678 MUSIC 



recitative and sostcnuto, " Ah, Golgotha " ; and the following air, in 

 religious fervor and slow passage singing, " With Jesus will I watch 

 and pray " ; for quicker passage singing, " Haste, ye shepherds " ; 

 for holy devotion, " Into Thy hands my spirit I commend," etc. 



Gliick, a German composer, born 1714, studied in Milan, and his 

 first operas met with some success. Handel, however, declared his 

 music at this period to be detestable, and asserted that he knew no 

 more about counterpoint than his (Handel's) cook. Gliick went on per- 

 severing. He entirely reformed the style of writing for the stage, and 

 in 1762 brought out his opera " Orfeo ed Euridice." He was not sat- 

 isfied until he introduced what he considered a still more truthful 

 kind of declamation, and banished all false and useless ornaments 

 from operatic music. Note the profoundly dramatic accents of Orfeo 

 in the recitative and lovely air " Che faro." In the air, how he 

 uses the legato effects of the voice in often giving more than one note 

 to a word. What a stirring climax there is at the end of the piece ! 



Now, unfortunately, little is known of the methods adopted by the 

 old masters of singing. They were not in the habit of printing their 

 secrets as nowadays. According to precepts handed down to us, we 

 may gather that singing " as an art " consists in freedom of the throat 

 and command over the breath. That is to say, by breathing out 

 slowly on an imaginary object with perfect command so that the 

 breath goes out as one wills and, furthermore, by loosening the throat 

 a much more difficult matter so that all the notes sound to this 

 controlled breathing, the result is "perfect production." The voice 

 can now be produced with greater force a force proportioned to the 

 increased command of breath and to the perseverance of the singer 

 in developing his vocal range. 



The interesting question now arises : What would a singer of the 

 old school find if he were to appear to-day? He would ask himself, 

 " Is singing still an art ? " and how could he use his masterly effects, 

 so necessary in a past age ? He might inquire " What is there to sing 

 to in modern vocal works ? " Could he make use of his sostenuto, his 

 legato, the mcssa di voce, the fioritura execution and trills? I fear he 

 would find that modern music affords no scope for these effects. Mod- 

 ern music has generally a separate syllable for every note only forte 

 singing is required, by reason of the presence of elaborate and power- 

 ful accompaniments. 



A voice that has always to be produced at high pressure will, in the 

 end, of necessity fail to produce a pure sound. We constantly hear 

 singing out of tune. The artist can scarcely avoid fatigue in making 

 the strenuous efforts which are demanded under modern conditions, 

 and one result is that audiences become gradually indifferent to per- 

 fect singing in tune, and to steadiness of voice, and are no longer 

 sensitive to delicate effects. 



