Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1872-05-21

BY rRor. E. ARNOLD, SYRACUSE. y. "

hear natural and unimproTabie vi
Is there no vocal cultuie but by amitaiton,
by surrcnderiug our vocal identity, de
>pising our birlhright. and aping some
one whose organs OF voice differ perhaps
from ours as much as possible in their
size and form Must the giant and
dwarf stand up together and strain alter
the acquisition Of the voice of the mas
ter of elocution Or, digusled with
these iuglorioss attempts, must the mas
ses continEc to talk and sing without
cultivation under the delusion that they
arc perfectly natural" in all their vocal
performances Natural 1t is utterly
false. No man ever talked by the tuition
of nature alone, but always because he
was taught by hearing others. Inc
mute has good vocal organs, bat has not
learned to talk, simply because he could
not hear. lie laughed and cried vocally,
for these were natural. and his groaus
and cries wheu very young infant gave
no intimation OF his future inability 10
talk. The first time his mother suspect
ed it was when several days old she
found that he could not hear Then she
needed no examination of his vocal or
cans TO assure her that she was the moth
erof deaf and dumb child Bat we
could hear. and so after while by sim
ME imitation learned TO talk. Now il
man needs education in scientific prin-
ciples to enable him TO think and reason
independently, or to become skilled
artizan or artist. and it he needs Di-
vine revelation and gracious renovation
10 raise him above corrupt example
to strong piety and morality-hc needs
FOCAL science to give him the good voice
which his organs warrant. and the skill
ed vocalizing which he is capable of
attaining
How does the boasted student Of IA
turo who scorns vocal philosophy, know
thai he is natural" in single tone OF
his voice ? By what standard has he
tested such a claim We breaIhed, cried,
laughed, walked, run, smiled and frown-
ed because we had to. The mute did So
too. But we did no, thus talk, for
speech like faith, ''cometh by hearing,
and none can say how tar what we
heard decided its peculiaritieS.
\ system Of genuine philosophy, then,
is absolutely necessary to all independ-
ent vocal culture. We can never he
sure that we have our own voices ill we
learn by science what that voice ought to
0e which the peculiar machinery OF each
OF us was intended to produce.
81 the first achievement of vocal phi
losophy should no to give every one his
o1rE natural p0jce and positive knowl-
edge that he has Il. a knowledge derived
from the nerves of sensation aud OF the
same order rs that of the movements OF
his hand or his. foot
Blu, that is not enough. Il is only the
beginning Few powers have been
more perverted, perhaps none are cap
able a. more cultivation than our vocal
powers. European eNperimenterS ,ell
"a, that the vocal chords of persons OF an
cultivated voices are capable of only
two hundred degrees OF tension, while
highly cultivated and much prac,icel or
gaus arc capable OF over 1900 degrees
of variation This gives iour-flhS to
culture and only one'iilth to nature
Even vixen the careful student has
only imitation Tor his school,master.
what vast Improvement has he often
mtac, more than doubling his former
power
What then might we uoJ effect il Ne
could found al our culture upon true SCI
e,scc and feel solid rock beneath our feet
q, every step? Could make our powers
OF breath, voice, and articulation rs
handy as We Go our fingers and train
them 70 a. acute artistic skill
have heard 4 person with his natural
organs sing t,ro parts Of aHy taae stimuli
tqaeaoly, and with the same lips ,rhisAe
tr5 sounds at once, prolonged ion some
time and iriI! both voice and whistle at
pleasure
have heard Professor oil vocal phi.
los ply converse with his classes t,co.
thirds or mite apgrt, Tor an hour togeih-
er, without screaming or slraining the
voice.
have heard his children sing so rs to
distinguish tune and words when was
a mile from them.
have heard the double-voiee vocalist
sustain three distinct tones simultaneously,
with no instrument out his vocal organs
There Is no instrument equal to mans
iaryHE; no pipes to rank with his bron.
chial tubes, no sounding board to be
compared with his royal arch We know
very little as yet of our vocal capabili-
ties, the skill of projecting to distance,
the musical scope, the sentimental ex.
preston, the oratorical power and the
woudrous sweetness of the HUMAN VOICE.
Every mans lie, practically speak
Ing, IS shaped by his love. If it is 4
downward, earthly love, then his actions
will be tinged by it, ali his life will be as
his reigning lOye. This love, you per.
ceiye, is not mere sentiment, or casual
emotion, but is the mans settled affinity !;
it is that which is to his character what