Style in Singing | Page 6

the most
brilliant; a silvery voice has the most charm; a brassy voice the most
power. But one of the three characteristics is essential. A voice without
metallic ring is like teeth without enamel; they may be sound and
healthy, but they are not brilliant.... In speech there are several
colours--a bright, ringing quality; one soft and veiled. The bright,
strident hues of purple and gold in a picture may produce a masterpiece
of gorgeous colouring; so, in a different manner, may the harmonious
juxtaposition of greys, lilacs and browns on a canvas by Veronese,
Rubens, or Delacroix.
"Last of all is the velvety voice. This is worthless if not allied with one
of the three others. In order that a velvety voice may possess value it

must be reinforced (doublee) with 'metal.' A velvety voice is merely
one of cotton."[1]
[Footnote 1: These admirably expressed views illustrate and exemplify
the principles I laid down in a conference (Paris, 1902) on
Voice-Production (Pose de la Voix), wherein I demonstrated the
possibility of acquiring, by the aid of the resonating cavities, a greater
sonority, more in conformity with the demands and necessities of
present-day music.]
It may be of interest to notice that the quality which in France is
designated "timbre," is called by the Italians "metallo di voce," or,
"metal of the voice." Those who heard Madame Sarah Bernhardt fifteen
or twenty years ago will readily understand why her countless friends
and admirers always spoke of her matchless organ as "la voix d'or."
The late Sims Reeves, the famous tenor, was a perfect master of all
varieties and shades of vocal colour, and displayed his mastery with
certainty and unfailing effect in the different fields of Oratorio and
Opera. In the recitative "Deeper and deeper still," with its subsequent
aria "Waft her, angels, through the skies" [Handel], he ranged through
the entire gamut of tone-colour. As Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di
Lammermoor, he launched the "Maladetta" phrase of the curse with a
voice that was almost "white" with frenzied rage; while the pathetic
sombre quality he employed in the "Fra poco a me ricovero" fitly
accorded with the despairing mood and gloomy surroundings of the
hapless Edgardo.
Some singers control but two colours or timbres--the very clear (open)
and the very sombre (closed), which they exaggerate. In reality,
however, the gradations between them can be made infinite by the artist
who is in possession of the secret--especially if he has the ability to
combine Colour with Intensity.
An illustration of this is found in the example cited in the opening
paragraph of the present work:--"For now is Christ risen." Not only did
Mme. Tietjens make a gradual crescendo from the first note to the
climax, but the tonal colours were also subtly graduated from a

comparatively sombre quality to one of the utmost clearness and
brilliance.
[Music: As sung by Mme. Tietjens
For now is Christ risen, for now is Christ risen from the dead.]
As contrasting examples in which the two principal colours may be
employed effectively, I may cite the Bacchic air, "O vin, dissipe la
tristesse," and the pensive monologue, "Etre, ou ne pas etre," both
from the opera Hamlet, by Ambroise Thomas. The forced, unnatural
quality of the first calls for the use of a clear, open, brilliant timbre.
[Music:
O vin, dissipe la tristesse Qui pese sur mon coeur! A moi les reves de
l'ivresse, Et le rire moqueur!]
But for the second, "To be, or not to be":
[Music:
Etre, ou ne pas etre! o mystere! Mourir! dormir, dormir!]
a sombre, closed timbre is necessary. The opening recitative of
Vanderdecken in Der fliegende Hollaender by Wagner would be
absurd, and utterly out of harmony with the character and his
surroundings, if sung in the open timbre. Perhaps I ought to explain that
"open" (voix claire, Fr.), and "closed" (voix sombre, Fr.), are technical
terms, of which the equivalents are accepted in all countries where the
art of singing is cultivated; terms that apply to quality of tone, not to
the physical process by which these effects are produced. Such a
mistake is not infrequently made by vocal physiologists who are not
practical musicians or singing-teachers. Nor must the term "clear
timbre" be understood to mean the "white voice" ("voix blanche," or
"voce bianca"); this, like the guttural timbre, being only occasionally
employed for the expression of some violent passion, such as hate.

Like the admirable paintings of Eugene Carriere, for instance his
masterly portrait of Paul Verlaine, a song, sometimes an entire role,
may be worked out in monochrome; though the gradations of tint are
numerous, they are consistently kept within their preconceived
colour-scheme. Some few exceptional singers, like Jean-Baptiste Faure
or Maurice Renaud, have this gift of many shades of the one colour in
their singing