This book is clear and plain, and gives just the information that every singer and speaker should have. It is the ablest and most practical treatise on the voice we have seen.
THE INQUIRER.
Men have set themselves to try and ascertain the actual process by which vocal sounds are produced, and thus to form a scientific basis on which to found a way of training voices. Herr Behnke, in a singularly clear and lucid manner, brings the whole subject before the reader, and, to make it readily understood by non-scientific people, gives a translation of the Greek terms used by physiologists side by side with the originals. We cannot too strongly insist upon the necessity of forming a scientific basis for teaching singing, and, indeed, for training the voice for public speaking, &c. We congratulate Herr Behnke upon the patience and perseverance with which he has pursued his investigations with the laryngoscope.
MUSIC.
Mr. Emil Behnke has already made himself known to the leading members of the musical and medical professions by his learned lectures on "The Theory of Voice Production," and has gained the esteem of those interested in the subject by the masterly manner in which he deals with the matter, as well as his unaffected and, as far as possible, untechnical treatment of it. Mr. Behnke has done much to popularize the study of the human voice, and his book (which abounds in admirable plates) deserves to be widely known.
EDUCATIONAL TIMES.
It is but rarely that science figures as the handmaid of art, yet this book is a signal instance of it, for it is one of the first attempts, if not the very first, at an investigation, on strictly scientific principles, of the normal and the abnormal development of the voice, both in speaking and singing. Herr Behnke, who is both a musician and a physiologist, has brought to bear upon this subject his knowledge as a musician, and the results of several years of patient and careful scientific experiments. We cannot too highly commend this little work to the attention of all those interested in so important a subject.
BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE.
Since Herr Behnke's removal from Birmingham to London he has become an accepted authority on the subject of voice production, and we are glad to see the results of his studies presented in the useful way in which they are in this little volume. Earnest and conscientious students of the vocal art need not be reminded that the production of fine tone is not the all-in-all of the excellences of singing, but they will certainly know better how to employ their gifts after mastering the secrets Herr Behnke reveals.