The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-21

The June number of The Musician" of Philadelphia contains an article on *The Causes of Vocal Failure" by Mrs. John Carter of Montgomery. It win be read with interest by her friends. and is as follows:
 sThe Causes of Voice Failure"
 Josephine Carter.
 Deeper thinkers than I have failed to find the secret of success; profound analysts have searched in vain for req sons for failure in every field of ac- tivity.
 Success and failure being relative terms it becomes necessary as a. pre- nminasy, 10 determine their exact ap- plication to this special subject.
 Vocal success, understand to mean, the power to fittingly render any com position with such feeling as to bear- tify 1t, whether it be of the lowest or der or highest merit. How much the singer falls below this standard deter mines the degree of failure.
 To secure this power one must above aH. have the musical temperament, that gift of the gods which opens wide the portals of the soul, allowing it to escape tsan wings of cong" to the heights which border the Seen," from whence 1t returns to thrill the world with echoes of the music beyond the pearly gates of The Unseen"
 That certain "Je ne sais quoi," with out which Tusic is dead. method naught, voice powerless, and with which. whether the voice be great or small. the method faulty or correct, the ginger never fails to touch the heart, please an audience and dlsarm critics.
 The lack of inspiration accounts. in part, for the comparatively few sing CTS of worldwide prominence. Every human being is endowed with a means of expressing his divine nature, song being one of the most pleasing mediums of expression. Ruskin says, "All right human song is the finished expression by art, of the joy or grief of noble per- sons for right causes"
 Like all natural gifts, the musical temperament lies dormant until the op- portunity arrives which lifts the for tunate possessor to equal rank with those, who thro' the arts, have found that form of thought which has be- come their thought of divinity.
 Many singers fail because their ann bition is simply to excel. These place an over-estimate on themselves rec garding themselves. because they pos- sesS culture and some talent, as more endowed. more highly gifted than oth- CTS, arrogating to themselves the right to disregard ordinary barriers, and to step beyond the circumscribed limits which nature sets them. Singers Of this class. satisfied with having ac- quired sufficient skill to gratify their vanity. fall ready prey to charlatans and unprincipled managers. A singer of note once said she attained no suc- cess until her vanity had received blow from friend, who quoted for her benefit from Lessing, "The world is full of the middlingiy good like us."
 The great singers when questioned as to the causes of'vocal failure, invari- ably attribute them to the lack of hon est. persistent work and study. This want of sincerity results in Inadequate technic, affectation and self-conscious- ness From honesty of purpose and in- dustry will come the courage to dare, the gallant spirit to surmount all the obstacles with which fate seems to ob- struct the road to Parnassus. From sincerity will grow the patience need ed to crystalize Science into Art. the enthusiasm which will Tighten labor. and the understanding to recognize his opportunity when 1t arrives.
 Faulty methods account for a large proportion of failures. The insincerity or ignorance of the teacher who fails to be governed by an accurate knowl- edge of the students physical and men tai Limitations makes failure foregone conclusion. for upon this knowledge rests the whole structure of vocal cul- ture and singing. A disregard of these Fundamental principles results in faul- 4y tones and unsatisfactory delivery. To quote again from Ruskin, Every good piece of Art involves first essen fially the evidence of human skill and the formation of an actually beautiful thing" This being true, the right method bestows the skill which con verts the singer into the artist, and the freedom which enables him to throw himself with abandon into the inter- pretation of the composition before him.
 When the singer has, by industry, ac- uulred the natural method resulting from mentally directed energies, then, and then only. can he dare to take the advice of Gounod, Be yourself. you will be lonely today, but tomorrow you will have a following" Then and then Dnly can he sink his own personality into that of another. or express to the full extent of his power the emotions aroused by words and music. Thus will develop the strong individuality which realizes the hearers ideal, asso- ciating nearer and singer in the Hast tng fragrance of a beautiful memory" @ a sssas ss && && S. S. < l * s3Esa a E VI pERSONAI, ITEMS. r