Scan 28
Musical Courier 1892-12-21: Vol 25 Iss 668, 1892
72 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 21. See the scan on archive.org.
123. Indicate the rhythm of an Anglican double chant; a single chant.
224. Give the names of six prominent English composers for the organ.
325. Give the names of six prominent French composers for the organ?
426. Give the names of six prominent German composers for the organ?
527. How would you registrate the different movements of Bach's "St. Ann's Fugue?"
628. What stops in an ordinary church organ are most nearly allied to the quality of tone of the human voice?
729. How is the characteristic tone of the voix celeste produced?
830. Arrange "Old Hundred" for the organ, on three staves, indicating stops.
10Systems of Singing.
12LIBERIO VIVARELLI REVIEWED BY JOHN HOWARD.
14THAT the need of a more exact school for training the voice is becoming more widely recognized is proved by the current writings on the subject. Even when a writer professes devotion to the old Italian school he deals in physiological and acoustic terms. This is certainly a change from the time of Mancini, who flourished in the heyday of song, or, according to the writer under discussion, in one of its heydays.
16Vivarelli bears witness to the same change; for, though he still favors the traditional method, he appears to strike a fairly even balance between it and the physiological method. Still he appears to think that the lost art was once refound, for he writes that "Rossini's music was so well written for voice that it constituted in itself good practice;" also that "the art of singing received through it new life, and was put again upon the right path." With especial surprise do we read: "And from that time begins another glorious period for the Italian school."
18This surely implies that the true school has vanished since the time of Rossini! How is it possible that an art can be so suddenly lost, when Rossini has died so recently? The famous throat physician Bennati put the date earlier. "Lost for fifteen years," he writes in 1832, with praiseworthy exactness. Yet Sonntag, Catalani, Tosi, David, Rubini, Lablache, Santorini and Malibran all sang later than that, and these lyric wonders must be the very ones to whom Vivarelli points with such reverence. Rossini seems to agree with Bennati upon the date, for the former was a pupil of Pacchirotti, the last of the castrati, while the latter thought the disappearance of the male soprano was the cause of vocal decay.
20We here detect two incongruous facts—one, that the true Italian art has been lost, not once, but twice, according to Mr. Vivarelli; the other, that this author confidently believes that it was gloriously restored by simply singing Rossini's roulades!
22But Vivarelli, having set up a comparison, feels that he must present some physiological feature and therefore grasps the nose. A dozen years ago an occasional clergyman would visit my studio and excite my sympathy by an intermittent sniffing while talking or intoning. "You have a distressing cold in the head," I would observe. "Oh, no, I have been taught to breathe through the nostrils while using the voice." I soon found that this grace originated in Philadelphia with a man named Taverner. Our author appears to countenance it to some extent. (Indeed, it would be difficult to discountenance so prominent a feature.) He writes:
24"It is a fact that the nostrils serve admirably to fill quietly and evenly the lungs, both purifying and warming the lungs before reaching the vocal organs, which is of the greatest importance, to avoid parching of the throat and causing diseases of both throat and respiratory organ. Thus it must be necessarily considered as the normal mode of breathing."
26Further we read:
28"But, as a matter of course, all this requires time, so that when the singer is urged by want of breath he must necessarily recur to breathing through the mouth."
30If universal habit constitutes nature, then for all uses of voice nasal breathing is unnatural, for no one employs it even in conversation. Just try, dear reader, to supply yourself with material through this prominent feature while conversing with some real or imaginary friend, and see how odd it will sound and how unpleasant it will feel, though you have upon the average twice the time for inhaling that a singer has.
32Again, there is no need of taking breath so slowly. Watch the best singers and you will surely fail to detect any gradual swelling out of chest or abdomen. For one thing, it would not look very well and might suggest Aesop, AEsof, aEsop, AEsop (got it at last, Mr. Editor).
34As to the warming of the breath, it would puzzle a chemist to discover by the most delicate tests the fraction of a degree of warmth given to a quart of breath by passing through the nasal passages in a quarter of a second, which is the usual limit in singing. Were they lined with red hot iron the effect would be trifling. Certainly there is no sieve or filterer that could purify any fluid or solid while letting such a quantity pass in so brief a moment.
36Yet, so widespread is this notion, indorsed, I believe, by Brown and Behnke and many other presumable authorities, that a personal experience proving the fallacy will be worth relating.
38During my winter in Chicago I suffered much from bronchitis, especially while taking a half hour ride on the horsecars morning and evening, with the mercury delightfully poised below the zero mark. I found that the tickling and cough could be held in check only by breathing through the mouth, while the lips were drawn in enough to check the too rapid influx of air. The larger surface of the mouth's interior of course imparted greater warmth to the frigid beverage.
40Vivarelli admits that the study of respiratory modes is admissible, but surely he mistakes in stating that teachers are now pretty generally agreed concerning the different modes. Lamperti, by nearly all reports, advocated abdominal breathing only. If book compiling is good evidence Mr. Leo Kofler is a modern disciple of this perished art, for he has written a work entitled "The Old Italian School of Singing" (so called for no other reason that I can see than the brilliant one that ninety-nine one-hundredths of his quotations are from German authors!), and Kofler also believes in strict abdominal breathing. That term means—if it means anything—that the abdomen alone must be moved in singing, outward for inhaling, inward for exhaling breath and supporting voice.
42On the practical contrary, nine-tenths of the pupils who come to me second hand say that the mode taught them has been to expand the chest, and either hold it solidly expanded or, by trying to hold it expanded, prevent its too sudden fall during tone. Thus they are made to believe they will economize the breath and get a better quality of voice.
44But this mode is advised by no standard physiology. It is entirely original with the teachers of singing. Absolutely no old Italian writer says a word about the mode of supporting voice, though Mancini carefully cautions his readers against straining the chest by too long or violent practice. So I cannot agree with Vivarelli in thinking either that good has been done by physiological teaching in the matter of breathing, or in believing that there is general agreement. In fact, without understanding the respiratory effect and office of the diaphragm no really sure and effective physiological teaching can be expected.
461328 BROADWAY.
48Orpheus at the Zoo.
50THE London "Spectator" gives an interesting account of renewed experiments with different Musical Instruments upon the animals in the zoological gardens:
52"Our first visit was paid to 'Jack,' the young red ourang outang, which, since the death of 'Sally,' the chimpanzee, claims the highest place in animal organization among the inmates of the zoo. He is a six months old baby, of extremely grave and deliberate manners, and perhaps the most irresistibly comical creature which has ever been seen in London. He is extremely well behaved, not in the least shy and as friendly with strangers as with his keeper. His arms are as strong as those of a man, while his legs and feet seem to be used less for walking than as a subsidiary pair of arms and hands. He is thus able, when much interested, to hold his face between two hands and to rest his chin on a third, which gives him an air of pondering reflection beyond any power of human imitation. 'He knows there's something up,' remarked his keeper, as we entered the house, and the ape came to the bars and sat down to inspect his visitors.
54"As the sounds of the violin began, he suspended himself against the bars, and then with one hand above his head dropped the other to his side and listened with grave attention. As the sound increased in volume, he dropped to the ground and all the hair on his body stood up with fear. He then crept away on all fours, looking back over his shoulders like a frightened baby, and taking up his piece of carpet, which does duty for a shawl, shook it out, and threw it completely over his head and body, and drew it tight round him. After a short time, as the music continued, he gained courage and put out his head, and at last threw away the cloak and came forward again. By this time the hair was lying flat, and his fear had given place to pleasure. He sat down, and, chewing a straw, sat gravely listening to the music. 'He looks just like our manager when a new piece is on,' remarked the violinist, as he concluded his share of the serenade. The piccolo at first frightened the monkey, but he soon held out his hand for the instrument, which he was allowed to examine. The flute did not interest him, but the bagpipes—reproduced on the violin—achieved a triumph. He just flattened his nose against the bars, and then scrambling to the centre of the cage turned head over heels, and lastly, sitting down, chucked handfuls of straw in the air and over his head, 'smiling,' as the keeper said, with delight and approval.
56"The capuchin monkeys are now kept in a large case next to one containing a number of gray macaques. The little capuchins were busy eating their breakfast; but the violin soon attracted an audience. The capuchins dropped their food and clung to the bars, listening, with their heads on one side, with great attention. The keeper drew our notice to the next cage. There, clinging in rows to the front wires, was a silent assembly of a dozen macaques, all listening intently to the concert which their neighbors were enjoying. At the first sounds of the flute most of these ran away, and the piccolo excited loud and angry screams from all sides. Clearly in this case the violin was the favorite. We then decided to take the opinion of some of the largest and least vivacious animals, and selected the young African elephant for our next auditor. As this animal had shown the utmost dislike to the violin on a previous occasion the flute was employed to open the concert, and with complete success.
58"The elephant stood listening with deep attention, one foot raised from the ground, and its whole body still—a rare concession to the influence of music from one of the most restless of all animals. So long as the flute continued it remained motionless and listening. But the change to the piccolo was resented. After the first bar the elephant twisted round and stood with his back to the performer, whistling and snorting and stamping his feet. The violin was less disliked, but the signs of disapproval were unmistakable. The deer, as before, were strangely attracted by the violin, and showed equal pleasure in the tones of the flute; the gemul deer, for instance, ran up at once to listen to the latter, their ears and tails being in constant movement at every change of tone or tune. Even the ostrich seemed to enjoy the violin and flute, though it showed marked signs of dislike at the piccolo, writhing its neck and walking uneasily up and down its inclosure. The ibexes were startled at the piccolo, first rushing forward to listen, and then taking refuge on a pile of rock, from which, however, the softer music of the flute brought them down to listen at the railing. The wild asses and zebras left the hay with which their racks had just been filled; and even the tapir, which lives next door, got up to listen to the violin; while the flute set the Indian wild ass kicking with excitement. But the piccolo had no charms for any of them, and they all returned to their interrupted breakfast.
60"So far the piccolo had shown its inability to please in most cases. Of its power to annoy we soon had an amusing proof. The lion house was almost deserted by the few visitors who were in the gardens, and the opportunity of making trial of the musical preferences of its inmates was too good to be lost. The violin player approached a sleeping tiger, which was lying on its side with its feet stretched and touching the bars, and played so softly that the opening notes were scarcely audible. As the sound rose the tiger awoke, and raising its head without moving its body looked for some time with fixed attention at the player. It remained for some time in a very fine attitude, listening to the music, and then, making the curious sound which, in tiger language, does duty for 'purring,' it lay down again and dozed.
62"The soft music still continued, as we were engaged in watching a cheetah, which showed great uneasiness and fear at the sounds, making sudden starts and bounds, raising the fur on its neck, and waving its tail from side to side like an angry cat. But whatever the cheetah's emotions of dislike, the tiger did not share them, but lay half or wholly asleep, as if the chords which were being played made an agreeable lullaby. Judge, then, of our surprise when, at the first notes of the piccolo, which succeeded the violin, the tiger sprang to its feet and rushed up and down the cage, shaking its head and ears and lashing its tail from side to side. As the notes became still louder and more piercing the tiger bounded across the den, reared on its hind feet and exhibited the most ludicrous contrast to the calm dignity and repose with which it had listened to the violin. Then came the final and most successful experiment. The piccolo was stopped, and a very soft air played upon the flute. The difference in effect was seen at once. The tiger ceased to 'rampage,' and the leaps subsided to a gentle walk, until the animal came to the bars, and, standing still and quiet once more, listened with pleasure to the music."
64BREITKOPF & HÄRTEL,
66LEIPSIC, BRUSSELS, LONDON, AND AT 15 E. 17TH ST., NEW YORK.
68Breitkopf's Popular Piano Music.
69A collection of pleasing modern compositions of medium difficulty.
70CAREFULLY FINGERED.
71Ask for Novelty List No. 5 and for List of Music Books bound in cloth.
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