Delsarte’s Semiotic System in the Unity of Theory and Practice

Abstract

François Delsarte (1811−1871) was an outstanding French singer, vocal teacher, and stage art theorist who developed an original system of bodily expression of the performer in art forms related to word, sound, and gesture. As a result of painstaking study of the expressive possibilities of natural human self-expression in the unity of sensations, emotions and thought, for the first time in the history of musical and theatrical art, he formed a system that includes a philosophical and aesthetic justification and a structured description of the basic poses, gestures and facial expressions of a person with an indication of their semantics. Being a talented singer and actor, Delsarte paid special attention to the relationship and interaction of plasticity, timbre, intonation and diction.

In modern scientific discourse, his ideas are reflected in the works of theater critics, cultural scientists, and philosophers. However, in the field of musicology, the importance of Delsarte’s teaching still seems to be underestimated. It is promising to consider his ideas in the light of the achievements of modern human sciences (neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science), which is especially important in connection with the strengthening of the positions of body-oriented epistemology and interdisciplinary interest in semiotics. Based on the studied materials, the article highlights the features of Delsarte’s semiotic system, including those related to the “gestural” potential of musical art, and also the vector of development of his research program in relation to the study of musical texts from the perspective of the possibilities of identifying their semantics is proposed.