The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-09
RECENT PUBLICATIONS

The BASIC Law OF VOCAL UTTER
ANCE.-The author of this little work is
Emil SutrO, the brother of the May0r-elect
of San Francisco. 4 student, a poet and
an retrospective thinker Emil Sutro spec
ulatsd long on the reason why he found 1t
SO hard to speak English easily and flu
emily like one to the manner born. This
book is the result of his musings. and
though the author declares it is not sclen-
tifc there evidently is scientific basis
enough in il 10 lead people to think on the
matter. If the writer's statements are
true, and they carry evidence of truth and
accuracy with them, then the methods Of
teaching and training the voice both for
song and speech have been up to this
radically wrong and must be entirely
chang ed. The author declares that the
air. taken for LIE purposes and the air
taken for voice and speech purposes are
distinct and different and "breathiug for
speech is carried on through the mouth
while we are in the act of speak
Ing" while the life-giving air is
supplied by breathing through the nose
and occasionally through the mouth. The
chapter entitled, How Do We Speak?" is
exceedingly original, as is the explanation
Of the difference between English and
German speech. just as original, too, is
the chapter on The Dual Nature Of the
OlCts III " ulCu me dutuOr asserts that
the singing or speaking voice is really the
resultant of two distinct voices, the inte-
TOR and exterior, the upper and the lower
the inhaled and the exhaled. Most start
ling is it to be told that there is a vocal
chord, hitherto unknown, in "the peculiar,
liphke formation in the lower Jaw. close
20 the front part Of the tongue" mbin ed
with the fI8nuum or cord which connects
the tongue with the lower jaw 1t is use
less to go through all the novel theores
that Mr.. Sutro offers in his book. Suffice
it to say that they all deserve study IRON
those who are teaching, as we'll as those
who are learning the right use of the
voice. The WORK IS valuable contrlbu-
ton tn vocal science and physiology.
New York: Edgar S. Werner.
The SINGER OF THE SEA-This is a
very pretty little book, published by the
Century Club and containing Ina D. Cool
births poem in memory OF Celia Thaxter.
Like all such poems it deals with the eter-
nal question as TO what becomes of 0ul
daad-are they lost to US? 'Do the hands
forget their skill Are the lips Of
Sbatesnesre dumb? Are all the year,
Of low and pain that are lived but lived il
vain 2" With the right poetic insight Mis'
CooIbrith reaches out to the truth-anI
denial of Immortality is foreign to th'
trne artistic soul-and in burst Of musi
Sl6 prOcIdlinS IL.
That this singing spirit, freed
From her lesser lower height,
Soaring TO the Infinite.
Turns with loving eyes ana smile
still unto her gfrdon-isie
Sees the towers beacoD-lisnt
Shining safely through the night:
Sees the white SUR as IL rolls
Round her ire sured Isle of shoals
Looking from that vaster sea
Which we name Eternity.
rSan Francisco: The Century Club. Fo
sale by William Doxey aud A. M. Robert
son.
THE BOUND CENTURY.-We do no
fuIly realize what a magnificent literar.
production the Century Magazine is unit
we come to examine volume bouDt
in the attractive style for which tn
publishers are famous. The volume be
lore us, containing the numbers from
Nav to October inclusive, excels in value
il that be possible, any of its predecessors
One thing which is noticed is the improve
ment which the publishers are making il
rendering he mag ziDe more popular. GOV
ering a wider range of subjects and ap
pealing to a larger class of readers. Their
was fear in the minds Of some of the bes
friends of the magazine at one time that i
was a little too fac for the great masses o
the public, that it was firing over th'