Style in Singing | Page 8

thee I most complain.]
Here I may point out that in cantabile phrases the stream of sound, notwithstanding its division into syllables by the organs of articulation--lips, tongue, etc.--should pour forth smoothly and uninterruptedly. The full value of each tone must be allotted to the vowel; the consonants which precede or end the syllables are pronounced quickly and distinctly. In declamatory singing, on the contrary, the consonants should be articulated with greater deliberation and intensity.
[Music: Handel (Messiah)
I know that my Redeemer liveth.]
Here an emphatic accent on the consonant "n" irresistibly suggests the idea of knowledge; that is, of absolute certainty, not of mere belief.
Very frequently the metrical accent does not coincide with the syllabic accent: the musical accent will fall on an unaccented syllable, or vice versa. Particularly is this the case when the composer is not perfectly familiar with the rules that govern the prosody of the language to which he is setting music. In the operas of Meyerbeer many passages occur in which it is necessary to readjust the syllables to the notes on account of their misplaced accent. Here is an illustration from Hoel's Grand Air in Le Pardon de Ploermel (Meyerbeer), Act II. (Note that the tonic accent in French falls always on the last pronounced syllable.)
[Music: (as printed)
Et ranimez, ranimez ma foi.]
The error is easily remedied:
[Music: (should be sung)
Et ranimez, ranimez ma foi.]
In the contralto aria "He shall feed His flock," in Handel's Messiah, the unaccented word "shall" falls on the most strongly accented note of the bar. If performed thus, it would give a most aggressive character to the passage, implying that some one had previously denied the assertion. This would be entirely at variance with the consolatory and peaceful message that is contained in the text and shadowed forth in the music.
[Music: (as printed)
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.
(should be sung)
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.]
Instances of faulty syllabic accent abound in Handel's works, both his English oratorios and his Italian operas. Many examples could be quoted. Here is a phrase from the beautiful air for mezzo-soprano sung by Ruggiero in the opera of Alcina.
[Music: (as printed)
Verdi prati.
(should be sung)
Verdi prati.]
In Mendelssohn's Elijah, the following phrase is nearly always sung as written, unless the singer is familiar with the best traditions:
[Music: Give me thy son!]
It may be that the artists who slavishly follow the published text fear being accused of altering the composer's music, or are ignorant of the fact that there exists a better version, which is this:
[Music: Give me thy son!]
It will be seen that the music is not changed in the least; the musical and verbal accents have been merely readjusted and made to coincide.
In order to avoid the disagreeable effect of singing one half-bar andante to the syllable "si" (pronounced like "zee" in English), the following phrase of Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer), Act II, is changed thus:
[Music: (as printed)
en aucun temps n'eut choisi mieux.
(should be sung)
en aucun temps n'eut choisi mieux.]
* * * * *
INTENSITY
In musical terminology every gradation of volume in sound, from the faintest to the loudest, enters into the category of Intensity. One of the accepted rules of the arte del bel canto was, that every sustained tone should be coloured by some graduation of intensity. Thus the ability to augment and diminish the volume of tone was so highly esteemed--indeed, so essential--that singers spent much time in acquiring the messa di voce, that is, the steadily graduated emission of tone from the softest degree to the loudest and again to the softest: p [crescendo symbol] f [decrescendo symbol] p. This exercise invariably formed a part of each day's study, and was practised on several vowels throughout the scale, except the extreme tones, save in rare instances. It was, in fact, indispensable that the singer should be able to colour every tone in three forms of graduated intensity: Soft to loud p [crescendo symbol] f; loud to soft f [decrescendo symbol] p; and soft to loud and soft again p [crescendo symbol] f [decrescendo symbol] p.
This command of intensity, therefore, is invaluable. But it is even more effective when the artist has the power to combine the various gradations of Intensity with different shades of Colour; in other words, when he can sing a tone crescendo and diminuendo in the clear and sombre timbres.
The passage, already cited, from Alceste's great air in Gluck's opera Alceste, furnishes an admirable illustration of the dramatic emotion created by a sudden contrast of Intensity as well as Colour. In the invocation "Ye ministers that dwell in night!" the clear timbre is used with gradually increasing volume until at the phrase (sung adagio) "Ministers of death!" the timbre changes abruptly to a sombre quality with sinister effect, which effect is augmented by being sung pp.
[Music: