Style in Singing | Page 7

of certain roles. The colour is determined by the
psychological character of the personage portrayed; a gay, reckless Don
Giovanni calls for a brighter colouring throughout than that
necessitated by the music allotted to a gloomy Vanderdecken or an
embittered and vengeful Rigoletto. One may, therefore, formulate the
following rule: The general character of the composition will decide the
tonal colour appropriate for its general interpretation; the colouring
necessary for its component phrases will be determined by the
particular sentiment embodied in them. Emotions like sorrow, fear,
despair, will find fitting expression in the sombre quality of voice,
graduated in accordance with the intensity of the emotion. The opposite
sentiments of joy, love, courage, hope, are fittingly interpreted by
gradations of the clear and brilliant timbre. The dark or sombre voice
will be used in varying shades for the recitative from Samson (Handel),
"Oh, loss of sight:"
[Music: Oh, loss of sight, of thee I most complain!]
while the clearest and most brilliant timbre possible to be obtained is
plainly indicated for the same composer's "Sound an alarm!" from
Judas Maccabaeus.
[Music: Sound an alarm, your silver trumpets sound!]
It was a rule formulated by the old Italian school of singing, when l'arte
del bel canto in its true sense did really exist, that no phrase--musical or
verbal--should be repeated with the same nuances. Very many
instances might be given of the happy effect obtained by observing this
rule. One will suffice. It is taken from the Lamento of Queen Catherine
(of Aragon), who, slighted by Henry VIII. for Anne Boleyn, sighs for
her native Spain.

[Music: Lamento
Henri VIII: Act IV
Saint-Saens
Mon Espagne cherie! Mon Espagne cherie!]
Sudden contrasts of colour are of great dramatic effect. A good
illustration is found in the air "Divinites du Styx," from Gluck's Alceste.
This contrast is still further heightened by a sudden change of both
Intensity and Tempo.
[Music:
Divinites du Styx! Divinites du Styx! Ministres de la mort!]
This last phrase, "Ministres de la mort!" should be sung in a very
sombre voice of almost guttural character.
It is, indeed, in the recitatives and declamatory passages of Gluck,
Handel, Sacchini, that lyric artists will find unsurpassable material for
study. Requiring, as such works do for their perfect interpretation, all
the resources of Colour, Accent, and Phrasing, such study is the best
possible preparation for the fitting musical presentment of the lyric
drama in some of its later phases.
Colour, then, is the basic element of Style in singing. It is reinforced by
Accent, which, as the name implies, is the accentuation of details that
require to be brought into prominence. This subject, therefore, next
claims attention.
* * * * *
ACCENT
In singing, two kinds of accent are recognized, the Musical accent, and
the Poetic, or Verbal, accent. The first appertains to the domain of
sound; the second, to the domain of significance. The first, for aesthetic

reasons, throws into relief certain tones of a musical phrase; the second
brings into prominence the sentiment underlying the poem or text. Note,
also, that in spoken declamation, accent applies to a syllable only; in
singing, the verbal accent affects an entire word.
In its relation to Style, the Musical accent must be carefully
distinguished from the Metrical accent which is determined by Time, or
Measure, as well as from the Verbal accent whereby the import of a
word is rendered clear to the listener. Here is an example of Musical
accent, from Act III of Verdi's Ballo in Maschera:
[Music: Saper vorreste di che si veste quando l'e cosa ch'ei vuol
nascosa.]
The accents (marked thus [accent symbol]) give to the musical phrase a
piquancy that is admirably in keeping with the gay and careless
character of the page, Oscar, who sings it. In fact, as regards Style,
Musical accent is particularly valuable in song for the purpose of
setting forth the true character of the music. Hence, it may be regarded
as a means of characterization.
This use of accent for characterization is also quite distinct from its use
with "accidentals," or tones foreign to the prevailing tonality. In the
former case, sentiment dictates its employment; in the second, the
accent guarantees, as it were, the accuracy of the singer's intonation. By
the faint stress laid on the foreign tone, the listener is assured that the
executant is not deviating from the true pitch. In the following
examples, the tones marked [accent symbol] are "accidentals," and for
that reason should receive a faint stress. The first example is from La
Forza del Destino.
[Music: Verdi
Madre, Madre, pietosa Vergine, perdona al mio peccato, m'aita
quell'ingrato]
[Music: "Je dis que rien"

Carmen: Act III
Bizet
Vous me protegerez, Seigneur!]
These different uses of accent are well illustrated in the following
example.
[Music: "Come unto