Chapter III: Physical View (2)

But the cultivation of vocal flexibility in singing is the easiest and most grateful part of the education of the voice, for with ordinary industry on the part of the pupil results are here obtained most speedily. In the very first lessons I teach my pupils the motions of the vocal organ in trills, and if they do not learn them by imitation, I give them simple exercises on the syllable _koo_ to practice for a while. The _k_ is produced by a pulse of the breath, and the _oo_ is, as we have seen, the best vowel sound with which to direct the breath as it is expired. Thus, by singing _staccato_ the syllable _koo_, slowly at first and gradually quicker, with a movement of the larynx and windpipe that is both seen and felt; and with the tongue and lips at rest and motionless, the right movement is given to the organ in trills and all other embellishments, and by continued practice the movement becomes more rapid. Those who need to be taught this movement must never practice continuously for any length of time, for we must avoid fatiguing the organs. When pupils have become accustomed, by rapidly singing the syllable _koo_ on each tone of the trill, to the movement of the larynx, then they can practice upon another syllable, and in the following way: Let the trill be at first always sung _piano_, with an accenting of the higher tone every time and a gradual increasing of the rapidity thus: a¹ accented-b¹ a¹ accented-b¹, and repeat this figure, halving the note lengths every four beats; also in half and whole tones, and then in minor thirds. But the most beautiful trill will be formed by practising triplets in the compass of a whole tone, then of a minor third, major third, fourth, etc., by which first the upper, then the lower tone is accented: accented-a¹ g¹ a¹ accented-g¹ a¹ g¹. The mouth, however, in this exercise must continue immovably open, and the tongue also must lie perfectly still, touching the lower front teeth, for only in this way can one be sure of not moving the epiglottis. Although this is difficult at first, yet the syllable _ku_ (koo) may be sung in this way. Thus, with sufficient practice, any one may acquire a perfect flexibility of voice. When the pupils can make the trill easily upon the middle tones, in which in the beginning exercises must be practised, let them practice also upon the higher and lower tones of the voice. If the trill takes place at the transition of two registers, then both the tones must be formed upon the higher of the two, as in an exchange of registers the glottis requires more time than a good trill admits of.

Rapid runs downwards are easily executed correctly when care is taken that with every tone the same movement is made as in the case of trills, and the breath is kept back as much as possible. Voices wanting in flexibility may soon acquire the desired quality by singing every tone _piano_ upon the syllable _koo_.

Ascending runs can properly be taught only when the descending have been correctly sung, for, in opposition to the former, every tone of the latter must be formed by a light impulse with increased breath. The softer the piano in which the pupil practises, and the more loose the consequent movement of the larynx, the more distinctly and the more purely will the pupil gradually execute these embellishments.

Intelligible as these movements are in practice, it is difficult to describe them. To be able to make all ornaments in singing beautifully and easily requires long practice, for in a thoroughly artistic piece of vocal music it is essential, as the great artist _Schröder-Devrient_ said, that all the notes of ornamentation (_Coloratur_) should be like a string of pearls on black velvet, each distinct in itself, round and beautiful, and yet so connected with the rest in one whole that no gap is discernible. Carefully and correctly directed exercises in ornamentation are in the highest degree necessary to the formation of tone; they tire the voice far less than sustained notes, and accustom it to an exact enunciation of the tones. But because persevering practice is necessary to the cultivation of vocal flexibility, the teaching of this is to be begun at the very first; and not until later, when the voice is habituated to a right touch and to a perfectly clear tone, is the pupil to be given those favorite exercises with long-sustained notes, which are sung with one continuous breath. That we so rarely meet with clear vocal fluency is again owing to our mode of teaching. We do not seek to cultivate formation of tone and fluency at the same time. Oftentimes it is only after years spent in singing sustained tones that ornaments are allowed to be practised, and then, instead of using as little breath as possible, the flexibility of the larynx is hindered by singing too powerfully with full chest and unintermitted crowding of the breath. Without denying that in regard to vocal flexibility different individuals and nations may be variously gifted, it is nevertheless certain that _with due practice every one may acquire more or less of vocal fluency_.

_Frederick Wiek_ has composed for his pupils a large number of simple exercises, in which all kinds of ornaments are introduced, and which at the same time are so melodious that they easily catch the ear. They mostly comprise only a few tones, at the most an octave, and are sung in half tones, ascending in different keys. Next to these exercises come, as highly adapted to the culture of vocal flexibility, the solfeggi of _Mieksch_, _Mazzoni_, _Rossini_, _Crescentini_, &c. There is, indeed, no want of excellent exercises and solfeggi. Their use, however, depends upon the way in which the teacher requires them to be practised. Notwithstanding the abundance of these exercises, I have always found it necessary to prepare special ones for my pupils, as every voice requires peculiar treatment and guidance.[15] In every pupil peculiar faults are to be overcome and peculiar qualities come into play, and the vocal organ shows as many differences as the human face. But the right way is sure to be found when the irreversible laws of nature, which lie at the foundation of our art, are once recognized. The practical advantages of this knowledge the singer, like every other artist, must endeavor to secure orally, that is, by sound instruction. Ornamentation, however, can become distinct and clear only by uniting these with a distinct, pure touch, as we have already endeavored to describe, when, with the beginning of the tone, the pitch is struck lightly, quickly, distinctly, elastically, with certainty and perfect correctness. But as it is by no means easy to introduce a tone quickly and correctly, so that it will sound equally pure from the first, this flexibility is extremely rare among our singers. Instead of it, the most hateful mannerisms have stolen into practice; the tone is struck too low, and forced up by an increase of breath, or the tones are so drawled one into another that one cannot tell where they begin or where they cease. Impure intonation is much more disagreeable in the high tones than in the low. This is quite natural; for when, for example, the low _c_ is sung one-tenth too low or too high, then it will cause an octave higher twice as many vibrations, and two octaves higher four times as many, and these in proportion to their number produce a more intense effect. In the higher registers of the tones little discords (_Verstimmungen_) call forth a much larger number of beats (which are not to be confounded with vibrations) than in the lower, and thus the impurity of the musical intervals is felt much more strongly. Purity in the art of singing is, however, such a primal condition of its beauty, that a piece of music purely executed, even by a weak and slightly-cultivated voice, always sounds agreeably, while the most sonorous and practised voice offends the hearer when it is out of tune or forced upwards. The training of our singers by pianos, as they are now tuned, by equal temperament, is altogether unsatisfactory. The singer who practises with the piano has no safe principle by which he can measure the height of his tones with any exactness. But persons of good musical talent, made aware of this disadvantage by a competent teacher, and practising accordingly, can nevertheless overcome this difficulty caused by our present method of tuning, and learn to sing correctly and purely.

Until the seventeenth century, singers were drilled by the monochord, for which _Zarlino_, in the middle of the sixteenth century, re-introduced the correct, natural tuning. The drilling of singers was conducted at that time with a care of which we have now no idea. The church music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is arranged upon the purest consonant chords, depending upon this for its whole effect, which would naturally be injured if not executed with perfect purity. Our opera singers now-a-days are seldom able to sing without accompaniment a composition for several voices so purely that its whole beauty is felt; the accord almost always sounds sharp and somewhat uncertain, and therefore cannot satisfy a really musical ear.

SPEECH

The vowels and consonants are, in speaking, produced by certain noises (_Geräusche_), which in singing sound together with the tone. These sounds are produced by local diminutions of the cavity of the mouth, or by the opening or closing of the lips and teeth, as well as by movements of the tip of the tongue, &c., while a single pulse of the air passes through the tolerably wide open glottis and through the cavity of the mouth without regular vibrations. For the air rushes more directly out of the mouth in speaking than in singing. Of this we may be easily convinced by holding a feather before the mouth; it will show far more motion in speaking than in correct singing. If, in speaking, people would take pains to form the vowels in the front of the mouth--a habit so necessary in singing, and which is easily acquired by practice--our common speech would be much more melodious, far-sounding, and less strained. We see the truth of this when we hear words called out from a height and from a distance; the different consonants then mostly disappear, excepting the _m_ and _n_, which are formed mostly in the front of the mouth. The vowels, on the other hand, are more or less plainly heard, according to the places in the mouth where they are formed. Certain it is that for the beauty of our common speech, the resonance of the cavity of the mouth peculiar to each vowel may be rendered available. A singing tone in speaking is very disagreeable. Every one who is not used to it, finds the singing dialect of Saxony in the highest degree offensive and unpleasant. Nevertheless, a more attentive observation soon teaches us that behind the noise which characterizes the several sounds in language, a timbre is heard similar to the tone in singing, and in various instances there occur regular musical intervals, as at the end of a sentence or in the special accentuation of single words. Thus, at the conclusion of an affirmative sentence the voice usually falls about a fourth from the medium pitch, and at the end of an interrogatory sentence rises about a fifth above the usual speaking tone. Words specially accented are usually a tone higher than the rest, &c. In public speaking and in dramatic representations these variations of sound are more numerous and complicated, and the inventor of the modern Recitative, _Jacob Perri_, even declares that he formed it by imitating in singing these variations of sound, in order to restore again the declamation of the ancient tragedians.[16]

Tedious and intolerable as it is to hear so much sing-song in common speech, it is equally wearisome when people drone on always in a dry speaking tone at the same pitch, without ever letting the voice rise or fall. The most interesting matter thus delivered will lull the hearer to sleep. It cannot be denied that a rich field is here offered for farther scientific observation, and those natural laws which lie at the foundation of the art of singing may certainly be applied with advantage to the perfecting of the mode of speaking, especially in those who have to speak in public.[17]

To extend these remarks any farther does not come within our present purpose, which is concerned exclusively with the voice in singing and its cultivation. For this reason I leave unnoticed many most interesting phenomena relating to music in general, but not particularly to the culture of the voice, although they are of the deepest interest to the educated musician.

[7] Tyndall.

[8] The concert pitch in different places and at different periods
has undergone great changes. The Grand Opera in Paris in the
year 1700 established 404 vibrations to a second as the
concert pitch of a¹, which gradually rose higher, as the wind
instruments became more perfect and had a more important part
assigned them in concerted music, until 1858 it had attained
the height of 448 vibrations in a second. In this same year
(1858) at Berlin and St. Petersburg it reached its greatest
height--451½ vibrations in the second. In Mozart's time, in
Vienna, it had only 422 and 428 vibrations.

[9] As long as melody alone was aimed at in music, and was
accompanied only by octaves, the tones preserved their
natural purity. But with the rise of harmony (the accord
of different tones) there was rendered necessary a more
regular system, to which the purity of the tones was
sacrificed.

[10] “It is not possible to sound a stretched string as a whole
without at the same time causing to a greater or less extent
its subdivision; that is to say, superposed upon the
vibrations of the string we have always, in a greater or less
degree, the vibrations of its aliquot parts. The higher notes
produced by these latter vibrations are called the _harmonics_
of the string. And so it is with other sounding bodies; we
have, in all cases, a co-existence of vibrations. Higher tones
mingle with the fundamental tone, and it is their intermixture
which determines what, for want of a better term, we call the
_quality_ of the sound. The French call it _timbre_, and the
Germans call it _Klangfarbe_. It is this union of high and low
tones that enables us to distinguish one musical instrument
from another. A clarionet and a violin, for example, though
tuned to the same fundamental note, are not confounded....

“All bodies and instruments, then, employed for producing
musical sounds, emit, besides their fundamental tones,
tones due to higher order of vibrations. The Germans
embrace all such sounds under the general term _Obertöne_.
I think it will be an advantage if we, in England, adopt
the term _over-tones_, as the equivalent of the term
employed in Germany. One has occasion to envy the power of
the German language to adapt itself to requirements of this
nature. The term _Klangfarbe_, for example, employed by
Helmholtz, is exceedingly expressive, and we need its
equivalent also. You know that color depends upon rapidity
of vibrations--that blue light bears to red the same
relation that a high tone does to a low one. A simple color
has but one rate of vibration, and it may be regarded as
the analogue of a simple tone in music. A _tone_, then, may
be defined as the product of a vibration which cannot be
decomposed into more simple ones. A compound color, on the
contrary, is produced by the admixture of two or more
simple ones; and an assemblage of tones, such, as we obtain
when the fundamental tone and the harmonics of a string
sound together, is called by the Germans a _Klang_. May we
not employ the English word _clang_ to denote the same
thing, and thus give the term a precise scientific meaning
akin to its popular one? And may we not, like Helmholtz,
add the word _color_ or _tint_ to denote the character of
the clang, using the term _clang-tint_ as the equivalent of
_Klangfarbe_?” (Sound: A course of Lectures delivered at
the Royal Institution of Great Britain by John Tyndall,
LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of Nat. Phil. in the Royal
Institution and in the Royal School of Mines. English
edition, pp. 116-118.)--Tr.

[11] As to the characteristic sounds of the different keys, the
views of musicians are to the present day divided. Many even
of our most eminent theorists, as Hauptmann, for example, in
Leipsig, have maintained that all keys (_Tonarten_) are only
transpositions of one major and minor key, and that like
musical effects may be produced with one as well as with
the other. The majority of musicians are, however, of the
opinion that each key has its peculiar character, and that
by transposition into another key the musical effect is
changed. My son, Carl Seiler, has discovered that each key
has its own peculiar, prominent over-tones, which determine
its distinctive character. A table of all the keys (_Tonarten_),
in which the prominent over-tones of each are given, shows
also that the mutual relation of the keys (_Tonarten_) is
elucidated by these over-tones. And thus again scientific
investigation confirms what the founders of the theory of
music, with their sound sense for the beautiful, recognized
as correct.

[12] The position of the body in singing must be such as in no
way to interfere with the easy drawing of the breath. One
sings most easily standing as erect as possible, quiet and
unconstrained, the chest somewhat projected, the body
slightly drawn in, and the hands folded.

[13] It was instruments of this class--trumpets, horns, bugles,
etc.--in whose timbre the highest inharmonic over-tones
overpower all the rest, that were painfully offensive to
the exquisite musical organization of Mozart from his
earliest childhood.

[14] It is all but impossible to give an idea of what is meant
by _Tonansatz_, without a practical illustration. It is
that striking of the note or the air corresponding to the
touch in piano-playing.

[15] A selection of such exercises, prepared by the present
writer, has recently been published by Mr. O. Ditson in
Boston, and also two books of old Italian solfeggi from
Mieksch and Mazzoni, arranged to the present pitch.

[16] According to _Boethius_, the _lyra_, which was used by the
Greeks to accompany declamation, embraced, in the tuning
of its strings, the principal intervals used in speaking.

[17] Since the appearance of this book I have often been consulted
by persons whose calling required them to speak in public,
and whose vocal organs were no longer competent thereto. Here
also I have found in most cases that there was an incorrect
use of the registers, and that men especially form the lowest
sounds with that forced enlarging of the windpipe already
mentioned (that is, with the so-called _Strohbassregister_).
Many have probably fallen into this unnatural and exhausting
manner by attempting to speak or to sing loudly. Together
with the incorrect use of the registers, there is also an
incorrect management (_Leitung_) of the vibrating air, which
so often renders speaking so difficult to public speakers.
As, when the voice is not wholly directed to the front of the
mouth, it does not move the external air quickly enough and
so does not reach far, the speaker commonly tries to help
himself by a greater expenditure of force. Misled by false
views, speakers usually attempt by a great waste of breath
and by exertion alone to produce an effect which can be
realized only by skilful management of the most delicate
and easily moved of all things, the air.