top of page

"The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing"

[In lieu of Selfe's convincing argument for aurality in the composition process, I recorded 3 short tracks of a blog post instead of alphabetic text, only to discover, to my dismay, that Wix doesn't allow embedding

audio files into specific blog posts, just blog pages in general. Alas, here is my print-privileged reflection on Selfe's persuasive article.]

Selfe offers a convincing history of rhetoric, how and why we began to privilege written knowledge above aural knowledge. I found the historical connections most illuminating, especially when she linked the shift to the scientific revolution and post-Enlightenment mindset of hard data and tangible evidence for something's legitimacy (622). In such an era, it's only natural that the tangible form of knowledge-- printed word-- become the favored communicative medium.

Rightfully, Selfe bemoans not the emphasis on writing over speaking, but more accurately, the excessive focus on the written word at the expense of aurality.

Her argument for aurality and its nuanced contribution to rhetoric in general (and therefore then our classrooms) reminded me of perhaps literature's most archetypal oral rhetoricians: Orpheus. Bereaved tragically of his beloved newlywed, Eurydice, he beseeches Hades for passage into his kingdom, retrieval of his love, and restoration of her humanity. In Ovid's rendering, no creature alive (be they mortal or immortal) can resist the persuasion of his musicality. He is Rhetorician-Extraordinaire, supremely gifted in utilizing aurality. Yes, there's an obvious connection here, but I'm more interested in the unique layer Monteverdi writes into his rendering of the story, an interpretation I'm paraphrasing from Richard Taruskin's work, "Chapter 1 Opera from Monteverdi to Monteverdi" in The Oxford History of Western Music.

Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607) tells of an Orpheus who cannot persuade the gods of the Underworld. Before Charon and Pluto, pleading his cause, Orfeo sings an aria of epic proportions. It's a musical feat few male singers are capable of even today, for Monteverdi wrote a lengthy (nearly 8 min.) and highly ornamented melody requiring the highest vocal dexterity. While it's undeniably impressive, the effect of it is fascinating, in that it offends. It's too gaudy, too ostentatious, too showy, as though Monteverdi were "unmasking" this acclaimed hero for the farce he is, a man fully aware of how great his powers are and how easily he can wield them to any of his whims.

Monteverdi's Orfeo at the moment of the titular character's ostentatious showpiece aria. Watch the first 1:30-2:00 min. for the effect I've describing.

Orfeo's final ornamented note rings in the air, and Charon coldly refuses the request, point-blank unmoved by the song, the emotion, and the plea.

!!! This is not the Orpheus we know and love of old!!

So Orfeo tries again, this time in a recitative, a kind of song in opera meant to be conversational, arhythmic, unmelodic; generally (and let it be known I am no opera expert), it's usually reserved for introductions to arias or narrative plot points.

Fast forward to 9:00 for a taste of the desperate stripped-down recitative Orfeo delivers upon Charon's initial rejection of the bereaved lover's request.

[Ironically, this recitative puts Charon to sleep, and Orfeo steals away on his ship for his beloved Eurydice. More undermining of our great tragic hero.]

But what most interests me here is the nuanced layer of aurality we experience as listeners. To see an English translation of his Italian text, one would read only genuine and fervent desire, desperate love, humble supplication: I am not alive, no, after the death of My beloved wife, my heart is no longer with me, And without a heart how can it be that I live? But to hear the words sung as they are, musically arranged as they are, is to experience and know an Orpheus we couldn't know through the written medium alone.

This strikes me as a 17th cent. case-in-point of what we can miss when we remove aurality from our study of communication and composition.

Works Cited:

Taruskin, Richard. “Chapter 1 Opera from Monteverdi to Monteverdi.” The Oxford History of Western Music.

Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 3 Jun. 2012.


 RECENT POSTS: 
 SEARCH BY TAGS: 
No tags yet.
 Our Story MANIFEST: 

We all love a good story. 

We love to hear them, tell them, see them, and experience them. Regardless of content, setting, language, or form, universally a good story tells us a little bit more about ourselves and/or the world around us.

Our collective Story these days undeniably includes Characters, Settings and Plots influenced by our Media. So on these unfinished digital pages, I'm working to unfold the story of multimodal media literacy and understand how it affects my story as a teacher and the stories of my students'.

bottom of page