The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-22
Frederic Haskin's Letter
An,Interview With Shakespeare.

IDLY. II the singer breathe. -.
he will be able to contrnI 8
breath. giving it out Slow, ~
he emfts the notes. Than s
not have to grasp and Ia. ! ~
breath In the middle Of a ~.
Singers in Europe used IA !.
tice for hours with a lirhtsa
die or . mirror before them = !,
candle flickered from the fo,.
the breath. or if the mirror 49,
furnished. while they SAM Il
knew that the breath was nos ~.
sufncient control. 3ua
Command of the breath !. \.
fcult. But then, learning - w
properly is not easy. Yet-s,ss
sounds like a paradox-the vocsn
must pour forth his notes v,,n ~
feet freedom. The throat ehs g,
be open, so that there is a s.n. Sa !,
freedom at the vocal chods NJ
singer should be relaxed Me-
II the shoulders, jaw, ton,ns ~
eye are fixed. the tones csnnc. - =
clean and soft.
Sing With Tour Eyes
Lamperti, my teacher in m.
always said that the eye il the =.
FOR OF the voice. and that yi,.S
Of expression is always accom~.
led by brightness and life n n.
voice. The voice cannot be ~
independently of the bedv Wv
cannot scowl-so-and sing a Inn. nv
by properly, and you cannot slca.s
and sing we'll. l have alvays !,
sisted on my pupils STANDING !.
balanced position"
Mr.. Shakespeare paused. ana N.
blue eyes began to twinkle "
Il remember one pupil who Nal.
her head so stiffly, and noth,rs 1
could say would make her hov .
bit. AZ . last resort, 1 made !, !.
to seize her BY the short hair o,,,
her forehead, and she dropped ~,
head gracefully, just as l had want M
ed her to do. After that. I hM
only to lift my hand toward ~.
hair b reminr her, and instant,
she bowed.
Il was puzzled over the newt.
able success of the experiment
until her sister confided to me ths
secret. She wore a false bang
so then. when posture, relar,.
tion. and breathing are correct N.
foundation is laid for right ton.
production. The good singer hit,
eachsnote more clearly in the mid.
die of the sound. He does not IL,
cut the note a little fat and scoop
up to a burst of good sound-a com.
mon fault. Nor does he attack II,
note too high and slide down "a
the proper pitch. His tones ar
pure and emitted with assurance
and what is of great importance, II,
syllables are clear. When q SOM
is tumble of meaningless sound.
it is not well sung. l remembe,
hearing Patti sing in a hall SO enor.
nous that she looked like a pigmy
on the stage. We were at a grea,
distance from her, and yet from
the first note, every word Of her
songs was distinct"
Mr.. Shakespeare's life from boy.
hood has been dedicated to music
AS a boy Of II, he played the organ
in an English church.
Il did not like to practice" be
says naively, but after some years
Of study l became a pianist and
came up from my country town to
London"
Here he took a scholarship at the
Royal Academy of Music for piano
playing and composition, and wrote
a concerto which Gounod pro-
nounced beautiful, and which won
him the Mendelssohn scholarship to
Leipsig. There he was told thu,
his voice had possibilities, and be
went on to Milan to study with TIE
famous teacher, Lamperi.
When he came back to London
he instantly was besieged with re
quests to sing at this and that ora
torio and concert, and pupils begar
to come to him, so many of then
that finally he gave up his career al
a singer and devoted all his time Il
teaching his art.