gained by imitation of some acknowledged first-rate singer, whose voice
is of the same kind as your own. Before going to a concert at which any
such artist is announced to sing, procure copies of his songs (if
possible), and make yourself acquainted with the compositions first of
all. Then go and hear how those works are rendered by the singer who is
to be your model; listen with your copy in your hand; make notes of any
points which strike you, and while the impression made upon you is still
fresh, go home and imitate them as closely as you can.
=General Musical Study.=--If you want to be a good singing artist, many
more things besides singing should be studied. You should be
sufficiently acquainted with the pianoforte to play your own
accompaniments, even of the most difficult songs, well enough to get an
idea of them. Then a knowledge of harmony, counterpoint, and
orchestration is of the greatest value. The study of the best scores,
orchestral and vocal, should not be neglected, and further, the student
should make himself or herself otherwise familiar with the rise and
progress of the art, by reading all the best books on the subject,
whether historical, critical, or biographical.
ON STYLE, EXPRESSION, &c.
The study of language, articulation, and deportment, the gradual
formation and building-up of the singing voice, and the incessant
practice of scales and exercises, are in reality only the necessary
preliminaries to singing itself. Singing, or the proper use of the voice
combined with the due enunciation and expression of the words, is
nothing unless due attention be also paid to style, to the fit and
effective execution of the music selected, due regard being paid both to
taste and tradition.
=Traditional Styles.=--Although the groundwork of all good singing is the
same, the music to be sung varies greatly in style. There is church
music, oratorio music, and opera music, as well as ballad music; and a
certain nondescript--half recitative, half declamation--which is of
modern growth, gives pleasure to many people (both performers and
audience), and comprises the greater number of modern German "songs."
=Modern German Lieder.=--This latest development of vocal performances, of
which I desire to speak with all due respect, has no traditions
whatever, but it has a style, decided, though (in my opinion) bad. It
has, however, one merit: it imperatively demands that the singer should
understand the meaning both of words and music, for the whole thing
depends on expression and modulation. The composers of these works
generally do their part fully in the way of modulations and
accompaniment; but as they frequently forget to supply anything in the
shape of a melody, the singer must do his best to touch or move his
audience by his expressive delivery of the words in the musical
inflections which (with this class of composers) occupy the place of a
"tune." However, if you admire this kind of music, and have been
properly taught to sing before you attempt to execute it, I have not a
word to say against it: so long as you use your voice legitimately, this
style of music can do you no harm, and if you study dramatic expression
and elocution properly, you may doubtless produce an effect very
pleasing to others who admire it. But the danger of such music to the
untrained voice and untaught singer is very great indeed; and I do not
hesitate to say that the frequent performance of it by such an one
_must_ result in the ruin both of voice and style.
=The Cathedral School.=--The one point in music wherein England has just
reason to boast of her past, is the existence of a distinct class of
music composed for her church service, and that music of a high order of
merit. Distinctive in character, this church music--"services" and
"anthems"--has created for itself a distinct school of singers, and, by
tradition, demands a distinct style of performance. I have elsewhere
stated that the "Cathedral School" of singing is "detestable for solo
work," and so it is for any solo work except cathedral solo work, where
the operatic or oratorio style of singing would seem to us, who have
always been familiar with the traditional and one accepted style, out of
place, and irreverently suggestive of the concert-room. It is difficult
to describe upon paper the peculiarity of this style of singing, and it
could only be learnt by imitation in its own home, the cathedral. Its
chief characteristics are a sort of passionless "statuesqueness," a
steadiness of tone akin to the notes of the organ, which is its only fit
accompaniment, an absence of all attempt at personal display on the part
of the singer. Its faulty tendencies are towards deficiency of
expression and slowness of "attack;" these are apparent, generally, when
a "cathedral" singer appears in the concert-room; but in church, the
pervadingly reverent character of the performance takes off the
impression of coldness and tameness in the individual singer, while the
ear, accustomed to the slight difference in time with which the various
organ-stops "answer," does not notice in the singer that want of
"crispness" in the time which the accompaniment of an orchestra reveals
at once.
Unless you are really intending to sing professionally in a church or
cathedral choir, the study of this style will not be of much use to you;
you will find its good points equally insisted on in the oratorio school
of singing, while its defects should be avoided in any. For =English
part-singing= there is, however, no training so good, its traditions
being exactly those of the finest old English secular part-music--the
madrigals of Wilbye, Weekes, and Purcell, &c.
=Oratorio.=--By oratorio singing--speaking of it as a distinct style--I
may say at once that I mean the school of Handelian singing, of which
the traditions are distinct, and which has only been slightly modified
to suit the more modern oratorios of other composers. Of course,
Mendelssohn cannot be sung exactly like Handel or Bach, but the general
style of delivery should be the same, and till you can sing Handel, you
cannot hope to be able to sing Mendelssohn. The ability to sing Handel,
Bach, and Glück, I believe to be the sole foundation for a pure style of
singing either in opera or ballad music: the music is such that it
cannot be trifled with--the difficulties cannot be evaded, but must be
mastered--while the exquisitely smooth and vocal character of these
great masters' music trains the singer to an evenness and solidity of
style which is most valuable in any music that may be afterwards
attempted. Moreover, the songs of Handel form an admirable school for
the training of individual taste and judgment in the introduction of
ornaments, the variety of phrasing, and other minute details of finish.
Not that you may exercise your individual taste in introducing ornaments
into Handel or Bach--far from it; but the songs are written with the
express intention that certain ornaments should be introduced in
particular places, and the style (and in many cases the notes) of these
ornaments has been accurately handed down to us; therefore, in learning
this traditional manner of singing such music, the student is trained to
a knowledge of the appropriate place for the introduction of
ornamentation and "grace"--the appropriate character of such
embellishments, and the appropriate opportunities for introducing them.
For instance, most of Handel's songs commence with a movement which is
intended to be repeated at the close of the song, the middle part being
generally a movement in some relative key, which is not repeated. The
traditional style of giving such songs is to reserve ornamentation for
this repeated first part, and thus to avoid the effect of sameness which
would result from adhering in the "repeat" to exactly the same rendering
of the music with which the singer gave it at first. Such ornamentations
were taken for granted by the composer, and it was only because of a
tasteless abuse of this privilege of adornment on the part of foolish
singers, an abuse which became an unbearable nuisance, that in after
years Rossini adopted the plan of writing into his music florid passages
which should supply the singer with ornaments which were good of their
kind and which were put in in appropriate places, rather then trust his
airs to the mercy of inartistic "decorators." Handel, and the composers
of earlier times than Rossini, omitted the ornamentation, so as not to
hamper the singer, for, as has been well said by an old writer on the
subject: "The same execution that would from one singer afford pleasure,
might from another excite disgust: the compositions of old masters have
no written cadences to a repeated passage, for this very reason, no
doubt. But it is understood, and indeed expected, that the singer of
talent should display his own taste by the introduction of such fanciful
and graceful ornaments as may be best calculated to exhibit his voice to
advantage, and thereby heighten, instead of lessen, the effect of the
composition."
The same writer, in explaining the reason for the introduction of such
ornaments and changes, goes on to remark: "In conversation, though we
frequently repeat words and even sentences, in expressing any particular
subject, yet we might as naturally expect to see a person laugh without
a smile, as give such repetitions without some variation in voice and
manner.
"The first part of an air is often written to be repeated. In justice to
the author, when that is the case, simplicity of style should be
inviolably preserved; but, on repeating the strain, free scope may be
given to the imagination, taking it for granted that no person would be
vain enough to attempt the introduction of his own fanciful graces,
unless sufficiently master of the science to feel the propriety of going
so far and no farther."
Perhaps I may make the meaning of all this clearer by giving a few
specimens of these traditionally accepted adornments in repeated
passages.
[Music:_First time._
ri - mem - - bran - za, Puoi di nuo - vo, &c.]
[Music: _Second time._
ri - mem - bran - za, Puoi di nuo - vo, &c.]
[Music: _First time._
dol - ce ri - mem - bran - za, &c.]
[Music: _Second time._
dol - ce ri - mem - bran - - za, &c.]
[Music:_First time._
Puoi di nuo - vo, di nuo - vo av - ve - len
ar ................... mi.]
[Music: _Second time._
Puoi - di nuo - vo di nuo - vo av - ve - len
ar ................... mi.]
The above are taken from a fine song by Cesti (1660), "_Tu mancavi a
tormentarmi_."
The following are the adornments taught in the Paris Conservatoire, as
traditionally correct in the famous old song by Lotti, "_Pur dicesti_,"
where, it will be observed, one simple phrase, which occurs so
frequently that it would be monotonous if unadorned, is made to yield a
charming variety to the song by some elegant change at each recurrence.
[Music: _First time._
quel so - a - ve ... car - o ...... si]
[Music: _Second time._
quel ... so - a - ve car ... o - si]
[Music: _Third time._
quel ... so - a - ve car - o - si]
[Music: _Fourth time._
quel ... so - a - - ve car - - o si]
[Music:_First time._
pia - cer .................
................. il mio pia - cer]
[Music: _Second time._
pia - cer .................
................. il mio pia - cer]
The following are from Handel:
[Music: _First time._
While re - sign'd to Heav'n ... a - bove]
[Music: _Second time._
While re - sign'd to ...... Heav'n ........ a - bove
(_Guardian Angels._)]
[Music: _First time._
Trees where you sit, &c.]
[Music: _Second time._
Trees where you sit, &c.
(_Where'er you walk._)]
And of course the list might be almost indefinitely prolonged. Certain
of these ornaments, once highly popular, have wisely been allowed to
drop, and that is why I lay stress upon the importance of _accepted
traditions_. You may get hold of copies of many songs of this kind which
have the names of great singers attached to them, and yet give
variations of the text which have never been accepted or generally
approved. The great Braham himself was a terrible offender sometimes in
this respect. For instance, in singing "_Comfort ye_," instead of the
passage
[Music:
that her in - i - qui - ty is par - don - ed]
he would sing thus:
[Music:
that her in - i - qui - ty is par - don - ed.]
And I have seen an old copy of "_Holy, holy_," in which the melody is so
overlaid with little black notes, semi-quavers, demi-semi-quavers, and
semi-demi-semi-quavers, that it is difficult to distinguish the notes of
Handel's music at all! The admissible changes are all very slight, and
any elaborate cadenza, or considerable addition, is pretty sure to be
wrong. Final high notes are a frequent snare to aspiring singers; the
traditions of the old school of oratorio singing are not in favour of
them, and they generally vulgarize a song if introduced where the
composer has not clearly opened a way for them. I have heard a tenor
singer conclude the famous "_Thou shalt break them_," thus:
[Music:
pot - - - - ter's ves - sel]
and a soprano finish off "_He shall feed His flock_," thus:
[Music:
ye shall find rest ........ un - to your souls.]
--both of them pieces of vulgar display, bringing the personality of the
singer before the audience instead of the beauty of the music, the sense
of the words, or the merit of the composer. No such abominations are
permissible in good oratorio singing, the rule of which is utter
submission to the composer's intentions, and a conscientious endeavour
to interpret his mind clearly to the audience; a pure and chaste
delivery of words and music alike; a sustained excellence throughout,
avoiding an attempt to astonish by bursts of power or brilliancy; and an
entire absence of all claptrap or vulgarities to please "the gallery."
=Opera.=--A great deal of what has been said about oratorio singing
applies also to operatic singing. But I strongly advise you against
attempting opera music until you have studied the more severe and solid
style of the oratorio. The declamatory passages in opera are doubtless
more brilliantly impassioned, just as the florid airs are more
startlingly elaborate, than in oratorio, and the recitatives less
stately and sustained; but the style of good opera singing is only to be
founded upon good oratorio study (or its equivalent), inasmuch as it
was out of the oratorio that the opera grew. Operatic singing allows
more license to the singer than does oratorio; but the singer should
have been taught first by the severer style not to misuse that license.
At the same time when (as is not infrequent in operas of a certain kind)
the composer has introduced airs for the express purpose of showing off
a singer's voice, a well-trained singer may be accepted as interpreting
the composer's intention rightly, when he or she elaborates _fioriture_
far beyond the limits of which any hint appears in the score.
Even here, however, traditional usage must have its weight: cadenzas
must be strictly in character, and only introduced in songs to which
such passages are appropriate. I once heard a florid cadenza
interpolated at the close of "_Spirto Gentil_," by an aspiring young
tenor, too full of conceit and "modern" ideas to take a hint from
Mario's marvellous rendering of that song.
And it must be borne in mind that it is only in operas of the Bellini,
Donizetti, and early Rossini and Verdi school that such extreme license
is granted. No such tricks can be played with the operas of Mozart,
Glück, Weber, or Meyerbeer, or with the later works of Rossini and
Verdi, while the notion of altering a note, or omitting even a
demi-semi-quaver rest, in those of Wagner, would be, to his admirers,
flat heresy. In reality, the style of singing opera music is easily
acquired by any one who is sufficiently advanced to be fit to attempt
opera music at all. There are certain niceties to be acquired, and
endless beauties of variety in the rendering of even small passages; but
these things cannot be taught on paper.
=Ballads.=--There is no greater mistake than to suppose that "any one can
sing a simple ballad." Good ballad singing is one of the rarest
accomplishments, and demands qualities in the singer which _may_ be
wanting even in a person who can sing well both in opera and oratorio.
To suppose that an untaught singer can do justice to any ballad that is
worth the trouble of singing at all, is simply a mark of ignorance on
the whole subject of singing.
Ballads do not always require power or compass of voice, it is true, nor
do they tax the singer on the score of flexibility or physical strength;
but they are the severest test of enunciation, _mezzo-voce_ singing,
neatness and readiness in producing tones of any gradation, and perfect
control over the voice.
To sing a ballad well demands a really cultivated taste, a certain
dramatic power, suppressed it is true, but influencing the whole
delivery; a sympathetic voice, and a manner which will enlist the
interest and sympathy of the audience. Ballad singing is neither
declamation nor recitative: there is no chance of surprising or
astonishing your audience; but you _must_ contrive to please them, you
must _touch_ them somehow; and, for an ordinary person in the costume of
the nineteenth century, to "touch" others of the same species is not
easy. Sometimes, no doubt, the words of a good song are in themselves so
touching and charming that, so long as the music be not positively
hideous or destructive of the sense of the words, the singer has only to
let them be clearly heard, and the battle is won; but more frequently he
has to trick his audience into interest in a song where the words in
themselves are either hopelessly silly, or too obscure in sense for
their full meaning to appear at a first hearing or reading. All that he
can then do is to deliver it in such a way that they shall feel that
there _is_ a meaning to it all, though they have not fully caught it
yet, and so they may wish to hear it again. I do not, of course, mean
any allusion to the ridiculous fashion of _encores_, but simply that the
feeling at the end of such a song should be one of liking it
sufficiently to wish to understand it entirely.
Many songs would tell their own tale and produce their own effect well
enough, if the singer would let them, and therefore the ballad singer
must only be sufficiently self-conscious to keep himself out of the way.
However good his singing, however original his reading of the song,
_while he is singing_ it should all go to the credit of the song, and
the hearers be charmed into forgetting _him_ till he is silent.
=Recitative.=--Good recitative singing is of great importance, and
requires careful attention and study. Recitative is midway between
speaking and singing; it is a sort of modulated intoning, that is, that
in delivering it the note and the word that belongs to it should be
given with equal intention, and appear to belong to each other so
completely that the musical sound should seem to be the natural
intonation which the reciter would give to the word. Recitative is (_or
was_) practically an attempt to express, in musical notation, the
inflexions of the human voice in speaking; and how accurately, in some
cases, musical notation can do this, will be seen at a glance by the
following illustration:
[Music:
Who are you?]
[Music:
Who are you?]
[Music:
Who are you?]
--where the question is asked in the same words, but the musical notes
express clearly three different sentiments, or degrees of sentiment.
This should be taken into consideration by the student; and he should
strive to give his recitative with as natural a delivery as he can,
placing himself mentally in the position of a dramatic reciter.
Steadiness of tone, clearness of enunciating consonants, and full round
delivery of vowel-sounds are indispensable to good recitative singing.
Every note must be distinct, and not the faintest suspicion of a "slur"
or _portamento_ can be allowed.
Recitative singing is not a thing which a student should try to teach
himself, as he may not only waste his time, but gain notions which are
erroneous and difficult to cure. For instance, take the recitatives in
"_The Messiah_," as these are printed for the British public. Nothing
could be more ludicrous than for a singer to appear in public and sing
the recitatives faithfully as printed in the editions of this oratorio
which are continually being disseminated throughout the land. Handel,
let it be borne in mind, was _not_ well acquainted with the English
language; and though he may have written good music, he was often very
far from reaching good literary sense. Thus, as regards this latter,
this specimen passage occurs in Handel's "_Acis and Galatea_,"
[Music:
Where shall I seek the charm-ing fair?]
Yet no one in his senses would think of rendering it other than
[Music:
Where shall I seek the charm-ing fair?]
inasmuch as there is some doubt of the chord 6/4 which forms the grace
note being Handel's music, and because the sense of the words demands
that no break shall be made between the words _seek_ and _the_. As
Handel failed in his English, it is surely allowable to make good his
deficiencies in this respect.
The following paragraphs relate to certain minor details of style in
singing, and apply to singing of every kind. They must be taken in
conjunction with much that has already been said under the head of
"Practice."
=Slurring.=--Slurring up to a note is a very disagreeable and common evil
to be guarded against. It matters not how far distant the note to be
sung may be from the preceding tone; it should be attacked fearlessly
and cheerfully, but _with an open throat_. The note to be attacked must
not be prepared in the throat. The course should be this. The tone of
the preceding note must not be moved, but the one required--say a very
high one--must be obtained by the joint process of lowering the larynx,
of sounding the note from exactly the same spot as the lower note, in a
soft but fine tone, and thirdly, by getting such a ring in the note as
it can only have in conjunction with the feeling that while the root or
foundation of the note is in the chest, yet it owes much of its
penetrating character and power to a sort of reflecting power which is
given it from the extreme end of the spine bone, where it joins the
head. Certainly no high note is properly _produced_, nor to be relied
upon for a _crescendo_, unless the student has this feeling that it
springs from the back of the neck; and, in rising to an upper note, the
aim should be not at length to approach the upper note from beneath, as
it were, but to "come down" upon it--to strike it from _above_ instead
of from below.
=Sentiment.=--Always try to convey the sentiment of what you may be
singing through the tone of the voice. Love and anger cannot both be
expressed with the same quality of voice. For the former, a delicate
light tone well on the lips is desirable, while for the latter the voice
should be produced lower in the stomach; yet the tone should still be
kept on the lips; its character should be "darker," more round, and
sonorous. "'_Tis this that racks my brain_": such words as these should
never be sung in the same character of voice as "_Waft her, angels, to
the skies_." It is good practice to take any piece and sing the melody
on an open vowel throughout, with the object of showing the meaning of
the song without the aid of words. Then, when this can be done, the
words may be employed, and the result will be doubly happy.
=Decision.=--Indecision is a very serious fault in singing. Do well and
thoroughly whatever you decide upon attempting. If you have a _staccato_
passage to sing, render it firmly in that style; if you have one that is
_legato_, take care that this character is _strongly_ seen from your
rendering. When you "slur," make it strong enough to be felt. If you
bend as it were from one note to another, let your intention to do so be
clearly apparent. Let a _forte_ passage be loud, and let a _piano_ one
be really soft. Any half measures in singing are fatal. Precision and
certainty are qualities which the student must always aim at attaining.
Without them, singing becomes tame and unattractive, not to say
tiresome.