The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-15
iaE WORDS IN SIN GING,
..poBTANCE OF A CLEAR ENUN-
CITATION.

'As NATION OF singinE-HOw They Are
o.sr.FmphaSzed by Some and Neg
,..,sd by Othefs-Some Hints as 20
me Best Manner OF Treating Them.
IT. Musical Education and Vocal
49, Albert Bach, the English teacher,
w., in sanscrlt the oqnsonants are
INA yyongana-i. e., plain revelation
I. soSsls are called svara-i. O., sounde;
~ there Is a proverb-'Be sparing With
y ,owels. says the tongue, and you VIII
~ beautifully; honor tho ~conSonants
vi you will speak distinctly Tho oonso-
~ u, mnst always bs uttered with exact
D hit quickly, 30 that the continuity OF
4. lowing tone may suffer az little inter
',ntiop as possible. The attention paid TO
SI,,nctness OF pronunciation must never
y norTied SO far as to prejudice the note
nng!'.,. l., .,,s o,barvisa ~ercellent adj
IA that 1t goes too far, and thereby
,.,r.vs the authors want Of insight into the
y. ndnciples Of pronunciation az related
!. singing, It Ia true that the ~oonsonants
.sonld bs uttered exactly and also quickly,
Il MI II ia not true tildt oio'iios"Ooo .ISoN "'oA
,ork injury to the note sung. The prob
-" which confronts the singer In deal
18th ~consonants Is how to enunoiate
S'tinctly and still preserve q flowing style
y song. IL is easy enough to acquire the
.ol,matory manner in which the oon-
.,0snts are purposely allowed to interrupt
a, stesdy flow Of tone, but to preserve
\. leVato and still make every word clean
rti ia what staggers most singers.
TIA secret Of the whole thing ies hrst
,ha neriect purity Of the vowel sounds
I "a sooond in a free and untrammelled
.+ic,ation. By keeping the vowel sounds
,,rs and round the pose Of the vocal organs
, the formation of tone Is preserved. When
,hs nose is disturbed by bad vowel pro-
s%,rci.tion, az it often ia, the movements
4 the tongue and lips in forming oonso-
,sots are exaggerated and thus the conso-
ANTS become greater obstacles to singing
han they naturally should be,
nv freq and untrammelled enunciation
4 ihe consonants is meant the articulation
a than with no more movement OF the
L .n,,ndatinR organs than Is absolutely es-
autial. Most singers harden the muscles Of
Ina tongue and comfort their lips in enunci-
unp corsonants in such q way that q steady
aov OF tone a quite out OF the question
furthermore, they do this while they are
striving to acquire clearness.
II IA the striving which does the damage
SINGERS should practise speaking in clear
nund tones with clean ont enunciation OF
he consonants and learn that 1t Is possible
10 carry on a conversation thus without
visiting the mouth into all sorts OF shapes
md pulling the tongue about so that the
hrtn cannot remain in q state OF rest.
II h Just as easy TO ~enunciate in singing
u 10 speaking. The purpose Of every singer
Aould be to carry from speaking into sing
hz q simple. natural, free Of enun-
cation. The action Of the enunciating ap-
arrtus should be without effort. 1t should
iel rstful. The principle OF relaxation
,hoAd prevail here as It does in tone pro.
dsdton.
Iiev Intelligent observations will enable
w student to solve all problems Of con-
snantal enunoiation in singing. The ques-
tn almost invariably asked is whether
N attempt must be made to join the con
pnant to the vocal zone or not. Now,
yhthsr this is or Is not to be done, nothing
b 10 DO gained by dwelling on the conso-
rant, 1t should be enunciated clearly. but
quickly, unless the singer desires for some
nricular dramatic effect to give 1t extraor-
Gnry prominence.
Some OF the ~consonants have q certain
ountity Of vocal sound. These are !, m.
d, T. " and y. The combination ng at
tH end Of a word is also in this class. Tho
kaen r, " and y have a partial vocal sound
Which does not interfere with the flow OF
tF through the mouth. The letters !, m, n
tN likely to impart a nasal color to a tone
they are prolonged, because they force
w much of the air blast into the nasal
Essge. This is especially the case with
. Hence these ~consonants should be
4aOhcated quickly.
When any one Of these o%onsonants occurs
. The middle of a word 1t does not STOP
be flow Of tone at all, but slightly alters its
nm. The singer should be careful In
Hgtng such words to give the requisite
Aantity to a note by ~prolonging the vowel
h the consonantal sound. He should,
!. example, sing not &ham-m-m-mer,
E 'ha-a-a-mmer.'
The consonants with which most singers
Are trouble are those which tempt III
cultural vocal sounds. These are b, p
t, 4, ] and oh. The trouble is that &c
Any Of us in our ordinary speech reoeds
se consonants with a heR formed voca
pqnd. We say, as nearly as 1t can be
tprssd in type, unread 'upoison !
usc,' 'uioy' instead Of clean and simple
oead,' poison go Joy
NOW, IN singing we must wholly avoid
pee preliminary rumbles. We must out
ct our b, t, p, &c, clearly and distinctly
cnsonants. Thus when we have tc
~ them at the beginnings Of words We
sil not disturb the poise Of the tone
Rrnng apparatus before the word itseh
reached. but after the enun citation
The initial ~oonsonant we shall find the
producers in free and comfortable
taton to perform their functions.
Nhsn one Of these oonsonants occurs
'e end Of a word the finger need moi
R@rn himself as to whether there Is O
~ vocal tone impaired to It or not
dictfon will certainly be moro elegant
snot, but il it should be, his enunoia
WI not thereby be made indistinct.
nult not uncommon among public
ANN should be svoidsd. In their
es'y to bring final oonso anita Of thii
out clearly speakers frequently add
guable, transforming head into
ssu.uh' or rob" into arob-uh.' Singers
"a hardly ha told that at,oh n ~nracfica