THE VALUE OF TECHNIQUE
Briefly defined, the singer's Technique may be said to consist
principally of the ability to govern the voice in its three phases of
Pitch, Colour, and Intensity. That is, he must be able to sing every
note throughout the compass of the voice (Pitch) in different
qualities or timbres (Colour), and with various degrees of power
(Intensity). And although the modern schools of composition for the
voice do not encourage the display of florid execution, a singer would
be ill-advised indeed to neglect this factor, on the plea that it has
no longer any practical application. No greater error is conceivable.
Should an instrumental virtuoso fail to acquire mastery of
transcendental difficulties, his performance of any piece would not be
perfect: the greater includes the less. A singer would be very
short-sighted who did not adopt an analogous line of reasoning.
Without an appreciable amount of _agilità_, the performance of modern
music is laboured and heavy; that of the classics, impossible. In
fact, virtuosity, if properly understood, is as indispensable to-day
as ever it was. As much vocal virtuosity is required to interpret
successfully the music of Falstaff, in Verdi's opera, as is necessary
for _Maometto Secondo_ or _Semiramide_ by Rossini. It is simply
another form of virtuosity; that is all. The lyric grace or dramatic
intensity of many pages of Wagner's music-dramas can be fully revealed
only through a voice that has been rendered supple by training, and
responsive to the slightest suggestion of an artistic temperament.
In short, virtuosity may have changed in form, but it is still one of
the cornerstones of the singer's art. An executive artist will spare
no pains to acquire perfect technical skill; for the _métier_, or
mechanical elements of any art, can be acquired, spontaneous though
the results may sometimes appear. Its primary use is, and should be,
to serve as a medium of interpretation. True, virtuosity is frequently
a vehicle for personal display, as, notably, in the operas of
Cimarosa, Bellini, Donizetti, and the earlier works of Rossini and
Verdi. At its worst, however, it is a practical demonstration of the
fact that the executant, vocal or instrumental, has completely
mastered the mechanical elements of his profession; that, to use the
_argot_ of the studios, "_il connaît son métier_" (he knows his
trade).
Imperfect technique, indeed, is to be deprecated, if merely for the
reason that it may debar a singer from interpreting accurately the
composer's ideas. How seldom, if ever, even in the best lyric
theatres, is the following passage heard as the composer himself
indicated:
[Music: "Plus blanche"
Les Huguenots: Act I
Meyerbeer
Plus pure, plus pure qu'un jour de printemps]
or the concluding phrase of "Celeste Aida" (in _Aida_, Act I), as
Verdi wrote it and wished it to be sung:
[Music: un trono vicino al sol, un trono vicino al sol.]
At present the majority of operatic tenors, to whom are assigned the
strong tenor (_fort ténor_) rôles, can sing the higher tones of their
compass only in _forte_, and with full voice. Thus an additional and
very charming effect is lost to them. Yet Adolphe Nourrit, who created
the rôle of Raoûl in _Les Huguenots_, sang, it is said, the phrase as
written. The late Italo Campanini, Sims Reeves, and the famous Spanish
tenor Gayarré, were all able to sing the
[Music]
_mezza voce_, by a skilled use of the covered tones.
I do not ignore the fact that cases occur where artists, owing to some
physiological peculiarity or personal idiosyncrasy, are unable to
overcome certain special difficulties; where, indeed, the effort would
produce but meagre results. But such instances are the exception, not
the rule. The lyric artist who is gifted merely with a beautiful
voice, over which he has acquired but imperfect control, is at the
mercy of every slight indisposition that may temporarily affect the
quality and sonority of his instrument. But he who is a "singer" in
the real and artistic sense of the word, he who has acquired skill in
the use of the voice, is armed at all points against such accidents.
By his art, by clever devices of varied tone-colour and degrees of
intensity, he can so screen the momentary loss of brilliance, etc., as
to conceal that fact from his auditors, who imagine him to be in the
possession of his normal physical powers. The technical or mechanical
part of any art can be taught and learned, as I have said. It is only
a case of well-guided effort. Patience and unceasing perseverance will
in this, as in all other matters, achieve the desired result. Nature
gives only the ability and aptitude to acquire; it is persistent study
which enables their possessor to arrive at perfection. Serious and
lasting results are obtained only by constant practice. It is a
curious fact that many people more than usually gifted arrive only at
mediocrity. Certain things, such as the trill or scales, come
naturally easy to them. This being the case, they neglect to perfect
their _agilità_, which remains defective. Others, although but
moderately endowed, have arrived at eminence by sheer persistence and
rightly directed study. It is simply a musical version of the Hare and
the Tortoise.
* * * * *
But we must make a great distinction between the preliminary exercises
which put the singer in full possession of the purely mechanical
branch of his art (Technique), and the æsthetic studies in Taste and
the research for what dramatic authors call "the Science of Effect,"
or Style. The former must be thoroughly accomplished, otherwise the
latter cannot be undertaken satisfactorily. A good and reliable
technique is undoubtedly of primary necessity. But it is by no means
all. One may have a voice which is well-posed and of good resonance,
and also have sufficient flexibility to perform neatly all the rapid
passages with which the pages of the classic composers abound. But
this is not singing; nor is the possessor of these an artist. He has
simply the necessary and preliminary knowledge which should enable him
to become one, by further study of the æsthetic side of the art of
singing. He has, as it were, collected the materials necessary for the
erection of a splendid edifice, and has now to learn the effective
means of combining them. So, when the voice is "formed," a frank and
easy emission obtained, a sufficiency of Technique acquired, the next
step in the singer's education is the practical study of the problem
of Style.