Scan 15
Musical Courier 1897-09-15: Vol 35 Iss 915, 1897
38 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 16. See the scan on archive.org.
1two violins referred to? It is simply a matter of physical law. The $10 violin, being imperfect in general design and coarse in detail, refuses to co-vibrate with the strings as they are set in vibratory motion by the artist's bow, while the $5,000 Stradivarius the moment that the bow touches the strings becomes like to a living thing, all tremulous with life pulsations.
3But all this, notwithstanding no Stradivarius, no Steinway piano, touched by fingers ever so agile, can reveal to us the inherent beauties of a Kreutzer Sonata. The tonal possibilities of a fine violin and a perfect grand piano being given, two artists with their souls attuned to the colossal genius of a Beethoven must imbue these respective fine instruments with their own heart throbs; the finer the instruments, however, the more subtle the yielding to the mysterious, poetic and musical fluid as it emanates from the souls of the reproducing artists.
5As a matter of course this influence of the psychic over the physical is much more marked in the case of the singer, for the reason that here both the physical instrument and the psychic idea as to pitch, tone quality and expression are vested in one and the same person. Much might be said on this interesting subject; for instance, how the study of technic can be rendered comparatively easy by the playing on the vocal cords per musical idea of the pitch of the tones involved rather than by mere physiological manipulation; how even the physiological control of the diaphragm, the case of tongue position, jaw action, &c., can be materially assisted by this psychic influence of "inner" versus outer vision (per means of looking-glass); but space forbids. What has been said will suffice to show the fallacy of both the physiological and psychological fadist. Perfect physiological control of the vocal apparatus must mediate the psychic idea, and the psychic idea must dominate, transfigure, beautify and ennoble the physical vibration. The voice teacher who follows his physiological or psychological hobby is sure to go amiss.
7Another fallacy which is being preached very much—this time by Italian instructors only—is to the effect that the Italian language should be considered the basis of all voice culture, whether carried on in Italy, Germany, France or America. It seems to me that nothing can be more misleading and, in the majority of cases, more harmful than this very idea. Now, we all admire the Italian language when coupled with song. (As for spoken language, I think French sounds much more musical and fluent.) The reason for this sonority of the Italian language lies in the great abundance of open, rich vowels, a (as in ah) particularly, and the comparative scarcity of consonants. I therefore, with all prudent voice teachers, apply the Italian language wherever feasible and practicable, particularly with pupils who are ready to take up the study of the Italian arias of Bellini, Verdi, &c.
9But this comes rather as a supplementary study than a primary conditio sine qua non. The reasons are obvious. In the first place, I can attain the same results much more directly by my course of vowel studies, including the English derivatives of a (as in fall and man), and the diphthongs ou and oy. It is perfectly absurd that we, in our advanced state of latter day intelligence, should still be enslaved by the historical rather than practical do, re, me, fa system of solfeggiation. In making use of solfeggi written on do, re, mi, &c., I modify these syllables to meet my ideas, first, by introducing the vowel u, as in do, and the derivatives of a (as in fall and man); and again by changing the others to suit the demands of the pupil's stage of development.
11Much more might be said upon this point; for instance, of the inadvisability of having the English speaking pupils begin vowel studies with a, as almost all Italians do, for the reason that the former by reason of the scarcity of the pure a in the English language, are as a rule least prepared to bring about a good, easy flowing tone emission on a, while with a (as in has or fall) you usually have smooth sailing. But the main objection to this fallacy on the part of the Italian faddists lies in its impracticability. In the first place, English speaking people expect to hear their songs rendered in the vernacular, and so do the Germans, the French, as well as the Italians. Of course they will make due allowance to the artist who in lengthy recital sings his German, French or Italian songs and arias in the original language, but there it ends; and when it comes to church or parlor singing the demands for the songs in the vernacular are unmistakable.
13And this is perfectly correct. I think it it is a well-known fact that not more than 10 per cent. of the average voice pupils have sufficient vocal material to enable them to look forward to an opera or concert career. That leaves 90 per cent. who are either amateurs in the good sense of the word, or salon singers, or members of church quartets and concert singers to a limited extent. If these 90 per cent. were to prepare themselves for this, their singing in the vernacular, through the medium of the Italian language, they would lose a great deal of very valuable time, and ditto hard cash, for, after finishing their course in Italian, they would be obliged to transmit and adopt their Italian vowel formations to the English language, not to speak of the entirely peculiar problem as presented by the English consonants. As said before, all this can be accomplished much quicker and better by adapting the principles of Italian vocalization to the English language from the very outset.
15I am happy to say that my view in this matter is being supported by all authorities of note in Germany, England and France. They consider it their most important task to teach singing in English, German and French in such a way as to render their language nearly if not quite, as sonorous and beautiful as the rich, mellifluous Italian.
17I said before that the syllables commonly used by Italians and others in solfeggi, do, re, mi, fa, were of historical significance rather than of practical value. Substituting ut for do, these syllables originally represented the first syllables of a hymn to St. John, the patron of singers, who through his intercession was supposed to keep the throats of the young choir boys at the cathedral and convent schools free from contagious diseases and other harmful irregularities. The hymn ran as follows:
19Ut queant laxis
20Resonare fibris
21Mira gestorum
22Famuli tuorum
23Solve polluti
24Labii reatum,
25Sancte Joannes.
27Now, in applying these to their vocal studies, these singers of old piously meant to constantly send up this prayer to the patron saint of singers—from their devotional point of view a capital idea, but from the standpoint of the modern singer, who believes not in the efficacy of this prayer, because he knows not the meaning of the syllables he employs, it is nothing but historical rubbish, and, as indicated before, it were high time to get rid of this and other rubbish in our musical occupation.
29Just so with the so-called old Italian method. To make this clear, I must ask you to follow me in another short historical excursion. As you know, some centuries ago Italy led the nations of the world in musical matters. Beginning with the monk Guido de Arezzo in the eleventh century, the author of the syllables referred to before, almost all the development of music as to harmony, counterpoint, instrumental music, &c., was due to the Italians. To be sure, the Netherlanders Josquin de Pres, Roland de Lattre and others for a while seemed to hold their own against the Italians, but even Roland de Lattre acknowledged the supremacy of his Italian contemporary, the great Palestrina, as indicated by his Italianizing his name into Orlando di Lasso, by which name he is now known in music history. This supremacy of the Italians in music theory was so absolute that the great masters of Germany and England and the Netherlands, almost to a man, made a pilgrimage to Italy, there to be initiated into the secrets of counterpoint and musical theory. And later on, in the sixteenth century, when the Renaissance movement gave birth to the opera form in Florence, it was again deemed absolutely necessary for the gifted and ambitious musicians all over the world to put the finishing touches to their musical education by spending a year or two in Italy.
31Thus Händel, before finally settling in London, passed his years of musical apprenticeship in Italy. Simultaneously with the birth of the old or primitive opera form came the birth of the old Italian method of singing, and a most excellent method it was as a medium of expression of the musical thoughts and tendencies of the age. And how they did study! We are told that ten years were required to finish a pupil in singing, harmony, counterpoint, theory and instrumental music. At the celebrated singing schools the pupils lived and studied very much as the students nowadays live and study at our boarding schools. Everything, from the number of hours for the study of solfeggi, the trill, music theory, down to the food served the pupils at the refectory, was planned most carefully with a view of developing the vocal and musical training of the inmates. Thus Caffarelli studied one page of exercises for fluency for six long years; Rubini, another celebrated singer of that period, studied seven years before making his début. Thus it came about that now the vocal aspirants of the world migrated to Italy; there to Italianize their throats and names as well, as before this period the theory students of the world had flocked thither. And, as said before it was a most excellent method as far it went, and it went just as far as the musical tendencies of that period required it to go, and no farther.
33Now, we all know that, generally speaking, music in Italy has degenerated most woefully. It is a notorious fact that, while Bach is being appreciated more and more in Germany, while Händel is the most popular of all choral writers in England, the Italian prince of contrapuntal writers, the glorious Palestrina, is practically dead as far as Italy goes. I never heard such a barbarous performance as I did in that unique cathedral, St. Marco in Venice: again, I never witnessed such talking and stamping and whistling as at the Opera House in Milan.
35As a matter of fact Germany and France have so far outstripped Italy in musical matters as to leave the latter country out of the race for all time to come. It is just so with their painting, their architecture and their sculpture. No one for a moment doubts the superiority of the Parisian and Munich schools of painting over those of Italy—if you can really speak of an Italian school—and yet all these arts were gloriously alive in the little sea-lapped, sunny peninsula of Italy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Not only have the Germans and other northern peoples studied and assimilated all that the Italians in their palmiest days had to teach, but they went farther; they developed new art ideas, evolved new means of expression, so that to-day a Wagner score seemingly overthrows all the old rigid rules of Italian musical theory, while in reality it is based upon these as its foundation.
37As an inevitable result of this change thus brought about by what might be termed the musical evolution of the nations, no one for a moment considers the advisability of going to Italy for the purpose of studying the old Italian method of painting, or of counterpoint, or of musical composition. And yet we slavishly and persistently speak of the old Italian method of singing as the only method, while in reality it is just as inadequate to meet the modern demands as represented in the works of Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, Meyerbeer, Massenet, or even the modern Italians themselves, as represented by such works as Verdi's Otello, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, as the old music theories of Italy are inadequate to the fullest appreciation of the modern art tendencies, as represented by a Wagner score, for instance. The aforementioned composers, in addition to the pure tone and fluent technic of the old Italian method—which, by the way, not only suffices, but which is absolutely necessary for the works ending with the early period of Verdi—de
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