f; loud to soft f
p; and soft to loud and soft again p
f
p.
This command of intensity, therefore, is invaluable. But it is even more effective when the artist has the power to combine the various gradations of Intensity with different shades of Colour; in other words, when he can sing a tone crescendo and diminuendo in the clear and sombre timbres.
The passage, already cited, from Alceste’s great air in Gluck’s opera Alceste, furnishes an admirable illustration of the dramatic emotion created by a sudden contrast of Intensity as well as Colour. In the invocation “Ye ministers that dwell in night!” the clear timbre is used with gradually increasing volume until at the phrase (sung adagio) “Ministers of death!” the timbre changes abruptly to a sombre quality with sinister effect, which effect is augmented by being sung pp.
