Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-05-02
The Art of Speaking.


A common defect in speaking in large build
ings is inability to catch the keynote or reson-
ance vibration of the Enclosed space. All large
areas have such resonance notes, and in some it
is very marked. Westminster Abbey, for in
stance, consonates to sharp. and iutoning on
this note is much more audible than On one q
semtOne above or below it. The use Of an
open chest voice as little vocalized as may be ia
the best. 1t Is less laborlous less liable to acct
dents, less liable to develop the affection COM
monty known as "clergyman's throat" and, by
removing the sensation of effort, more easy and
sympathetic. To analyZe the constituents of a
good delivery first come the pauseS. Haste is
one of the commonest faults in speech. 1t has
two defects: the one In OvertaXing the complex
muscular mechanism of the speaker; the other
In adding to the intellectual labor Of the lis
tener. The former would be considered in the
third lecture; the latter needed a few words
The rapidity OF reception of ideas through the
ear differs materially in different persons, even
excluding those distinctly "hard Of hearing"
1t Is not great among the nneducated, whence
1t had been paradoxicaly said that all ilterate
persons are deaf. But they do require a longer
time to arouse them to a state of attention than
the more cultivated. Naval officers had de-
Tended the practice of swearing, or. as it was
euphemstcally termed, Shooting their speech, !"
with sailors; the eXpictive rousing attention
and preparing the mind for the succeeding COM
mand Mr. Hullah had on similar ground eX-
planned the refrains OF fal-lal-las of the older
music in that they dilute the too concentrated
sense of the words and give time for the per-
cepton of the music. When the great actor
Savni was In this country, in 1878, the lecturer
made some experiments on this point. Saivini's
voice was one OF the most remarkable ever
heard for its power of travelling, even sup
pressed phrases coming up to the distant gal
lery with perfect cearness. He spoke on note
about d in the bass from the chest, and in sort
of recitatve; there were distinct periods from
accent to accent, and the infections were very
large, running over an interval OF more than q
fifth. The individual words came about one q
second, and the pauses were astOnishingly long.
They frequently amounted to four, several times
to five and at the two great crises OF the play to
seven continuous seconds. And yet there was
no sense of delay or OF interruption. but quite
the reverse. The lecturer incidentally noted
another thing, which the recent development of
Wagner's musical theories had invested with adj
ditiOnal interest. In the play 81 Gladiatore,"
the four principal characters young Christian
virgin, a Roman matron, the hero, a Roman
officer, and the gladiator. formed an uninten-
tional, though perfect, vocal quartet Of So
prano, cOntraltO, tenor. and bass. At times the
alterations of dialogue produced distinctly
musical effect an observation which to his mind
strongly cOrrobOrated the views Of the great
musician lately deceased, that dramatic music
iTGtead of being conventional should be the
outflow of passion and emotion, and that the re-
suit could be attained as we'll from the elOcu-
tionary as from strictly melodramatic side.-