Scan 13
Musical Courier 1894-08-29: Vol 29 Iss 755, 1894
43 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1generous manner his indebtedness to Mr. Behnke's system of voice training.
3Many other singers have also benefited who have not had the honesty to acknowledge it so publicly. A large number of our pupils are on the stage. Among them I may mention Mr. Hermann Vezin, the celebrated elocutionist, Shakespearian actor and reciter, who took lessons of Mr. Behnke, and is still an enthusiastic admirer of his system. In an article by him in the "Dramatic Review," entitled "My Masters," he said: "Mr. Behnke has taught me what all my life I have been wanting to know, and his teaching has been to me a perfect revelation. No doubt many speakers and singers have by instinct, guided by a delicate ear, acquired a purity of vocal production, but some of the most celebrated of these have lost their voices at a comparatively early age, simply, I am convinced, through ignorance of this inestimable system of voice production." Mr. J. H. Leigh, who has been so successful during the past few years in giving Shakespearian recitations, has been generous in acknowledging Mr. Behnke as a great benefactor.
5I have had many interesting experiences in my work, some of which I should like to mention. Last year an American lady who had been studying singing in Milan for three years came to me in great distress. She had expected to appear in grand opera in London, but her voice broke down and serious throat troubles manifested themselves. She had lost all the upper notes of her voice from C in alt down to D in the stave, and what was left of it was thin, reedy and tremulous, like that of an old woman instead of a girl of twenty-four. Her master had insisted on clavicular breathing, the result being that when her lung capacity was tested it registered only 80 cubic inches instead of 240. In addition to faulty breathing she had been allowed to force up the registers of the voice to such an extent as to bring on serious congestion, with varicose veins in the vocal ligaments and pharynx. After several lessons the breathing capacity increased to 200 inches, the voice regained some of the upper notes, and lost the cracked, tremulous sound. With great care all the upper notes returned with the exception of C in alt, and she has since sung with much success in many concerts.
7Another interesting case is that of a clergyman, who had entirely broken down in voice and in health through faulty methods of voice use. He had been told by his medical adviser that he must leave London and go to the Cape to live, and that he never could take duty again. At the end of about eighteen lessons his voice was quite restored; he did not go to the Cape, and is still at the same church. He wrote to me recently thus: "I have read the report of your lecture with great interest. To complete it you should have had me there as a sample of what your method can do. Since I had lessons from you I have had absolutely no trouble with my voice, and nearly all this year I have been doing treble work, with my vicar in the South of France, and my brother curate down with scarlet fever. Physically I have been several times done up, but my voice never fails me." (One other case I will mention is that of a tall, fine young man whose voice had never broken.) Galvanism and other medical treatment had been tried in vain, and he ultimately was sent to me. In five lessons he spoke with a full, rich baritone, in place of the childish treble and ugly squeak of his former voice. Much of my work lies with those whose voices have broken down under training or in professional use. It is, however, a pity that more persons do not learn from the first the scientific use of the voice; they would then be spared much suffering, both physical and mental, and their voices would not deteriorate.
9I have followed up the precedent set by my husband in lecturing on the system, using his diagrams and some that I have drawn myself to illustrate my subject. I have always been very well received, and found most attentive and appreciative audiences. I am already engaged for several dates next winter. Among the books that I have published is a "Voice Training Primer," published by Chappell & Co., which I wrote in conjunction with Dr. C. W. Pearce. I am glad to say that it has been excellently reviewed by the musical, medical and general press. I have also issued a brochure entitled "Cause of Voice Failure," the first edition of which was exhausted in a few weeks, and which was also most favorably noticed. It is published by Curwen & Sons. The vocal exercises written by Mr. Behnke in conjunction with Dr. Pearce and his "Voice Training Studies" I have found so admirably adapted to the work that I do not think they could be improved upon.
11You will see from this that I have led a very busy life; but I love my work. Nothing interests me so much as a difficult case, and I know of no keener pleasure than the delight of being able to benefit some singer, speaker or speech sufferer.
13I had the pleasure of attending one of Mrs. and Miss Behnke's "At Homes," at their residence, 18 Earl's Court Square, Kensington, where I met a large number of singers, speakers and those who originally were afflicted with the habit of stammering, all of whom testified to the wonderful aid that the Behnke system had been to them. I know of quite a number of public singers who have greatly benefited by the instruction given by both of these ladies. This system, occupying intermediate ground as it does, should be utilized by more of those teachers who teach the finishing and do not thoroughly understand the science of voice production. Many cases of the inefficiency of those to whom we trust ourselves has come to my knowledge. Recently a young lady took lessons from one of the leading professors not a thousand miles from London, who told her repeatedly to open her throat, but did not tell her how to do it. She became confused, lost confidence and did not make any progress until she learned from Mrs. Behnke the secret of operating at will those muscles which control the vocal apparatus. After she had done this, and the production of her voice troubled her no longer, she made rapid progress with this professor, who, like many others, evidently did not care to go into what is to them the uninteresting part of teaching people how to sing.
15I give below a few press notices, which show something of the extent and importance of the work of these two ladies who have carried on the system of Mr. Behnke so successfully since his death, and whose popularity is rapidly increasing as the actual results of the teaching become more widely known. No doubt this system is destined to displace the loose methods now in vogue, and to give students a comprehensive method of laying a good foundation and developing their voices to the fullest extent possible.
17We present excellent likenesses in this issue of Mrs. and Miss Behnke. Following are a few press notices:
18"So ingenious were his illustrated models, and so successful was he in the application of scientific principles to the practical work of teaching singing, and more particularly to the restoration of voices impaired by false training, that he may be said to have established an entirely new profession, and he was universally accepted as a leading authority on all matters relating to the voice. He was consulted by many eminent teachers of singing, and worked in co-operation with leading medical specialists. The last few years he devoted himself with pre-eminent success to the education and treatment of stammering and other speech defects."—The "Times."
20"The success of his books and of the 'Voice Training Exercises' caused a growing number of pupils to flock to him. They came from America, Australia and all parts, and included singers, actors, members of Parliament, medical men, clergymen and voice-users of all sorts and conditions. * * * Behnke occupied a position all his own. * * * He laid the foundation and showed the speaker or singer how to make the most of his voice; how to use it effectually without wearing it out. * * * The singers of remarkable eminence who consulted Behnke, and took lessons in breathing and tone-placing from him, were legion. His help, if valuable to singers, was equally valuable to speakers. * * * Stammering was a subject which he had recently taken up. It is related to voice-use, and his investigations had necessarily given him much insight into the matter. Though the plan of treatment was Behnke's, he left to Mrs. Behnke, almost from the first, the entire work of carrying it out. The stammerers have been virtually her pupils, and she will now, it is hoped, take up this branch of her work. Miss Behnke is well established as a teacher of elocution, sight singing and voice training. There can be no question as to the future of these ladies."—"Musical Herald."
22"His writings have excited interest wherever the art of singing is faithfully studied; his works on the voice in relation to speech and song probably have a larger circulation in England and America than those of any other master. Naturally we expect that in the private instruction of such a master, tone-production will be explained upon strictly scientific principles."—"The Voice."
24Highly appreciative notices of Mr. Behnke and his work appeared frequently in every English and Scotch paper of importance, and in the various musical, clerical and medical journals. The foreign press also, including "Music and the Drama," "The American Journal of the Medical Sciences," "The Cologne Gazette," French, Indian and Australian papers, all spoke of him and his work in terms of the highest praise, and pupils came to him from all parts of the globe.
26FRANK V. ATWATER.
28Interview with Ysaye.
30BRUSSELS.
32I CALLED on the great Belgian violinist, Ysaye, at his beautiful residence in this city to-day and was told by him that he had about decided to open with the following program at the Philharmonic concert where he makes his bow to an American public. The Third concerto of Saint-Saëns (B minor), some solo selections of Bach's and the Scotch "Fantaisie" of Bruch.
34Ysaye leaves Havre for New York on November 8, and is delighted to get an opportunity to play on our side of the ocean. As I was calling on him the "luthier" was on hand to put a new sound post in a remarkable Joseph Guarnerius violin he will bring along to play upon. It comes from Genoa, where it had been used by a friend of Paganini, and was no doubt frequently played by the latter. Ysaye is exceedingly careful in every thing he says and will make no positive statements regarding the violin beyond what he absolutely knows. The instrument cost 30,000f.
36Ysaye is a somewhat smaller edition in face and figure of August Wilhelmj, but very much of the same type of a man. As a Belgian, having been born at Liège, he is more graceful and more readily approachable than Wilhelmj was at the time of the flood tide of his popularity. He is modest but tractable and seems to avoid notoriety. His large music room has all the rudiments of a museum.
38He is at the head of the violin department at the Brussels Conservatory of Music, which is one of the great educational music institutions of Europe, occupying a large block in the heart of the city of Brussels.
40Brussels.—The Théâtre de la Monnaie will open soon and the personnel of the opera will be as follows: Messrs. Cossira, Isouard, Seguin, Ghasne, Dinard and Gilbert; Mesdames Tanésy, Armand and Lejeune, who were there last season, and the newly engaged, Mlle. Simonnet, the tenor Bonnard, of Antwerp; the tenor Casset, of Gand; the basso Santein, of Lyons, and several débutantes of whom much is expected. It is the intention of the management to produce "Thaïs," "La Navarraise," "Manon," "Samson and Delila" and "Pagliacci."
42Galilei.—An Italian paper relates that Verdi, before leaving Montecatini, where he spends annually his summers, had asked Prof. Carlo Fedeli to have copied for his account the autograph manuscript of Count Ugolino's song by Dante, set to music by Vincenzo Galilei, the father of the great Galileo Galilei. As it is well known, Vincenzo Galilei, who inculcated in his son the taste for mathematics, was at the same time an excellent musician. He played well the lute and viol, composed with taste, and wrote pieces for these two instruments. To him is partially due the creation of dramatic music, and the song of Count Ugolino from the "Divina Commedia" he sang with much success in the small musical circle which his friend the dilettante Giovannni Bardi had formed at Florence, and of which he was one of the most active members. Verdi is supposed to have in mind an opera of which Ugolino will be the foundation.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.