256 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tomary insular independence, has not conformed to the general 

 rule in the matter, and the pitch has in this country actually risen 

 to four hundred and fifty-eight vibrations. This result is largely 

 due to the extraordinary impulse given to orchestral music by the 

 genius of Costa, who, so long as he could get brilliant effects from 

 his instruments, cared little for the consequences which the rise 

 of pitch entailed on the voice. But it will be said, since it is 

 all a matter of convention, why can not the pitch be lowered ? 

 I believe the chief obstacle is the expense which this would 

 involve through the necessity of altering instruments. It has 

 been estimated that it would cost eighty thousand pounds to 

 alter those of the military bands alone, and politicians probably 

 think that these are hardly the times to ask for money for such 

 an object. 



But worse even than the undue height of the pitch is the dif- 

 ference between this country and the rest of the civilized world 

 which has just been referred to. Herr Joachim complains that 

 he is obliged to begin screwing up his violin eight weeks before 

 he comes to England, in order that the instrument may not be 

 injured by a sudden change. It is not so easy, however, for the 

 singer to prepare his delicately strung instrument in the same 

 way, and the result is necessarily great strain to the vocal cords 

 and throat generally. The high pitch used in England leads to 

 the production of very disagreeable shrieking ; notes are delivered 

 which are in no sense artistically beautiful, and which only " split 

 the ears of the groundlings." Nearly all singers are in favor of 

 lowering the pitch. The sole exceptions are, I believe, the con- 

 traltos, whom a high pitch does not affect so much as it does oth- 

 ers. I know of one justly celebrated contralto who produces an 

 extraordinary effect by her low E. If the pitch were altered this 

 vocal feat would no longer be so wonderful, and it is natural, 

 therefore, that this lady should wish the present state of things to 

 continue. 



Perhaps, after all, the supposed scarcity of good voices may be 

 more apparent than real. It is possible that it is not only the 

 pitch but the standard of vocal excellence that has risen. We 

 know how the general level of literary style has risen, and, in par- 

 ticular, how the art of melodious versification has been popular- 

 ized, if I may use the expression, so that every cheap magazine, 

 and even the poets' corner of provincial newspapers, contains cop- 

 ies of verses which would have earned considerable reputation for 

 the authors a hundred and fifty years ago. It is immensely more 

 difficult now to make a name by writing. May not something of 

 the same kind be the case as regards singing ? I fear we must 

 not lay that flattering unction to our souls. Great singers are 

 rarer nowadays than in former times, because voice-training is 



