What remains of a song if you ignore the lyrics? What makes a song without words a 'song'? And why is singing without lyrics such a rare phenomenon?

00:00 Intro
00:36 Casual listening
07:53 Music as poetry
10:53 The ‘song without words’
19:06 Childish games
25:36 The marginal existence of the vocalise

Music fragments:

02:41 F. Schubert, An de Mond D259. Wolfgang Holzmair, Gérard Wyss. Tudor 791. 1992.
05:03 F. Schubert, An de Mond D296. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jörg Demus. Deutsche Grammophon 00289 479 6018.
06:47 F. Schubert, An de Mond D296. Piano*
12:06 F. Liszt, Sonetto 104 del Petrarca. Piano*
21:55 F. Mendelssohn, Lied ohne Worte op. 62 nr. 1 (complete). Piano*
27:24 M. Ravel, Vocalise en forme de habanera. Teresa Berganza, Dalton Baldwin. EMI 7243 5 69299 2 0.
28:17 R. Glier, Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra op. 82. Erna Berger, Sergiu Celibidache, Berliner Philharmoniker. Berlin 1946/47. Audiophile.
39:35 L. Muns, Aria-Vocalise from the Chamber Opera Pedrillo Botón.

*Lodewijk Muns, piano

Main sources:

Cooper, J. M. “Words without Songs?: Of Texts, Titles, and Mendelssohn’s ‘Lieder Ohne Worte.’” In Musik als Text Bd. 2. Kassel: Bärenreiter 1998.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F. Sämtliche Briefe. Kassel: Bärenreiter 2008-2017.
Todd, R. L.“Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte and the Limits of Musical Expression.” In Nicole Grimes and Angela Mace (eds). Mendelssohn Perspectives. Farnham: Ashgate 2012.

Songs with and without words

Lodewijk Muns, musicologist, composer and pianist, discusses topics such as music and memory, music and language, and the limits of music, with the piano at his fingertips.

Beyond the Bony Labyrinth: because the sound that enters our ears only becomes music when we recognize it. Music appeals to our memory, emotions, imagination, and capacity for language.

Philosophy: because it deals with the connections between music and other aspects of life, with clarification, and dispelling smoke screens.

This is the English version of the Dutch podcast Voorbij de oren.

Making this podcast takes some inspiration, a lot of enthusiastic labour, a lifetime of experience and a bit of money. If you’re interested, please consider making a donation. It will help to continue the podcast and means a great incentive for the author.