Great Falls tribune., 1921-01-29

Washington, Jan. 22.-Washingtol
has been entertaining villa" olaAe'
Ipeare. ch,koe
To US in America the name SNAKES s
peare is generally thought OF u, as ~
served exclusively for the 1saioa, ..a,
Elizabethan playwright. AS avg, :,
|of fact, the name is not uhuslai - -
England. As there is some mysteIy r.
garding Will Shakespeare,s descenis;nths
1T is impossible to say deflnlteis ny n
Iif any, of the Shakespeares OF 'oaa'
are of his line. .ho :
The William Shakespeare who y
stopping in Washington IS snoIi
sturdy old gentleman OF 72 years, VIII =
snowy white hair and mustache ana
|goatee, not unlike that attributed 70 cne
sixteenth century Will. tie IS o'e % u
Englands most famous teacners "
singing.
Here is a man who knew Jenny Llno'
Patti Ruhenstein, List, ana braAnus' y
These artists were born just lew
decades too early to have their music
Ipreserved in phonograph RECORDS aio
the most vivid pictures OF them that we
can get are through their few surviving
friends. Mr. Shakespeare knew tneh
well. and their names, ana tnose "
equally great musicians. are constantly
recurring as he reminlsces or talks
about the art of singing.
He was little puzzled, though tnal
any one should ask especially about the
little things that the immortals said ana
did. but with old school pohfeness Ne
conjured his brain and began TO tel us
|how Rubenstein bewailed to MN,
when / could play no one "ouiu
,Iisten, Now / am old and have los1
my skill, and people call me tue great
est pianist in the world.
Before we could ask him more aoout
Rubenstein. he had risen to show US
photograph of Brahms on the wan; wan;
| Several bars of music were scraWied
below the picture by Brahms when
he presented it to Mr.. Shakespeare,
hut the notes have been somewhat
| blurred.
"That ink said Mr.. Shakespeare
| disanproyingIv. "got blurred when i
| lent the picture TO newspaper tna'
wanted to reproduce it.
But his distrust of the shortcomings
of the press was soon forgotten as he
seated himself comfortably and drew
| a little silver pencil from his pocket,
A Friend Of Jenny Lind
lyon have asked about Jenny Lind.
She gave me this for singing at her
honsn at concert in honor O. The
King of Sweden. The inscription is
nearly worn off because / carry the
pencil all the time
Jenny Lind's sweetness and charm
have been the subject of SO many
stories that you are not surprised when
Mr.. Shakespeare tells one more.
"Solo;sts often think they cannot
afford to waste their voices by singing
in a chorus IF they cannot be stars
they will not be satellites. Jenny Lind
was not like that Once. when l was
a soloist at Bach festival. / thought
the, choir back Of me was singing re-
markably well, and / glanced back and
and saw Jenny Lind singing unnoticed
in the chorus. That was after she
retired from the concert stage. Her
husband conducted the Bach choir and
she often led the choruses."
But Mr. Shakespeare is more in
terested in the song than in the musi-
can. His theories on technique should
be interesting not only to the singer
but to any one who likes to know what.
besides naturally beautiful voice,
constitutes good singing.
THE great thing about voice culture
is breathing" he explained. $50 many
singers breathe noisily and heav-
lily. That is wrong. The breath
should be taken imperceptibly. If the
singer breathes rightly he will be able
to control the breath, giving it out
slowly while he emits the notes. Then
he will not have to gasp and take
a new breath in the middle of phrase.
Singers in Europe used to practice
for hours with lighted candle or a
mirror before them. If the candle
flickered from the force Of the breath,
or if the mirror became tarnished,
while they sang, they knew that the
breath was not under sufficient con-
troll.
Command of the breath is difficult
But then, learning to sing properly is
not easy. Yet--and it sounds like
paradox-the vocalist must pour forth
his notes with perfect freedom. The
throat should be open. so that there is
sense Of freedom at the vocal chords
The singer should be relaxed, because
if the shoulders jaw, tongue, and eye
are fixed, the tones cannot be clear
and soft.
Sing With Your Eyes.
Iampertl. my leacneI IN .hilHH. al
WAYS said that the eye is the mirror
of the voice, and that vivacity of ex
preston is always accompanied by
brightness and life in the voice. The
voice cannot be used independently of
the body You cannot scowl l--so-and
sing lullaby properly. and you can
not SLOUGH and sing well. ] have al
ways insisted on my pupils standing in
q balanced position
Mr.. Shakespeare paused, and his
blue eyes began to twinkle.
II remember one pupil who held her
head so stifflv. and nothing ! could
say would make her bow bit. AS
last resort, ] made as if to seize her
bv the short hair over her forehead,
md she dropped her head gracefully,
inst as 7 had wanted her to do. After
that. I had only TO lift my hand toward
her hair to remind her, and instantly
she bowed. A. ...o,1,
success of the experiment. until her
sister confided to me the secret. She
wore a false bang.
$50 then. when posture. reiaaallon'
and breathing are correct. the Io"nda-
tion is laid for right tone production.
The good singer hts each note more
clearly in the middle Of the sound. re
does NOT let ont the note little ia,
and scoop M TO burst Of good sound
"a common fault. Nor does pc az
- CII