National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-09-11
MURDOCH'S WONDERFUL VOICE.
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MOhDOCh HOADEhFOL FOLCE.
A correspondent of the Louisville Courier
Journal, who has visited James E. Murdoch at
his home in Ohio, writes as follows:
Some twenty years ago James E. Murdoch,
then in his prime, took a fancy to a certain
tract of land in Warren county, Ohio, some
twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. What the
great tragedian and famous impersonatOr of
the melancholy Dane saw in the almost howl
ing wilderness and impossible roads the mind
OF man cannot conceive. Probably his ''prO-
phetic soul" rolled up the curtain of the future,
and pointed with the index of progress to the
beautiful panorama of fields of grain and YER
dant meadows, thickly dotted with plethoric
barns and comfortable dwellings. At all events,
he came, be saw, and bought, and now near
his neat and deeply-shaded cottage has sprung
up little hamlet known as Murdoch.
Twas fortunate enough to gain an interview
with Mr.. Murdoch few days after my arrival.
This, by the way, is no easy task, for when not
engaged with his pupils, who come from all
parts of the country, he seeks the rest his
weakened physical condition requires. / did
not visit him as pupil, but to learn, if posi-
BILE, the secret of his wonderful voice; in other
words, how a man of slight build and great
nervous excitability could develop and control
for an indefinite time such volume of sound
without any apparent fatigue. For be it
known that Mr.. Murdoch, though no longer
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same breath as it were, murmur the soft love
notes OF Claude Melnotte or thunder forth
crushing tones Of condemnation and scorn in
capable of being drowned by the widest bursts
of Forrestonian fury.
. In very brief time I learned the secret.
He had built his theory and practice upon the
true principles of anatomy and physiology.
Each muscle and organ employed in using the
voice had been carefully studied and its action
mastered. Thus their harmonious and COM
bined action has insured and developed. There
could be but one result. The feeble, squeaking
voice became round and full, and tones that
once jumped like ZigZag lightning along the
scale could be played upon at will. The pith
of his remarks during our brief conversation
was this:
The larynx is an Eolian harp, the vocal
chords the strings. By lowering the chin upon
the breast the strings become relaxed, and
deep chest notes are produced. Raise the
head, the cords became frightened, and the
notes are sharper and higher. To this harp
are attached other points of great importance
the lungs and the muscles of the chest and
abdomen. Without these the harp would be
useless; they drive the air with more or less
force over the strings; thus the Importance of
their development becomes evident. If one
wishes to speak without fatigue, he must not
attempt to articulate with his throat alone,
but must call into play the muscles of his chest
and abdomen. If the pupil, while strengthen
ing and haTmonizing the action of the other
muscles, also by constant practice strengthens
the vocal cords, he in an astOnisbingly short
time gains 8 complete mastery over his voice.
To do all this Mr.. Murdoch has perfected
system wonderful in its results, and never tires
in its explanation and teaching.