The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-25
MORE TALK ABOUT SINGING.
THE MESA DI VOCE AND PORTA-
MENTO.

1he II 0IHtf tnb HObhiNiAttVh u y
ness in slnglns-What Some or the OLD
Masters Thought About 1T and How
Famous singers Have Excelled In II.
Giovanni Lamperti says that the IN essa
di yoce should not he attempted till the
nupil has attained a considerable degree Of
olity. This idea Is In direct opposition
10 those held on the same subject by many
other excellent teachers. The MESA di
,oce Is the sounding of a sustained tone
with a swell, that is, by beginning it piano,
increasing it to full voice and then diminish
ing it again to piano. Why agility, which
means the ability to sing runs and horid
IVA ssag es, should be acquired before the
MESA di voce is begun Is a question which
this writer finds himself quite unable to
answer.
The ability to sing a good mesa di voce
depends entirely on the control Of the
breath and the consequent steadiness and
graduation OF tone. Now, the control of
breath is the first thing the student has
to learn, and from his command Of 1t he
derives confidence in his power to sustain
q steady tone and to emit it with suoh a
degree of force as he chooses.
Therefore the next step ought logically
to be toward the MESA di vooe, in which
are combined the elements of tone ma stery.
Furthermore, it is by proceeding from
the emission of tom sustained at a dead
level to the sounding of tones varied In
dynamic force that we throw of the
shackles Of monotony of style. 1t Is by
the emission of tones swelling and diminish
ing that we impart to song that wavelike
unduationw which gives it vitality and tonal
vivaoity. a.
Mesa di voce was practised by the earli-
est singers. 1t is mentioned as far back
as Caccini and is particularly described
by Mazzochi, writing in 1893. These old
masters, however, do not lay down rules
as to whether it should be attempted before
or after the requirement Of a certain amount
Of agility. 1t must not be forgotten that
at the beginning Of the seventeenth CEN
tury, and indeed some time before that
singers we're capable OF executing orna-
mental music. -Archilei, a soprano of the
time, was much praised for her skill in
adding ornaments to a melody.
Nevertheless an examination OF the
recitatives of the first operas and oratorios,
the works of Peri, Caocini and Cavaliere
will convince one that the stilo rappre-
sentative, as 1t was called, must have de-
pended for its expreesiveness very largely
on beauty Of tone. purc legato style and
the MESA di voce, by which ~feXibility and
eloouenoe are impaired to long passages
Of sustained tones.
Mancini said: "Un vero ed attimo ar
tista SO ne serve In qualunque nota di valore
Ia MESA di voce." A true artist avails
himself Of the MESA di voce on every tone.
This is going much too far, but IT serves to
show in what estimation this beautiful
ornament of song WAS held at q time when
the technics of singing were most thor
oughly understood. Another later master,
D'Aubigny, in commenting on the need
Of perfect breath control for the execution
Of this device says: "The beginning and
the end of the note must resemble the watt
ing Of the evening breeze: one perceives
its beginning without being able to define
it; one is still listening to its termination
when the note has already died away
Two OF three p oints must be kept in mine
in singing MESA di voce. In the first place
the mouth must not be twisted or tortured;
yet something has to be done with 1t. 1t
must be kept nearly equally open through
out the tone. The tone must be carefully
attacked and then gently brought forward,
by which it will gain not a little in carrying
power. In the beginning MESA di voce
should be practised entirely in them medium
tones Of the singers scale. No attempts
at using 1t in the higher or lower notes
should be made till the elementary exer-
cises in the formation Of these tones have
been completed.
In singing MESA di voce in the higher
tones the mouth naturally needs to be
opened q little more fully at the forte. Other
wise the tone will sound compressed. On
the contrary, as the tone is gradually dimin-
ished the mouth should be gradually per-
mltted to diminish its opening so that the
current of air forming the piano tone shall
not be too much scattered and the tone
thus lose it's carrying power.
In spite Of the dictum of Mancini, previ-
ously quoted, the old Italians seem to have
had moderate notions about the employ
ment Of the MESA di voce. Tosi says: Una
bella MESA di voce in bocca di un profess
sore che non STA avaro, 9 non SO ne serva,
che su le vocal aperti. no manca mai di
fare un ottimo efretto.' Which means;
A beautiful MESA di voce in the mouth Of
q professor who uses it with discretion
and only on clear novels will never fail to
produce a fine effect.
Clara Kathleen Rogers says in regard to
the method of making a MESA di voce:
Singers often think they are making q
crescendo when, in fact, they are doing
nothing of the kind. This is when they press
on some of the throat muscles in their ig-
uorance of how a crescendo is made, and
associate the physical pressure with an in
.rease Of volume of sound.
They do not really hear an increase of
sound, but they take it for granted that
there must be one in response to the pres
rure, which PRESSURE, in point of fact,
simply hardens the tone, or renders it
,remulous-sometimes both. If we would
acquire the skill to swell or decrease the
rolume Of tone at will, we must understand
and bear in mind that it is the breath, Inc
the breath alone, that is physically re-
sponsible for the increase and decrease
Of tone, and not muscular pressure or