards a concretization of meaning. The declamation of the spoken text in addition to exploring the dramaturgical valences of the text offers a flexibility of pronunciation that thus becomes expressive in the sung voice.

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