SINGING AS AN AET 685 



unworthy and meretricious and that as an ornament, it is but an 

 empty and stale device for showing off the voice. 



The trills have not yet been cut out of Beethoven's Sonatas, so we 

 may not deem them unworthy of a word here. As the performance of 

 this delightful ornament is a sure sign of the greatest freedom of the 

 instrument, the two notes must be perfectly produced by one or both 

 of the devices already mentioned. That is to say, we must sing the 

 two notes on lah, la, la la, faster and faster until an even trill is the 

 result, or we must do staccato notes more rapidly until the notes join 

 and trill of themselves. In practicing this, never sing faster than 

 you can sing exactly in tune, exactly in time (that is, not jerking), 

 with the perfect pronunciation of ah, and with a smiling tone which 

 must reveal absolute ease of manner. 



The portamento is another graceful effect. 



PRONUNCIATION. The vowels of the English language are thirteen 

 in number, and as we have conquered the pronunciation of the typical 

 ah, we must sustain the other twelve sounds with similar freedom. 

 Starting with ah, we find such sounds as at, a (and air], et, ii, and 

 ee, which are different upward tongue positions; then come changes 

 of lips and throat, such as oo, hood, aw, o, ot, cr and -at. 



As singing words at first takes our attention from the unerring 

 tuning which we should associate with our studies, beware of com- 

 mencing too soon to attempt singing with words. The old Masters 

 insisted on solfeggi and vocalises or songs without words for a consid- 

 erable time before permitting an aria. 



INTENSITY AND EXPRESSION. By intensity the good singer means 

 the intense pressure of the breath on the voice which gives effect 

 to any and every emotion he chooses, because he has power over the 

 breath that intensifies, and has acquired the freedom of the instru- 

 ment. By means of this he can make the loudest sounds possible ex- 

 pressive, and he can also cause the softest sounds to be carried to the 

 farthest end of the theatre or concert hall. The artist when he inten- 

 sifies a pianissimo note can make this travel to the end of the room 

 and touch his hearers, and arouse emotions as of distance brought 

 near to us, or of memories of the past recalled. The bad singer has 

 to rely on his loud notes, which become monotonous ; he dare not sing 

 softly, he would most likely become inaudible. 



Let us never cease striving to bring out all the force and intensity 

 with which nature has endowed us; but, at the same time, let us en- 

 deavor never to give out more force than that with which we are 

 able to express. The real amount of fervor we can produce depends 

 on our instinct and individuality, and the result is the depth and 

 intensity of expression of which we are capable. 



The sacred warmth of expressive melody is the gift of the gods, and 

 without it there will be little emotion. 



