p) Organ:
[No. 302.] Sadko 299-300.
Wood-wind and strings are comparatively seldom used on the stage or in the wings. In Russian opera the strings are employed in this way by Rubinstein (Gorioucha), and in a splendidly characteristic manner by Serov (Hostile Power): in the latter opera the E flat clarinet is used to imitate the fife in the Carnival procession.[17]
Chapter VI (Supplementary).
VOICES.
Technical Terms.
Among all the confused terms employed in singing to denote the compass, register and character of the human voice, there are four which may be said to represent elemental types: soprano, alto or contralto, tenor and bass. These names are used to denote the composition of the chorus with sub-divisions of firsts and seconds, to determine how the parts must be divided. (Sopr. I, Sopr. II etc.) While the range of an instrument is exactly governed by its construction, the compass of the voice, on the other hand, depends on the individuality of the singer. It is therefore impossible to define the exact limits of each of these vocal types. When it is a question of dividing choristers into 1st and 2nd parts, those with the higher voices are classed among the firsts and vice versa.