Style in Singing | Page 4

ideas. How seldom, if ever, even in the best lyric theatres, is
the following passage heard as the composer himself indicated:
[Music: "Plus blanche"
Les Huguenots: Act I
Meyerbeer
Plus pure, plus pure qu'un jour de printemps]
or the concluding phrase of "Celeste Aida" (in Aida, Act I), as Verdi
wrote it and wished it to be sung:
[Music: un trono vicino al sol, un trono vicino al sol.]
At present the majority of operatic tenors, to whom are assigned the
strong tenor (fort tenor) roles, can sing the higher tones of their
compass only in forte, and with full voice. Thus an additional and very
charming effect is lost to them. Yet Adolphe Nourrit, who created the
role of Raoul in Les Huguenots, sang, it is said, the phrase as written.
The late Italo Campanini, Sims Reeves, and the famous Spanish tenor
Gayarre, were all able to sing the
[Music]
mezza voce, by a skilled use of the covered tones.
I do not ignore the fact that cases occur where artists, owing to some
physiological peculiarity or personal idiosyncrasy, are unable to
overcome certain special difficulties; where, indeed, the effort would
produce but meagre results. But such instances are the exception, not
the rule. The lyric artist who is gifted merely with a beautiful voice,

over which he has acquired but imperfect control, is at the mercy of
every slight indisposition that may temporarily affect the quality and
sonority of his instrument. But he who is a "singer" in the real and
artistic sense of the word, he who has acquired skill in the use of the
voice, is armed at all points against such accidents. By his art, by clever
devices of varied tone-colour and degrees of intensity, he can so screen
the momentary loss of brilliance, etc., as to conceal that fact from his
auditors, who imagine him to be in the possession of his normal
physical powers. The technical or mechanical part of any art can be
taught and learned, as I have said. It is only a case of well-guided effort.
Patience and unceasing perseverance will in this, as in all other matters,
achieve the desired result. Nature gives only the ability and aptitude to
acquire; it is persistent study which enables their possessor to arrive at
perfection. Serious and lasting results are obtained only by constant
practice. It is a curious fact that many people more than usually gifted
arrive only at mediocrity. Certain things, such as the trill or scales,
come naturally easy to them. This being the case, they neglect to
perfect their agilita, which remains defective. Others, although but
moderately endowed, have arrived at eminence by sheer persistence
and rightly directed study. It is simply a musical version of the Hare
and the Tortoise.
* * * * *
But we must make a great distinction between the preliminary exercises
which put the singer in full possession of the purely mechanical branch
of his art (Technique), and the aesthetic studies in Taste and the
research for what dramatic authors call "the Science of Effect," or Style.
The former must be thoroughly accomplished, otherwise the latter
cannot be undertaken satisfactorily. A good and reliable technique is
undoubtedly of primary necessity. But it is by no means all. One may
have a voice which is well-posed and of good resonance, and also have
sufficient flexibility to perform neatly all the rapid passages with which
the pages of the classic composers abound. But this is not singing; nor
is the possessor of these an artist. He has simply the necessary and
preliminary knowledge which should enable him to become one, by
further study of the aesthetic side of the art of singing. He has, as it

were, collected the materials necessary for the erection of a splendid
edifice, and has now to learn the effective means of combining them.
So, when the voice is "formed," a frank and easy emission obtained, a
sufficiency of Technique acquired, the next step in the singer's
education is the practical study of the problem of Style.
CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS OF STYLE
What is Style?
In reality the question is two-fold. One may have Style; and one may
have a style. The former is general; the latter individual. The former
can be taught and learned, for it is based on certain well-defined rules;
the latter is personal--in other words, is not universally applicable. Not
infrequently it is a particular application of those rules which gives the
impress of originality. But correct taste must first be formed by the
study of the noblest creations in the particular art that claims attention.
In singing, as in the sister arts, the laws which govern Style must be
apprehended and understood before Individuality can be given full
scope. Otherwise, what to the executant would appear