San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-23
HOW THE ITALIANS SING.
THE VOICE SHOULD BE FORMED IN
THE ROOF OF THE MOUTH
A Chapel Masters Discovery-An Art Which
Is Preserved III Italy for the Natives.
How a Young Man who Couldn't Sing
Deyeloped a Basso Profundo Voice.

NINETY per cent. of the people OF this
country could be made to sing by proper
teaching" said Hayden Tilla the other day.
Italy is nation of singers because the PEG
pie are taught in the right way, and for no
other reason whatever. Moreover, very few
aliens who 90 to even the best Italian mas
ters ever get the benefit of the instruction
which is open to the natives. 1t is an art
which is preserved for the Italians"
Mr.. Tilla sat in his music room on Fifth
avenue and explained method of voice Gre
ating which is at variance with the generally
accepted laws of singing, and told the story
of the discovery of the Italian way of teach
ing.
THE RECEDING LOWER JAW.
More than a century ago." he said, "a
chapel master in Italy, while examining the
vocal powers of a number of people who were
candidates for membership in the reserve
choir, discovered a voice of remarkable vol
ume and beauty. Its owner was peasant, a
Young man with no education, who evidently
knew nothing of music. But such a voice the
old chapel master had never heard. He was
SO much interested that he made study of
the fellow, and discovered that he had pc
cular formation of the face, in that the
lower jaw receded very materially from the
upper. He also noticed that in singing there
was considerable elongation of the over
hang of the upper jaw. This discovery set
the chapel master upon course of scientific
investigation and a series of comparisons Of
the faces of the members of his choir. In the
end he concluded that the voice in singing
and in speaking as well-shOuld be formed in
the roof of the mouth, and that the throat
and chest had nothing to do with it.
And this is the underlying principle of
the Italian method of singing" continued
Mr.. Tilla The formation of the face de-
termines the question whether person should
be able to sing or not. A man or woman
whose lower jaw recedes considerably from
the upper should have good singing voice.
One whose lower jaw projects beyond the
upper will have an indifferent voice, if any.
But any person with proper teaching and
practice may improve upon the conditions
fixed by the facial formation.
LAS the voice is formed in the mouth, it
should require no physical effort and no ex
traordinary expansion Of the lungs to enable
a person to sing his highest or lowest note
Patti, little, slight woman, with compare
lively small lungs, fills the largest auditorium
with her voice, even on its highest notes
There should be no physical effort in singing
no exertion of the lungs. The voice rests in
the roof of the mouth, like an egg in a cup.
and should be used with perfect ease OH any
note"
While Mr. Tilla was speaking one of his
pupils entered the room He was tail
Young man of slight build and with rather a
flat chest He was shy in manner, and not
thoroughly at ease when he saw that strangers
Tha g
Of the sort which Tilla had described as i'll
dicating fine singing voice, and the teacher
at once proceeded to illustrate his theory
CASE IN POINT.
The young man is a Scotchman. He is a
carpenter by trade, and, according to his
own statement, never sung a note until q
month ago He had a desire to learn to
sing, but his friends discouraged him, as he
had no voice A number of teachers laughed
at the man because of his ambition to sing
when he couldn't produce a tone.
He sat in a chair in one corner of the room,
bashful and diffident, with his chest contract
ed rather than expanded, and looked at the
floor as he fumbled with his watch chain
But when Tilla sat at the piano and struck
chord the young man opened his lips and let
out tone of a quality and volume that made
the nerves of his listeners tingle with pleasure
Then, at Tilla's request, he left his place and
stood against the mantel, with a spectator on
either side, watching his profile and noting
the play Of his jaws. He sang number of
practice phrases sustaining tone on B fat
with bit of recitative, and then dropping
plumply to E fiat Then he repeated the music
transposed into the keys of D, D fat and {.
and surprised his listeners by dropping to
lower C, with full, round vibrant tone like
that of an organ pipe, and singing three Of
four words. Any singer knows that it is one
thing to sustain very high or very low
note, and quite another to pronounce thre
or four syllables on that note.
The young man sang for an hour for the
pleasure of the listeners. His voice was such
a remarkable basso profundo that the little
audience would have kept him singing for
much longer had not other duties claimed his
attention. Of course, the voice was not in
perfect state, nor was the young man a thor
ough master Of its use. Long practice and
training will be required to fit it for its best
service, but the volume and quality were be,
You'd dispute. And the ease with which the
young man sang, in whatever pose he hap
pened to strike, with his lungs in their nor
iaal state of expansion, not even contracted,
set at defiance all the generally accepted
theories of singing.
THE true Italian method of singing is easy
to acquire" said Mr.. Tilla. "a few simple
rules govern it. Long hours of fatiguirg
practice are not at all necessary. When once
you start in the right direction your voice
will grow as you sleep, and you will awake
each morning surprised at the improvement
it has made since the previous day. New