With this seemingly modest program García could not rest content. His ambition to penetrate all the mysteries of the voice led him to master the anatomy of the throat, as well as what was then known of acoustics. He was impatient to know what actually takes place in the larynx during the production of tone. After several years of experimenting he finally succeeded in viewing his own vocal cords by means of a little mirror held in the back of the throat. His announcement of his invention was published in the proceedings of the Royal Society of London in May, 1855.
By this time the idea of the improvement of voice culture was very generally held. García’s invention was hailed as the beginning of a new era in vocal instruction. It was coming also to be generally felt that the only way in which the scientific knowledge of the voice could be utilized in instruction would be by having the student of singing cause his vocal organs to operate in the manner that science had shown to be correct. While no one at that time stated this principle in definite terms, it was generally assumed as a matter of course. Within the twenty years following García’s invention the doctrine of the scientific management of the voice had been almost universally adopted. Against this tacit conviction in favor of the necessity of direct vocal management the instinctive methods of the old masters could make no stand. The old method gradually disappeared and the doctrine implied in the empirical system—that the voice needs no guidance other than that furnished by the ear—found no defenders. Since 1875 the belief in the necessity of consciously governing the vocal organs has been the dominating idea of vocal students and teachers throughout the world.
Manuel García
From a sketch from life by Pauline Viardot.
Of importance only second to García’s study of the vocal cord action was Helmholtz’s analysis of the acoustic laws of resonance, especially as they apply to tone and vowel formation. Merkel’s Der Kehlkopf (1873) is the standard work on the operations of the larynx. Dr. Louis Mandl, in Die Gesundheitslehre der Stimme (1876), first announced the principle of breath control. A vast number of other investigators have contributed to the subject and it is safe to say that the vocal action has been studied from every conceivable point of view. It is, however, not necessary here to trace the development of vocal science and to record the work of each student who has made original contributions to the common fund of knowledge.
II
In our first chapter the generally accepted theories regarding the operations of the vocal mechanism were outlined, and the same plan will be followed in describing the scientific methods of instruction most widely adopted. Modern methods of voice culture have indeed never been standardized. While teachers generally have adopted very nearly the same course, there is a wide diversity of opinion and practice to be found concerning each one of the topics of vocal science. Almost every one of these topics has indeed been the subject of controversy. Yet within recent years the leading authorities have come into fair accord in their application of the various principles. We shall therefore describe the method which has in its favor a consensus of opinion on the part of the best recognized teachers, without offering any statement as to its soundness or adequacy.
First it will be necessary to point out the exact position which the scientific element occupies in the modern system of voice culture. Vocal science has never aimed at a complete revolution of the practices of instruction in singing. Its purpose is rather to divide this instruction into two stages and to take as its province only the first stage. Starting with the well known fact that the voice has only one correct mode of operating, it seeks to impart this correct manner of tone production to the student as a preliminary to the technical training of the voice, strictly speaking. This is the only important point in which the modern system differs from the old Italian method. The initial work of imparting the correct vocal action is commonly called the ‘placing of the voice.’ To accomplish this is the sole purpose of vocal science, and the scientific method of instruction is designed only to apply to this initial stage. When the correct management of the voice has been acquired through a course of instruction according to scientific principles, the student is held to be ready to undertake the technical and musical education of the singer. This second stage of instruction is conducted almost exactly according to the system of the old masters.
Four elements are included in the scientific system of vocal training. These follow naturally the four distinct operations of singing—breathing, laryngeal action, resonance, and articulation.