I fancy there is nothing more intangible to most people than the term
"_phrasing_." I have asked a great many students to give me the
principles of phrasing, but as yet I have seen none who could do it, and
yet all singers, from the youngest to the oldest must make some use of
these principles every time they sing. Now a thing in such general use
should be, and is, subject to analysis.
_All of the rules of phrasing, like the rules of composition, grow out
of what sounds well._ Beauty and ugliness are matters of mental
correspondence. In music a thing to be beautiful must satisfy a mental
demand, and this demand is one's _taste_. The sense of fitness must
obtain. When the singer interprets a song the demand of the listener is
that he shall do well what he undertakes to do: that he shall portray
whatever phase of life the song contains, accurately, definitely, that
he shall have a _definite intent and purpose_, that he shall be in the
mood of the song. The singer must not portray one mood with his face,
another with his voice, while the poem suggests still a third. He must
avoid incongruity. All things must work together. There must be
therefore, the evidence of intelligent design in every word and phrase.
The song is a unit and each phrase contains a definite idea, therefore
it must not be detached or fragmentary, but must have the element of
continuity and each and every part must be made to contribute to the
central idea.
The element of insecurity must not be allowed to enter. If it does, the
listener feels that the singer is not sure of himself, that he cannot do
what he set out to do: therefore he is a failure.
Another demand is that the singer shall be intelligent. A poem does not
lose its meaning or its strength by being associated with music, and to
this end the singer must deliver the text with the same understanding
and appreciation of its meaning as would a public reader.
Now from the above we infer certain principles. The demand for
continuity means that the singer must have a pure _legato_. That is, he
must be able to connect words smoothly, to pass from one word to another
without interrupting the tone, that the tone may be continuous
throughout each phrase.
The feeling of security lies in what is known as _sostenuto_, the
ability to sustain the tone throughout the phrase with no sense of
diminishing power. It means in short the organ time.
From the demand for design in each word and phrase comes _contrast_.
This may be made in the power of the tone by means of cres. dim. sfz. It
may be made in the tempo by means of the retard, accelerando, the hold,
etc. It may also be made in the quality of the tone by using the various
shades from bright to somber.
The basis of phrasing then, may be found in legato, sostenuto and
contrast. All of the other things involved in interpretation cannot make
a good performance if these fundamental principles be lacking. A more
complete outline of interpretation follows: