The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-05-24


~ the rich in the old world,
N\ Indeed there is scarcely
A&$) prince or princess of the
Cr/ blood in Europe who has not
spent the years Of childhood beneath
the care of dame Mailing from tho
north of the Tweed This is due to tho
fact that the sweetest voices in the world
are those Of Scotchwomen. 1t is sim
ply irresistible, for the sounds of tho
yowels are absolutely unhampered.
This sound may be high or low, but
there is no discordance anywhere, and
the harmony Of the we'll pitched organ
IL soothing in the extreme-so much SO,
OF truth, that it seems created OH pur-
pose for lulling n baby to sleep with its
melodiously soft cadence. A remarkable
gift ls really fine toned voice; it has
been responsible for half the success of
the great Sarah Bernhardt, and is also
one OF the most remarkable chnracteris-
tics Of tho celebrated divette Yvette
Guilbert. France and Scotland produce
the purest toned voices i'll the universe,
and strange it Is TO say that it is, gener-
ally speaking, ON the seashorc that one
encounters the most perfect specimens
thereof. In the widest portions of Brit
tany, among the great basnltic cliffs over
hanging the tumultuous waves of the
Atlantic, one often hears proceeding
from tho rosy mouth of some savage lit
tie cowherdess such bell-like harmony
that one stands there filed with admi-
ration, almost believing that some SUI
perlatural music has reached ones ear.
The Same thing is TO be met with on tho
Scotch sea border, fact which would
lead one to believe that far frola de-
stroying the vocal chords, as they arc
claimed to do the salt hreezcs strength
en- and refine them ut the same time.
The voice should be educated like auy
other of our faculties, and that not alone
with view to singing, but also for the
purpose of developing its beauties in or
binary conversation. 1t is an intrument,
and one of the most exquisite and deli
cate of instruments So why should we
not take as much trouble in that direc-
ton as we do to teach our children ri
ano, harp, guitar or violin? To this
many people will object that some of
the very sweetest of voices are occasion
ally heard in the mountains of Tyrol,
IN tho plains Of Spain or Italy, or on
the Russian steppe, and that from thor
oughly uneducatcd persons who have
certainly never given thought to tho
training Of their vocal chords. That is
true enough, but in such cases the charm
OF the organ is n natural gift, and also
sometimes national endowment. I'm
fortunately for them, the Anglo Saxons
do not possess pretty voices Far from
1t. They emit n noise when they speak
which seems to wrap the tone-it is a
scraping of the chords-and is extreme
ly dlsagreeable to hear Like unto the
snakes and toads falling from the mouth
OF the bewitched princess of fairy tale
fame, IN unmelodious voice spells the
loneliness Of any woman, be she MS per-
feet OF form and figure rs Venus herself,
whereas musical organ renders the
homellest ono attractive l remember
once being almost driven to desperation
by we'll meaning friend of mine who
undertook to read to me some of
Wordsworth's choicest poems. l was
i'll at the time, and had not even the re-
source of running away from that harsh,
rasplng voice, destroying one by one
the sweetness of every verse; yet my
friend was highly polished and edu-
Gated woman, very good to look at, too,
but the Anglo-Saxon "scraping" she
possessed to marked degree, and the
result was lamentable in the extreme.
Screaming and calling aloud are de-
testable for the voice. The best proof of
this is that the Genoese, who arc an
eminently calling" people, if I may
be permitted this locution, have voices
that we'll nigh upset the toughest of
nervous systems. So do the Swiss, who
In tho bargain indulge in drawing
twang which is simply unbearable. Old
Prince Gortchakoff, wit and sensu-
allst If ever there was one, used to say
that the finest and most imposing land
scapes Of Helvetia were spoiled for him
by the atrocious voices and intonations
OF it's inhabitants. 1t is all very we'll to
talk Of the melodious "yodeling" of the
Swiss cowherd, or of the Alpine "sen-
ner in, I" but one must have heard these
harsh rumbling sounds proceeding from
some sunlit peak above ones head and
been startled thereby from some poetical
reverie, to realize how very grating they
are to q sensitive ear.
Unaccountable it is that in the Aus
Eian mountains, which are SO nearly
RpUascted with the. Swiss Alps. the