diapason \dahy-uh-PEY-zuhn\, noun:
1. A full, rich outpouring of melodious sound.
2. The compass of a voice or instrument.
3. A fixed standard of pitch.
4. Either of two principal timbres or stops of a pipe organ, one of full, majestic tone (open diapason) and the other of strong, flutelike tone (stopped diapason).
5. Any of several other organ stops.
6. A tuning fork.
The pipe organ of San Giovanni in Laterano courtesy of rosemarybaileymusic.wordpress.com. A magnificent instrument–as is RA’s voice.
When I saw this word and its first definition, I could only think of Mr. Armitage’s marvelous instrument of a voice-that rich, honeyed baritone, like aural chocolate, dark and silky, impossible to forget.
Whether speaking dialogue, telling a children’s story, performing an audiobook, doing the voice-over for an advertisement, singing a dwarven song, or, as he is in the video below, reciting poetry, Richard Armitage’s voice is always arresting. Its musicality, expressiveness, flexibility and sheer beauty mesmerize us. It is truly a diapason voice.
Here is an extract of Richard reading The Lords of the North:
And I must include one of the delightful CBeebies stories by Mr. Storyteller himself. I think the true joy he takes in sharing his talents, the pleasure he receives in creating all these characters’ voices shines through in these performances.
Soon as that “Word of the Day” email appeared in my inbox, I just knew you’d be right on it!
You’ve chosen great examples of his voice work
Yeah, I knew I wanted to use it, I just had to get around to gathering up the examples over on YT.
I figured something swoon-worthy of a poetic nature, some action/adventure re LoTN and the sweetness of the Cbeebies would make a nice combo and showcase his versatility.
You choose well. He reads so well, he draws you in and enchants you.
Exactly. Mr. Storyteller has an exceptional voice and gift for using it to create so many different and distinct character voices. He doesn’t just read–he PERFORMS. I was glad to find the excerpt from LoTN along with the Ted Hughes poem and of course, CBeebies!
I thought more people had probably heard the Heyer novels than LoTN because it’s more expensive/not as accessible as the other audiobooks.
LoTN was a good choice because it’s not something I would choose unless Richard were reading it. I can usually take the bloodthirsty sagas of that time period in small doses, but with Richard reading, I can see listening to the whole thing.
Exactly, it’s a much bigger contrast with the other stuff he’s done, and not necessarily what a lot of his fans would tend to gravitate to normally (including yours truly). Another case of RA leading you to watch/listen to/read something that you wouldn’t otherwise likely do.
I can’t wait for my copy of LoTN to be delivered…
You’re right, I never would have bought LoTN if it weren’t for Richard narrating it. Now I just have to hope it won’t get lost in the post!
Keeping fingers crossed for you.
Oh Judit, you are in for a real treat.
Yeah, if it ever arrives…:( I ordered it exactly 2 weeks ago! They were supposed to send me a link to “track my order” and I never got that! I’m about to send a query about the shipment to AudioGo!
I hope you get somewhere with your enquiry. By all accounts Audiogo are good to deal with so you shouldn’t have any problems. My Hobbit annual from Amazon is a week overdue. Every single Amazon order so far has arrived well before the estimated date, but nooo, not this one, the one I’m anticipating with the most eagerness. If it’s not in my post office box today I’ll be getting back to them.
The truth is that you can listen to his performances over and over again and never get tired of it !
So true. I could listen to his commercials repeatedly, and I hate a lot of commercials. Heck, he can make a bank sound sexy. And the one he did for Smirnoff vodka. “Smirnoff. Vodka. Sublime . . . have a sublime summah . . .” *thud*
I love the KitKat one he did…*swoooooooooons*..Richard+chocolate what a winning combo.
He could sell just about anything, I think.
Now if only we heard him sing more often *purrs thinking about it* Richard could make me forgive the inventor of karaoke.
Singing … how funny that you mention that.
I was watching an “old” movie on Sunday with hubby. We had been teasing each other with songs from this movie all day, so we decided to watch it while we ate dinner. As I’m watching, all I can see is Mr. A in the lead musician role. The voice, the physique, the hips, the hair, the smirk … you think I’m talking about Elvis, don’t you? Nope. None other than … Conrad Birdie (who, of course, was based on Elvis). Just imagine Mr. A in this scene: http://youtu.be/XIJkGUBy77U
I think I might be like the lady in purple up on the steps. *giggle*
Hey, he said he’d love to do a comedy!
Methinks I feel a blogpost coming on … *snicker*
Once upon a time, I had that purple dress and a better hat, but I would not want to end up in the arms of the mayor or whoever.
Actually, I have imagined Richard singing “Love Me Tender” in the shower…
Mmmmmmm … sounds like a lovely interlude …
mmmm what a lovely image, Leigh…You could put it in your script!
I have…
Exciting!!!
*squeeee*!
Works for me. We like getting our man in the water, don’t we? And with music.
When I read the title of this post over on twitter, I thought Diapason was the name of a painkiller! Because Richard could cure headaches and heartaches and all sorts of aches with his voice!
“Side effects include euphoria, palpitations, uncontrolable sighing, drooling, … Some patients have experienced thudding, squeeing, and prostRAtion, but not serious enough to warrant discontinuing regular doses of the medication…”
another side effect could be: procRAstination of non-Richard related activities…
*cough* I might be guilty of that . . .
I’m guilty of that too..
Yeah, guilty as charged. But what else to do when I have to wait another hour to make a phone call to the U.S.?
I’m definitely guilty of that, often for hours on end. I’m very good at getting enough non-Richard activities done to allay any suspicion!
Richard’s fans are very canny women.
ProstRAtion and the extermination of the grey matter (in my case)
I suspect not extermination of thr grey matter; the cells are just temporarily stunned.
LOL actually it does sound like a medication! I used to play around on my aunt’s organ when visiting her house and I remember the diapason knob.
This is one of those words you know if you take organ lessons (giggles)
I honestly didn’t know this noun had broader metaphorical senses. It’s not on a list of words I’d expect non-musicians to know, really, unless they’d studied for a spelling bee. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a non-musician use it in conversation, either.
I never have, either. I learned it when I learned to play the organ, and I have not heard other usage until now.
Hey, I didn’t either. When I saw that long list of definitions, I was quite surprised. I had only seen it used in musical terms myself.