The Voice in Singing

by Emma Seiler

, with the action belonging to it of the chest register, and while it grows weaker it passes imperceptibly into the action of the falsetto tones. Or the reverse. A note of the chest register is begun with the action of the falsetto, and becoming stronger changes into the chest register to which it naturally belongs. Correctly employed, the most delightful effects may be produced in this way, especially by a male voice.

Ornaments, such as appoggiaturas and turns, roulades, trills, &c., are to be used only with taste and care. The old Italian compositions, which were so arranged as to show the voice in its fullest brilliancy, have their ornaments commonly in such phrases as were to be first sung several times in a simpler way. In the frequent repetition of the same melody and words, those places were designated by so-called firmates, thus:

, where it was permitted to the artist to introduce embellishments according to his own taste. In German arias embellishments are allowed to be introduced according to the taste of the singer, only, however, with the greatest care; but in German ballads not at all. And yet we often hear artists, who have acquired a certain flexibility of voice, introducing their little trickeries in the most inappropriate places.

But none of these aids to expression are to be used so often as to become mere mannerisms. Only when employed in due measure can they have an æsthetically fine effect. As so much depends upon the taste of the singer, it is necessary that he should, above all things, have a thorough appreciation of the sentiment which is to find expression in the piece, and seek to make it his own, and then the ornament is to be introduced only where it accords with the sentiment, that is, where it is appropriate. The two greatest artists of the present day, Lind and Stockhausen, whose expression is perfect, take great pains to understand the composition thoroughly, and in this way to be fully imbued with the sentiment.

Without the animation of a soul, singing fails of all effect upon the hearer, and is ordinary and wearisome. But this animation must be with understanding and taste—i. e., æsthetically beautiful. For the beautiful continues beautiful and true only as long as it is in proportion and not exaggerated—only while those fine lines are not transgressed where it begins to be untrue, that is, affected and ridiculous.

TIME OF INSTRUCTION

The old Italians began with quite young pupils, commonly when they were in their ninth or tenth year. The great demands which were then made in regard to the technical culture of the voice required a long time for instruction, usually five or six years. The extraordinary fulness and power of tone possessed by the earlier artists could be acquired only by persevering and adequate practice of the vocal organ, taken while in the process of growth. Those singers, men and women, whose voices have been celebrated for their fulness and strength of tone, such as Catalani, Perini, &c., sang in their fifth year, under the careful oversight of persons musically cultivated. In childhood the impulse to imitation is strongest, the vocal organs are more tender and pliant than in adults; and hence, when care is taken to avoid fatiguing and straining the voice, children learn much easier and better than grown persons. They are also preserved by early and correct singing from the many bad habits with which the teacher has to contend in adults. That special skill and care are required in a teacher who has in charge the voices of children, there can be no question. But unhappily, no regard is paid to this consideration in the system of teaching singing in the schools, universally introduced in France, Germany, and Switzerland. To any teacher who can sing at all, or play on any instrument, the tender voices of children are entrusted, and he allows them to sing together in chorus, satisfied if the tones are not grossly false and the time is kept, paying no regard to the formation of the voice. Now it is well known that even practised singers avoid singing much in chorus, considering it injurious to the voice. Although schooled and educated voices can endure a much greater strain than children’s voices, yet children are often, without any understanding, required to sing loud, in order “to bring out the voice.” In such a way of singing it is simply impossible that every separate voice should be attended to, even were the teacher competent to attend to it; while it often happens that at the most critical age, while the vocal organs are being developed, children sing with all the strength they can command. Boys, however, in whom the larynx at a certain period undergoes an entire transformation, reach only with difficulty the higher soprano or contralto tones, but are not assigned a lower part until, perceiving themselves the impossibility of singing in this way, they beg the teacher for the change, often too late, unhappily, to prevent an irreparable injury. Moderate singing, without exertion, and, above all things, within the natural limits of the voice and its registers, would even during the period of growth be as little hurtful as speaking, laughing, or any other of the exercises which cannot be forbidden to the vocal organs. But it is wiser not to allow boys to sing at all while the larynx is undergoing its change.

The plan of introducing into schools instruction in singing, so excellent in itself theoretically, tends, by the way in which it is carried out in practice, to lessen the number of voices susceptible of artistic culture, without any compensation in an awakened feeling and understanding of music. In the palmy days of the art of singing there was no instruction given in singing in the schools, but there were instead numerous schools for singing, where children were trained into artists by the most skilful teachers, and whence proceeded good singers, male and female, in great numbers.