The corporeality of musical expression: the grain of the voice and the actor-musician

Abstract

This article considers the essential engagement of a physical corporeality in making music, a presence that is rewardingly encountered in music theatre, where it is not merely implied but visually, kinaesthetically and corporeally witnessed. Through a detailed discussion of Barthes's The Grain of the Voice and its Kristevan source material, the author understands this physical presence to sit at the very heart of the genotextual potential of performance. The article observes the work of UK music theatre group SharpWire and other actor-musician ensembles, such as those involved in John Doyle's recent productions, and suggests that in the performance of music theatre, the actor-musician re-enacts the emergence into the Symbolic order that is the very essence of human expression.