200 



NATURE 



[December 15, 1910 



and speech from the hand of an experienced physio- 

 logist, who is at the same time sympathetic with 

 music and with the arts of speaking and singing. 

 This we have in Dr. Mott's admirable little book (i). 

 Nothing could be better than the description he gives 

 of the whole niechanism, and in language that 

 any intelligent person can understand. In particular, 

 and as one would expect from a distinguished 

 neurologist, Dr. Mott shows the intimate relations of 

 the organs of voice and speech to the brain centres of 

 hearing and of motion, both as regards the delicate 

 movements of the mechanism of voice and of articula- 

 tion, and as regards posture and other bodily move- 

 ments. Teachers of the art of voice production, as in 

 singing or in the articulation of words and sentences 

 in public speaking, know little of this side of their 

 subject, and we feel sure that much of Dr. Mott's 

 information will be to them a revelation. A study of 

 his book will in some respects modify their mode of 

 teaching. 



(2) Messrs. Moure and Bowyer's bcok is of a different 

 character. It deals with voice production in singing, 

 but more especially with the serious mistakes that mav 

 be made by methods of teaching, or by the strain put 

 on voices by singers themselves, that cannot fail to 

 injure the vocal apparatus. We would recommend 

 that a student should, in the first instance, carefullv 

 study Dr. Mott's book, and then take up that of the 

 French authors. In the latter there is first an in- 

 teresting historical sketch of the teaching of singing, 

 from the time of the Romans onwards. The church 

 was the first educator of singers, to meet the require- 

 ments of the plain chant. Trills, tremillos, and 

 shakes by and by embroidered the tones, and it is 

 curious that for many years falsetto voices were in 

 great request. The invention of the madrigal in the six- 

 teenth century enriched vocal music and made greater 

 demands on performers. Thus much was done before 

 a physiological basis was laid by Garcia, after the 

 revelations made to him by his invention of the larvn- 

 goscope. 



The description of the mechanism is not so thorough 

 in the French book as that given by Dr. Mott, and it 

 may give some superficial if not erroneous notions. 

 The portion on the registers is well done, and more 

 especially the description of the mixed or middle 

 register. The chapter on "Vocal abuse" gives much 

 valuable information. Both teachers and singers 

 often forget that there should be a physiological har- 

 mony between different parts of the vocal apparatus. 

 Pulmonary capacity, muscular power, the dimensions 

 and delicacy of structure of the vocal cords, are all 

 more or less related. Strong and sudden expiratory 

 efforts made with the view of increasing the volume of 

 the voice may injure delicate cords. A light tenor 

 may make the mistake of trying to do what only a 

 strong tenor can accomplish, or the tenor may even 

 imagine he is a baritone. It is true that no laryngo- 

 scopic examination can enable a master to determine 

 what his pupil is capable of doing, but a few trials, 

 cautiously carried out with such solos for various 

 voices as are given in detail on p. 104, would soon 

 settle the question. Singers may also injure their 

 voices by frequent displacement or change in the 

 NO. 2146, VOL. 8-1 



range of their voice. The same baritone in some cir- 

 cumstances may have to sing on successive days, or 

 even on the same day, as a deep baritone or a high 

 baritone of the Verdi type. Modern composers, and 

 especially Wagner and his followers, have injured 

 many voices by the demands they have made, as, for 

 example, in Tristan and Yseult. They have been 

 called " the executioners of the voice." Some singers 

 never learn properly how to breathe, and by taking in 

 too large a volume of air and expelling it with 

 violence, by " bellowing," in fact, they may even pro- 

 duce emphysema of the lung. 'ITie chest voice i^ 

 difficult to manage, and it may be much injured, b\ 

 welding two registers, and thus destroying purity of 

 tones. The scales showing the range of the registers 

 on pp. 80-81 are very instructive. 



There is an admirable chapter on some of the patho- 

 logical effects of abuse. We find also an appendix 

 showing the vocal ranges of varieties of voices, such 

 as strong tenors, opera tenors, opera-comique tenors, 

 baritones, high baritones, or Verdi baritones, basses, 

 basso cantando, basso profondo, contralto, high 

 soprano, mezzo-soprano, and dramatic soprano, and, 

 to add to the interest of the list, the names of many 

 of the distinguished artists of their day are given. 

 The authors also point out, and illustrate by portraits, 

 the relation that often exists between the physical 

 appearance of the singer and the range and quality 

 of the voice. There are some signs of haste in the 

 translation; p. 15, line 4, should not "cause" be case? 

 Second sentence on p. 21 not clear. It is difficult to 

 understand the portion of the sentence at the top of 

 p. 42. At middle of p. 42 insert "if" before he. As 

 we 'have already indicated, the French Book is 

 the complement to that of Dr. Mott, and both 

 taken together leave little else to be written on the 

 subject. 



(3) This book is an admirable account of the 

 mechanism of both speech and song. There is a full 

 description of the physiological mechanism concerned 

 in the formation of vowel tones and the sounds of 

 consonants. The action of the vibrators (the vocal 

 cords) and the. management of the resonator (the cavi- 

 ties of the pharynx, mouth, nose, &c.), is illustrated 

 by exercises which a reader can readily follow, and 

 the rules to be attended to in the management of the 

 breath are given with physiological explanations. Two, 

 notable features of the book are a pronunciation char|, 

 showing methods for the practice of English pro^ 

 nunciation, and figures termed by the author " Sc 

 diagrams," showing the capacity of the various kin^ 

 of voices, from deep bass to high soprano. Compose 

 would do well to study the figures on pp. 138, i,-; 

 and 140, where they would see at once the exorbita 

 demands on the voices of great operatic singers ma^ 

 by certain composers, notably by Wagner and even 

 Beethoven. The effect of the prolongation of ve 

 high tones may be brilliant and striking, but the 

 production must cause, in many cases, serious t€ 

 and wear to a fine voice. As a truly scientific exp 

 tion, dealing with a subject that has an imports 

 practical aspect, Dr. Aiken's book is to be strong 

 recommended. 



John G. McKendrick. 



