The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17


N n Tuesday was a very valuable
lN lesson in singing. This is
hardly the right place for the
discussion Of purely technical points.
but for once the writer may be pardoned
for referring to one because Nine. Sem
brichs singing 80 strikingly illustrates
il. All singers know what are called
head tones OF course the name Is un-
scientific, but it is the accepted ono
and must therefore be used. Mime. Sem
brich sings head tones perfectly and
this is the secret of the aerial quality
Of her upper scale.
Some teachers assert that women
have no head tones, which Is quite flu
tile. They hold that head tones are the
exclusive property of men. They should
listen more attentitely to the singers
whose head tones are beautifully de-
veloped. Lucrezla Bori, for example,
has excellent head tones Miss Farrar
apparently does not even suspect that
such things exist, as far as can he
judged from her singing. Mime. Dostinn
employs them with ravishng effect at
times. Nine. Ober seems never 20 have
heard Of them.
Singers who have no command of
head tones have no equalization Of reg
lsters.
Registers are equalized not by car
rying quality up from below but 10y
carrying it down from above.
The singer who can~sing head tones
far down into the medium never has
any trouble about breaks" between
registers.
The proper way to train a voice for
smoothncss and equality of t1re l., TO
train II from the head tones downwar
The writer bcgs leave to add that
this is a subject which he has studied
with a number of teachers and artists,
among whom may he mer tiored the
late Frank King Clark. Esperanla Car
rigue Marcella SembriCh. Jean dc
Rcszke, Edouard de Reszkc and Lillian
Eordica
When singers and students Of sing
ing go to hear such an artist rs Nine.
Sembrich and hear her ravisn'nE de-
livery Of the rapid melodies of "Auf-
traeSe' or the delicate floating phrases
OF Der Sandman" when the; hear
the perfectly forward" tone. the rXdui-
site quality of II and note the c,nsl,r,-
mate ease of the enunciation. KEY
ought to be able to perceive that all
this rests upon the command of leai
tone.
When the tone is thrown into tho
back Of the throat and the muscles Of
the throat and the face are forced Into
tense effort in order to control il The
results are inevitable. The first is a
hard metallic and unmuslcal tone and
the second is the disappearance of
enunciation
No one can enuncate any language
hy trying to shape the vowel sounds
far back in the throat. The vowel
sounds are the tone generators, and
when they are badly made good tone
and Ineligible enunciatlon are both
impossible.
So much for a simple matter Of tech
mic, 1t is very simple as is everything
else connected with the pure mechanics
Of singing. III trained singers make
singing appear to be very difficult
thing. because IL is much more laborioue
to sing badly than to sing well. \ good
technic enables one to sing like .keats's
nightingale, lin fun throated ease" But
since the majority Of people hear al
their singing al the opera. where toe
many of the performers sing very badly
they get misleading ideas about tho
vocal art
Seeing Emma Calve. radiant and still
beautiful, sitting in a box AT Nine. Sem,
br'ch's recital on Tuesday afternoon re-,
called to THE SrN's music reviewer
some OF the vain things which wer,
said about that great artist in her year,
or glory at the Metropolitan. 1t wa,
the custom to speak of her singing an
her acting in her Carmen as il the,
were two wholly unrelated matters.
One might just as well go to tn,
theatre and comment on Mr.. Sothern'
acting and his reading of the lines a
II they were unrelated. How any on
can convince himself that a theatrica
impersonation can he carried on with