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Cornell University Library 
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THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 AND 
 
 VOCAL DECLAMATION 
 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
 ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 
 
 LONDON • BOMBAY ■ CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
The Art of Singing 
 
 and 
 
 Vocal Declamation 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir CHARLES SANTLEY 
 
 Nefa got* 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 1908 
 
 All rigbis reurvcJ 
 
Copyright, i^, 
 Bv THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1908. 
 
 Vatfnaatr ^rees 
 
 J. S. CuBhing Co. — Berwick & Smith Go. 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
TO 
 
 PAULINE FIARDOT GARCIA 
 Dear Pauline, 
 
 Although an unworthy offering to your 
 great genius, I dedicate this work to you ; as what- 
 ever of good it may contain is chiefly the result of the 
 influence of that genius, and the valuable instruction 
 I received from your lamented brother Manuel. 
 
 I pray you, accept my offering as a small token of 
 my esteem and affection. 
 
 Your devotedly attached Friend, 
 
 C. SANTLET. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introductorv ..... 
 
 1. Advice to Young People desirous 
 
 of joining the vocal profession 
 
 2. On the Qualifications necessary to 
 
 FORM A Singer . 
 
 3. On the Choice of a Master 
 
 4. To THE Pupil 
 
 5. The Use of Tobacco 
 
 6. The Sister Arts . 
 
 7. Obedience 
 
 8. To the Pupil (^continued) 
 
 9. Study of Vocal Works 
 
 10. Dramatic Conception . 
 
 1 1 . The Continuation of Same 
 At the Base of the Ladder 
 About Theatres and Halls built 
 
 EXPRESSLY FOR MuSICAL, DrAMATIC, 
 
 AND Oratorical Purposes . 
 vii 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 rAGE 
 
 iz 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 27 
 36 
 40 
 46 
 49 
 S3 
 66 
 70 
 81 
 
 93 
 
viu THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 PAGE 
 
 14. About Self ..... 104 
 
 ic. Aboxtt Acting . . . .116 
 
 / 
 16. About Rehearsal and Performance izg 
 
 Post Scriptum . . . . .136 
 
 Epitaph ...... 144 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 For some time regret has been expressed 
 that the Art of Singing is dying out. 
 There is no reason why it should; but 
 it will die out if the system of teaching 
 at present generally in vogue continues. 
 
 There is only one system by which 
 anything — art, science, or profession — 
 can be learned ! 
 
 A housemaid can never become expert 
 if she does not first learn to handle 
 broom, brush, and duster; carpets will 
 be worn to shreds, furniture scratched, 
 ornaments defaced, long before they 
 ought to show the least sign of "wear 
 and tear." 
 
 If such be the effect of imperfect 
 education in the ordinary profession of 
 
X THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 keeping a house clean and orderly, what 
 must be the necessity for acquiring first 
 principles in order to attain perfection 
 in the exercise of one, if not the most 
 difficult of all arts ! 
 
 In the course of the remarks I intend 
 to make, I wish it to be distinctly 
 understood that I make them as adviser, 
 not as dictator. They will be opinions 
 formed on theoretical and practical 
 experience extending over upwards of 
 sixty years. As I have always minutely 
 studied the results of the work of those 
 artistes with whom I have been asso- 
 ciated, as well as of my own, I believe 
 I may justly hope that my remarks will 
 prove useful to those who are desirous 
 of studying singing with the object of 
 adopting the vocal art as a profession. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that because 
 in modern compositions for the voice 
 there is an absence, or nearly so, 
 of "fioritura," the exercise of scales, 
 solfeggi, etc., is unnecessary; as such 
 
INTRODUCTORY xi 
 
 exercises have other two objects of 
 greater importance than that of acquir- 
 ing even rapid execution, viz. of equal- 
 ising the quahty and power of the 
 voice, and of preserving it intact until 
 age destroys its charm. 
 
 It is a general idea that florid music 
 was introduced to "show off" the 
 technical ability of the singer. It was 
 not! The "fioritura" is a great assist- 
 ance to declamation, whether in serious 
 or comic {buffo) music. "Plain chant" 
 is the most ancient vocal music, I 
 believe, in use at the present day; I 
 could quote innumerable examples of 
 it from the Gradual and other music 
 books used in the Roman Church, 
 abounding in "fioriture." They surely 
 could not have been written to "show 
 off" the technical ability of the monks 
 or priests whose office it was to sing 
 them; but by holding the ear in sus- 
 pense with attractive sound, to intensify 
 materially the declamation of the text ! 
 
xii THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 There must have been a reason for 
 wedding words to music and singing 
 instead of reciting them. A sonorous 
 singing voice is more sympathetic than 
 a speaking voice, and consequently, 
 when well trained, makes more, and 
 a more lasting, impression on the gen- 
 erality of mankind ; moreover, a singing 
 voice properly trained is more dis- 
 tinctly audible in a large space than 
 a speaking voice of equal powef. 
 
 This probably led to the adoption of 
 musical representation in the theatre, 
 and so laid the foundation of the opera, 
 for which the training of the singers 
 must have been severe, judging from 
 exercises written by the old singing 
 masters from the end of the seventeenth 
 to the early part of the nineteenth 
 century, which few of the best singers 
 of the present day could execute with- 
 out a considerable amount of study. 
 They embrace every species of florid 
 and sustained singing, besides afford- 
 
INTRODUCTORY xiii 
 
 ing the dramatically gifted student the 
 means of attaining proficiency in vocal 
 declamation. 
 
 Most of the composers of vocal 
 music of our own day have either been 
 ignorant of or have paid no attention 
 to the capabilities of the human voice; 
 and for this reason alone it is impera- 
 tive that young singers should be per- 
 fectly exercised in the rudiments of 
 singing, that they may know how to 
 husband their resources, so as to avoid 
 unnecessary "wear and tear." How 
 many voices, originally sonorous and 
 sympathetic, are utterly ruined through 
 the study of unvocal so-called dramatic 
 music, before the rudiments of singing 
 have been thoroughly mastered ! 
 
 The voice is the most sympathetic 
 and the most perfect of all musical 
 instruments, but being at the same 
 time the most delicate, in its exercise 
 during study, and afterwards during the 
 singer's career, it must be treated with 
 
xiv THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 the utmost care and attention. I will 
 point out the only means by which this 
 can be accomplished. It must be clearly 
 understood that by singer I mean the 
 person whose object is, being possessed 
 of the necessary qualifications, to become 
 an artiste, not the one whose sole object 
 is to use those qualifications merely to 
 make money. 
 
 It is a generally received idea that a 
 singer's life is a merry one — little to do, 
 storms of applause, topped-up with 
 sacks of gold, and amusement without 
 end. My experience does not confirm 
 that idea in the least; my anticipation 
 which pointed to merriment broke 
 down in the realisation. No gold nor 
 amusement could repay the toil, worry, 
 and disappointment of a singer's life as 
 I know it. 
 
 I have been happy when my con- 
 science told me my performance was 
 good, and I received the congratulations 
 of those who I knew praised it con- 
 
INTRODUCTORY xv 
 
 scientiously, and in whose judgment I 
 had faith. The happiest time of my 
 musical life were the two hours a week 
 I spent at the rehearsals of the "Societa 
 Armonica," where I played principal 
 second violin for four or five years 
 previous to my leaving Liverpool to 
 continue my vocal studies in Milan. I 
 was not much of an executant, but 
 being a good sight-reader and time- 
 keeper, I was entrusted with that post 
 by our director. My first year in Milan 
 was a happy time, as I felt I was work- 
 ing with an object; except that I ex- 
 perienced an occasional pang when I was 
 reminded that I ought to be making 
 a name and earning my living at the 
 Scala or other great theatre, knowing 
 that I was not yet sufficiently advanced 
 to aspire to engagements at such im- 
 portant houses. I may say that with 
 that year ended for me the merry side 
 of the singer's life. Wandering from 
 one agent's office to another, to be told 
 
xvi THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 I had not sufficient voice to sing in a 
 theatre, and that my style of singing 
 was not adapted to the exigencies of 
 the then pubhc taste, that it was nec- 
 essary to have the voice of a bullock 
 and to sing like a butcher, were not 
 encouraging, to say the least. This is 
 the story of all those who earnestly 
 endeavour to repay the talents entrusted 
 to them with interest. I am witness 
 to the struggle every day, and my great 
 object in writing this book is to warn 
 those who are about to enter the arena 
 of what they will have to encounter, 
 and at the same time to encourage 
 them to fight valiantly, and never lose 
 sight of the goal as long as their powers 
 last. If they are faithful to their trust, 
 they will reap the only reward worth 
 fighting for — the satisfaction of having 
 done their duty. 
 
THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 AND 
 
 VOCAL DECLAMATION 
 
ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 DESIROUS OF JOINING THE 
 
 VOCAL PROFESSION 
 
 Many young people are induced to 
 believe they will attain eminence as 
 vocal artistes; — because they have great 
 ambition, that they feel it is the line 
 they are called to adopt, that music is 
 their only joy; because their parents 
 and intimate friends declare they have 
 but to go through a course of training, 
 if only for a short period, to arrive at 
 the "top of the tree"; because, being 
 engaged in some commercial or other 
 business, they find the close confine- 
 ment of an office, shop, or factory 
 
2 THE ART OF SINGING i 
 
 engenders headache and general lassi- 
 tude and cramps their genius; because 
 having been well brought up, and 
 owing to the death or failure of the 
 family bread-winner they find them- 
 selves reduced to comparative poverty, 
 they wish to exercise their musical 
 knowledge and faculties in the laudable 
 endeavour to provide for themselves 
 and reinstate their family in comfort. 
 
 Ambition is a virtue if tempered with 
 discretion, which, however, is rarely 
 developed to sufficient extent for the 
 purpose in the young; therefore it 
 would be well for parents to instil into 
 the minds of their children the neces- 
 sity for cultivating this virtue, in order 
 that their ambition may not run wild 
 and lead them to attempt things for 
 which they do not possess the natural 
 qualifications. At the same time it is 
 cruel as well as stupid to curb ambi- 
 tion without due consideration (and 
 advice from an adept, in case the 
 
1 ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE 3 
 
 parents are not conversant with the 
 object of the child's ambition), with 
 harsh commands or cynical words. 
 
 The ambition to become a wealthy 
 merchant would only end in failure if 
 not guided by discretion; but the 
 lesson derived from the failure would 
 lead a courageous man to make a fresh 
 start and probably succeed, whereas in 
 the Fine Arts such uncurbed ambition 
 could only end in total shipwreck. 
 The adventurer might make money, 
 but could never become an artiste. If 
 we reflect on the number of those who 
 have arrived at artistic excellence — how 
 few they are when compared with the 
 population of the universe — a mere 
 handful ! 
 
 A danger to be carefully avoided in 
 choosing any one of the Fine Arts as 
 a profession is the interference of 
 ignorant, injudicious friends, who, hav- 
 ing no knowledge of Art, or of the 
 qualifications necessary to form an 
 
4 THE ART OF SINGING i 
 
 artiste, raise hopes (already too eagerly 
 nursed) which can rarely be fulfilled. 
 
 Those who pay for the solace or 
 amusement they find in exhibitions of 
 pictures, musical and dramatic per- 
 formances or reading, have a perfect 
 right to enjoy all the pleasure they 
 derive from them, but that does not 
 constitute them connoisseurs of paint- 
 ing, music, the drama, or literature, all 
 of which require an intimate knowledge 
 of their rudiments to judge of their 
 merits and of the talent of the artistes 
 who conceived and executed them. If 
 such be the case with regard to works 
 already executed and their executants, 
 it must be of paramount importance 
 that those Who are called upon to 
 judge of qualifications and talents in 
 embryo should be thoroughly acquainted 
 with the exigencies of Art and the 
 qualifications necessary to form an 
 artiste, it being a question of a life 
 made or marred. 
 
I ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE 5 
 
 The only adviser to be consulted is 
 a conscientious, practical artiste who has 
 "gone through the mill" and come out 
 stamped "genuine"! 
 
 I urge this point emphatically, as in 
 the course of my career I have come 
 across many lives wrecked through the 
 interference of injudicious, ignorant 
 parents and friends which might have 
 turned out successful. I use the word 
 ignorant only as regards the Fine Arts. 
 
II 
 
 ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 
 NECESSARY TO FORM A SINGER 
 
 It is said that on being asked what 
 were the quahfications necessary to 
 form a singer, Rossini replied, "Voice! 
 Voice! Voice!" but it is quite evident, 
 from even a casual acquaintance with 
 the music he wrote for singers, that 
 there must be something more than 
 voice alone, or there will be no singer. 
 An artiste with very little voice, if it 
 be of a sympathetic quality, could not 
 fail to give pleasure to an audience 
 composed of artistes, but audiences are 
 very rarely so composed. Among a 
 large audience at the opera, or in the 
 concert room, the small number of 
 
 6 
 
II QUALIFICATIONS FOR A SINGER 7 
 
 those capable of judging of the per- 
 formance or the performers may be 
 generally counted on the fingers of 
 the two hands at most, the major 
 number being solely attracted by a 
 sonorous voice. 
 
 Very often a singer is dubbed great 
 who possesses little or no merit, be- 
 yond beauty and power of voice, which 
 would almost lead to the supposition 
 that artistic cultivation is unnecessary 
 — that it is, in fact, labour thrown 
 away. 
 
 If a large reward is to be earned by 
 voice alone, why spend time, labour, and 
 money on acquiring artistic excellence ? 
 Here the money-making question enters, 
 and that I have already abjured. Given 
 a sonorous voice of sufficient compass, 
 one, whose aim is to use it as an 
 artiste, must be gifted with a true 
 ear, accent, the sense, if not the know- 
 ledge, to a certain extent, of harmony; 
 besides the gifts necessary for all who 
 
8 THE ART OF SINGING ii 
 
 enter on an important career — untiring 
 patience and perseverance, and the 
 courage to be undismayed by repeated 
 failure and the adverse criticism of 
 "candid friends." 
 
Ill 
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 
 
 It is said that at the present time there 
 are about ten thousand persons engaged 
 in teaching singing in London alone; 
 in the larger provincial towns there is 
 a large number; in the smaller the 
 organist of the parish church and other 
 places of worship almost invariably 
 teaches singing. A short time ago a 
 friend, a teacher of singing, remarked 
 to me that nowadays every individual 
 who found it difficult to make a living 
 turned his or her attention to "teaching 
 singing" or "selling coals"; probably 
 an exaggerated statement, but no doubt 
 there are hundreds who teach "singing" 
 and "production of the voice" who never 
 9 
 
ro THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 had a lesson in "singing" in their lives, 
 and do not know what they mean by 
 "production of the voice."' I have 
 been asked to take a pupil for "sing- 
 ing" who had already received twelve 
 months' instruction in "production," 
 which is simply an exhibition of crass 
 ignorance on the part of the person who 
 asked the question, the intended pupil, 
 and his "production" master; as what 
 is called "production" cannot be taught 
 without teaching singing, and vice versa. 
 A master must be an accomplished 
 practical artiste, gifted with the faculty 
 of imparting his knowledge, and must 
 ever bear in mind the trouble and 
 anxiety he ca-used his master, especially 
 during the course of his early studies. 
 If I were questioned as to the requisites 
 of a singing master, as Rossini to the 
 question regarding those of a singer, 
 I would reply, " Patience ! Patience ! 
 
 1 The " production " of the voice is Nature's worlc ; the 
 singing-master's worlc begins with teaching the '* emission '* 
 of the voice after its " production." 
 
m THE CHOICE OF A MASTER ii 
 
 Patience!" A singing master has the 
 most trying task of all teachers ! He 
 has to teach an instrument which cannot 
 be seen except by an expert, and cannot 
 be touched at any time for practical 
 purposes. He must do all in his power 
 by precept and example to develop 
 moral as well as musical, poetical, and 
 dramatic sentiment, and instil in the 
 minds of his pupils the necessity for 
 strict attention to bodily health and 
 grace of speech and movement. Bodily 
 ill-health will cause diminution of so- 
 nority, and at times total loss of voice ; 
 rough speech will cause the loss of kind 
 and influential friends; ungainly move- 
 ment of the body will seriously diminish 
 the effect an otherwise promising young 
 artiste might be expected to make when 
 called upon to face an audience. 
 
 As far as numbers are concerned 
 there are plenty of masters to choose 
 from. I might, without impropriety, 
 paraphrase what Max O'Rell says in 
 
12 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 Jonathan and his Continent — "The 
 population of the United States numbers 
 about 60,000,000, chiefly colonels"! — 
 and say "the professional musical popu- 
 lation of England numbers about so 
 many thousands, chiefly masters"! 
 There is the only professor of the true 
 Italian method, " il bel canto Italiano" ; 
 the only professor who understands 
 the management of the breath (with a 
 newly invented pair of bellows); there 
 is the professor of voice production 
 (in my early days the birch rod was 
 considered the ablest professor of that 
 art), and innumerable other onlys, 
 including one who styled himself on 
 his professional card "Voice Builder." 
 To any daring individual desirous of 
 following in this gentleman's footsteps, 
 I would venture to remark that even 
 a good builder, unless he were also a 
 good architect, or employed one, would 
 be very liable to build here and pull 
 down there at random, and so endanger, 
 
in THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 13 
 
 if not destroy, the beauty and solidity 
 of his building. 
 
 A teacher of singing must be, or 
 must have been, a good singer. It is 
 not enough that he should have mixed 
 with or heard good singers, or have 
 accompanied them either as orchestral 
 conductor or on the pianoforte or other 
 instrument; such experiences may give 
 him an insight into the effects an artiste 
 can produce, but they will afford him 
 none into the means by which these 
 effects are produced. As well might I 
 undertake to teach the organ, having 
 blown the bellows for my father when 
 he practised the organ; or the piano- 
 forte because I turned over the leaves 
 for him whilst he played the pianoforte, 
 as an organist or pianist undertake to 
 teach singing whose only knowledge of 
 the art is derived from accompanying 
 singers. Without a thorough know- 
 ledge of the rudiments it is impossible 
 to teach anything, an^ these cannot be 
 
14 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 picked up at random; they must be 
 mastered by study and exercise. 
 
 It is very important that students 
 should be placed, from the beginning, 
 under a thoroughly competent master, 
 as inferior tuition may ruin a voice, 
 or certainly so far impair its quality 
 and power as to cost much trouble and 
 time to restore its original strength 
 and freshness. In the first place, the 
 register of the voice, soprano, con- 
 tralto, tenor, or bass, must be clearly 
 established. These, again, are sub- 
 divided into high soprano, dramatic 
 soprano, mezzo soprano, high or florid 
 tenor, robust tenor, high baritone, low 
 baritone, or basso cantante, and bass. 
 
 In England these distinctions are not 
 properly observed ; a singer is supposed 
 to be capable of singing whatever music 
 is written in the soprano, alto, tenor, 
 or bass clef respectively. At times, no 
 doubt, there will be found some difli- 
 culty, even by an experienced master, in 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 15 
 
 deciding to which class a particular 
 voice belongs, if it is of more than 
 ordinary limited or extensive compass; 
 the quality of the voice, not its com- 
 pass, is the only reliable test. 
 
 As I cannot illustrate this better than 
 by my own case, I will, though I dislike 
 doing so, speak of myself. When my 
 voice recovered after the usual break 
 (which occurred to me before I was 
 fourteen years of age), my father insisted 
 on my singing tenor, which I did, con- 
 trary to my own opinion that I was not 
 a tenor. As such I passed an examina- 
 tion before the committee of the Liver- 
 pool Philharmonic Society on my fif- 
 teenth birthday, 28th February 1849, 
 and was unanimously elected a perform- 
 ing member of the Society, and took 
 part in the chorus at the festival with 
 which their present fine hall was opened 
 (I will say, by the way, the most com- 
 plete and comfortable hall, both for 
 public and artistes, I have ever sung in) 
 
i6 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 in the month of August of the same 
 year. The morning performances in- 
 cluded Elijah, The Messiah, Rossini's 
 Stahat Mater, Mendelssohn's Lauda 
 Sion, and selections from Israel in 
 Egypt and other works; the evening 
 concerts included, for the chorus, some 
 madrigals, four-part songs, etc. My 
 voice suffered from excitement and the 
 work, butrecovered in a day or two. I felt 
 sure that my own opinion of the register 
 of my voice was correct, but I submitted 
 to my father's decree, and continued as 
 I had begun until I arrived at the age 
 of seventeen to eighteen, when I re- 
 belled and dropped into the bass clef. 
 I was then (as I had a certain power in 
 the low notes) pronounced a bass, and 
 sang any music written in the bass clef 
 which fell to my lot. When I was 
 studying in Milan, 1855 to 1857, my 
 master, Gaetano Nava, kept me to the 
 baritone parts of Rossini, Donizetti, 
 Bellini, Mercadante, and others of that 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 17 
 
 school, with an occasional dip into the 
 more exacting Verdi. It was not until 
 I made my operatic debut with the 
 "Pyne and Harrison" company in 
 1859 as Hoel in Dinorah, that my real 
 register was revealed to me (high bari- 
 tone); I then began to see my way 
 and feel my legs; the future depended 
 on the use I might make of experience. 
 After singing the same part every night 
 for six weeks running, I changed it on 
 the Monday of the seventh week for that 
 of Count di Luna in The Trovatore; 
 and continued in these and other operas 
 throughout the season, which lasted 
 nearly six months, every night, except 
 during a part of the run of the panto- 
 mime, and two nights when I was pre- 
 vented by a bad cold from appearing 
 during the run of Lurline, by W. V. 
 Wallace, the last opera produced that 
 season. My part in it, Rhineberg, was 
 intended for a bass, but what of it was 
 already written Wallace transposed to 
 
i8 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 suit my register, and my part in the 
 last act, which was not written until 
 after he had heard me, he wrote ex- 
 pressly for me. 
 
 I made my debut in Italian opera at 
 Covent Garden in 1862, when I took 
 the part of the Conte di Luna in // 
 Trovatore for three nights in place of 
 Graziani to oblige Mr. Gye. Shortly 
 after, in the same season, I was engaged 
 by Mapleson for Her Majesty's Theatre, 
 and remained with him there until the 
 theatre was burned down in 1867, and 
 afterwards at Drury Lane and Covent 
 Garden until 1869. My last season in 
 Italian opera in London was with George 
 Wood at Drury Lane in 1870, when 
 I played Vanderdecken in The Flying 
 Dutchman, the first opera of Wagner 
 produced in England. 
 
 During my operatic career, with the 
 exception of Vanderdecken, Caspar in 
 Der Freischutz, Leporello in Don Gio- 
 vanni, St. Bris in Les Huguenots, 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 19 
 
 and my work at the "festivals," I sang 
 none but pure baritone parts. 
 
 As I have already said, I introduce 
 this portion of my work by way of illus- 
 tration, and, I will now add, also by way 
 of advice and warning. Had I followed 
 the commands of my first musical in- 
 structor, to keep to the tenor clef, or 
 the advice of would-be instructors when 
 I adopted the bass clef, the inevitable 
 result would have been ruin to, or total 
 loss of, my voice. 
 
 I owe the preservation of my voice to 
 the study of the best vocal exercises I 
 could find — the study of the result of 
 study, in the work of the great singers it 
 was my privilege to hear from an early 
 age, and to my good fortune in being 
 able to use my voice in its proper regis- 
 ter, with slight deviation, for a number 
 of years. 
 
 Since I have been a singing master, 
 I have found that these two great 
 requisites to form a vocal artiste, viz. 
 
20 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 the study of vocal exercises and the 
 study of the work of great artistes, are 
 almost universally neglected. A few 
 exercises are got through, not studied, 
 and the pupil is in too short a time 
 launched into the study (if it can be 
 called study where the preparation for 
 study is lacking) of difl&cult music ; and 
 the study of artistes is confined to criti- 
 cism without the knowledge necessary to 
 form an opinion, or to the adoration of 
 an idol of an ignorant public. There is 
 no doubt there is fault on both sides, but 
 I ascribe the greater fault to the master. 
 It is his business to ascertain the natural 
 compass of each pupil's voice. In order 
 to develop its quality and power, it is 
 absolutely necessary that all exercises be 
 adapted to that compass, so as not to 
 force the voice beyond it, up or down. 
 It is here that the experienced prac- 
 tical singer is required. An instru- 
 mentalist, however accomplished, cannot 
 be of any service. An instrumental 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 21 
 
 pupil has an instrument of wood or 
 iron, or both, under his hands; the 
 vocal pupil one of flesh and blood, 
 which he can neither see nor touch, at 
 any rate when in action. I have had 
 great trouble with pupils taught by 
 instrumentalists, and also with others 
 taught by singers, who, though they may 
 be worthy of admiration as vocalists, 
 earnest and well-intentioned though they 
 may be, do not possess the requirements 
 of a teacher, or, having them, have not 
 formed any system by which they could 
 be made available. 
 
 Another and most cogent reason why 
 a master must be a practical singer is, 
 that he must be prepared to illustrate 
 practically what he teaches. True, a 
 vioHnist or 'cellist could "sing" a par- 
 ticular phrase on his instrument, but that 
 would teach the pupil nothing more than 
 how that phrase could be rendered — the 
 mechanism of the rendering would re- 
 main a dead letter to him. 
 
22 THE ART OF SINGING iii 
 
 To those people who wish to learn 
 a few songs, duets, etc., in order better 
 to entertain their friends, or to those 
 victims of adulation who, restrained by 
 their position in society from becoming 
 professional singers, believe they are 
 robbing the world of brilliant operatic 
 or concert luminaries (while not fit to 
 sing at a penny reading), it is of little 
 consequence whom they may choose for a 
 master; but for those God-gifted beings 
 who possess, besides a fine voice, a soul 
 to use that voice as an artiste (few and 
 far between as angels' visits), the master 
 such as I have described is the only 
 master possible. 
 
 I have dwelt at length on the choice 
 of a singing master, as there are many 
 gifted young people (albeit not of the 
 angel-visit class) capable of doing good, 
 interesting work, who are robbed of 
 their birthright by (I know no other 
 name for them) quacks ! A great deal 
 of fuss has been made of late years 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 23 
 
 by persons professing to teach the 
 production of the voice on scientific 
 principles. The result of a recent action 
 in the Court of King's Bench ought to 
 serve as an eye-opener to those deluded 
 individuals who hope to have voices 
 made and brains provided for them. 
 The evidence of two eminent scientific 
 witnesses proved to the judge and the 
 jury that the so-called scientific prin- 
 ciples were a delusion; in fact, they 
 were totally opposed to all that has been 
 discovered with regard to the organs 
 employed in singing. This is but one 
 instance out of numbers of scientific 
 methods in vogue. Some of the pranks 
 I have heard of being played on pupils 
 are so egregiously ridiculous that it is 
 scarcely possible to imagine any human 
 being such a ninny as to allow himself to 
 be gulled into entertaining the idea of 
 reaping any benefit from their exercise. 
 But man is a gullible animal, as Thomas 
 Carlyle says, and not only gullible, but 
 
24 THE ART OF SINGING in 
 
 he prefers to be gulled. That is the 
 only possible explanation I can find for 
 the profuse way in which people go on 
 paying for "unsound science" when they 
 might procure "sound instruction" for 
 a tithe of the money. 
 
 Manuel Garcia is held up as the 
 pioneer of scientific teachers of singing. 
 He was — but he taught singing, not 
 surgery ! I was a pupil of his in 1 858 
 and a friend of his while he lived, and 
 in all the conversations I had with him, 
 I never heard him say a word about 
 larynx or pharynx, glottis, or any other 
 organ used in the production and 
 emission of the voice. He was per- 
 fectly acquainted with their functions, 
 but he used his knowledge for his own 
 direction, not to make parade of it be- 
 fore his pupils, as he knew it would only 
 serve to mystify them, and could serve 
 no good purpose in acquiring a know- 
 ledge of the art of singing. My experi- 
 ence tells me that the less pupils know 
 
Ill THE CHOICE OF A MASTER 25 
 
 about the construction of the vocal 
 organs the better; in fact, as I heard a 
 master once remark, "better they should 
 not be aware they had throats except for 
 the purpose of swallowing their food." 
 I am confident that great harm has been 
 done by mixing up "singing" and 
 "surgery." Young people are prone to 
 imagine they are suffering from diseases 
 of the throat, and resort to applica- 
 tions of tannin, iron, and even nitrate 
 of silver, besides swallowing draughts 
 and sucking lozenges of the effects 
 of which they are entirely ignorant, 
 when a little attention to regularity 
 and choice of diet and proper outdoor 
 exercise would keep their throats in a 
 perfectly healthy condition. Without 
 doubt, any one is liable to suffer from 
 a cold and partial or complete loss of 
 voice — in such case it is imperative to 
 consult an experienced medical man 
 and follow his directions implicitly. 
 Here I may offer a word of advice to 
 
a6 THE ART OF SINGING m 
 
 all singers, especially the inexperienced. 
 After singing, the vocal organs are 
 always slightly congested, therefore I 
 advise them when they leave the warm 
 atmosphere of the theatre or concert- 
 room to encounter the cold air, especially 
 at night, to keep the mouth quite closed 
 and breathe gently through the nostrils, 
 and so avoid talking and laughing. 
 After singing, being a smoker, I always 
 light a cigar before stepping into the 
 open air; those who do not smoke 
 ought to cover the mouth and nose with 
 a light woollen wrap. 
 
IV 
 TO THE PUPIL 
 
 If there are many so-called masters who 
 cannot teach, there are many more 
 would-be pupils who cannot or will not 
 learn. If Rossini said, " Voice ! Voice ! 
 Voice ! is the only requisite of a singer" 
 (which I do not believe), with all due 
 respect to his memory I say he did a 
 great deal of harm. Human beings, 
 especially young ones, are not prone to 
 be industrious, and a great man having 
 told them, as it pleases them to believe 
 or fancy, that voice is all-sufficient, they 
 shirk everything in the way of work. 
 A simple scale may be made interesting 
 by a combination of voice and soul, and 
 most uninteresting by a voice without 
 27 
 
28 THE ART OF SINGING iv 
 
 the soul (the soul which lives to work !). 
 Any ass can bray without a soul, but I 
 doubt whether his music is interesting 
 even to his own species ; he may astonish 
 them (all kinds of asses like to be as- 
 tonished, it is their greatest pleasure, 
 they are willing to pay dear for it) with 
 the amount of noise he produces, but 
 from which most animals not of his 
 species fly in affright or disgust. 
 
 What a laudable aim to have in view, 
 to bray loud enough to drown the eff"orts 
 of one's fellows ! Yet it seems the aim 
 in view of many singers who ought to 
 have become worthy of assisting the 
 angels in their song, "Holy! Holy! 
 Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth"! and 
 so have used their gifts in praise of their 
 Giver. Shame ! Shame ! Shame ! on 
 their idleness and neglect! And yet 
 there is some excuse for the younger of 
 their number who see that one who can 
 bray louder than his fellows stuff's his 
 pockets with gold, decorates himself with 
 
IV TO THE PUPIL 29 
 
 jewels of price, and is decorated with 
 unearned or ill-earned honours. I would 
 put this plain question to those who take 
 the trouble to read this: Is it not dis- 
 graceful that a being, having received a 
 heavenly gift, instead of using it in the 
 service of the Giver, simply barters it for 
 money ? I like money as much as any 
 man, but I like to earn it honourably, 
 and I say distinctly that though such 
 may earn their wealth by the sweat of 
 their brow, they earn it with dishonour 
 to themselves and their Creator. 
 
 Your voice is not your possession; it 
 is a seed entrusted to your care, to 
 cultivate that it may grow up a fruitful 
 tree. The metier (if I may use the 
 word) of Art is not to make money 
 for the professors of Art ; it is a Divine 
 office; its productions, the picture of 
 the painter, the statue of the sculptor, 
 the work (prose or poetry) of the 
 author, the song of the singer (vocal or 
 instrumental), are meant to satisfy the 
 
30 THE ART OF SINGING iv 
 
 cravings of the purely artistic soul, and 
 to solace the soul to which the seed 
 from which Art fruit is produced has 
 been denied. 
 
 Your duty is to cultivate the tree 
 grown from the seed entrusted to you 
 as long as a drop of sap flows in it, 
 that the fruit may become as perfect 
 as human efforts can make it. 
 
 The question arises, Are you fulfilling 
 the duty imposed on you ? If you 
 reflect on it and your conscience tells 
 you you are not, if you are honest you 
 will set your shoulder to the wheel and 
 face the difiiculties which confront you 
 with courage and zeal, and work on 
 until you become worthy of the name 
 you covet. If, on the contrary, you 
 have no conscience, or do not heed its 
 prickings if you have one, you will give 
 vent to "Fiddlesticks !" or "What rot!" 
 or some such vulgar exclamation, and 
 lay yourself out (better be laid out !) to 
 grasp money that you may get rid of 
 
IV TO THE PUPIL 31 
 
 the trouble and worry of work and pass 
 a useless retirement eating and drinking 
 and rhaking merry (if you can) ! What 
 a glorious end I Those who outlive 
 you, though they will be deprived of 
 your company, will be reminded of you 
 very probably by a marble slab set up 
 in some conspicuous place relating how 
 you sacrificed yourself (Heaven help 
 us !) on the altar of Art. I would fain 
 add Requiescat in pace, but — I have a 
 conscience ! 
 
 Now that I have told you something 
 you must not do, I will tell you some- 
 thing you must do to fulfil the end for 
 which you were endowed with the means. 
 
 In every phase of life we must all 
 practise self-denial, attach ourselves to 
 what is good for us, and detach our- 
 selves from what is merely pleasant. 
 In the matter of food, it is not the 
 quantity or quality of what is taken, 
 but what is digested which feeds; 
 lolling about in a close atmosphere is 
 
32 THE ART OF SINGING iv 
 
 not a specific for calming the nervous 
 system; lying in bed until a late hour, 
 unless when suffering from unavoidable 
 fatigue, is not refreshing to mind or 
 body. An artiste must exercise moder- 
 ation in all things — food, bodily exer- 
 cise, sleep, and study. 
 
 Overfeeding produces a disordered 
 stomach, which, acting on the voice 
 and brain, robs both of their brightness ; 
 pottering about in a close atmosphere 
 without any distinct object in view 
 produces irritation; and sloth produces 
 sluggishness of mind, with consequent 
 negligence of study, ending in destruc- 
 tion of all hope of advancement. This 
 applies equally to the artiste in embryo 
 and the artiste in career. Moderation, 
 exercised from the first, will become a 
 confirmed habit, and there will then be 
 little risk of falling victim to immodera- 
 tion. 
 
 Immoderate consumption of solid or 
 liquid food is equally destructive of 
 
IV TO THE PUPIL 33 
 
 health; the glutton, however, may 
 cover his inability to fulfil his duty with 
 the excuse of (fictitious) cold, whereas 
 the votary of Bacchus, with "winks and 
 nods and wreathed smiles," or more 
 unattractive signs, makes it patent to 
 every one concerned that it is not cold 
 but heat (of liquor) which interferes 
 with his performance. 
 
 My experience is that sound, light 
 Bordeaux or Italian wines are prefer- 
 able to all other liquid foods, and 
 should be used strictly as food except 
 on occasions when the bodily and men- 
 tal strain caused by the execution of a 
 trying scene in opera, oratorio, or 
 concert is succeeded by momentary 
 depression; then a glass of wine (at 
 times a glass of good old port may be 
 substituted for the lighter fluid) will 
 enable the artiste to finish the remain- 
 ing work with brilliancy. 
 
 Great caution must be observed, 
 however; for the use of stimulant if 
 
34 THE ART OF SINGING iv 
 
 indulged in frequently becomes a habit; 
 its effect decreases and the quantity 
 must be constantly increased, until the 
 unfortunate victim becomes a confirmed 
 drunkard. Not men alone, but many 
 women originally of most temperate 
 habits have come to an untimely end 
 through the lack of strength of mind 
 to nip this too easily acquired habit in 
 the bud. I could enumerate at least a 
 dozen examples, my own comrades, male 
 and female, all of whom might have 
 filled a high position in their profession, 
 who have been either cut off prematurely 
 by death; or, disabled, have lingered 
 through a poverty-stricken old age, a 
 burthen to their relations and old com- 
 rades, from the deadly effect of drinking 
 to excess. Two great artistes whom I 
 knew, one an intimate friend, so ended 
 prematurely a glorious career; the one 
 began with a teaspoonful of sal volatile 
 in a wine-glassful of water, and ended 
 by imbibing a great part of a bottle of 
 
IV TO THE PUPIL 35 
 
 brandy on the road from his residence to 
 the theatre where he was the particular 
 star; the other, from a sip of weak 
 brandy and water, finished by gulping 
 down from half to a whole pint of raw 
 whisky at a draught. So, I repeat, be 
 careful, and curb any inclination to 
 increase the quantity of stimulant at the 
 first sign of its appearance; let your 
 potations be strictly limited to a moder- 
 ate quantity of wine taken with your 
 solid food. 
 
THE USE OF TOBACCO 
 
 With regard to the use of tobacco, I 
 may be allowed to say a word. The 
 innocent vegetable has been a "bone of 
 contention" for some time, even from 
 its first introduction into this country. 
 One royal personage described it as 
 "that filthy herb." Where the filth 
 exists my limited knowledge fails to 
 discover. Tobacco is grown in good 
 clean earth, it is washed by the gentle 
 rain which drops from heaven, during 
 its growth it is as tenderly nurtured as 
 the costly orchid; when mature it is 
 still tended by watchful eyes and hands 
 until it is ready for use in the shape of 
 cigar, cigarette, cut for the pipe, snufF, 
 36 
 
V THE USE OF TOBACCO 37 
 
 or for chewing, every process being 
 carried on with perfect cleanliness ! 
 Again I repeat, Where does the filth 
 come in ? I own my first encounter 
 with tobacco was anything but soothing, 
 but I was only about eight years of age, 
 and my essay was made on my grand- 
 father's pipe, in which I found he had left 
 some of the weed. Not content with 
 lighting up, I covered the mouth of the 
 bowl with putty, so as to prevent any 
 of the fragrance escaping. The conse- 
 quences were dire, and I "swore off" 
 and never tried a smoke again until I 
 was one day weather-bound at Lecco 
 on the Lake of Como. Having no 
 means of whiling away the time, as a 
 resource I procured a couple of cigars 
 and smoked them; the only disagree- 
 able result being, that I dreamt that 
 night I was making a meal of choice 
 Havanas, and I made up my mind 
 I preferred the domestic cabbage. I 
 either took a dislike to tobacco or 
 
38 THE ART OF SINGING v 
 
 fancied I did (the latter, I believe), and 
 when I had a house of my own, for two 
 or three years, when my father paid me 
 a visit, I used to insist upon his parading 
 in front of my house after dinner whilst 
 he indulged in the post-prandial pipe. 
 But I changed my tune when indigestion 
 and domestic bliss began to interfere 
 with my work and my temper. I was 
 advised to try the soothing effect of 
 tobacco. I did, and in a short time I 
 could digest tenpenny nails, anything, 
 even slighting remarks made about the 
 weed by feeble-minded scoffers, and I 
 bore the squalling of the baby and 
 smashing of crockery, not to mention 
 other little disturbances, with perfect 
 equanimity. The filth I have never yet 
 discovered. I have seen lately that one 
 eminent personage declares he takes it 
 as an insult even to ask him "what he 
 would smoke." Another, that he has 
 never indulged in the filthy habit of 
 smoking, it being disgusting to his 
 
V THE USE OF TOBACCO 39 
 
 fellow-creatures to smell the stale smoke. 
 I don't object; but for myself I prefer 
 the odour of even second-hand tobacco 
 smoke to the exhalations arising from 
 unsound teeth or stomach. I was asked 
 by a medical man of note, when I told 
 him I smoked, if I did not find it 
 bad for the voice, and if other singers 
 smoked. I replied that I smoked in 
 moderation, and found it had the effect 
 of making my voice clear, and that I 
 had never known but two or three 
 rather indifferent singers who did not 
 smoke. I do not advocate smoking; 
 those who find themselves perfectly well 
 without, should leave well alone; those 
 who find themselves perfectly well with 
 it, ditto ! ditto ! ! ditto ! ! ! ditto ! ! ! ! 
 
VI 
 
 THE SISTER ARTS 
 
 A VOCAL artiste must have a nodding 
 acquaintance, at least, with the sister 
 Arts, literature, prose and poetry 
 (especially the latter), and painting; 
 he must have a knowledge of other 
 languages, to read them well, with 
 their proper pronunciation and accent, 
 so as to understand the text of the work 
 to be studied and sing it with appro- 
 priate declamation. Italian is the most 
 useful, as the best works as studies for 
 a singer are written in that language. 
 The easiest and surest way to learn it 
 would be to reside for a time in some 
 quiet little city in Tuscany with a 
 family ignorant of English, and where 
 40 
 
VI THE SISTER ARTS 41 
 
 there are no gay distractions to disturb 
 the rest or interfere with study. Three 
 months ought to suffice for a con- 
 scientious student to understand and 
 make himself understood, after which 
 he would soon begin to converse with- 
 out much difficulty. During these three 
 months it would be better to exercise 
 the singing voice in studies without 
 words. 
 
 I have often heard English singers say 
 they prefer singing in Italian, as it is so 
 much easier to pronounce than their own 
 language. I differ with them entirely. 
 My experience is that Italian is the 
 most difficult of all the languages most 
 generally wedded to music. Few people 
 of other nations than Italian ever acquire 
 a pure pronunciation of the Italian 
 language. English Italian is especially 
 defective; we do not divide our words 
 nor the component syllables of our words 
 distinctly; the Italians do both. In a 
 place such as I have indicated above, the 
 
42 THE ART OF SINGING vi 
 
 peasant speaks with as perfect a pro- 
 nunciation, and in a language as elegant 
 and poetic, as the refined orator — an 
 unspeakable advantage to a student. 
 
 Possible perfection can never be at- 
 tained without study; study to be 
 profitable must be systematic and must 
 be directed solely to the attainment of 
 perfection in the Art we desire to adopt 
 as a profession; consequently each step 
 must be mastered before attacking the 
 next in order. Jumping from one exer- 
 cise to another, or to a song or other 
 piece, or scrambling through an accom- 
 paniment on the piano under pretence of 
 studying a piece of music, is not work, 
 and tends only to irritate and discour- 
 age; time so occupied is simply wasted. 
 Much more profitable would it be to 
 walk out into the fresh air and observe 
 how everything in Nature is busy with 
 systematic work, and take a lesson 
 therefrom. 
 
 Many students, and professors too. 
 
VI THE SISTER ARTS 43 
 
 consider that Bohemian hfe, so called, 
 is the only artistic existence. I beg 
 to deny it ! Bohemian life may suit 
 Bohemians, another name for "would- 
 be's"; they who adopt it, or affect to 
 adopt it, never rise to a place in the 
 "angels' visit" class. I never yet 
 encountered a great artiste who led a 
 Bohemian life, or was unsystematic in 
 his work. 
 
 Of the sluggard I need only say, " Let 
 him complain, 'You have waked me 
 too soon, I must slumber again'"! He 
 may dream of greatness, but never can 
 realise it ! 
 
 Study, to be available, must be 
 judiciously regulated. The voice, how- 
 ever strong the constitution of its pos- 
 sessor may be, is a delicate instrument; 
 it must be exercised with great care. 
 If strained, especially the higher and 
 lower tones of its register, both its 
 quahty and power will suffer; only 
 such exercises as lie well within its 
 
44 THE ART OF SINGING vi 
 
 natural compass should be made use of 
 at first, the range being extended as the 
 voice develops. The length of time 
 occupied in exercise, regulated according 
 to the physique of the student, should 
 be from thirty to forty minutes at a 
 spell, including an occasional pause of a 
 minute or two for rest and meditation; 
 the actual exercise of the voice would 
 thus occupy from twenty to thirty 
 minutes. Three, or at most four, such 
 spells, the first fully half an hour after a 
 light breakfast, the others an hour before 
 or an hour after a meal is concluded, are 
 sufficient for each day. I will add, make 
 Sunday a day of rest; suspend your 
 studies entirely, occupy yourself, if not 
 spiritually inclined, with reading good 
 prose or poetry in English and Italian. 
 
 Nothing must be allowed to interfere 
 with the regularity of the hours devoted 
 to exercise of the voice; you cannot be 
 an artiste and a votary of Society at the 
 same time. It has been often tried and 
 
VI THE, SISTER ARTS 45 
 
 always proved a failure. The exigencies 
 of Society will interfere with the punc- 
 tual performance of your duty, and 
 (which is of equal importance) will run 
 you into expenses you are not justified 
 in incurring, as the means of carrying 
 on your studies are, in nearly every case, 
 provided by your parents or generous 
 friends, which means you are bound in 
 honour to apply solely to the object for 
 which they are provided. Your duty 
 is to work that you may be able to repay 
 your benefactors, be they parents or 
 friends, the full amount they have been 
 called upon to expend on your educa- 
 tion and probation ! If they be well- 
 to-do, and you do not work to repay 
 them, your conduct is dishonourable; 
 if they can ill afford to assist you and 
 are obliged to forego relaxation from 
 work and legitimate pleasures to pro- 
 vide you with funds, and you do not 
 work to repay them, your conduct is 
 dishonourable and cruel ! 
 
VII 
 OBEDIENCE 
 
 Obedience to your teacher must be as 
 strict as obedience to your parents. In 
 an important epoch of your Hfe he stands 
 in the relation of a parent to you; you 
 are bound to respect and honour him as 
 such, mindful that he labours under 
 this disadvantage : he cannot administer 
 punishment for inattention and negli- 
 gence as your parents are bound to do. 
 Being in earnest, he is exigent ; and if in 
 his zeal for the welfare of his pupil he 
 insist rigorously on strict obedience, if 
 you do not acknowledge his authority 
 he runs the risk of losing a promising 
 pupil. Young people (and some old 
 ones) kick at the traces and at times 
 46 
 
vii OBEDIENCE 47 
 
 break them to their own detriment, 
 as good masters are scarce; and to 
 the master's loss — not pecuniary loss ; 
 money could never repay the loss of 
 a pupil whose talerits justify the hope 
 of producing an artiste worthy of the 
 name ! 
 
 Trust your master, and obey him im- 
 plicitly; make him your friend by your 
 diligence and attention; never interrupt 
 his instructions or explanations ; be silent 
 until he has concluded, then, if they are 
 not clear to you, request him politely to 
 repeat them until you understand them 
 perfectly. A good master will have no 
 difficulty in varying the mode of ex- 
 planation without interfering with the 
 sense. It is excessively vulgar to inter- 
 rupt, or, by word or gesture, to indicate 
 contempt or indifference. Presump- 
 tuous pupils are liable to make such a 
 suggestion as, "Do you not think it 
 would be better I should try such an 
 exercise or sing it in such a way ? " 
 
48 THE ART OF SINGING vn 
 
 I always reply, "Had I thought so, I 
 would have already told you so!" 
 
 Your place is to keep your tongue 
 still and the ears of your intellect open, 
 and not to make parade of your fancied 
 knowledge. A chattering pupil profits 
 little or not at all by the clearest ex- 
 planation or instruction. Let not a 
 syllable escape you except, as I have 
 before said, to ask politely for a repe- 
 tition of any explanation you have not 
 clearly understood. In your case the 
 proverb "Silence is golden" is particu- 
 larly apt. 
 
 Between an accomplished master and 
 intelligent and obedient pupil it is only 
 natural that affection, offspring of sym- 
 pathy of mutual interest, should be called 
 into existence. Young women, never 
 allow that affection to ripen into one of 
 a more tender nature; it will prove but 
 a hindrance to your progress, and, as 
 we are all human, might lead to un- 
 pleasant consequences. 
 
VIII 
 TO THE PUPIL (continued) 
 
 In this chapter I will indicate what 
 more you must do; it is your master's 
 business to teach you how that must be 
 done; with which it is not my business 
 to interfere. 
 
 You must begin your studies by learn- 
 ing to sing one note at a time slowly, 
 commencing, continuing, and concluding 
 each note in strict time, perfect tune, 
 and with equal power throughout, with- 
 out the slightest shpck at the beginning 
 or the end; in fact, forming a perfect, 
 solid rectangle of sound. 
 
 49 
 
5° 
 
 THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 VIII 
 
 This accomplished, you must then 
 learn to sing two notes in succession 
 without slur, executed each as in the 
 example above, and without break be- 
 
 tween them, taking breath at each bar, 
 for which a momentary cessation of 
 sound will be necessary at the end of each 
 bar, and so on to three and four notes 
 following. 
 
 This is the foundation of the Art of 
 Singing, on which all culture of the 
 voice depends; equality and beauty of 
 tone, power, sustaining the power and 
 quality (loud or soft), and rhythm, one 
 of which lacking, singing can never be 
 perfect. 
 
 The sound of the voice is produced 
 
VIII TO THE PUPIL 51 
 
 by the breath acting on the vocal cords, 
 the tone or emission of the voice is 
 consequent on the influence of the 
 formation of the throat and mouth. 
 Unless there exist some peculiarity of 
 formation (rare in my experience), the 
 tone ought not to be interfered with, 
 as it is this formation which gives the 
 character to the voice, by which persons 
 may be as readily distinguished as by 
 their faces or movements. The tone 
 may be peculiar, even to a certain extent 
 disagreeable, but the peculiarity may, 
 by an intelligent student aided by an 
 equally intelligent master, be turned to 
 such account as to render it a striking 
 speciality in the rendering of certain 
 dramatic parts. If your voice is of 
 good quality and sufficient power, never 
 allow it to be tampered with by "pro- 
 duction quacks"; a master of the Art 
 of Singing knows all that is requisite 
 to develop your natural qualifications. 
 When you have mastered this step, 
 
52 THE ART OF SINGING viii 
 
 you can proceed to increase by slow 
 gradations the compass and speed of 
 your exercises. Give your artistic feel- 
 ing full play even at this early stage; a 
 simple scale or a single note may be 
 interesting if sung with the feeling of 
 an artiste, while if blurted out in a 
 commonplace style, it may cause your 
 neighbours to entertain a desire to indict 
 you as a nuisance. Persevere diligently 
 with the exercises I have indicated until 
 your master is satisfied, then follow on 
 with "vocalises" and "solfeggi" until 
 you are ready to apply what you have 
 learned to its object, the interpretation of 
 such good vocal music as is adapted to 
 the quality and compass of your voice, 
 irrespective of its character or style. The 
 more these are varied the better, in order 
 that you may bring out whatever dra- 
 matic talent you may possess, and thus 
 discover where your strength lies — in 
 tragedy, light comedy, or low comedy. 
 
IX 
 STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 
 
 ENUNCIATION AND BREATHING 
 
 Before entering on the study of vocal 
 works, it is absolutely necessary to make 
 a serious study of pronunciation and 
 enunciation, that is, the sounding of 
 words and their delivery. The object 
 of wedding music to words is surely to 
 give greater emphasis to the sentiment 
 or passion those words express ; then if 
 those words are not distinctly audible, 
 what becomes of the emphasis ? The 
 English-speaking peoples, more than 
 any other, require to pay strict attention 
 to this study; as a rule, they are totally 
 regardless of uttering letter or syllable 
 
 S3 
 
54 THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 clearly in ordinary conversation, and so 
 acquire a slipshod, inelegant enunciation 
 which requires patient, persevering study 
 to correct and fit them for public speak- 
 ing or singing. 
 
 English is a fine language for both, 
 but as practised by the generality of 
 public speakers and singers it is devoid 
 of accent, unpleasant to the ear, and at 
 times even unintelligible. I was once 
 present at a performance of The Mer- 
 chant of Venice at the Princess's Theatre. 
 Carl Formes, the once celebrated bass 
 singer, played Shylock. He always pre- 
 served a strong German accent in con- 
 versation; but though all the other 
 characters in the play were sustained by 
 Englishmen, the only one who recited 
 his lines to be understood was Formes. 
 The reason was obvious ; he pronounced 
 the letters, divided the syllables, and 
 accented the accented syllables, so that, 
 though now and then his pronunciation 
 of a word was not quite English, his 
 
IX STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 55 
 
 1 . . 
 
 ^unciation was perfectly distinct. I 
 
 did not miss a single syllable throughout 
 
 his entire performance. The study must 
 
 be commenced by learning to pronounce 
 
 each letter distinctly and purely, adopting 
 
 the Italian pronunciation of the vowels. 
 
 a — as ah in English. 
 e — long as a in fate, 
 
 short as in let. 
 i — long as ee in feet, 
 
 short as in ink. 
 o — long as in rose, 
 
 short as in lot. 
 u — as 00 in English. 
 
 By purely, I mean the sound of the 
 vowel must be preserved intact as long 
 as it is held. We have the defect in 
 England of adding ee after a syllable or 
 word ending with a vowel, as day-ee, 
 defy-ee, pray-ee-ing, abi-ee-ding, which 
 is not only inelegant, it is vulgar. 
 
 The consonants must be pronounced 
 promptly and firmly, using the tongue, 
 the teeth, and the lips — otherwise the 
 
56 THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 words will not be distinct and their 
 sense be lost. They must not intrude 
 on the value of the vowels, otherwise 
 the voice speaking or singing will lose 
 in resonance and carrying power. The 
 mouth ought not to open more than 
 sufficient to introduce the tip of a 
 finger; if the under jaw is lowered 
 beyond what is necessary for this it is 
 impossible to pronounce the consonants 
 promptly and firmly, as the tongue, teeth, 
 and lips will be too far apart to fulfil 
 their office. Moreover, the wagging of 
 the lower jaw is destructive of any expres- 
 sion of sentiment the countenance ought 
 to display. In low comedy licence 
 may be permitted, but .in tragedy or 
 elegant comedy such grimacing is not 
 permissible. 
 
 The most advantageous, and at the 
 same time the most pleasing and elegant, 
 position of the mouth is the approach to 
 a smile, all the muscles of the face being 
 kept perfectly supple so as to be ready 
 
IX STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 57 
 
 to second every change of expression 
 occurring in the work the performer is 
 engaged on, but without exaggeration; 
 there is but one step from the subhme 
 to the ridiculous, which exaggeration 
 would inevitably make. 
 
 This must be followed by learning to 
 pronounce distinctly single syllables, 
 then combinations of syllables, each 
 syllable distinct in itself though joined 
 to its fellows; which can only be 
 effected by making a short pause after 
 each syllable and joining them by degrees 
 until the word becomes a perfect whole. 
 
 Great care must be taken to make a 
 clear distinction between single and 
 double consonants. In England the 
 tendency is to neglect this, and we hear 
 "a-tention" instead of " at-ten-tion," 
 "fe-low" instead of "fel-low"; while 
 we also have the opposite, as in the first 
 example given below. 
 
 Few English singers take the trouble 
 to study their words sufficiently to give 
 
58 THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 the accented syllable its due force; in 
 recitative, where accent is left entirely to 
 the performer, those who are attentive 
 will hear very curious things. For 
 example, the fine recitative in Judas 
 Maccalceus — 
 
 Oh let eternal honours crown his name — 
 
 rendered more or less (generally more) 
 in this wise : — 
 
 Olletteturnullhonnurs crownnhis na-em; 
 
 and in a matter-of-fact style, seemingly 
 without a notion that it is a call to the 
 Israelitish nation to celebrate with due 
 honour the glorious victory obtained 
 over their foe by Judas, the leader of 
 their army. 
 
 Again, in the same oratorio, when 
 Judas himself speaks, " Sound an alarm," 
 which as generally interpreted becomes 
 " Sounddannalaam." 
 
 No wonder foreigners find English 
 ineligible as a singing language. 
 
t 
 
 STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 59 
 
 It is not the fault of the language but 
 of those who speak it without learning 
 ow it should be spoken. However 
 much one county may differ from 
 another in its opinion of the pronun- 
 ciation, there can be no difference 
 of opinion regarding the necessity for 
 distinctness of enunciation or delivery 
 either of a speech or song. In other 
 countries I have heard many public 
 speakers, and as a rule I have found 
 them much more distinct than the 
 generality of English public speakers 
 I have heard ; but foreign singers I have 
 found less distinct than their orators, yet 
 still as a rule more distinct than English 
 singers. The Germans, as far as my 
 experience goes, sin more on the score 
 of indistinctness than the Italians or 
 French. I heard A'ida once at an im- 
 portant city in Germany, and through- 
 out I only heard three words, "Ach 
 meine tochter," which did not explain 
 much of the plot of a long opera. It 
 
6o THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 should be the endeavour of all speakers 
 and singers to get rid as much as 
 possible of local pronunciations and 
 accents, which in the north are some- 
 what rough and uncouth, although they 
 preserve the full sound of the vowels 
 better than those of the south, espe- 
 cially the absurd pronunciation affected 
 in and around the Metropolis, where 
 we hear "Ow de-ah now!" for "Oh 
 dear no !" "Down't wike the biby !" for 
 "Don't wake the baby!" "Hawt" for 
 "Heart," "Nevah" for "Never," 
 "Men" for "Man," "Sinnin'" for 
 "Singing." It has always appeared to 
 me miraculous how a foreigner ever 
 arrives at understanding English as 
 spoken in London, with the defective 
 pronunciation and the fusing of words 
 into a conglomerate mass. In my 
 opinion, the educated classes in Dublin 
 and Edinburgh speak better English 
 and better pronounced than is heard 
 anywhere in England. 
 
IX STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 6i 
 
 Having acquired possible perfection 
 of pronunciation, there is still a point 
 without which enunciation would be 
 imperfect, "the management of the 
 breath," as without perfect control over 
 the wind chest, equality, variety, and sus- 
 tentation of tone could not be attained. , 
 It is a common idea that speakers and 
 singers should be able to speak or sing a 
 long phrase or sentence without a break. 
 What they ought to learn is to be able 
 to take breath at any convenient point 
 in a phrase in such a way that the break 
 may not be observable. The lungs 
 should never be entirely exhausted; in 
 speaking, breath may be taken at any 
 place where a comma might stand, and 
 in singing before any weak accent in a 
 bar, of course being careful not to divide 
 the syllables of a word. There is no 
 mystery or difficulty about breathing. 
 All it requires is care in arranging 
 convenient and appropriate places to 
 take breath, and practising speech or 
 
62 THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 song accordingly. Inexperienced people 
 would do well to note that under the 
 influence of nervousness they will find it 
 more difficult to maintain a chestful of 
 wind, and in studying they should mark 
 places where an extra breath may be 
 taken without interfering with the effect 
 of their speech or song. The act of 
 taking breath must not be accompanied 
 by any visible sign, such as hunching 
 the shoulders, nor any audible sound,. 
 Attention to these few remarks and 
 careful practice are all that are necessary 
 for the management of the breath. 
 
 Immediately below the vocal cords 
 there exists a valve; the breath should 
 be raised to that valve ready before the 
 sound is required, then when the valve 
 is opened the pressure of wind produces 
 the sound or sequence of sounds the 
 singer or speaker wills. The pressure 
 must be maintained steadily as long as 
 the phrase, sung or spoken, lasts, exactly 
 as a glass-blower maintains the stream of 
 
IX STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 63 
 
 breath on the piece of glass he is shaping ; 
 if he takes off the pressure for a moment, 
 his work is spoiled and he will have to 
 find another piece of glass. In the same 
 way, if you take off the pressure of breath 
 for a moment you may probably make 
 what is commonly called a "quirk," 
 and break your phrase, which you un- 
 fortunately cannot replace, but must 
 bungle it through to the best of your 
 ability. 
 
 I have heard and read most amusing 
 instructions for breathing, but, of all, I 
 think "abdominal breathing" is the 
 most comical. I have in vain tried to 
 discover whereabouts in the abdomen 
 there exists a store-room for breath; 
 wind there may be, perhaps, but not 
 available for breathing purposes. I 
 hope I do not incur any risk of an 
 action for libel or hurt anybody's feel- 
 ings in describing the authors of such 
 theories as "wind-bags." 
 
 It is not to be expected that an artiste 
 
64 THE ART OF SINGING ix 
 
 great in one line should be equally great 
 in another. There have been, however, 
 a few of the "angels' visit" class, 
 perfect both in tragedy and comedy: 
 Lablache; Giorgio Ronconi; Pauline 
 Viardot, intensely tragic in Le Prophete, 
 equally gracefully comic in // Barbiere; 
 in // Flauto Magico, when it was revived 
 at Covent Garden at the express desire 
 of H.R.H. the Prince Consort in 1851, 
 she made the otherwise unimportant part 
 of Papagena an important feature in the 
 revival; Giulia Grisi in Norma and La 
 Gazza Ladra; Mario in Le Prophete 
 and // Barbiere; and Gardoni, who had 
 always been accepted as one of the most 
 accomplished interpreters of the lighter 
 tenor parts in serious and semi-serious 
 opera, towards the close of his career 
 displayed great talent for low comedy, 
 which probably he himself never sus- 
 pected, as Corentin in Dinorah. 
 
 These examples will suffice to show 
 what great artistes could do; the least 
 
IX STUDY OF VOCAL WORKS 65 
 
 you can do is to try with all your might 
 to emulate them. You may not succeed 
 in reaching the height they attained, but 
 there are many honourable and agree- 
 able places to be found on the ascent; 
 and though you may not rise beyond a 
 moderate elevation, you will find that 
 a limited genius developed by well- 
 regulated study will not fail to make a 
 pleasing and lasting impression. 
 
DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 
 
 Every part in a drama, or a detached 
 piece, a song or poem, if it has any 
 meaning at all, is essentially dramatic; 
 every action of our lives, every word we 
 utter with an object, is dramatic ! What 
 does the word dramatic imply ? It 
 applies both to conception and inter- 
 pretation ; a dramatic conception implies 
 a sentiment or passion which its author 
 desires to express clearly, forcibly, and 
 logically; a dramatic interpretation im- 
 plies the expression of such sentiment 
 or passion by an artiste whose gifts, 
 developed by study and experience, 
 render him capable of interpreting that 
 66 
 
X DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 67 
 
 conception clearly, forcibly, and logi- 
 cally. 
 
 The interpretation depends greatly 
 on the idiosyncrasies of its interpreters; 
 if they are experienced artistes, though 
 the mode of carrying out the interpreta- 
 tion be in each case different, the result 
 will be clear, forcible, and logical. It is 
 not uncommon that the author of a 
 drama or opera, whilst superintending 
 the rehearsals of his work, is surprised 
 to find the strength and beauty of 
 his conception much enhanced by the 
 suggestion, tacit or otherwise, of an 
 artiste of genius. For instance, at the 
 first stage rehearsal of Halevy's opera. 
 La Juire, the author expostulated with 
 Pauline Viardot for keeping her back 
 turned to the auditorium while she 
 gazed on the cauldron of boiling oil 
 placed at the back of the scene, he 
 being on the stage at the time. At her 
 request he removed to the front of the 
 house, and seeing the horror depicted 
 
68 THE ART OF SINGING x 
 
 on her countenance through her attitude, 
 he accepted and congratulated her on 
 the improvement effected by her dra- 
 matic genius. 
 
 We hear a great deal about traditions, 
 and we consequently find lazy students 
 who, to save trouble, imitate what they 
 have seen, or what they have heard of 
 their studious predecessors doing. Such 
 a one may, by attentive observation, learn 
 to copy the peculiarities or mannerisms 
 of the artiste he takes for a model; but 
 the artiste knew how to turn such 
 peculiarities to his advantage, whilst to 
 the copyist they will not only prove a 
 disadvantage, but will often render him 
 an object of ridicule or pity. The in- 
 dustrious student, on the contrary, pays 
 no attention to peculiarities or manner- 
 isms, his whole attention is directed to 
 realising the value of the artistic qualities 
 of his model, which, without scruple, he 
 uses for his own advantage by applying 
 them to his individual means. This is 
 
X DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 69 
 
 no doubt imitation, but perfectly legiti- 
 mate ; it is not the servile imitation of 
 the mere copyist. 
 
 Art must have commenced by imitat- 
 ing Nature alone ; then, as it progressed, 
 by imitating Nature developed by artistic 
 genius. There were both imitators and 
 copyists at all times, but they are easily 
 distinguished by those who possess 
 artistic perception. The imitator, the 
 artiste student, imitates the manner; the 
 impostor, the mere copyist, imitates the 
 mannerisms of his model. 
 
XI 
 THE CONTINUATION OF SAME 
 
 I WOULD suggest, subject of course to 
 your master's approval, the works of the 
 best Italian masters for your first studies, 
 as they contain all the elements to pro- 
 duce a good singer and develop dramatic 
 talent. These, after a short time, may 
 be alternated with more serious works, 
 such as any of Mozart's operas and 
 Handel's operas and oratorios. I sug- 
 gest them for study only, though many 
 of them, and pieces taken from them, 
 will prove useful for public performance; 
 for, spite of pubHc taste, which is con- 
 stantly subject to change, a considerable 
 number of the works of the old masters 
 are at all times received with acclamation 
 70 
 
XI DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 71 
 
 by old opera and concert frequenters, 
 as also by the younger artistic genera- 
 tion, who cannot but acknowledge their 
 beauty, power, and freshness. They 
 are of infinite service in the cultivation 
 of dramatic expression; each number 
 taken separately being a small drama in 
 itself, while yet forming a logical epi- 
 sode in the entire drama of which it is 
 a part. 
 
 You find in them the invaluable study 
 of recitative, greatly neglected by most 
 students, who seem to try to "get 
 through them" as fast as they can, in 
 order to come to the "tune." As Mr. 
 Ducrow, the celebrated equestrian, re- 
 marked at the rehearsal of one of his 
 dramas, finding the dialogue too long 
 to suit his views, "Cut the cackle and 
 come to the 'osses ! " 
 
 The study of recitative is all-impor- 
 tant. To the studious it will prove a 
 source of intense interest, to the young 
 Ducrows it will prove an intense bore. 
 
72 THE ART OF. SINGING xi 
 
 There are two species of dialogue — 
 the parlanto (half-spoken), accompanied 
 originally on the cembalo, now by violon- 
 cello and contrabasso, only used in opera 
 buffa (in the French "opera comique" 
 and English opera replaced by spoken 
 dialogue), which presents no particular 
 difficulty when you have acquired a 
 tolerable acquaintance with the language, 
 its pronunciation and accent. The other 
 species, accompanied by the orchestra, is 
 more important, as it contains, in a more 
 serious degree, the subject, of which the 
 piece it introduces is a meditation, re- 
 flection, or maybe an explanation. 
 
 Though divided into bars and the 
 notes interspersed with rests, in the 
 generality of cases the recitative is 
 perfectly free as regards time; the 
 rhythm of the music is properly wedded 
 to the accent of the words by all the 
 good Italian composers. I do not re- 
 member any instance of the contrary. 
 In works translated from another Ian- 
 
XI DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 73 
 
 guage errors occur which the student 
 must learn to rectify. Unfettered, he 
 may revel in the display of his dramatic 
 instinct in the declamation of recitative, 
 the perfection of which ought to be the 
 aim, as it is the crucial test, of a vocal 
 artiste. 
 
 It is a great and not uncommon mis- 
 take to leave out the recitative when 
 introducing an operatic scene at a con- 
 cert, with the excuse that it may be 
 tedious and bore the audience. None 
 but those who have no business at a 
 concert of refined music are ever bored 
 by a true dramatic interpretation of a 
 true dramatic conception, even though 
 it may be rendered in a language the 
 bulk of the audience does not under- 
 stand; and again, which is no doubt a 
 reason of minor importance except to 
 the performer, the recitative gives the 
 artiste, who, however experienced, must 
 suffer from a certain amount of anxiety, 
 time to collect himself, and so be better 
 
74 THE ART OF SINGING xi 
 
 prepared to concentrate his vocal power 
 and skill on the execution, with appro- 
 priate sentiment, of the piece of which 
 it is the introduction. If you believe 
 you have dramatic talent, do not hide 
 it under a bushel; have the courage of 
 your conviction, and show it in that 
 part of ydur work where it can shine 
 most conspicuously. 
 
 The study of the works I have rec- 
 ommended above is also the surest 
 road to the acquirement of the perfect 
 sostenuto (sustained singing), without 
 which a slow movement will present a 
 choppy, confused series of sounds sig- 
 nifying nothing in particular, instead 
 of a broad, elegant, passionate recitation 
 of the words of the text emphasised by 
 the music to which they are wedded. 
 A quick movement will present a hope- 
 less muddle of badly constructed fire- 
 works. Every note, however short, has 
 its just time-value, which if not sus- 
 tained, the sound has not time to vibrate 
 
XI DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 75 
 
 sufficiently to render it audible at even 
 a short distance, the consequence being 
 that groups of rapid notes introduced 
 as ornaments in a slow movement, and 
 in such passages as constantly occur in 
 quick florid music, might as well be left 
 out. 
 
 Again I refer you to the exercise you 
 commenced with, and repeat that it is 
 the foundation of the art of singing. 
 The lack of attention to it not only 
 obviates the chance of your being heard, 
 but leads to such executions (murders, I 
 might call them) as the following : — 
 
^e THE ART OF SINGING xi 
 
 I. 
 
 V vvvyvvyTy 
 
 2. 
 
 II mio te - so - wo - ro in ta - wan - to 
 
 V V V V Y, V V V 
 
 Love sounds tha - la - wa - wa - wa - warm 
 
 we we we we we we we we we wer - pe went er - rot 
 
 Re-joi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woi 
 
 WOl WOI WOI WOX woi WOI woi woi WOI WOI WOI woi woi WOI 
 
 woi WOl WOl WOI WOI WOI WOI WOI WOI WOl WOI WOI WOI WOI 
 
 woi woi woi woi woi woi woi woice great - ly 
 
XI DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 77 
 
 These are not the ravings of a dis- 
 ordered brain, as you might suppose; I 
 heard them exactly as I have written 
 them, within the last three or four years ; 
 specimens of the modern school of sing- 
 ing performed by singers holding the 
 first rank. Good gracious ! what will 
 the singing of the future be ? 
 
 I can imagine Mozart, Handel, and 
 Haydn in concert, with hands uplifted 
 in horror, exclaiming, "Vot is dat for 
 singing?" Either master or pupil or 
 both must have mistaken their voca- 
 tion. At most it is meaningless cachin- 
 nation, bearing no relation to the art 
 of singing. It is productive of great 
 harm, for young people witnessing the 
 storm of acclamation with which such 
 shocking caricature is greeted, are led 
 to believe that the only way open to 
 them to advance in popular favour is to 
 adopt the reprehensible slovenliness of 
 those who ought to be their models of 
 perfection in Art. 
 
78 THE ART OF SINGING xi 
 
 I have heard bad singers in my youth, 
 not a few enjoying a reputation which 
 their lack of merit did not justify; but 
 there were giants too, men and women 
 who had reached the topmost rung of 
 the ladder of Fame by obedience to the 
 direction of competent masters interested 
 in their advancement, united to their 
 own unflagging zeal, untiring patience, 
 and indomitable courage. After I re- 
 turned from Italy most of those still 
 living received me as a personal friend, 
 and accepted me as a "comrade in 
 arms." To three of their number — 
 Mario, Giorgio Ronconi, and Sims 
 Reeves — I owe much ; from my first 
 acquaintance with them professionally, 
 they took sufficient interest in my work 
 to act as my guides, and I thank Prov- 
 idence for gifting me with sufficient 
 common sense to accept and profit by 
 such able guidance. 
 
 I warn you to be on your guard and 
 avoid an error which, I grieve to say, I 
 
XI DRAMATIC CONCEPTION 79 
 
 frequently fell into in my early days. 
 Never use the little you know to criticise 
 those who know and have done a great 
 deal ! Let your observation be directed 
 to discovering the method by which 
 they arrived at high artistic excellence, 
 and do your best to emulate them. 
 "Anno Domini" will come, as my 
 doctor once remarked to me when I 
 had a fit of the "grumbles." Pass over 
 the defects (if you choose to call failing 
 power and freshness defects), and study 
 the art with which they bridge over the 
 ravages of time. Respect their age, and 
 be silent, though the estimation of your 
 own baby efforts blind you to the merits 
 of an artiste whose power and freshness 
 of voice are on the wane. This does 
 not apply merely to the great artiste 
 who surveys the whole of his world 
 from the top of the ladder; on every 
 step you may discover a real artiste if 
 you will keep your common sense awake, 
 and allow your self-esteem to slumber. 
 
8o THE ART OF SINGING xi 
 
 Your progress will entirely depend 
 on diligent practice. However slow it 
 may be, leave nothing undone, make 
 each step safe before proceeding to 
 another. Those who advance carefully 
 though slowly, advance more surely, 
 and, in the long run, if not in point of 
 time, will beat the swift student, by 
 gaining a higher degree of perfection. 
 It is not what we swallow, but what 
 we digest, which gives us strength to 
 sustain us in the race. 
 
XII 
 AT THE BASE OF THE LADDER 
 
 Your preliminary studies terminated, 
 your master having pronounced you 
 ready to try your strength in public, as 
 you are still ignorant of what you will 
 now have to face, and with what and 
 with whom you will have to deal, I will 
 devote this chapter to an endeavour to 
 enlighten you, bearing in mind that I 
 am dealing with an aspirant to artistic 
 fame only. You are sound in wind and 
 limb, you possess a voice of sufficient 
 power and quality to cope with any 
 music or any style of music you may be 
 called upon to perform; you have had 
 the advantage of exercising it under the 
 direction of an able master; by your 
 
 G 8l 
 
82 THE ART OF SINGING xii 
 
 obedience to his instructions, and your 
 own industry and perseverance, you are 
 now in a position to say with justice: 
 "I am prepared for all emergencies. 
 Whatever may be the result, I am re- 
 solved to exercise the gifts I am endowed 
 with in following out the counsels of 
 my master, so as to show my gratitude 
 to Him who entrusted me with my 
 natural means, to the master by whose 
 knowledge, patience, and unremitting 
 attention those means were developed; 
 to be an honour to both, and to my 
 parents; and to leave behind me, when 
 I die, the story of a life distinguished 
 for industry, perseverance, and courage, 
 bearing the stamp of the true votary of 
 Art." 
 
 I admire your resolution; stick fast 
 to it! You will have need of all your 
 fortitude, the path you are entering on 
 being narrow, steep, and rugged. I 
 daresay at times during your pre- 
 liminary course you felt disheartened, 
 
XII THE BASE OF THE LADDER 83 
 
 perhaps inclined to give up all hope 
 of success; but the difficulties you had 
 to surmount as a student were baga- 
 telles compared to those that confront 
 you as a professional performer. Be 
 "bold and brave" and you will over- 
 come them ! 
 
 " Forewarned is forearmed ! " I will 
 endeavour to prepare you for the 
 combat; I can do so from my personal 
 experience in Italy and in England. 
 
 During your student days you had a 
 master to guide, advise, and encourage 
 you; now you have only yourself to 
 depend on. 
 
 As musical affairs are at present con- 
 stituted, your master can render you 
 very slight assistance. You must learn 
 to pocket your pride (except pride in 
 doing your work well) ; to be patient 
 under reverses and delays; to be 
 courteous to all you meet, even those 
 you know to be detractors, inclined 
 rather to injure than to aid you; to 
 
84 THE ART OF SINGING xii 
 
 control your nerves (always active in an 
 artistic temperament), v?ithout which — 
 though, if uncontrolled by force of will, 
 they paralyse your powers to a greater 
 or less extent — you could not give 
 adequate expression to the sentiment or 
 passion you wish to portray ; to conquer 
 shyness and give full play to your 
 artistic feeling, whilst preserving be- 
 coming modesty of demeanour; and 
 last, but by no means least, to keep a 
 silent tongue. 
 
 Never discuss the talents of your 
 fellow-artistes , nor your own prospects, 
 your prospective engagements or the 
 remuneration you expect to receive 
 from them; they are your business 
 only, and once you confide them to 
 your bosom friend, they will soon be 
 everybody's business, and probably end 
 in no business at all- 
 
 You will have trouble with agents; 
 I have already told you how I fared 
 with those I had to visit in Milan. As 
 
XII THE BASE OF THE LADDER 85 
 
 the agent is now an established feature 
 in England, you will probably meet 
 with disappointments and difficulties 
 such as I endured. As in all pro- 
 fessions, there are agents who know 
 their business, who honourably fulfil 
 their duties for the fees they exact; but 
 there are, unfortunately, also those who 
 know nothing about the qualities which 
 distinguish an artiste, who take up the 
 business simply because it entails little 
 labour; and the reward, if they are 
 lucky, is ample to satisfy their desires. 
 It is a pity there is no power to limit 
 their number to those who by examina- 
 tion obtain a legal right to exercise the 
 calling. 
 
 There are many who, having little 
 or no musical knowledge, have the 
 audacity to insist upon hearing artistes 
 seeking engagements play or sing, 
 in order to judge of their proficiency. 
 Imagine an accomplished young vocal- 
 ist or instrumentalist compelled to un- 
 
86 THE ART OF SINGING xii 
 
 dergo such an absurd, degrading cere- 
 mony. 
 
 We can only hope that the "Incor- 
 porated Society of Musicians" will 
 before long obtain legal influence to put 
 a stop to such business. It is bad for 
 caterers and artistes alike, as to my 
 knowledge incompetent artistes obtain 
 engagements they have not the talent 
 to fulfil, where competent artistes could 
 be engaged on the same and- even lower 
 terms, who would fulfil their engage- 
 ments to the satisfaction of the caterer 
 and the public. 
 
 The only advice I can offer you is — 
 Be careful, before dealing with an agent, 
 to ascertain that he is a person of 
 probity, and that he understands his 
 business sufficiently to render you 
 useful service for adequate remunera- 
 tion. Have nothing to do with those 
 who tell you that the only way to make 
 a name, and so procure engagements, is 
 to give a concert or recital in which you 
 
XII THE BASE OF THE LADDER 87 
 
 would have an opportunity to display 
 your talents in their various phases and 
 obtain notices of your performance in 
 the public journals (the quality of 
 which they, the agents, can command), 
 which will spread your name far and 
 wide, together with sundry similar 
 chimerical advantages. They do not 
 tell you, at the same time, that your 
 chances are a hundred to one against 
 any benefit to be derived by you from 
 your speculation. In the first place, 
 whatever ability you may possess, you 
 are almost sure to be paralysed with 
 stage fright, and cannot therefore do 
 yourself justice; in the second place, 
 unless you are provided with ample 
 funds, the expense of giving even a 
 modest concert will assuredly cripple 
 your means of living, if it do not leave 
 you bankrupt. 
 
 The management of a theatre or of 
 concerts is no sinecure; they are both 
 attended with great pecuniary risk, 
 
88 THE ART OF SINGING xii 
 
 public taste either as regards music or 
 drama being subject to fluctuation. The 
 expense attendant on operatic perform- 
 ances or concerts on a grand scale is 
 enormous; consequently managers of 
 such entertainments must be wary in 
 the choice of the artistes they engage, 
 not only as regards their talent, but also 
 as regards their power of attracting the 
 sympathy of the public. An artiste of 
 great talent lacking the particular charm 
 which would render it sympathetic will 
 have to give place to one of inferior 
 talent. That is not the manager's fault; 
 his success is at stake, and he is bound 
 to cater for those who provide him with 
 the means of carrying on his enterprise. 
 In former times, when the great 
 theatres in Italy received a government 
 subvention, there were laws by which 
 both manager and artiste were bound 
 mutually to abide by the stipulations 
 put forth in their contract, under penalty 
 for contravention of same. An obstinate 
 
xii THE BASE OF THE LADDER 89 
 
 artiste refusing to comply with the terms 
 of his contract would be lodged in "Santa 
 Margarita" (the prison) for a term of 
 days, conducted to the theatre to do 
 his work each evening and back to 
 prison by the police, who kept a watchful 
 eye oil him during the performance, 
 until his contempt was purged; the 
 manager was liable to similar treatment 
 if he did not carry out his part of the 
 agreement. 
 
 We have no such laws here, so it 
 behoves manager and artistes to have 
 all stipulations in a contract clearly set 
 forth. Promises are proverbially made 
 of pie-crust, and should be avoided in 
 order to preserve a mutual good under- 
 standing. The manager has a right to 
 exact all he pays for, and the artistes 
 to refuse to do anything they are not 
 paid for; all dealings on both sides 
 ought to be arranged entirely on busi- 
 ness principles. Through neglect of 
 attention to this I involved myself in 
 
90 THE ART OF SINGING xii 
 
 a sea of troubles, and, much against my 
 inclination, I resolved to quit the stage, 
 the passion and lodestar of my life, as 
 early as the year 1877. 
 
 Solo musical artistes are more than 
 all others victims to the very tempera- 
 ment which is the great cause of their 
 excelling in their art; sensitive, nerv- 
 ous, and excitable, wayward as spoiled 
 children, and consequently requiring 
 special treatment, the iron hand must 
 be clothed in a glove of down. Velvet 
 would be useless. Managers do not 
 always remember this, hence follow 
 disturbances which, with a little tact, 
 might easily be avoided; rivalries are 
 set up which serve to widen the breach 
 in a dispute instead of filling it up, to 
 the detriment of one or both parties 
 concerned. 
 
 Rivalry is good when fair means are 
 used on both sides; it sharpens the 
 wits ! Honest and earnest rivals leave no 
 stone unturned until one wins honour- 
 
XII THE BASE OF THE LADDER 91 
 
 ably and the other accepts honourable 
 defeat. At the present time anything 
 except brains and honour are to be 
 bought with money — even a coveted 
 position as an artiste. Why should I 
 blame a manager if he allows a not 
 highly gifted person to make use of the 
 prestige of his theatre or hall, and the 
 forbearance of his audience, for a 
 stipulated sum ? 
 
 The gilded aspirant to fame, if suc- 
 cessful, will probably reap good interest 
 on the capital invested ; if unsuccessful, 
 as long as money is forthcoming, oppor- 
 tunities will offer to conclude similar 
 bargains, until a success of some kind 
 is scored or patience and funds are 
 exhausted. Let such a one pass with 
 the charitable hope that he or she will 
 not meet with the reward they merit. 
 To the manager the immediate result 
 may not matter, but in the long run, 
 if such bargains are persisted in, he 
 will surely find his prestige as a caterer 
 
92 
 
 THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 diminish, as likewise his exchequer. 
 In the meantime a young artiste who 
 is not gifted with means to buy a 
 position, or, if so gifted, unwilling to 
 use them disloyally, but endowed with 
 natural gifts and talent, is kept in the 
 background. Whatever difficulties may 
 stand in the way, they may be sur- 
 mounted by faith, courage, and patience 
 — virtues at all times difficult to exercise, 
 but especially so for an artistic tempera- 
 ment. The situation must be accepted 
 without murmur, and every available 
 moment be devoted to study ! study ! 
 study ! 
 
 The clouds will disperse, the sun 
 will shine when least expected, and the 
 long-sighed-for, merited reward will be 
 gained. 
 
XIII 
 
 ABOUT THEATRES AND HALLS 
 BUILT EXPRESSLY FOR MUSI- 
 CAL, DRAMATIC, AND ORATOR- 
 ICAL PURPOSES 
 
 Of the "Laws of Sound" I know 
 nothing scientifically; practically I do 
 know something. Whatever professors 
 of the science may know, architects, who 
 ought to carry out practically the Laws 
 of Sound, are either unacquainted with 
 them or do not abide by them. A 
 theatre or hall may be perfect for the 
 listener, yet be imperfect for the singer 
 or speaker, or vice versa. I have sung 
 and spoken in theatres and halls in 
 many parts of the world, and my ex- 
 
 93 
 
94 THE ART OF SINGING xiii 
 
 perience is that of the greater number 
 the acoustic properties are very im- 
 perfect. Perfection we need not hope 
 to attain, an approach to it would be 
 satisfactory. I was in St. Peter's, 
 Rome, on the occasion of the reception 
 of pilgrims from Germany, Spain, Italy, 
 etc., who, with the addition of cardinals, 
 archbishops, bishops, and others officially 
 engaged, formed an audience number- 
 ing between thirty and forty thousand. 
 His Holiness pronounced his blessing 
 at the termination of the ceremony, 
 every word of which was distinctly — 
 faintly in some parts, but distinctly — 
 heard in every corner of the vast area. 
 It may be suggested that the Pope was 
 a fine orator, but I deem that beside 
 the question. Theatres and halls are 
 not built solely to accommodate fine 
 singers and speakers; there are others 
 less gifted who have to be heard and 
 seen in them, and so entitled to con- 
 sideration. 
 
XIII ABOUT THEATRES 95 
 
 I am inclined to believe that in de- 
 signing a theatre or hall an architect's 
 attention is directed more to the beauty 
 of his design than to the Laws of 
 Sound. By all means let the building 
 be a "thing of beauty," but if it is not 
 adapted to the purpose for which it was 
 intended it will not be a "joy for ever" ! 
 Very often I have heard it stated by 
 those who are supposed to know, that 
 acoustic properties are a matter of 
 chance. Granted that such be the case, 
 and a completed building turn out 
 defective, if the architect is versed in 
 the Laws of Sound, surely he would be 
 able to apply them in order to remedy 
 the defect to some extent, if not 
 entirely. 
 
 I would like to ask "one who 
 knows" how it is that, being in equally 
 good voice and humour, "ready for 
 my work," in one room I go through 
 it in perfect comfort, without fatigue, 
 and in another with so much discomfort 
 
96 THE ART OF SINGING xin 
 
 that I am glad to land safe at the end. 
 Again, why is it that from the place I 
 occupy when singing in an oratorio in 
 a certain room I hear every note and 
 word distinctly repeated somewhere in 
 the ceiling apparently, and in another 
 room I can scarcely hear a note I 
 utter ? 
 
 If science can cope with these defects, 
 why are they not remedied, that the 
 singer may be at ease to interest and 
 amuse the audience ? 
 
 There are halls built for the purpose 
 of holding political or other public 
 meetings where some of the audience 
 have to keep their attention riveted to 
 hear what might be called the ghost of 
 a speech or discourse, while others 
 remain in blissful ignorance of what 
 they came to hear ? Why is it that in 
 some halls I know, the unfortunate 
 people who are seated about the middle 
 of the body may indulge in a nap with- 
 out fear of being disturbed by anything 
 
XIII ABOUT THEATRES 97 
 
 taking place in the orchestra (unless 
 startled by a sudden crash of trumpets 
 and drums), while their fortunate neigh- 
 bours, a yard or two before or behind, 
 are enjoying the music and muttering 
 anathema on the brazen blast common 
 in modern orchestral compositions. 
 
 For a speaker such rooms are trying; 
 for a singer who has to execute long 
 sustained phrases they are exhausting. 
 His labour, which ought to be " of love," 
 becomesoneof pain, mental and physical. 
 
 Attached to or forming part of the 
 concert-room, there ought to be a re- 
 tiring-room, generally designated the 
 "green-room," for the accommodation 
 of artistes taking part in a concert. In 
 only a few instances is the room fit for 
 the occupation of ladies and gentlemen 
 who wear decent attire and have to do 
 dehcate work in front of and for the 
 amusement of an audience. As a rule, 
 if there is a room at all, it is one com- 
 pared to which the third-class waiting- 
 
98 THE ART OF SINGING xiii 
 
 room at an ordinary railway station is a 
 boudoir. Are singers supposed to com- 
 bine the two natures of the Laplander 
 and the salamander? In one "green- 
 room" they run the risk of being 
 frozen "blue," in another of being 
 roasted "brown," owing to the absence 
 of the means of proper ventilation ; the 
 only pretension to the name of "green- 
 room" being an effluvium suggestive of 
 "green mould." 
 
 I have known more than one young 
 girl to have an elegant dress, bought 
 with her hard-earned money, entirely 
 ruined on stepping into such a place. 
 Such a one, engaged to sing at a small 
 town, after travelling some hours in a 
 third-class carriage, arrives a short time 
 before she has to appear on the platform ; 
 she engages a room at the best hotel in 
 the place, probably a public-house of the 
 better class; being modest, she does 
 not like the company of the frequenters 
 of the house, and must take her meals 
 
ABOUT THEATRES 
 
 99 
 
 in her bedroom; she must dress by the 
 dim Hght of a couple of candles or single 
 jet of gas without the assistance of a 
 maid ; she must make her way alone to 
 the concert-room, perhaps on foot, and 
 there make herself as comfortable as she 
 can in such a room as I have described, 
 during the time she is not occupied in 
 her work, while her satisfied audience 
 is under the impression that she has 
 nothing to do but enjoy herself. I 
 would the gentleman who designed her 
 bower of enjoyment had to go through 
 his work in the discomfort his neglect 
 provided for that poor child ! If he 
 possessed a trifle of the milk of human 
 kindness he would, in future, while pro- 
 viding for the convenience and comfort 
 of the audience, take care to provide 
 a retiring-room, sufficiently decent and 
 convenient, for the accommodation of 
 people who, for their endowments and 
 education, are chosen to entertain the 
 musical public. 
 
100 THE ART OF SINGING xiii 
 
 I took part in Gounod's Faust, in 
 Italian, at the opening of a new theatre 
 in the north of England. The architect 
 who designed itwas an intimate acquaint- 
 ance of mine. He told me that before 
 drawing out his plans he had visited the 
 Scala, Milan, the San Carlo, Naples, and 
 all the principal theatres on the Conti- 
 nent ; that, constructed as they were, he 
 was convinced that half the audience 
 could neither see the stage nor hear the 
 singers; and that, after a considerable 
 amount of study, he had developed a 
 plan for a theatre where the entire 
 audience should see and hear perfectly, 
 and where the performers should sing 
 with perfect ease. As one of the per- 
 formers I can truly say it was one of the 
 most trying places I ever sang in; and 
 it was found that a third of the audience 
 could not see the stage, and as many 
 could not hear the singers. The audi- 
 torium was altered on various occasions 
 with doubtful result. At a subsequent 
 
xiii ABOUT THEATRES loi 
 
 date I sang at a theatre in Scotland, 
 shortly after it was opened, in Zampa, 
 in English, when I had both to sing and 
 speak. I did not know the architect 
 who designed it. Being his first attempt 
 in the theatrical line, he also had made 
 the round of continental theatres and 
 found them generally excellent as re- 
 gards sound and sight. The result of 
 his experience was, to my mind, a model 
 theatre. When I had sung my first 
 phrase I was satisfied that, for audience 
 and singer, the acoustic properties were 
 of the highest order, and after I had 
 spoken my first lines I was satisfied that 
 they were equally perfect for the audience 
 and speaker. 
 
 Allow me to remark that after these 
 two examples I cannot believe that all 
 architects comprehend or pay due 
 attention to the "Laws of Sound." 
 
 My experience of foreign theatres 
 is limited. I sang at the Liceo, Barce- 
 lona, during the carnival, 1864-65; at 
 
102 THE ART OF SINGING xiii 
 
 the Scala, Milan, in 1865-66; at the 
 Opera-houses, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, 
 and Baltimore, in 1872 — all very large 
 theatres, and all perfect as far as acous- 
 tics are concerned. In Great Britain 
 and Ireland I found on a par with these, 
 though more limited in size: Her 
 Majesty's Theatre, London (burned 
 down in 1867); the old Theatre 
 Royal, Liverpool (a little gem, con- 
 verted into a cold store some years ago) ; 
 and the Amphitheatre, Liverpool (now 
 the Court Theatre) ; the Theatres 
 Royal, Birmingham, Manchester, Glas- 
 gow, and Dublin (burned down some 
 years ago). 
 
 But in not one of them did I find a 
 decently appointed dressing-room; with 
 few exceptions they were at a distance 
 from the stage, and approached by a 
 narrow staircase, often stone steps; the 
 performer passing to and fro exposed 
 to draughts of cold air, such as are only 
 to be encountered on the stage at all 
 
XIII ABOUT THEATRES 103 
 
 seasons of the year. No wonder singers 
 are disabled by sudden loss of voice 
 from fulfilling their duty; it is a wonder 
 such disappointments are not of more 
 frequent occurrence. Preventive appli- 
 ances may have been discovered since I 
 retired from the stage; for the sake of 
 the younger generation, I sincerely hope 
 they have. 
 
XIV 
 ABOUT SELF 
 
 PoLONIUS 
 
 Yet here, Laertes ! aboard, aboard, for shame ! 
 
 The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, 
 
 And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with 
 
 thee! 
 And these few precepts in thy memory 
 See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue. 
 Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. 
 Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 
 Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried. 
 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel; 
 But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
 Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware 
 Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, 
 Bear't, that the opposed may beware of thee. 
 Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; 
 Take each man's censure, but reserve thy 
 
 judgement. 
 Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy. 
 But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; 
 104 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF 105 
 
 For the apparel oft proclaims the man, 
 And they in France of the best rank and station 
 Are of a most select and generous chief in that. 
 Neither a borrower nor a lender be; 
 For loan oft loses both itself and friend, 
 And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 
 This above all : to thine own self be true; 
 And it must follow, as the night the day. 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man. 
 Farewell : my blessing season this in thee ! 
 
 Hamlet, Act i. Scene 3. 
 
 These precepts contain the soundest 
 advice that could be offered to young 
 people when starting on the journey of 
 active life. They ought to be printed 
 in large type and hung up in each class- 
 room of every school or college in every 
 place where the English language is 
 spoken; and expounded from time to 
 time by a competent person, that every 
 student may clearly understand them. 
 No more fitting memorial could be 
 erected to the genius of our immortal 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 (^'Tet here, Laertes!" etc.) — Yon 
 have secured an engagement to sing at 
 
io6 THE ART OF SINGING xiv 
 
 the opera; you have been cast for a part, 
 rehearsals are soon to begin. Do not 
 wait for your music to be sent to you; 
 go at once to the librarian and procure 
 it; and learn it by heart in anticipation, 
 in order that during the rehearsals you 
 may direct your whole attention to the 
 development of the character you have 
 to represent; and to the assimilation of 
 your part with those of your fellow-per- 
 formers, that you may do your share in 
 carrying out the interest of the drama. 
 
 (^' And these few precepts," etc.') — I 
 recommend you to commit them to 
 memory, that you may at all times 
 recall them, and use them as a sure, 
 safe guide. They will remind you of 
 the consideration you owe to others as 
 well as to yourself, and teach you how 
 to regulate your conduct so as to form 
 lasting friendships of mutual advantage 
 in fulfilling your duty to God and 
 man. 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF 107 
 
 You have now your own battle to 
 fight; you will have your share of trials, 
 difficulties, and disappointments ; temper 
 self-interest with self-denial, and accept 
 them cheerfully; what may appear at 
 the first glance a hard task will then 
 become a pleasant duty. The most 
 tempestuous life may be made sunny 
 by a cheerful spirit. Procure a copy 
 of Evenings at Home, by Mrs. Barbauld, 
 and read a story it contains, entitled, 
 "How to make the best of it." 
 It is very simple, but if you read 
 it carefully so as to remember it, 
 you will find it an invaluable help. 
 I did. 
 
 ("Give thy thoughts no tongue," etc.) 
 — The will controls the thoughts and 
 actions. Your will is your self, there- 
 fore you must be unceasingly on guard 
 that you may control your speech, which 
 is the expression of your thoughts in 
 language; and your actions, which are 
 
io8 THE ART OF SINGING xiv 
 
 the expression of your thoughts in acts, 
 moral or physical. 
 
 (^'Be thou familiar" etc.) — Our copy 
 books used to tell us " Familiarity breeds 
 contempt"; if you are not careful, you 
 will find it breeds many other disagree- 
 able things. A theatrical company is 
 a society whose members, constantly 
 thrown together at rehearsals and per- 
 formances, soon become more or less 
 intimate. Be on your guard; do not 
 let familiarity breed contempt of danger. 
 In a mixed company, as you will find it, 
 there is danger. Artistes spring from 
 all ranks of society; among your com- 
 rades you will find ladies and gentlemen 
 by birth, position, and education ; others 
 may be of low origin, unacquainted with 
 the exigencies of polite society, who, 
 being gifted with artistic feeling, have 
 succeeded in raising themselves to the 
 position they hold by work and observa- 
 tion, and therefore worthy of your re- 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF 109 
 
 spect and consideration. Be courteous 
 and good-natured to all, but avoid 
 familiarity of speech and manner, or you 
 may be led into unpleasant intimacies, 
 more easily formed than broken off. 
 
 (" Those friends thou hast," etc.) — On 
 the other hand, you may form acquaint- 
 ances ending, after mature consideration 
 and trial, in solid friendships. Flold 
 them fast; friends are not easily found; 
 at one time or other you may have need 
 of one; or, better by far, be able to show 
 yourself a true friend to one who requires 
 consolation and assistance. 
 
 (^'Beware of entrance to a quarrel," etc.) 
 — Keep strict guard over your tongue 
 and you will avoid quarrels; if, how- 
 ever, a quarrel be unavoidable and your 
 opponent determined "to fight it out," 
 do not give way to anger ; be calm and 
 courteous, content to parry the thrusts 
 aimed at you without attempting to 
 
no THE ART OF SINGING xiv 
 
 return them until your opportunity, 
 which is sure to arrive, gives you the 
 chance to end the combat with the most 
 deadly blow you can inflict — " the soft 
 answer which turneth away wrath." 
 
 (^'Gwe every man thy ear" etc.") — 
 If you are good-natured, as I take for 
 granted you are, you will have ample 
 scope for exercising this precept. You 
 will be made a receptacle for troubles of 
 all kinds; listen to them patiently; if 
 you cannot heal them, you can pour oil 
 on the wounds and soothe the pain, real 
 or imaginary. The " crushed tragedian " 
 will indulge you with the censure of the 
 manager who cannot see his fitness for 
 the part which he has made his own all 
 over the world ; the ancient dancer, with 
 her comments on a stupid ballet-master 
 whp allows her grace and experience to 
 lie neglected while a clumsy, inexperi- 
 enced beginner in whom he is interested 
 is allowed to take the place which is 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF m 
 
 hers by right. Listen patiently, but do 
 not constitute yourself judge. If your 
 judgment does not coincide with the 
 lady's, you will make an enemy of her ; 
 if it does, it will be quoted with addi- 
 tions, and you will make two enemies, 
 the manager and the ballet-master. 
 
 (^'Costly thy habit," etc.) — Your dress 
 is an important factor in your appearance 
 on the stage. Before paying a visit to 
 the wardrobe make yourself acquainted 
 with the style of dress worn by such a 
 personage as you are called upon to rep- 
 resent at the period in which the drama 
 you take part in is laid. Plates of the 
 characters in most of the operas, old and 
 modern, are published in Paris, etc., and 
 failing these, there are many excellent 
 works on costume, with illustrations, 
 including minute details of ornaments, 
 to be seen at the British Museum. 
 Your costume as provided by the 
 manager may not be to your liking; 
 
112 THE ART OF SINGING xiv 
 
 do not grumble. What may appear by 
 daylight little better than a bundle of 
 rags, may, with tact and taste, be turned 
 into an appropriate elegant costume 
 when seen by the glare of the stage lights. 
 Spend what you can afford upon it; you 
 need not be alarmed by the word 
 "costly" in the precept; adroitly used, 
 a piece of old flannel, if clean, will often 
 make a better show than the finest cloth. 
 Consult your authority with regard to 
 the manner of wearing the hair, beard, 
 etc., and conform to the instructions as 
 closely as possible; and learn to "make 
 up" your face that the colour does 
 not hide the lines of expression; and 
 above all, I recommend the ladies to be 
 careful in the use of black cosmetic for 
 the eyes ; I have seen many who appeared 
 as though adorned with horn spectacles. 
 Whatever ornaments you wear, let them 
 be in good taste, "rich, not gaudy"; 
 nor too lavish in quantity; elegant sim- 
 plicity is more becoming, and to the 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF 113 
 
 refined portion of your audience more 
 pleasing than a great display of jewels, 
 however costly they may be. 
 
 It has become a fashion to wear orders 
 of distinction at ordinary concerts, which 
 being only intended for use on State 
 occasions, are quite out of place; they 
 who wear them show lack of good taste 
 and thoughtless disregard for the feel- 
 ings of their less fortunate comrades. 
 
 (^'Neither a borrower nor a lender be," 
 etc.) — If you can assist a comrade, it 
 is your duty to do so, without thought 
 of reward or repayment; but first be 
 sure that your assistance is bestowed 
 on a worthy object; ad captandum lend- 
 ing is not generosity; on the contrary, 
 it is productive of evil in various ways ; 
 you may suffer loss which your pocket 
 cannot afford, and loss of friendship 
 your heart cherished; you may also 
 be providing means for indulgence in 
 intemperate habits. 
 
114 THE ART OF SINGING xiv 
 
 Work for your living, keep strictly 
 within your means, do not indulge in 
 expenses in anticipation of what you 
 expect to earn; make it a hard and 
 fast rule to pay your way as you go; 
 you will then avoid the necessity and 
 mortification of becoming a borrower. 
 
 (" This above all : to thine own self be 
 true" etc.). — Self-government is the 
 most difficult task we have to perform. 
 As in all other tasks, its successful 
 accomplishment depends on ourselves. 
 Teachers can inculcate principles, but 
 the only master who can guide us in 
 their application is our own conscience. 
 Hence from our earliest years the neces- 
 sity for attention to moral instruction, 
 in order that our conscience may have 
 a clear perception of what we owe to 
 our Creator, our fellow-creatures, and 
 ourselves : to our Creator, all we are, 
 all we have, and all we can do; to our 
 fellow-creatures, charity; to ourselves, 
 
XIV ABOUT SELF 115 
 
 the exercise of abnegation, for without 
 this we cannot pay what we owe to 
 Qod and man. Our passions rise up 
 in defiance of conscience when we least 
 expect; the struggle is a lifelong duel 
 a outrance. Woe betide us if conscience 
 succumbs; the man exists no longer; 
 the being is reduced to the level of the 
 beast of the field. 
 
 Look to your conscience every mo- 
 ment of your life; learn to keep your 
 passions in subjection; you will then 
 be true to yourself, and cannot be other- 
 wise to your fellow-creatures. 
 
 (^'Farewell," etc.). — "Make the best 
 of it" whatever befalls you; and you 
 will triumph over all difiiculties which 
 may confront you. 
 
XV 
 ABOUT ACTING 
 
 However great you may estimate your 
 dramatic genius, do not imagine you 
 are a born actor; no such being ever 
 existed. True it is, that dramatic genius 
 or instinct must be born with the indi- 
 vidual, but unless that genius is kept 
 in proper bounds by the rules of the 
 art of declamation, the gifted individual 
 will never become an actor. Declama- 
 tion comprises the just delivery of the 
 words in speech or song, and the gesture 
 or action appropriate to their sense. 
 
 Barring the experience necessary to 
 develop your powers to their full ex- 
 tent, you have mastered the former; 
 it is now your business to turn your 
 ii6 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING 117 
 
 attention to the latter. The office of 
 action is to emphasise the words you 
 utter; occasionally to supply the place 
 of an unuttered word or sentence ; hence 
 you will easily perceive how necessary 
 it is that the action should coincide with 
 the meaning of the words, uttered or 
 not. Sawing the air with your arms, 
 straddling on chairs and tables, con- 
 stantly changing your position on the 
 stage, only distract the attention of 
 the audience and consequently diminish 
 the effect of your performance. Unless 
 there is some positive reason for such 
 movements they only serve to show to 
 people of judgment your ignorance of 
 the art of declamation. 
 
 To prepare for the stage you ought 
 to place yourself under a master of 
 gesture, that you may learn how to 
 use your head and limbs with elegance 
 and grace, and "to suit the action to 
 the word." This is not the place to 
 enter into minute instructions, but a few 
 
ii8 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 general hints will give you an idea of the 
 necessity for this particular study. Each 
 action is a combination of two or more 
 movements, each one a segment of a 
 circle, united in such a manner as to 
 present the appearance of a single move- 
 ment. Any angularity or rigidity would 
 destroy the elegance of your action. 
 You have to learn to stand perfectly 
 still, and perfectly at ease — I think the 
 most difficult of all stage business for 
 a beginner. 
 
 If you go to Italy, you will have no 
 difficulty in finding a good master among 
 the mimes who carry on the action of 
 the ballets produced at the Scala and 
 other great theatres. I had a course 
 of instruction from Effisio Catte, the 
 principal mime at the Scala, whilst I was 
 studying in Milan, from which I reaped 
 great benefit in after-years. 
 
 Grace and elegance in ordinary life 
 are natural to some people; for the 
 stage they must be studied, they must 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING 119 
 
 be artistic7 A per3on may be perfectly 
 graceful and elegant in a drawing-room, 
 who, without proper study, would appear 
 awkward and clumsy on the stage. You 
 have to "hold the mirror up to Nature," 
 and that can only be done by Art. 
 
 Again, each action, though performed 
 directly by the head or limbs, must be 
 indirectly performed by the whole body. 
 The face, especially the mouth, should 
 indicate the sentiment you would por- 
 tray; if, then, your action is not accom- 
 panied by appropriate expression of the 
 face, it loses all the meaning it is in- 
 tended to convey ; and if the expression 
 depicted on your countenance is not 
 seconded by the expression of your 
 whole body, it will not impress your 
 audience with the idea that you are in 
 earnest. I believe it was Dr. Johnson 
 who told David Garrick, after seeing 
 him play Romeo, that in the balcony 
 scene he was in love all over except his 
 left hand. 
 
120 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 As you have to be listener as well as 
 speaker, you can never remain unoccu- 
 pied; you must show^ you are listening, 
 which cannot be done with a blank face 
 and inert body; at the same time, you 
 must not interrupt or interfere with 
 the speaker by meaningless grimace or 
 movement. 
 
 And lastly, which perhaps ought to 
 be firstly, you will have to learn to walk 
 again, the stage being an inclined plane. 
 The master of gesture will teach you 
 your steps, and you will have ample 
 opportunity for practising them during 
 the intervals when you are unoccupied 
 during rehearsal. These details are of 
 great importance; pay great attention 
 to them, as their acquisition or neglect 
 shows the difference between the artiste 
 and the artizan. 
 
 As an instance of perfection in the 
 art of declamation, I cite Pauline 
 Viardot in Le Prophete. When she was 
 kneeling at the feet of her misguided 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING lai 
 
 son, imploring him to give up his wild 
 project and return to her, to the spec- 
 tator's imagination every fibre in her 
 body was vibrating with intense pas- 
 sionate love and devotion, without the 
 slightest touch of exaggeration in word 
 or gesture; that is the way to embody a 
 part. 
 
 If you can afford it, spend at least a 
 month in Paris, and make a study of the 
 actors at the Theatre Fran^ais and other 
 good theatres, and you will come away 
 a wiser and better-prepared man or 
 woman for the work you will have to 
 undertake. You will learn it is not by 
 making an effect in any particular scene 
 which shows the artiste, but by logically 
 representing a character throughout the 
 drama. You must be a figure in a 
 picture, or a series of pictures, which any- 
 thing overdone or underdone will dis- 
 place; your attention must be concen- 
 trated on keeping the figure in its place. 
 When you are alone on the stage you 
 
122 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 must, in theatrical terms, fill it; you 
 have the picture all to yourself; a mo- 
 ment's inattention may spoil it, the 
 audience will lose interest which you 
 will have difficulty in reawakening. 
 
 I once saw Got play Sganarelle in Le 
 Cocu Imaginaire, in which occurs a 
 monologue occupying about five pages 
 in a small 8vo edition. It was a master- 
 piece of declamation; without a single 
 grimace or interpolation of his own 
 witticisms, he kept the audience bound 
 in perfect silence until the end, when he 
 received a storm of applause, not from 
 the claque, but from the entire house, 
 men and women. It was a revelation, 
 after the jibbering tomfoolery I had 
 often witnessed in my own country. 
 
 Got was as great in serious work as in 
 comic; for instance, as Giboyer in Le 
 Fils de Giboyer. I mention him spe- 
 cially, as he was the leading actor at the 
 Fran^ais in my day, but his companions 
 were all great artistes — Mdlle. Favart, 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING 123 
 
 Madeleine Brohan, Delaunay (the beau 
 ideal of the jeune premier), Bressant, 
 Prevost, Worms, CoqueHn aine. When 
 playing together, as I have seen them in 
 the above-mentioned comedy, there was 
 no hopping about from one perch to 
 another, smoking cigars or cigarettes 
 at inopportune times, pirouetting about 
 the stage fluttering pocket-handkerchiefs 
 in the air, or employing other adventi- 
 tious aids to cover awkwardness. 
 
 I was once present at a performance 
 of a comedy in which there was an 
 important drawing-room scene. During 
 the few moments employed by the stage 
 attendants in furnishing the stage with 
 tables, chairs, couches, etc., I remarked 
 to the friend who shared the box with 
 me that, without knowing the number 
 of actors who would take part in the 
 scene, I was sure that each one would 
 sit on each chair and couch before the 
 scene concluded; my companion re- 
 plied, "Stuff! Nonsense! Impossible!" 
 
124 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 Although not a betting man, I offered 
 to bet a sovereign to a shilling that he 
 would find I was right. He accepted 
 my bet, and (there were eight or nine 
 actors engaged in the scene) I won it! 
 but — we were not in Paris ! 
 
 During my career I found only one 
 stage manager from whose directions I 
 reaped any material benefit, or who took 
 the trouble to study the drama he had 
 to put on the stage.* I had the good 
 fortune to profit by his instructions for 
 three seasons at the English opera, 
 Covent Garden, and two or three years 
 at the Italian opera. 
 
 When Robin Hood was produced at 
 Her Majesty's Theatre in i860, at the 
 first full rehearsal, during the finale of 
 the second act, we came to a deadlock; 
 the crowd of chorus singers, ballet, and 
 principal singers had got into such a 
 hopeless muddle that nobody knew how 
 to move. I had figured to myself during 
 William (familiarly called Billy) West. 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING 125 
 
 the preceding rehearsals how the scene 
 could be effectively arranged, and, find- 
 ing that the stage manager was quite at 
 sea, I spoke to Reeves, explaining my 
 idea ; he seemed to enter into my views ; 
 so with Halle's (our conductor then) per- 
 mission my plan was tried and adopted 
 with complete success, the stage man- 
 ager being only too pleased with such a 
 comfortable solution of his difficulty. 
 He confessed he had not even read the 
 libretto. 
 
 I could quote many similar instances, 
 as in the Flying Dutchman (Wagner), 
 The Water Carrier (Cherubini), The 
 Siege of Rochelle (Balfe), etc., etc., not 
 as a boast of superior knowledge, but 
 to show what may be accomplished by 
 giving your steadfast attention to your 
 work — keeping the picture in which 
 you are to be a figure constantly before 
 you, and profiting by the example of 
 those of your companions who are more 
 experienced than yourself. 
 
126 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 It is not enough you should know 
 your own part, you ought to make 
 yourself well acquainted with the whole 
 drama in which you are a figure. You 
 cannot be an attentive "stage-listener" 
 unless you know to what you are listen- 
 ing, ready with your lines at the proper 
 moment. In a work entirely musical 
 you must be "up to time," therefore 
 you are bound to know perfectly the 
 music of every scene in which you 
 take part. Among your comrades you 
 will probably find " procrastinators " and 
 "slow studies"; very tiresome they 
 are to deal with; never give way to 
 temper, but having carried out what I 
 have just advised, render them all the 
 assistance which lies in your power, in a 
 friendly spirit. 
 
 There is another tiresome person you 
 may meet — an experienced actor who 
 plays tricks when he has to deal with 
 a "greenhorn." When I played Don 
 Sallust in Howard Glover's Ruy Bias 
 
XV ABOUT ACTING 127 
 
 I had the advantage of Walter Lacy's 
 instruction for the dramatic element. 
 He cautioned me about the scene in the 
 third act, where Don Sallust interrupts 
 Ruy Bias in the midst of a great speech, 
 requesting him to pick up his handker- 
 chief which he has purposely dropped 
 from his hand. "Be on your guard," 
 said Lacy; "your Ruy Bias is an old 
 stager, and as you are not on the best 
 of terms, will one night, when he thinks 
 he has caught you napping, withdraw 
 the handkerchief; do not close your hand 
 until you feel you have it fast, or you 
 will raise a laugh at your own expense, 
 and make an end of your dignified 
 demeanour." And, surely, during the 
 second week of the run of the opera, 
 when I felt myself quite at home, I 
 nearly fell into the trap. I was just 
 closing my hand and preparing my 
 sneering "Thank you," when I felt the 
 handkerchief slipping; fortunately the 
 warning flashed on my mind, I did not 
 
128 THE ART OF SINGING xv 
 
 move a finger until all was safe; I then 
 turned to my old stager and sneered a 
 "Thank you" he did not forget. 
 
 When you arrive at being an old 
 stager do not you play tricks on the 
 inexperienced — it is bad manners, un- 
 kind, and instead of enhancing your 
 reputation, w^ill lessen you in the esti- 
 mation of those among your audience 
 and comrades who are aware of your 
 disloyal conduct. 
 
 In what I have said about stage 
 management I intend no slight on what 
 is done in England. Of late years I 
 have seen many plays staged to per- 
 fection by some of our noted "actor- 
 managers." My experience was on the 
 operatic stage, and there I did not find 
 stage management as perfect as it might 
 have been with the good material at 
 command. 
 
XVI 
 
 ABOUT REHEARSAL AND 
 PERFORMANCE 
 
 In an operatic theatre the musical 
 director is the responsible head of all 
 that concerns the stage, the commander 
 of the forces placed at his disposal — 
 artistes, chorus, orchestra, and ballet 
 where employed in the opera. The 
 manager of the theatre, if a singer 
 taking part in the performances, is 
 bound to obey him as strictly as any 
 member of his own company. 
 
 Rehearsals are tedious or enjoyable 
 according to the way in which they are 
 conducted, which depends almost en- 
 tirely on the business capacity of the 
 musical director. He must use an iron 
 
 K 129 
 
130 THE ART OF SINGING xvi 
 
 hand in a velvet glove; singers are, as 
 a rule, a "rebellious" crew, and very 
 "touchy" under reproof. He should 
 insist on punctuality, but arrange "calls" 
 so as not to encroach on the time of 
 his artistes, either before or after their 
 services are required, and also to avoid 
 interruptions from those w^ho would be 
 waiting about. In a theatre like Covent 
 Garden, where so many operas are pro- 
 duced during the season, unless punctual 
 attendance and strict attention at re- 
 hearsals were insisted on, well-organ- 
 ised performances would be impossible. 
 Costa and Mellon were both rigorous, 
 they never allowed frivolity to interfere 
 with business; and, punctual them- 
 selves, they would not excuse the lack 
 of it in others. They were called 
 "martinets" by the heedless, unsystem- 
 atic members of the company, but some 
 of us preferred the martinet who did not 
 detain us three or four hours where one 
 would suffice to go through our work. 
 
XVI REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE 131 
 
 When I was rehearsing The Trovatore 
 for my debut in Italian opera at Covent 
 Garden in 1862, the first morning 
 TamberHk did not put in an appearance 
 until half an hour after the appointed 
 time. He had a fair excuse, as he had 
 been singing in William Tell the night 
 before, which did not finish until close 
 on midnight. When he came into the 
 room Costa took out his watch and 
 called the great tenor's attention to his 
 tardy arrival. Tamberlik made some 
 excuse about the late hour he arrived 
 at home the preceding night. Costa 
 merely remarked, "I let you off this 
 time, but pray do not let it occur again." 
 It did not matter — artiste, chorus singer, 
 orchestral player, all were treated alike. 
 The result was manifest in the fine 
 performances we were accustomed to. 
 
 Throughout the rehearsals concentrate 
 your thoughts upon your work. You 
 need not use your full voice, but sing 
 so that the director may know what you 
 
132 THE ART OF SINGING xvi 
 
 intend to do with the music allotted to 
 you, and if he offers you advice accept 
 it graciously — his greater experience will 
 most probably prove of great value. 
 During your unoccupied intervals you 
 can pay attention to your comrades to 
 your advantage; you may learn some- 
 thing worth adopting, or note something 
 to be avoided. Take every opportunity 
 which offers of singing your solo pieces 
 that the director may have no trouble in. 
 accompanying you when you arrive at 
 the orchestral rehearsals, and that you 
 may feel at home when you appear 
 before the public. At every rehearsal 
 on the stage go through your part as 
 you intend to play it, leave nothing to 
 the spur of the moment. I have often 
 heard procrastinators say, when imper- 
 fect at rehearsal, "It will be all right at 
 night" — a bad system. What is not 
 right at a rehearsal does not turn out 
 right at the performance. 
 
 When you are before the public keep 
 
XVI REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE 133 
 
 your attention fixed on your work; sink 
 your identity in the character you are 
 portraying, and though nervous at the 
 start you will soon "warm up," forget- 
 ting audience and everything else ex- 
 cept your work. 
 
 These remarks apply in a modified 
 degree to the concert platform. Gesture 
 is not permissible here; passion and 
 sentiment must be expressed by the face 
 alone. Beware, however, of exaggera- 
 tion. Expression would drop into 
 grimace, and destroy all effect you might 
 make with your singing. 
 
 Do not rest satisfied with or elated 
 by your first success; be content with 
 having done your best, and continue to 
 study in order to improve what you 
 have already done successfully. Abso- 
 lute perfection you can never hope to 
 attain. As long as you exercise your 
 art you will find room for improvement, 
 and when you retire, on looking back 
 and meditating on your successes, you 
 
134 THE ART OF SINGING xvi 
 
 will of a surety discover many points in 
 which the speaking, singing, or acting 
 could have been improved. It is then 
 too late for you to profit by your more 
 mature study, but you can and ought, 
 when opportunity occurs, to impart to 
 your young successors the knowledge 
 which you can no longer make use of 
 yourself. 
 
 The anticipation of the pleasure of a 
 life of repose after one of active labour 
 is but natural, especially after the wear- 
 ing and often wearying career of a true 
 artiste; but if the repose is to consist 
 of a total cessation of employment for 
 mind and body, the realisation will be 
 attended with anything but pleasure. 
 You will be free from contracts with 
 managers, from the caprice of public 
 taste, the petty jealousies of the "green- 
 room," and other annoyances, but you 
 will find their place will be filled up by 
 others as disagreeable, whether you seek 
 your pleasure in the attractions of society 
 
XVI REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE 135 
 
 or of retirement. There is only one 
 method of extracting pleasure from life 
 in this world — by preserving the mind 
 and body active as long as they retain 
 any vigour. That vigour can only be 
 maintained by employment, and what 
 employment could be more generous 
 and interesting than helping the young 
 struggler with the benefit of your 
 experience ? Work ! work ! work ! as 
 long as you have breath. That is your 
 contract with the Author of all you are, 
 all you have, and all you can do. Be 
 careful to fulfil it or . . . 
 
POST SCRIPTUM 
 
 There are few people who do not look 
 on a well-arranged, well-stocked garden 
 of flowers and inhale their delicious per- 
 fume with delight; the few must be 
 those few who have "no music in their 
 souls," though it is to be hoped they are 
 not therefore "fit for treasons, stratagems, 
 and spoils." All delights are attended 
 with danger when indulged in beyond 
 reasonable bounds; it is incumbent on 
 us at all times to moderate our trans- 
 ports, or we are bound to suffer more 
 or less from our indiscretion. Flowers 
 growing in the open air are innocuous, 
 so far as I know, but, growing or cut, 
 confined in the space of an ordinary 
 
 room, they are the cause of suffering, 
 136 
 
POST SCRIPTUM 137 
 
 especially to those afflicted with highly 
 strung nervous systems. I can speak 
 advisedly, from the result of personal 
 experience. It is a fashion in England, 
 where flower-gardens are for the most 
 part bare during a great portion of the 
 year, to garnish our living and even 
 bedrooms with flowers imported from 
 foreign countries or from English green- 
 houses; in the spring we deck them 
 with those flowers which bloom early 
 in the woods; our windows are orna- 
 mented with hyacinths. The exhala- 
 tions from most of these are highly 
 pernicious to the health. I have often 
 been ridiculed for saying so. I have 
 known ladies who suff'ered martyrdom 
 from headache caused by the flowers, 
 without which, they declared, "they 
 could not exist." It is useless to try 
 the efi^ect of reasoning with such. Find- 
 ing that no argument I could off"er, 
 though backed by the opinion of one of 
 our most eminent medical men, had any 
 
138 THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 effect, I had to leave them to enjoy the 
 sight of the flowers and suffer the pains of 
 the headache caused by their exhalations. 
 I felt grieved that it was not in my power 
 to offer any sympathy, and probably was 
 counted a barbarian, and a hater of one 
 of Nature's choicest products. 
 
 To you, young friends, who have to 
 use your throats, I must be more insist- 
 ing; it is not a matter of a headache, 
 which you may suffer from your own 
 indiscretion if you choose; you have a 
 public duty to perform, and the public 
 will not stop to inquire about your 
 adoration of flowers, or excuse you on 
 that ground if you are unable from loss 
 of voice to do your duty. 
 
 I will give you now the result of my 
 experience, and you can judge for your- 
 selves and take the advice I give you, 
 founded on that experience, or not, as 
 you like. In the early part of my 
 career I found that occasionally, leaving 
 home for a concert in excellent voice. 
 
POST SCRIPTUM 139 
 
 after being in the artistes' room for a 
 little time I was attacked with an un- 
 accountable hoarseness, the cause of 
 which I vainly endeavoured to discover. 
 I found that when I left the artistes' 
 room, during the few minutes' wait in 
 the corridor leading to the platform (I 
 am speaking of the recently demolished 
 St. James's Hall), my voice entirely re- 
 gained its clearness. On close observa- 
 tion I found the hoarseness attacked me 
 when there were flowers in the room, 
 particularly the (to me) deadly gardenia, 
 stephanotis, hyacinth, lily, etc. I men- 
 tioned the fact, and was, as I said before, 
 laughed at for my "fad," as it was 
 called — a mere piece of imagination ; 
 if I had not seen the flowers, I should 
 never have accused them. That is 
 probable; but I had opportunities of 
 proving the contrary, of which one will 
 suffice. I was singing at a private party 
 one evening, at a very nice house some- 
 where in the neighbourhood of Belgrave 
 
140 THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 Square, in which Gardoni, the tenor, a 
 charming Httle soprano, a daughter of 
 Varesi, the baritone, and others whose 
 names I do not remember, were engaged. 
 I left home happy, feeling I was in 
 splendid form. I arrived at the house, 
 and was in the drawing-room for about 
 half an hour before the concert com- 
 menced. I began to feel rather husky, 
 and tried the remedy of a simple lozenge, 
 as I fancied the heat had dried my throat. 
 When it came to my turn to sirg I 
 almost collapsed, for I could scarcely 
 produce a sound. Mdlle. Varesi was 
 in the same plight, Gardoni was husky, 
 and all the others were more or less 
 incapacitated. There was not a flower 
 in the room that I could discover, and 
 I began to doubt my theory. The con- 
 cert concluded, the host came to thank 
 me for the pleasure I had given him and 
 his guests (I thought they were very 
 kind, or more anxious about the supper 
 served after the concert than the music), 
 
POST SCRIPTUM 141 
 
 and asked me if I had seen his splendid 
 show of liHes. I had not; so he con- 
 ducted me into a room adjoining, which 
 was Hterally packed with "harem UHes," 
 the deadly exhalations from which had 
 penetrated into the drawing-room and 
 paralysed the efforts of those who ought 
 to have been the chief attraction of the 
 party. I could not forbear telling him 
 that his show of lilies had upset the 
 musical proceedings. He seemed per- 
 fectly contented, however; so I got 
 away as soon as I could, and had not 
 been out of the house ten minutes 
 before my voice was as clear and fresh 
 as when I entered it. I have since had 
 many proofs that my theory, certainly 
 as far as my own throat is concerned, 
 is correct. My opinion was confirmed 
 by Morell Mackenzie, on an occasion 
 on which I met him at a party where I 
 was singing. He told me that the ex- 
 halations from flowers, especially such 
 as those I have before enumerated, have 
 
142 THE ART OF SINGING 
 
 the effect of paralysing to a greater or less 
 extent the nerves of the throat, and so 
 render the voice husky even to hoarseness. 
 Whenever I find a room where I have 
 to sing decorated with strong-smelling 
 flowers, I insist on having them re- 
 moved, and have several times been 
 voted a nuisance in consequence. Some 
 years ago at the Crystal Palace I was 
 singing at a Saturday afternoon concert, 
 when dear old August Manns was 
 director; during the interval between 
 the rehearsal and the concert the plat- 
 form had been lined with hyacinths in 
 full bloom. When I went on to the 
 orchestra the odour from the flowers 
 was overpowering, and I insisted on the 
 whole of them being cleared away before 
 I sang, which made George Grove 
 furious and declare in a loud voice it 
 was ridiculous to keep the audience 
 waiting for such nonsensical "fads." I 
 had to sing, he had not; so I waited 
 until my enemies were removed. 
 
POST SCRIPTUM 143 
 
 I deemed it better to try the patience 
 of the audience for a few minutes than 
 to annoy them by croaking through 
 my song. Fad or no fad, on future 
 occasions I never had to engage in a 
 battle of flowers at the same place. 
 
 Jonquils, wood violets, and other 
 strong-scented spring flowers, which are 
 frequently used to ornament the dining- 
 room, generally have a very bad effect 
 on most people's digestive organs; they 
 will not admit it, and blame the salmon 
 or the sauce, anything rather than their 
 beloved flowers. I have never experi- 
 enced any ill effect from the odour of 
 the rose, though in some species it is 
 strong and penetrating. 
 
 All singers may not be subject to the 
 same ill effects produced by the exhala- 
 tions of scented flowers as I am, but I 
 would advise them to be on their guard, 
 and not allow their affection to overcome 
 their reason. 
 
EPITAPH 
 
 Be true to your Art, and you shall 
 earn this. 
 
 Though your mortal body lies here 
 awaiting the call of the Last Trumpet, 
 your immortal soul shall ascend to join the 
 celestial choir in singing the eternal praise 
 of Its Creator. 
 
" An undertaking which" says TV. S. Henderson, in 
 The Atlantic Monthly, " will suffice for many years to 
 come, and will remain for all time a monument to the 
 learning, patience, and judgment of the editor!^ 
 
 A New Edition Revised and Greatly Enlarged 
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 Grove's Dictionary of 
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