Chapter XVII: The Radical Reform of Voice Culture Through the Speaking Voice

In the suggestions laid down at the beginning of this book for
the purpose of reinforcing in actual form the scientific
principles of voice production for bringing about a radical
reform of voice culture, the following is of prime importance:

Voice culture must be _natural_ in its basis, built upon
scientific principles; not empiric or arbitrary. There must be
only _one_ method of singing, founded on physiological laws,
taught in a practical form.

This suggestion constitutes the principal basis for the radical
reconstruction of voice education as conceived by the author,
who emphasizes the speaking voice as the fundamental element for
the thorough education of the voice, particularly inasmuch as it
is related to the art of singing.

In applying its rules practical evidence is given of the
advantages resulting from centering on the speaking voice all
the practice required for the training and the development of
the voice, either in talking or singing. Thus the marked
difference between this method and those existing at present is
made evident, from the very beginning.

Making the speaking voice the fundamental element for singing is
an issue which has a scientific basis, as has already been
demonstrated in this book; therefore, presenting this method of
voice culture as “scientific” is not claiming for it an
arbitrary qualification; it is a logical outcome, derived from
its intrinsic character.

This, however, must not suggest the idea of an artificial method
on account of its qualification as scientific. As a matter of
fact, the word “scientific” has often been misrepresented by
artificial practices; the general impression, therefore, tends
toward that misleading belief.

But in the case of the scientific culture of voice, science,
which is reinforced principally by rules of physiology,
acoustics, and phonology, working in harmonious coöperation,
constitutes an essential aid in discovering and estimating at
their proper value the functional laws of nature, making of them
an illustrative method of voice culture, elementary in its
structure and true in its contents.

We therefore emphasize the fact that scientific and natural
culture are, in reality, synonymous, in order to satisfy those
outside of the scientific field who, from traditional habit, are
inclined to balk at anything which bears the stamp of scientific
in reference to the human voice. Science is knowledge based on
truth, and is very simple in its doctrines. Nothing, in fact, is
simpler than the physiology of the vocal apparatus, which
conforms with natural laws, and which disregards all theories or
statements based on hypotheses or personal impressions, without
the support of a scientific demonstration.

While many schools of singing, by making the art of teaching an
elaborated exploitation of exercises better suited to physical
culture than to an art essentially emotional and intellectual,
expose the students to a strain which often fatally injures
their vocal organs, the Scientific culture of voice, keeping
very close to the natural mechanism, exploits a simple and
elementary method condensed into a few rules. These rules are
molded fundamentally on the speaking voice and controlled most
essentially by the idea of protecting the vocal apparatus from
any strain during the act of singing.

Hence, the aim of directing the art of singing toward a radical
reform and of placing it on a firm and scientific basis is made
possible by this fundamental change of its culture, in its very
roots.

The rules governing this new form of voice culture are summed up
in the elementary principle, of establishing proper diction as
the basis for a correct singing voice production. This naturally
embraces the correct placing and formation of the voice, first
in talking, and then its development along the same line in
singing.

Although this principle is most essentially related to and is
more important for the singing voice, it is applied through the
medium of the speaking voice, which, constituting the backbone
or skeleton of the singing voice, supplies all its physiological
and psychological characteristics—pitch, volume, quality,
expression, etc.

The Scientific culture of voice, by developing in detail the
author’s original view of giving the proper phonetic production
to the speaking voice for producing the singing voice with the
same mechanism, gives the latter the advantage of finding its
words already correctly produced, of molding its volume and
quality on that of the speaking voice, and of magnifying its
resonance and expression by the addition of its musical colors.

A big and beautiful speaking voice, in reality, furnishes
splendid material in the raw for a correspondingly big and
beautiful singing voice; the larger amount of musical vibrations
and melodious quality of the latter representing merely an
acoustic embellishment.

In spite of its importance, very little indeed is known about
the proper production of the speaking voice, especially as a
phonetic platform for proper singing and voice development.

It is the belief of the author, as the result of many years of
study on the mechanism of the voice, and the experience gained
through the constant observation and care of many of the
greatest singers, that most of the failures in the singing
profession are due to the ignorance of the important rôle played
by the speaking voice in relation to the art of singing.

The two forms of voice, the speaking and the singing, being the
same physical element, are so closely connected that the neglect
of one means the abolition of the proper production and beauty
of the other. It is no exaggeration to state that the proper
formation of the speaking voice is the only _sine qua non_
condition of correct singing, as the latter always retains the
former’s original characteristics, whether beautiful or ugly.

The idea, therefore, of creating a system of teaching which
begins by establishing all the rules for the production of a
beautiful speaking voice, that the singing voice may be molded
on it, has been materialized by the writer in this method, which
has been submitted to some of the greatest singers and voice
experts.

The recognition of its real value has been expressed to the
author in letters and indorsements commending its universal use
in voice culture, as can be seen in the testimonial of Enrico
Caruso, quoted in a preceding chapter, and those of Emma Calvé,
Galli-Curci and Titta Ruffo which follow.

The preface of this book, written by no less an authority than
Victor Maurel, the artist who was the first in the musical world
to carry out the conception that singing is merely musical
speaking, is of the most valuable support for the Scientific
Culture of the Voice.

Madame Galli-Curci, in a letter written in English, has given
her full endorsement to the principles illustrated by the
author, who has also received a very enthusiastic letter from
Madame Emma Calvé, translated herewith from the original, which
is also reproduced.

A literal translation of the indorsement given by Signor Titta
Ruffo for The Scientific Culture of Voice, as conceived by Dr.
P. M. Marafioti, follows on the next page.

Endorsement of Madame Emma Calvé for the Scientific Culture of
the Voice:

DEAR DOCTOR:

I have just read your admirable book in which you explain with
clarity a perfect method in which voice culture must be based
on new scientific principles adaptable to the exigencies of
the music of to-day. This new method, having become a
necessity because of the evolution of the modern school, which
demands above all lyrical declamation rather than the “Bel
Canto” heretofore required.

Dear doctor, you who through your science have so marvelously
known how to fathom the mystery of the voice, you are the one
designated for entering into this reform in which you should
be encouraged and highly praised.

“The sound soars to the sky,” the great poet Baudelaire said.
Thanks to you, it will raise us, I hope, to the spheres of
eternal harmony—our aim for all.

Your sincere friend,
EMMA CALVÉ.

Endorsement of Titta Ruffo for The Scientific Culture of the
Voice:

I have read with keen interest the scientific and practical
study on human voice as conceived by you, and found it so
marvelous that I feel it my duty to express my opinion in
writing.

It will be of great help to all students of singing and
declamation because of its extreme clarity and simplicity,
which can be seen to perfection in the proceeding by which you
develop your new theories. It is necessary that it be given
out for publication, so that it may be known in all
conservatories of music, and in all schools of singing and
declamation.

The education of the voice plays a very important rôle in our
intellectual life, as the most elevating emotions of our souls
are aroused by the harmony of sounds; and singers as well as
actors will be vocally perfect if they learn to abide by the
principles which you express in your method.

TITTA RUFFO.

FACSIMILE OF MADAME GALLI-CURCI’S ENDORSEMENT OF “THE SCIENTIFIC
CULTURE OF THE VOICE”
]

FACSIMILE OF MADAME CALVÉ’S ENDORSEMENT OF “THE SCIENTIFIC CULTURE
OF THE VOICE” (TRANSLATED IN TEXT)
]

FACSIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL ENDORSEMENT GIVEN BY SIGNOR TITTA RUFFO
TO “THE SCIENTIFIC CULTURE OF THE VOICE”
]

From the _psychological standpoint_, because of its importance,
the relationship of the speaking and the singing voice deserves
far more attention than is usually given to it. It is not the
sound, in fact, produced by the singing voice that gives the
impressive power of expression to the art of singing, but what
is said and how it is said, through the _medium of tones_.
Whether the sentiment the artist wants to express be tragic,
dramatic, or lyric, he must have tragedy and drama in his soul,
and convey them through his words in order to get a really
artistic effect. Intense emotions, in singing, cannot be
expressed alone through the medium of tones, tones being rather
the medium for musical effects and technical embellishment. They
may emphasize an expression which intensely pleases and delights
the ear, decorate the singing words in a more beautiful manner,
make the phrasing more artistic, but they have not sufficient
power to convey a strong message of the mind or an intense
pathos of the heart, to an educated audience. If simple tones
could do that, there would be no difference between musical
instruments and human voice, but indeed nobody can deny that the
human voice is the really supreme power and magic medium of
human souls, which alone has the privilege of carrying with
words all feelings and thoughts, in any definite degree of
expression, and shadows of sentiment.

Therefore, if those singers (unfortunately many) who, by blowing
very hard, under high pressure of the diaphragm, or whispering
softly in their throats with falsetto or head voices, think that
they are expressing hate or love, sorrow or delight, they are
mistaken. Their psychology is lacking or false, and their
singing is very far from reaching the minds and inspiring the
souls of any artistic audience. To hear tones which do not carry
the impressiveness of the meaning of the words is indeed of very
little value to a discriminating public, who wants to know what
message the singing conveys.

There are some artists, though, whose singing never fails to
reach the hearts of the audience. Among them are a few prominent
ones, who combine all the treasures of their voices with the
finest sense of expression, and so have the privilege of
delivering to the world the most sublime and artistic singing.
Everybody, of course, is affected by the beautiful and intense
spell of their performance; but not everybody knows of what
immense value and support to their artistic efforts is the
proper use and intelligent coöperation of their speaking voice.
When these artists sing, not one word is lost, and the audiences
cry and laugh with them, because they understand them and are
carried away by the emotions embodied in the words they are
singing. There lies the secret of the striking suggestion and
powerful impressiveness of their voices, and this is also what
gave its magic power to Caruso’s singing.

But how many singers make the audiences understand even in what
language they are singing? How many have the slightest notion of
this inestimable coöperating factor—the speaking voice—and make
valuable use of it in their art? Operagoers could easily answer
this question.

In some recent instances in New York, when operas were
produced in English, there was general dissatisfaction and
criticism because not a word the artists were singing was
intelligible to the audience. If American audiences were more
familiar with the Italian, French, Russian, or German
languages, they would soon realize that the same complaint
could be applied to the majority of singers singing in any
language; nay, some allowance must be made for the singing in
English, as this language is, in truth, more difficult in its
enunciation than most of the above-mentioned. There is an
intrinsic phonetic deficiency in the language itself, of which
we will treat later.

The lack of discrimination and also of interest on the part of
some audiences about this matter is responsible for the singers’
underestimation of the importance of singing their words, thus
making it possible to deliver properly the full message of the
music as the composer felt and intended it. Those audiences,
generally, place their interest and center their enthusiasm only
on the top notes of the sensational singers, and real art means
very little or nothing to them.

The singers, however, or musicians who are attracted by the
importance of this subject, should refer to the following
comment by Wagner in _Actors and Singers_ and see what his
conception of the rôle played by diction in singing was:

“If to-day I seek out singers for a passably correct performance
of my own dramatic works, it is not by chance the ‘scarcity of
voices’ that alarms me, but my fear of their having been utterly
ruined by a method which excludes all sound pronunciation. As
our singers do not articulate properly, neither for the most
part do they know the meaning of their speeches, and thus the
character of any rôle entrusted to them strikes their minds in
none but general hazy outlines, after the manner of certain
operatic commonplaces. In their consequent frenzied hunt for
something to please, they light at last on stronger tones
(_Tonaccente_) strewn here and there, on which they rush with
panting breath as best they can, and end by thinking they have
sung quite ‘dramatically’ if they bellow out the phrase’s
closing note with an emphatic bid for applause.

“Now it has been almost amazing to me, to find how quickly such
a singer, with a little talent and good-will, could be freed of
his senseless habits if I led him in all brevity to the
essentials of his task. My compulsorily simple plan was to make
him really and distinctly speak in singing, whilst I brought the
lines of musical curvature (_die Linien der Gesangsbewegung_) to
his consciousness by getting him to take in one breath, with
perfectly even intonation, the calmer, lengthier periods on
which he formerly had expended a number of gusty respirations;
when this had been well done, I left it to his natural feeling
to give the melodic lines their rightful motion, through accent,
rise and fall, according to the verbal sense. Here I seemed to
observe in the singer the salutary effect of the return of an
overwrought emotion in its natural current, as if the reducing
of its unnatural and headlong rush to a proper rate of motion
had spontaneously restored him to a sense of well being; and a
quite definite physiological result of this tranquilization
appeared forthwith, namely, the vanishing of that peculiar cramp
which drives our singers to the so-called head-note
(_Gaumentonn_, lit. ‘palatal tone’), that terror of our singing
masters, which they attack in vain with every kind of mechanical
weapon, although the enemy is but a simple bent to affectation,
which takes the singer past resistance when once he thinks he
has no longer to speak, but to ‘sing,’ which means in his belief
that he must do it ‘finely,’ that is, make an exhibition of
himself.”

The author feels no hesitation nor scruples in affirming that
this wonderful statement by Wagner contains more truth and sound
precepts about singing than the dozens of books he has read on
voice culture. With his accurate analysis of the actual
conditions of the singing field, and with a touch of sarcasm and
criticism about the operatic commonplaces prevalent among the
ordinary singers, Wagner has condensed into these few lines the
_most solid_, _scientific_, and _artistic principles_ of the
_art_ of _singing_. The real essentials also for correct and
artistic singing are so masterly outlined that they make all
other methods for voice culture, existing at present, unworthy
of comparison.

All the physical and physiological doctrines of teachers who are
hunting for sensational phrases and impressive words, the
meaning of which is often unfamiliar to them, but serves the
purpose of appealing to the unskilled, untaught, enthusiastic
pupils who are open to any unknown ideas, become insignificant
and ludicrous when compared with the truth condensed in the few
suggestions of Wagner in which he leads the singer to the
“essentials of his task,” making him “really and distinctly
speak in singing,” and “restoring him to a sense of well being,
and to that definite physiological result of tranquilization,
namely, the vanishing of that peculiar cramp which drives our
singers to the so-called head-note—that terror of our singing
masters, which they attack in vain with every kind of mechanical
weapon, although the enemy is but a simple bent to affectation,
which takes the singer past resistance when once he thinks he
has no longer to speak, but to ‘sing.’” Much crime—unpunished
crime—is committed in the name of physiology and presumably
physical theories.

Although Wagner’s ideas, in truth, did not influence the
author’s views in reference to the contents of this book—as
the above quoted precious document of the genius of Bayreuth
came to our knowledge when this work was almost ready for
publication—yet we feel that Wagner’s precepts, and the
principles on which we base the reform of voice culture,
coincide so closely that it is a matter of inestimable pride,
as well as invaluable encouragement, to us.

In the author’s mind was always imprinted the fundamental
principle that _singing_ must first be _saying_. If in his
creed, which has been inspired by prolonged observation of the
decadence of the art of singing and careful investigation into
the causes, he has been preceded by such an authority as Wagner,
he attributes the greatest of good fortune to this coincidence,
and regards Wagner’s conception of the art of singing as the
strongest endorsement and defense for the reinforcement of his
principles.