1891.] on the Culture of the S'mgingVoice. 327 



the training of the voice is of an infinitely more instinctive character 

 and guided mainly by auditory impressions. But few persons have 

 got such an absolute sense of tonality that they are at any moment 

 ready to produce a note in the correct pitch without having first 

 received a hint from some musical instrument. If the guide be taken 

 away, i. e. if the auditory mechanism and the fibres connecting the 

 auditory and phonatory apparatus be acting imperfectly, the whole 

 training will needs be of au infinitely more difficult, very frequently 

 of a finally imperfect character. Proofs of this may practically be 

 seen any day both on the operatic stage and on the concert platform. 

 A good musical ear, therefore, I should isay, is an indispensable 

 adjunct for the 2:)rofessi{)nal career of a singer. 



Supposing now that both the indispensable amount of vocal 

 material and the good ear be present, one question foremost naturally 

 presents itself: when to begin proper training? 



With regard to this question, I iim decidedly of opinion that 

 serious vocal training should not be begun in either sex as a rule 

 before the sixteenth year of age, though it must be understood that 

 there may be exceptions to this rule, both in favour of an earlier and 

 <)t' a later commencement of vocal studies. The reason of this decided 

 opinion consists in a consideration of the physiological conditions of 

 the larynx during its development. In the period of adolescence the 

 larynx undergoes very considerable changes. In boys especially a 

 very sudden and very considerable enlargement of all the cartila- 

 ginous framework occurs, accompanied by more or less acute con- 

 gestion of the mucous membrane. Tlie considerable elongation of 

 the vocal c irds which takes place at the same time, in a number of 

 cases undoubtedly goes on so gradually that the muscles governing 

 their movements adapt themselves insensibly to the altered condition 

 of matters, and the transition both of the speaking and of the sino'ino' 

 voice may be equally insensible and gradual. In by far the larger 

 number of cases, however, the co-operation between all the factors 

 necessary to produce the voice, especially in singing, often enough 

 even in simple speaking, is not so imperceptibly established. The 

 whole apparatus, as it were, temporarily gets out of gear and only 

 alter a considerable period the diti'erent elements constituting it learn 

 instinctively to adapt themselves to the suddenly altered anatomical 

 conditions. The practical illustration of what I mean is given by 

 that hated period in the life of many a boy called the breakinf: of the 

 voice. 



Supposing now that a boy had had a sweet child's voice and that 

 this voice had been utilised in choir singing, on the stage, in oratorio, 

 or elsewhere, too often the exigencies of life make it very desirable 

 that such a boy, who has to some extent contributed towards the 

 support of his family by the gift of Nature bestowed upon him, should 

 continue his singing over the period allotted to the child's voice by 

 Nature ; whilst in other cases masters who do not know enough of 

 the physiological changes taking place in the larynx might be inclined 



