Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-22
An Interview With
Shakespeare
Nv Frederic J IIaskin

ton has been entertaining William shake
speare.
10 us IN America the name shakesears
IL generally thought Of as fser sed ex-
oltaively for the famous Eiizalettian
playwright As matter Of fact, the nans
is not unusual IL England As there u
some mystery regarding VIII shakespsare,s y
descendants IL "a impossible 70 say defi-
nitaly which, II any, Of The Shskespeares
of today ARE ~ his line.
The William Shakespeare who ~ stop.
ping N Washington ia a sh ort, sturdy old
gentleman of ~ years, with snowy white
hair and mustache, and gnatee, not
unlike that attributed 90 the 10Th CEN
tify wiz, He Ia one of Enplsnds most
famous teachers Of singing.
Here IL a man who knew Jenny Lind,
Patti, Hubenstein, Liszt, and Brahms.
These artists were born just few decades
too enriy ~ have their music preserved
IN phonograph records and the most
vivid pictures tof them that pe san yet
are through their few surviving friends.
Mr.. Shakespeare knew them well, and
their names and those ~ equally great
muaicinns are constantly recurring as be
reminiaces or talks about the art Of sing
ing
lie was a little puzzled though, that
any one should ask especially about
the little things that the mmortals said
and did, but with old school politeness ne
conIred bic brain and began % tell us
haw' Rubenstein bswailed 70 him, When
! could play no one would listen. Now
I am old ard have lost my skill, and
people call me the greatest pianist n he
world
Before we could sTk him more about
Rubenstein. ne had risen 20 shov rs q
photograph of Brahms on the wall Ssv-
eral bars of music we're sorawled below
the picture by Brahms when he presented
il o. Mr. Shakespeare, but the notes have
been sofnewhat blurred
That ink. said Mr. Shakespeare dis :
approvinRly got blurred when ! lent
the picture , . Newspaper that wanted 70
reproduce Il
But his distrIst of tho shortcomings
of the press was soon forgotten az he
seated himself comfortably and drew q
III tie silver pencil from his pocket
FRIEND gF JEgvY TrND.
You have asked about Jenny Lind
She ave me this for singing At her house
~ a concert n honor of the King Of Swsd (
on The inscription ls nearly worn of
because I carry the pencil al the time
Jenny Tands sweetness ard charm
have bean the subject ~ - many stories
that you srs not surprised when Mr.
Shakespeare I els ono more
Soloists often think they cannot
afford ~ waste thair Voices by singing IN a
chorus n they cannot be stars they wil ]
not be satellites Jenny Lind was not
like that Once. when was q sol0ist at a
Bach festival ihwight the choir bsek Of
me was singing remarkably we'll, and
glanced bsck and saw Jenny Lind sing
ing unnoticed in the chorus That was
after she retired from the concert stage
Har husband conducted the Bach choir
and she often led the ehor1lses
Rut Mr. Shakespeare is nors inter-
ested in the song than in the musician
His theories on tschnjqus should be in
terestlng not only 70 the singer but 70
any ons who likes n know what, besides
a s.atlrally beautiful voiee, constitutes
good Hinglng.
The great ching about voice culture
is breathing. he explained 20 man Y
z,nxara breathe nosiy aud heavily. Tnat
IL wong. The breath should ne taken i'm
nercsrtsblv II the singer bTeathss rightly
he wiI De able 70 control the breath,
giving IL out slowly while ne srnits the
notes Then he viii not have n gasp and
take n new breath n The middle 0f
phrase
Singers IN Europe used 70 practice
for hours with a lighted candle 0r a mirror
before them. II the candle iiickered from
the force III the breath 0r 4 the mirror
became tarnlshed while tdey sang, they
knew that the breath wasnot under
sufficient control
Command of the breath is difficult.
But trgn learning 70 sing properly - not
easy Yet and t sounds like paradox
the vocalist must pour forth his notes
with pecfect freedom. The throat should
10 opeu, 50 that there 3 4 sense OF free
dom at toe vocal chords. the singer
should be relaxed. because IL the shoulders,
Jaw, tongue. and eve are fixed, the tones
cannot be ciea- and soft.
SING WITH YoCa ErEs.
aLamper5l. nv teacher in Milan, always
said that thc eva is the mirror 81 the v0ise,
and tnat ylvAcity of EXPIRE sslon IS always
acsDm0 a1ua1 bv brightness and LIE IN
the voice. The voice cannot be used in
depsnientlv 81 tie body. You GAnnO
sc1wl -so--ani sing a lullaby properly
ani VOL cannot sl0ach aud sing we'll.
have always insisted on my pupils stand
ing in 4 balanced position.
Mr. Shakespeare paused, and his blue
ewes began 70 twinkle.
T remembe- one pupil VINO held her
heal = stiflv. AMI nothing | could say
would make he. bow a bit. As \ last re-
sort, m de a. il To seize he BY tie short
hair Owe her forehead. and she dropped
her head 2 g-acefally.. just rs I had wanted
her 20 do Aftec that I hal oaly % lift
mv hand toward her hai- to remIn1 he-,
and instantly she bowed.
Il WAS puzzled over the inevitable sue
cess Of the experiment. until her sister
oon6deI 10 me the secret She wore n
false bang
SO then. when posture. elaxatlon and
breathing are correct. the foundation Is
laid for right tone production The good
singer hits each note more clearly in the
middle Of the sound He does not let out
the note little fat and scoop up % a
burst OF good sound-a common fault
Nor does ne attack the note toe high and
slide down to the proper pitch. His tones
are pure ard emitted with assurance, and
what is OF great Importance, the syllables
are clear When a song is a lunble Of
meaningless sounds it is not well sung
remember hearing Patti sing in \ hall Sc
enormous that she looked like pigmy on
the stage We were at a great distance
from her. and vet from the first note,