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_TO MY PUPILS_
STYLE IN SINGING
BY
W.E. HASLAM
NEW YORK: G. SCHIRMER
1911
Copyright, 1911
By G. SCHIRMER
22670
PREFATORY NOTE
"Of making many books there is no end." Surely, the weary observation
of the sage must have an especial application to the literature of
Song.
One could not number the books--anatomical, physiological,
philosophical--on the Voice. A spacious library could easily be
furnished with "Methods" of Singing.
Works treating of the laws governing the effective interpretation of
instrumental music exist. Some of them, by acknowledged and competent
authorities, have thrown valuable light on a most important element of
musical art. Had I not believed that a similar need existed in
connection with singing, this addition to vocal literature would not
have been written.
In a succeeding volume on "Lyric Declamation: Recitative, Song and
Ballad Singing," will be discussed the practical application of these
basic principles of Style to the vocal music of the German, French,
Italian and other national schools.
W.E. HASLAM.
2, rue Maleville,
Parc Monceau, Paris,
July, 1911.
INTRODUCTION
In listening to a Patti, a Kubelik, a Paderewski, the reflective
hearer is struck by the absolute sureness with which such artists
arouse certain sensations in their auditors. Moreover, subsequent
hearings will reveal the fact that this sensation is aroused always in
the same place, and in the same manner. The beauty of the voice may be
temporarily affected in the case of a singer, or an instrument of less
æsthetic tone-quality be used by the instrumentalist, but the result
is always the same.
What is the reason of this? Why do great artists always make the same
effect and produce the same impression on their public? Why, for
instance, did the late Mme. Tietjens, when singing the following
passage in Handel's _Messiah_, always begin with very little voice of
a dulled quality, and gradually brighten its character as well as
augment its volume until she reached the high _G_-[sharp] which is the
culmination, not only of the musical phrase, but also of the
tremendous announcement to which it is allied?
[Music: For now is Christ risen, for now is Christ risen.]
This last tone was delivered with the full force and brilliance of her
magnificent voice, and was prolonged until the thrill produced in the
listener became almost painful in its intensity. Again I ask, why did
this world-famous singer perform this passage _always_ in the same
way? Unreflecting people may reply vaguely that it was because the
artist "sang with expression." But what constitutes "expression" in
singing? No great artist--no matter what the vehicle or medium through
which his art finds manifestation--does anything at random. "The wind
bloweth where it listeth" only in appearance; in reality, it is
governed by immutable law. Similarly, the outward form of an art is
only apparently dictated by caprice and freedom from rule. The
effective presentation of every art is based on well-defined and
accepted principles. And it is with the earnest desire to throw light
on this most important phase of vocal art, that I present the
principles of "Style in Singing."
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFATORY NOTE v
INTRODUCTION vii
CHAPTER I: Elements of Vocal Training 1
Emission of Voice 2
CHAPTER II: The Value of Technique 7
CHAPTER III: Analysis of Style 12
Colour 14
Accent 21
Intensity 27
Phrasing 32
Portamento 37
Variations of Tempo 41
CHAPTER IV: Tradition 44
Pointage 61
CHAPTER V: Répertoire 91
CHAPTER VI: Conclusion 98
STYLE IN SINGING
CHAPTER I
ELEMENTS OF VOCAL TRAINING
If the practical education of the singer be analyzed, it will be found
to comprise four fundamental elements:
(1) POSE: or Emission of voice;
(2) TECHNIQUE: or the discipline of the voice considered as a musical
instrument;
(3) STYLE: or the application of the laws of artistic taste to the
interpretation of vocal music;
(4) RÉPERTOIRE: or the choice, in the literature of vocal music, of
works most suited to the voice, temperament and individuality of the
particular singer.
I have classed these four elements in their relative order. They are,
however, of equal importance. Until the Pose and Technique of a voice
are satisfactory, attempts to acquire Style are premature. On the
other hand, without Style, a well-placed voice and an adequate amount
of Technique are incomplete; and until the singer's education has been
rounded off with a Répertoire adapted to his individual capabilities,
he is of little practical use for professional purposes.
* * * * *
EMISSION OF VOICE
Great natural gifts of temperament and originality may, and sometimes
do, mask defects of emission, particularly in the case of artists
following the operatic career. But the artistic life and success of
such a singer is short. Violated Nature rebels, and avenges herself
for all infractions of law. A voice that is badly produced or emitted
speedily becomes worn, and is easily fatigued. By an additional
exertion of physical force, the singer usually attempts to conceal its
loss of sonority and carrying-power. The consequences are disastrous
for the entire instrument. The medium--to which is assigned the
greater portion of every singer's work--becomes "breathy" and hollow,
the lower tones guttural, the higher tones shrill, and the voice,
throughout its entire compass, harsh and unmanageable.
In view of its supreme importance, it is scarcely necessary to dwell
upon the self-evident fact that this foundation--Emission, or Placing
of the voice--should be well laid under the guidance of a skilled and
experienced singing-teacher. Nothing but disappointment can ensue if a
task of such consequence be confided, as is too frequently the case,
to one of the numerous charlatans who, as Oscar Commettant said, "_are
not able to achieve possibilities, so they promise miracles_." The
proper Classification, and subsequent Placing, of a voice require the
greatest tact and discernment. True, there are voices so well-defined
in character as to occasion no possible error in their proper
Classification at the beginning of their studies. But this is not the
case with a number of others, particularly those known as voices of
_mezzo-carattere_ (_demi-caractère_). It requires a physician of great
skill and experience to diagnose an obscure malady; but when once a
correct diagnosis is made, many doctors of less eminence might
successfully treat the malady, seeing that the recognized
pharmacopoeia contains no secret remedies.
Let the student of singing beware of the numerous impostors who claim
to have a "Method," a sort of bed of Procrustes, which the victim,
whether long or short, is made to fit. A "method" must be adapted to
the subject, not the subject made to fit the method. The object of all
teaching is the same, viz., to impart knowledge; but the means of
arriving at that end are multiple, and the manner of communicating
instruction is very often personal. To imagine that the same mode of
procedure, or "method," is applicable to all voices, is as
unreasonable as to expect that the same medicament will apply to all
maladies. In imparting a correct emission of voice, science has not
infrequently to efface the results of a previous defective use,
inherent or acquired, of the vocal organ. Hence, although the object
to be attained is in every case the same, the _modus operandi_ will
vary infinitely. Nor should these most important branches of
Classification and Production be entrusted--as is often the case--to
assistants, usually accompanists, lacking the necessary training for a
work requiring great experience and ripe judgment. To a competent
assistant may very properly be confided the preparation of Technique,
as applied to a mechanical instrument: All violins, for instance, are
practically the same. But voices differ as do faces.
The present mania for dragging voices up, and out of their legitimate
_tessitura_, has become a very grave evil, the consequences of which,
in many instances, have been most disastrous. Tolerable baritones have
been transformed into very mediocre tenors, capable mezzo-soprani into
very indifferent dramatic soprani, and so on. That this process may
have answered in a few isolated cases, where the vocal organs were of
such exceptional strength and resistance as to bear the strain, is by
no means a guarantee that the same results may be obtained in every
instance, and with less favoured subjects. The average compass in male
voices is about two octaves minus one or two tones. I mean, of course,
tones that are really available when the singer is on the stage and
accompanied by an orchestra. Now, a baritone who strives to transform
his voice into a tenor, simply loses the two lowest tones of his
compass, possibly of good quality and resonance, and gains a minor or
major third above the high G (sol) of a very poor, strained character.
The compass of the voice remains exactly the same. He has merely
exchanged several excellent tones below for some very poor ones above.
I repeat, one who aspires to be a lyric artist requires the best
possible teacher to guide his first steps; he may consult an inferior
or incompetent professor, when so firmly established in the right path
that he cannot possibly be led astray.
It is a common belief that singing-teachers of reputation do not care
to occupy themselves with voice-production, or are unable to teach it.
This is a serious error. A competent professor of singing is as
capable of imparting the principles of this most important branch, as
of directing the more æsthetic studies of Style and Répertoire. All
the really great and illustrious singing-masters of the past preferred
to "form" the voices of their pupils. To continue and finish a
predecessor's work, or to erect a handsome and solid structure on
defective foundations, is always a difficult task; sometimes an
impossible one.
Then, as regards the pupil, particularly one studying with a view to a
professional career, a defective preparatory training may eventually
mean serious material loss. The money and time spent on his vocal
education is, in his case, an investment, not an outlay; the
investment will be a poor one, should it be necessary later to devote
further time and expend more money to correct natural defects that
ought to have been corrected at the beginning of his studies, or to
eradicate faults acquired during their progress.
Furthermore, the purpose of some part of a singer's preliminary
education is to strengthen and fit the voice for the exacting demands
of a professional career. As the training of an athlete--rower,
runner, boxer, wrestler--not only perfects his technical skill, but
also, by a process of gradual development, enables him to endure the
exceptional strain he will eventually have to bear in a contest, so
some of a singer's early studies prepare his voice for the tax to
which hereafter it will be subjected. If those studies have been
insufficient, or ill-directed, failure awaits the débutant when he
presents himself before the public in a spacious theatre or
concert-hall and strives, ineffectually, to dominate the powerful
sonorities of the large orchestras which are a necessity for modern
scores. A sound and judiciously graduated preparatory training, in
fact, is essential if the singer would avoid disappointment or a
fiasco.
The vocal education of many students, however, is nowadays hurried
through with a haste that is equalled only by the celerity with which
such aspirants for lyric honours return to obscurity.