SERMON ON SINGING

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1797, 15 August 1906, Page 15

SERMON ON SINGING

DR DAVIES. BEFORE. SCHOGOb TEACHERS. EPIGRAMMATIC CQMMONSENSE'. '•He wha knows how to breathe anti how to pronounce knows well lioav 'to sing.” With this-happy- epigram ol ' Pacchiatrotti as his text, Hr- E. Harold 1 Davies delivered an excellent sermon . at the Teachers’ Conference, Adelaide, -on Monday, the 2nd July, about some •of the principles of .singing. It was a de.Rghtiiii little gospel tliai he preached—- ■ and practised. Dr Davits gave tho. . laa*ge audience an educat'd o-nal entertain - - me.nt, and there was no excuse for the • piece of modest metaphor that, having -to follow- tho quiet etoqneoice of Dr Smyth, of Melbourne, n-o remarks would be as a draugnt of water to a glass of' wine! “Ii you are used to water., though, I thin a you will enjoy it.” Th© teachers ia.ugiiud an anticipated approval. It wouid have been easy lor Dr Davies to have stumbled into technicalities; but he charmed the congress by the; graceful ruecoric and the simplicity, of terms. lie undenttM>k to- address tne gathering, eo lie.-s&kL in a rash mom-i't o-i confidence, and he .ho peel no one no uni b© sorry for it. (Laughter.)- There v.ae no claim to oratory, and he had not even prepared a peroration! ABC OF SiNGaNG. Like the orthodox preacimr. Dr Davies reit era ied his text and pi a aged i nto Jus sermon. “The pi act ice of -mgmg needs no com men ua Lo-it. Jri.\g:.n.v.a.ay, it is good if rightly biidod on correct im thuds of breathing, Ltireany, .i.»o it is of tho greatest. ;vdvaiu..ige u the songs • -chosen are-of the right i;-aa. (Laughter.) The deff-iuts subject matter of my talk is conuunud -n th.:: text —‘lie who knows how to brCuu.c aid how to pronounce knows wed now to sing.’ When I hist read tins, many years ago, I objected strongly to what appeared to be- a- very impeno::t statement. What about rightly •uenn-. g the rog-io-teio of the voice, one or cue most important considerations to Die singer? "vVhat about placing the tone so as to secure the proper resonance? "What about acquiring a pon set nuance (shades of tone) and all those gradations-. of' intensity which go to inpke a perfect- expressivenww.'' i inse were only a. few objections. w> inicchiarotti's statement, "but- years ol experience have proved them grouiuh«s. iuat simple axiom contains a greater and more comprehensive measure of truth than any other known to me.” SINGING IS SUSTAINED SPEECH.

A few words on the physiology of breathing, anti then —‘'Let uij begin by saving that a. freo m aliwc-i uteiy essential- to singing. The stiff throat is tlm source of ncariy ah troubles. The raising of the shoulders in breathing reacts unfavourably, but rib control saves tho throat from any rigiurty. When it is recognised tlxa-t wuig-ug i« sustained speech, the importance of tiie breath as the motive power wiil be realised. The more sustained the speech the greater the emotional intensity.. Ai singer needs lung ■development. superior to that oi the best athlete. (Appla-nee.) The butils of expression is found in hr ath control. Gradation of tone is secured by the gradation-of breath pressure. Upon the maximum degree of the ‘intake’ or capacity, and .the maximum degree of control depend the character of production and expression. Li • ath rightly adjusted s is also. the saiegir rd of production. A forced voice c n only insult from forced breath pressure. So far ae children’s voices are concerned, there are two definite regisiers-—the lower or chest register, in wir.cii boys especially delight to sing, and the lighter and more- feminine tone, which you may, if- you like, call ‘head register,’ or, if you will have it, the ‘lower thick’ and- the. ‘upper thin.’ (Laughter.) The tendency to force up the chest register and sing as long as possible in this one kind of voice is universal, hence nearly every fault imaginable, including strained production, bad tone. and_ out of tunenees. A little persev mice on the part of the teacher will eh minute the chest register from the children’s voices. Insist on soft singing-—that is, lighter breath pressure. The upper register then finds its full development, and applying this' to l children you would find that soon they would sing a top 3 flat as easily as they now sing E: flat a fifth lower. (Applause.) - HOW TO BREATHE. “It is a fine thing to teach children how to breathe. (Applause.) Few people use* their kings to anyth ng like their full capacity. The intelligent practice of deep breathing would do. a great deal to rid us of many of the ills to which we are heirs. (Hear, hear.) Stiff singing is largely attributable to improper methods of breathing and control. There mlust be rib expansion. Never mind the chest. Let there be the. maximum of distension underneath the shoulder blades. How splendid it would be if We could have breathing drill at our public schools. If we could teach them to breathe in slowly- through their noses, to the full expansion of. the ribs, |

and then to breathe out as slowly as possible. (Hear*, hear.) If the speech be pure there will be sustained purity of song. Italy has always abounded in singpi’9 because of the rich, lengthened vowel or vocal constituents. In countries where the vowels are corrupt, distorted, and curtailed, and consonants multiplied, there are few singers indeed. I do not believe the United States have produced more than one or two singer®, if as many, who have attained anything like European eminence. Mr Edward Branseombc, the organiser of the Westminster Glee Party, told mo that there was a dearth of boys’ voices in America. It was impossible to get boy® for church choirs, and few voices woith listening to. The explanation of that is tho characteristics of the American speech. In many respects Australia is trying to emulate tho Americans. I hope when it comes to speech, and speech in its relation to songv that we shall not try to follow Die American. (Laughter.) PR ON OUNCE PROPERLY.

•‘Speech consist® of two e- sential constituent® —vocals and consonants. it might bo a freak of in imp but. I have always been trying to get a definition of the word consonant. (Laughter). Whatl is .a consonant ? I have never been able to get a really good answer. My best definition is that it is a physical obstruction. (Ju.aigirfcer.) Yon pr« ras the lips together for a. moment, and part them with an exple-ive sort of sound, an d the reran it is ‘7B’ or P.’ You press the tongue hard against the roof of the month and withdraw it quickly, and get “i” or D.’ Tcac.li the ohiltlr.oi tho purity of vocal®. I hey are 00, o, a, o, i. Of these obviously the en-ueor. and most natural one is *a/ and after that ‘i’ and *co.’ The difficulties eoiunnvnco with ‘o’ and ’e.’ and it is cut. r. iy on the malionnatam of those that the current twang of nearly all our children—and nr.’p ad win’?, I regret to nay —is found. Now ‘o’ i.s invariably pronounced ‘gw,’ and 'o’ an ‘ay'. Tho reason for this is in a gt imral tendency to preface each vocal with *a,’ no: —a-;> —ow ; a-c —ay. (Laughter and Hear, hear.) The correct-on of these errors is of lirncLunent.il importance in tho for met ion of a. pure, musical, distinctive tone. The method should he 'to reach tho ‘o’ through ! oo,’ and the ‘o’ through ‘i,’ and then to insist upoi.t tho correct mouth formation ior each vocal. You must ii;s.«t upon the petition of tiie bias, mouth, and tongue being maintained for a pure vocal utterance. It rah on Id be as though there were separate moulds for. eao.i vocal. (Song will not go around corners any mono than light will. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) In teaching I first secure absolute purity of vocals. Tho utmost care should be taken to foster a full and inmtainvd vowel tone. If the sneecli ira pur© the song will be a sustained purity. If the speech is corrupt. the song will be a sustained error. (A uni a use.)

A B!W CM MEN RATION. “I recommend you not to shout when you teach. (Laughter.) One can maintain absolute authority by speaking with measured, distinct utterance. It is just as well, though, to know what you aro going to say. (Laughter.) You must ‘place’ your voice to speak effectively A NATION OF SINGERS? “ ‘lra Australia going to be a nation of singers?’ I have been thinking a- lot about it. Wo have had one or two glorious results in this way already. Everybody knows about Madame Melba and ’ Ada Crossiev. These two alone have raised a reputation for Australia ara a country for the production of voices to a high degree. (Applause.) (A Voice —‘What about Amy Castles?’) Amy Sastles is coming along, tee. You have a great deal to do with this. You have a great deal more to do with it th/m I have. You have thousands of children in' your hands. You have the opportunities to teach them breathing and breath control, right principles af articulation, the value ol pure, unadulterated vocals. (Hear, hear.) On the cultivation of these tilings rostra the future of Australia as a country productive of a race of singers.’ (Applause .)— “Register.”