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Musical Courier 1896-12-23: Vol 33 Iss 877, 1896
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1strive, and the means by which they are enabled to attain them.
3Mr. Bullard's work is always original and interesting, and it is not surprising to find in his sonata classes, as in the other branches of his work, a new way of doing things.
5CARL ZERRAHN AND THE WORCESTER FESTIVAL.—Mr. Carl Zerrahn has just received a most flattering letter from the Worcester Musical festival committee asking him to take charge of the festival music next year as in the past.
7The letter alluded to Mr. Zerrahn's valuable services, making special mention of the splendid work he did last September, and adding that every member of the board voted for Mr. Zerrahn as conductor for 1897.
9Mr. Zerrahn, who has not taken pupils for a number of years, has this winter arranged to be at one of the studios in the Steinert Building for two or more days each week. Now that he has resumed teaching, applications for hours are being received daily, not only from the vicinity of Boston, but from more distant places.
11HUBERMAN.—The success of young Bronislaw Huberman, the violinist, at his second recital on Saturday night, in Music Hall, was unprecedented, and establishes him here as one of the greatest musical favorites of the present and past seasons. The house was crowded and enthusiasm was unbounded.
13d'Arona's Hints to Vocalists.
15THE MIND.
16First Part.
18THIS subject is suggested to me by a pupil who came to me last winter. She asked what I meant by "mentality" and replied that she had observed that I laid great stress upon the "mind being indispensable for the study of vocal music." She wanted to know if I meant that a pupil must be capable of imitating the teacher's voice and remembering it. To realize the importance of the mind in all things I give the following illustrations.
20It has been said that "a sound mind in a sound body constitutes happiness." The principle underlying this aphorism is of inestimable value to students of the voice. Mind is the balance wheel which governs all activity in a well regulated, human mechanism. It is the motor which actuates, by concentrated energy, the physical organism, and if it be a healthy mind its operations upon the body will show it. If, on the contrary, its functions are enfeebled its influence is logically detrimental to the animal magazine in which it is stored. It is now a recognized fact among physicians that healthy physical organisms may absorb disease from diseased thought, and a perfectly sound organic structure of flesh and bones may become decrepit and atrophied under the paralyzing influence of contaminating mental impressions.
22"A wholesome thought regulation," says Paul Avenel, "will produce a muscular development well rounded out; a warped mentality will tainture the form with a similar tendency. A laughing, happy character of mind gives to the physical body a brisk, animated movement and a despondent mind robs the flesh of vigor by exhausting the nerve energy by which the salubrious muscular force rests. Hope is a tonic well appreciated by medical science; despair is a destroyer, and ambition a vital energizer. The operations of body and mind are so closely allied that the modern Esculapius is often at a loss to determine cause and effect, and students of psychology discover problems so intricate that metaphysics is becoming a feature in medical curriculums."
24The absolute and despotic control that the sympathetic nervous system exercises over the physical organism is so well known that it is unnecessary to recite a series of its manifestations. Digestion is promptly arrested upon the receipt of bad news, the appetite disappears and the whole system feels the effect.
26Dr. A. J. Park says that "fear not only suspends the digestive functions, but arrests the formation of the secretions upon which digestion depends. A sudden fright often paralyzes the heart beyond recovery, whereas a pleasant and pleasing message soothes and excites the whole glandular system, increases the secretions, aids digestion and sends a thrill to the sensorium, which diffuses the glad tidings to every nerve and tendril in the whole organism."
28I have dwelt on the foregoing points because I wish to fully impress upon the student the necessity of correctly educating the mind for singing. As we think, so we act (as a rule). If you learn where to mentally place your tones you will soon find no difficulty in producing them. You must go beyond the knowledge of each and all of your muscles in order to sing (and when I speak of singing I do not mean any noise possible to the human voice, strained through songs and arias, operas, oratorios and what not). Singing is directed mental power. Our vocal organs need but a thought to faithfully respond to their master, the brain. Cultivate the mind to a full knowledge of the qualities of tone for the ideal of beauty, in form and character, and a student will be proof against charlatanism in the teacher. To illustrate, the cultivated thought is done by a few of the simplest rules; the work is not done by the voice but by the mind, the voice responding as an obedient servant and not as an obstreperous, headstrong, willful, unruly tyrant that won't work and therefore must be made to. Beauty, poetry and love can never come from such treatment of the muscles. Just as the digestive organs work in harmony (if we do not abuse them) and are arrested just as much by fear, mental shock, grief, &c., as from contact with too much food and other physical causes, so do the vocal organs when guided by a thought that knows what it wants and is sure of it. That is the point, to be sure you know what you want; there can be no hesitancy, no doubt and no fear, otherwise you are a victim to speculation and experiment, singing first and thinking afterward. This is noise, not singing. To have a correct vocal thought the education of the mind is the first and greatest work; all else will come after that is accomplished.
30Second Part.
32WHEN you know what beauty of tone is, and you can distinguish by your knowledge and feelings before making an audible sound whether the tone is going to be pure or impure (and purity has nothing to do with quality; no two instruments have the same quality, yet may produce perfectly pure tone), and you can distinguish between purity and impurity in every form of tone for every vowel and its shades, and for every attainable quality, power and resonance; when the knowledge has become a part of yourself, almost an intuition, the scores of vocalises now labored through will give place to a few pages that a year will more than master.
34The athlete needs mechanical physical exercise to make the muscles flexible, but the singer's muscles are already tender and susceptible, and need but the touch of a greater power (the awakened mind) to bow to their master (the voice) and perform his will. When the student realizes that the mechanism and flexibility of the vocal muscles are from their very tenderness and delicacy most sensitive to action, and will reverse the belief that the muscles are the master and the voice the servant to the idea of the voice being the master (controlled by the educated mind) and the muscles the servant, we shall produce in reality singers that are worthy of the nomenclature.
36There will not be as many, for those without talent will know enough to keep out of the ranks. Nowadays everybody who has a voice studies, and they nearly all wonder why they do not succeed and why so few reach the top, where there is always room. They cast blame broadcast for what is absolutely their own folly. Talent is the product of the brain. Genius is the product of spirituality. Weigh these points well, and if you find yourself too conventional to grasp the true meaning of this article, no matter how good a voice you possess, do not attempt to enter upon a professional career.
38Necessarily the musical sense in the individuals and the physical quality of voices differ widely. Pupils who ask me at their first lesson how long it will be before they will be ready to earn money with their voices almost give me the answer by the question. Some pupils gain more in one month than others, with perhaps better voices, will in a lifetime. Once a pupil gets "en rapport" with a good teacher's vocabulary (and each teacher is licensed to coin her own words to express her meaning), time and difficulty vanish as by magic.
40Misunderstandings often arise (whether from the perusal of an article, book, or by verbal explanations) from the word rather than its meaning. Some able teachers are most unfortunate in their choice of words, and often muddle a pupil and bring home to themselves sharp criticism that in reality is unmerited. Such people cannot impart their knowledge and are unfitted for teachers. Could we have a dictionary of vocal idioms, &c., much light would be thrown upon many strange expressions, but as the kernel must be reached through individual and not collective understanding, and spontaneous ways and means applied to suit both the individual and the difficulty, expressions become a teacher's individual property unknown to any save herself and her pupils, therefore Greek to the world at large. Practical illustrations teach, but words are symbols which must be understood to get at their true meaning.
42FLORENZA D'ARONA.
43124 East Forty-fourth street, New York.
45E. A. Parsons' Recital in New Haven.—The following excellent notices referring to the recent recital by Mr. Parsons in New Haven are clipped from the leading journals of the local press:
47Mr. E. A. Parsons gave the first of two concert recitals at the Church of the Messiah last evening before an audience that completely filled the auditorium. Mr. Parsons is more modest than some of his less successful contemporaries, and does not essay to entertain an audience for an entire evening by his own untired efforts. Variety of interest was added to the program through the singing of Miss May Loveridge, the violin playing of Miss Rebecca Wilder Holmes and Mr. Richard Percy's organ playing. Mr. Parsons played with his usual taste and skill a program of his own compositions. The most important of these, his Concerto Chevaleresque, was beautifully played. The arrangement of the orchestral score for the organ was effectively performed by Mr. Percy, and the contrast between the solo and accompaniment was a decided advantage. Mr. Parsons played a group of new compositions and one of his more familiar works, and was warmly applauded. Miss Loveridge sang as her first number Victor Harris' madrigal, instead of the Love Song by Mrs. Beach. Miss Loveridge is one of the most promising young singers in town. Later she sang an Ave Maria by Mr. Parsons. Miss Holmes played the adagio from Bruch's second concerto, a favorite with all violinists. Miss Wilder has hardly the finish or feeling for an adequate performance of a work of so much depth of sentiment. But she has a good, firm tone and shows that her training is that of the best school. She also played with considerable spirit the Zarzycki Mazourka. Mr. Percy played an arrangement of a griez nocturne and Gilman's Torchlight March, and his registration was clever and expert as usual. His accompaniments were sympathetic and musically.
49A large and refined audience listened last evening to Mr. Parsons' piano playing at the Church of the Messiah, and gave evidence of great pleasure at his polished and musically performance. He played a long program entirely from memory, with hardly a false note. His compositions are highly melodious and very effective. The concerto was applauded at the end of each movement, and with Mr. Percy's most effective organ accompaniment proved to be a work of much merit. His latest compositions were two most poetic preludes and an Ave Maria, which took the audience by storm, Miss Loveridge's beautiful voice filling the character of the piece perfectly. Miss Loveridge scored a hit with her large and pure soprano, and Miss Holmes was repeatedly encored in her masterly work. Mr. Percy is one of the most tasteful organists, and his playing last evening pleased everyone.
51E. A. Parsons gave a concert recital at the Church of the Messiah last evening before a large audience. He was assisted by Miss May C. Loveridge, soprano; Miss Rebecca Wilder Holmes, violinist, and Richard T. Percy, organist. Mr. Parsons' selections were entirely compositions from his own pen. These showed him to be a versatile composer with lofty aims, while his themes were at no time commonplace and the treatment of them was scholarly. Among the best of Mr. Parsons' compositions heard last evening were his Concerto Chevaleresque, for organ and piano; the second prelude Will o' the Wisp, and the Witches' Minuet. The first movement of the concerto is stately and the theme is skilfully worked out. The harp effect in the second movement was particularly effective with its romantic theme heard alternately upon the piano and organ. There were suggestions of both Chopin and Wagner in these movements. Certainly a composer cannot have higher ideals. The third movement was brilliant and effective. Mr. Parsons' Witches Minuet is both dainty and original. It contains glimpses of Hungarian melodies and its rhythms are effective. Miss Loveridge received a cordial reception. She is an acceptable vocalist with a good voice, clear enunciation, and sings with musicianly instincts. She rendered in good style Mrs. Beach's effective Song of Love and Mr. Parsons' Ave Maria.
53HELENE MAIGILLE
54LABORDE METHOD.
55VOCAL INSTRUCTION.
566 East 17th Street, New York.
57Residence: 319 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.
59JAN VAN OORDT,
60The Netherland Violinist.
61FIRST APPEARANCE IN AMERICA.
62ADDRESS CHARLES DB GROAT.
6342 University Place, New York City.
65FLORENCE TOWNSEND
66ACCOMPANIST,
67For Vocalists and Instrumentalists.
68224 West 21st Street, New York.
69Coaching a Specialty. Reference: Editor MUSICAL COURIER.
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