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Was Freud really tone deaf? A brief commentary

Was Freud really tone deaf? A brief commentary The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 50, No. 2, 1990 WAS FREUD REALLY TONE DEAF? A BRIEF COMMENTARY Cora L. Diaz de Chumaceiro Usually, individuals with a "normal" speaking voice can sing; the vocal mechanism is the same for both activities. Giovanni Battista Lamperti, the last great master of the old Italian way of singing, taught in Dresden, Germany, in 1891-1893. He considered that when students could not sing it was because they tried to sing instead of utilizing the same effort made to speak. In other words, for him, the source of song was the same as the effortless process of speaking, intensified and refined a thousand times over. Lack of ear-training, of correct breathing technique, and of disciplined muscles were seen as causal agents of vocal problems (Brown, 1931). This viewpoint still holds today. Apparently, Freud tried to sing opera arias on pitch, but he continually failed (Gay, 1988). Maybe he tried too hard. However, for this inability to sing on pitch, strangely enough, Freud has been labeled "tone deaf." Recently, Gay (1988) highlights Freud's proclamation of ignorance in music matters as well as his acknowledgment of not being able to carry a tune. He interprets that http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Was Freud really tone deaf? A brief commentary

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1990 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01250915
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 50, No. 2, 1990 WAS FREUD REALLY TONE DEAF? A BRIEF COMMENTARY Cora L. Diaz de Chumaceiro Usually, individuals with a "normal" speaking voice can sing; the vocal mechanism is the same for both activities. Giovanni Battista Lamperti, the last great master of the old Italian way of singing, taught in Dresden, Germany, in 1891-1893. He considered that when students could not sing it was because they tried to sing instead of utilizing the same effort made to speak. In other words, for him, the source of song was the same as the effortless process of speaking, intensified and refined a thousand times over. Lack of ear-training, of correct breathing technique, and of disciplined muscles were seen as causal agents of vocal problems (Brown, 1931). This viewpoint still holds today. Apparently, Freud tried to sing opera arias on pitch, but he continually failed (Gay, 1988). Maybe he tried too hard. However, for this inability to sing on pitch, strangely enough, Freud has been labeled "tone deaf." Recently, Gay (1988) highlights Freud's proclamation of ignorance in music matters as well as his acknowledgment of not being able to carry a tune. He interprets that

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Jun 1, 1990

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

References

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    Díaz de Chumaceiro, C.L.
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