The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22
SINGERS %MUSIClANSHlP.
..orIL TECHNIO NOT A SUFFI-
GENT EQUIPMENT.
..,, the Intellectual Content Of q Work
singer should he q Musician-Har"
moOy, Form and Vocal Sight Reading
-Nby NINE. Seinbrich Is Praised.

"" ginger should He q
.ony' Form and Vocal Sight Reading
why Nine. senbrich Is Praised
rA,. In writing Of Carat, the famous
.1Srh tenor, said, AN air, a duet, ac-
ilIin, N this great singer, did not consist
o" accession of well performed or even
M STnressed phrases; he wanted a plan,
N ~ progress, which led to great
49, nj the proper moment, when the
eu,Sr,ont had reached it's climax. He
rely understood when. discussing his
be smoke Of the plan OF a vocal piece,
NJ mu.icians themselves we're persuaded
w. W. his ideas we're somewhat exaggerated
nthis subIect; but when he joined example
" nreoept and to demonstrate his theory
W" y, an air with the different coloringe
'.Siob he could give to it, they then compre-
s'rIod how much Of reflection n study
~ nscassarv to arrive at perfection In
w., which At the first view seems destined
a.t, 70 procure enjoyment for the ear
u" u; mi. means anything 1t means that at
sue when most singers were fixing their
.inds upon the perfection OF those details
~hicb belong entirely to the department
. yocal technic, Carat wa rising above
n. surface and surveying the field OF song
Vs., rho point of view Of the musician.
T,;s indicates that he was a master OF
I,lo and that his mastery came from his
-asn NJ the entire form of a vocal number.
This is the secret Of all mastery OF style.
ana NAV have a perfect tone attack, a
S~e.utifll legato, a ravishing' portamento,
.nohle MESA al vooe ana an elastic fiuenoy
- delivery, vet sing ineffectively. II the
,,,sr bestows all his thought on the per-
action of each phrase as an individual
.ntity he will never sing e~loquently, though
hsre and there he may rise to heights OF
extraordinary beauty,
There must be a plan as Carat called 1t,
,hioh IL but another word for design. The
,nver must grasp his aria or his recitative
IN its entirety, and he must also perceive
Searly its relation to all that preoedes and
Al that follows it. Only in this way can he
arrive at a proper conception Of the de-
Tvsry of his music, for only thus con he de-
,srmine the distribution of vocal effects.
Now the correct distribution of vocal
sEeots gives us what we call style; but it
gives us something more than that, for
mon It depends largely the interpretative
s~oouence of the singers delivery, 1t Is
fnpossible to interpret an aria or a lied
sloouently il the vocal effects are out Of
balance. The style and the Interpretation
usually go hand in hand. 1t is not possible,
for example, to sing eloquently the feci-
utive of Handel with a Wagnerian style,
nor can the music Of Mozart be treated in the
nme manner as that Of Richard Strauss
Correct style and Interpretation rest
partly upon traditions, but tradition is by
no means a trustworthy guide. Tradi-
tons are but imperfectly transmitted from
nneration to generation. Lineal descent
IN vocal art has provided the great fathers
d bel canto with some strange children.
No one can make the doughnuts as mother
made them; no n can sing Handel and
\ Hssse as F~arinelli and Boschi did.
There is a sNfer ground for style thar ira
Sion. That ID the ground OF musicianship,
Singers should belong to the universal
motherhood of musicians, but as a rule
,sy do not. They are the most o~betinately
one sided Of all practitioners Of musical art.
Tia known to all who observe the doings OF
te musical world that the violinists all 20
to violin recitals, but almost never to piano
or song ~recitals. The pianists all flock to
hAr the other ~pianists and 'cellists turn out
Cly when a. noted cello virtuoso appears
So the singers go only to hear singers.
One does occasionally see a pianist at an
orchestral concert or q violinist at the opera
but the SINCE never goes to hear anything
but singing. That is the rule. The ex-
eptions are few, and they are also notable
Now, this is all wrong. Singers should &c
to hear all sorts Of music in order that they
themselves may be thoroughly musical
Neither the poet who never reads prose
nor the prose writer who never reads
poetry can sound all the depths OF his
native tongue. a.,
There is not a clarinet player OF solo abil'
iy who cannot give hints to o singer. There
Is not a pianist of virtuoso rank who canno,
offer him suggestions about dynamics ano
tone color. But all this is still In the do
main Of technics. What the singer can get a
The orchestral or chamber music concert Is
an acquaintance with musical architecture
He can gain an insight into the significance
Of the larger forms and in time acquire 6
conception Of those broader principles Of
musical design which he ought to know IL
. OIQeT 10 CONSTRUCT ttlc pan Va WV
Every singer ought to add to his course
Of technical study a curriculum OF general
musical information. First and foremost he
ought to acquire some measure of ability t.
play upon an instrument. Naturally his
choice will prefer the piano, for this instru-
nent can he utiizedin the study OF his owl
bRnch Of art. The mistake OF mos
angersis that they never use their pianos FOL
anything else. They learn to strum out &C
Compartments and there they stop.
This is not enough. The singer shoulc
Earn to play some piano music. He need
not become a virtuoso, for that would de-
nand 100 much of his intellectual force an
d his time; but the broadening OF hi
musical conceptions by intimate persona
acquaintance with some forms Of melod,
ether than those suited to tbs voice vii
prove Of incalculable benefit 10 him. 1t /
a field which should not be neglected, bu
which usually and altogether too gen.
eally is.
The singer should know the principles
Of musical form. How many OF them do
How many Of them can analyze the sim
past aria and state with the certainty o
absolute knowledge where its phrases be
gn and end, how many phrases there are i
~ a 49,. lAlA 40 ~ nnd M