Style in Singing | Page 2

Technique of a voice
are satisfactory, attempts to acquire Style are premature. On the other
hand, without Style, a well-placed voice and an adequate amount of
Technique are incomplete; and until the singer's education has been
rounded off with a Repertoire adapted to his individual capabilities, he
is of little practical use for professional purposes.

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EMISSION OF VOICE
Great natural gifts of temperament and originality may, and sometimes
do, mask defects of emission, particularly in the case of artists
following the operatic career. But the artistic life and success of such a
singer is short. Violated Nature rebels, and avenges herself for all
infractions of law. A voice that is badly produced or emitted speedily
becomes worn, and is easily fatigued. By an additional exertion of
physical force, the singer usually attempts to conceal its loss of sonority
and carrying-power. The consequences are disastrous for the entire
instrument. The medium--to which is assigned the greater portion of
every singer's work--becomes "breathy" and hollow, the lower tones
guttural, the higher tones shrill, and the voice, throughout its entire
compass, harsh and unmanageable.
In view of its supreme importance, it is scarcely necessary to dwell
upon the self-evident fact that this foundation--Emission, or Placing of
the voice--should be well laid under the guidance of a skilled and
experienced singing-teacher. Nothing but disappointment can ensue if a
task of such consequence be confided, as is too frequently the case, to
one of the numerous charlatans who, as Oscar Commettant said, "are
not able to achieve possibilities, so they promise miracles." The proper
Classification, and subsequent Placing, of a voice require the greatest
tact and discernment. True, there are voices so well-defined in
character as to occasion no possible error in their proper Classification
at the beginning of their studies. But this is not the case with a number
of others, particularly those known as voices of mezzo-carattere
(demi-caractere). It requires a physician of great skill and experience to
diagnose an obscure malady; but when once a correct diagnosis is made,
many doctors of less eminence might successfully treat the malady,
seeing that the recognized pharmacopoeia contains no secret remedies.
Let the student of singing beware of the numerous impostors who claim
to have a "Method," a sort of bed of Procrustes, which the victim,
whether long or short, is made to fit. A "method" must be adapted to
the subject, not the subject made to fit the method. The object of all

teaching is the same, viz., to impart knowledge; but the means of
arriving at that end are multiple, and the manner of communicating
instruction is very often personal. To imagine that the same mode of
procedure, or "method," is applicable to all voices, is as unreasonable
as to expect that the same medicament will apply to all maladies. In
imparting a correct emission of voice, science has not infrequently to
efface the results of a previous defective use, inherent or acquired, of
the vocal organ. Hence, although the object to be attained is in every
case the same, the modus operandi will vary infinitely. Nor should
these most important branches of Classification and Production be
entrusted--as is often the case--to assistants, usually accompanists,
lacking the necessary training for a work requiring great experience and
ripe judgment. To a competent assistant may very properly be confided
the preparation of Technique, as applied to a mechanical instrument:
All violins, for instance, are practically the same. But voices differ as
do faces.
The present mania for dragging voices up, and out of their legitimate
tessitura, has become a very grave evil, the consequences of which, in
many instances, have been most disastrous. Tolerable baritones have
been transformed into very mediocre tenors, capable mezzo-soprani
into very indifferent dramatic soprani, and so on. That this process may
have answered in a few isolated cases, where the vocal organs were of
such exceptional strength and resistance as to bear the strain, is by no
means a guarantee that the same results may be obtained in every
instance, and with less favoured subjects. The average compass in male
voices is about two octaves minus one or two tones. I mean, of course,
tones that are really available when the singer is on the stage and
accompanied by an orchestra. Now, a baritone who strives to transform
his voice into a tenor, simply loses the two lowest tones of his compass,
possibly of good quality and resonance, and gains a minor or major
third above the high G (sol) of a very poor, strained character. The
compass of the voice remains exactly the same. He has merely
exchanged several excellent tones below for some very poor ones
above. I repeat, one who aspires to be a lyric artist requires the best
possible teacher to guide his