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Show SINGERS AND THEIR BRAINS. The opinion of tho average critic, I says Ffrangcon-Davies, tho Welsh singer, in a book called "The Singing of the Future," is that singers as a class are hot overburdened with brains. Tho writer, in reply to this, gives It as his own opinion that slng- ers have as: much brains as other people, peo-ple, only they do not uso them. His book contains an insistence on the paramount need of intelligence In tho singer and a will to rise above the limitations and the vanities that an indulgent and uncritical public have fostered. Tho ambition of every i singer ought to bo, ho thinks, a full-rounded full-rounded development, mentally as well as vocally, so as to enable him to run tho whole gamut of emotional j expression and not bo content with a limited metier; and ho should not i content himself with tho begullement of an audience with lovely and semi-ous semi-ous tone when that power happens to be within his natural gifts; nor overawe over-awe with physical prowess to tho detriment det-riment of linguistic purity. Such faults, observable in many modern singers, would not exist If singers, emulative of .such men as Sims Reeves and Jean do Reszke, to name two notable exceptions, used their brains to effect a well-rounded nnd cultured development. Upon tho llrst point of his reprobation ho says: "Singers classify themselves according ac-cording to supposed limitations; each finds his metier and lives up to, and on it. Any singer of ordinary physique phy-sique and mind should bo ablo to delineate de-lineate clearly any character. 'Such and such a role docs not suit me,' is a statement which one often hears; It is marked by indolence and apathy, apa-thy, for any role within a singer's vocal range should 'suit' an artist. To some of us, at all events, it Is clear that varied and oven universal expression ex-pression Is tho only kind of work to which any person of common sense would care to devote Ms life. 'Belcanto (of which wo read so much) meant, and means, versatility of tone; if a man wished to bo called an artlit, his voice must becomo the instrument of intelligent imagination." imagina-tion." To those who say that tho three requisites of tho singer aro: 1 Voice; 2 Voice; 3 Voice, ho retorts: re-torts: "As well tell a painter that his chief matters aro: 1 Paint; 2 Paint; 3 Paint." Ho says: "Certain gifted types of singers are liable "to sacrifice everything to artificial ar-tificial and sensuous enjoyment ('artistic'). ('ar-tistic'). Thoy who enjoy tho possession pos-session of 'charm and of an 'engaging personality' seldom fall to abandon tho higher self to these dangerous possessions. By 'the higher self of an ,operatic artist is meant tho mind as a whole, which is capable of dealing deal-ing characteristically (In an objective objec-tive sense) with varied subjects. 'Charm' and 'personality' aro really reacting forces, and thoy avenge them- selves on art, artists, and the public." While on tho subject of operatic singing, ho has a word to say upon that species of vanity which makes appoal to tho Ignorant side of humanity. human-ity. Thus: "A great singer should not depend for effect upon awaking that barbaric sense of amazomont which belongs to primeval man. Formful words and characteristic atmosphere are tho. essentials es-sentials of drama! Even gods, In human hu-man guise, when condescending to walk the' stage, should give us human language and not Inhuman jargon. Brawny muscular development, ana opulence of stentorian tone, appeal not to anyono who has listened to the largo tones of nature, in which large ness are depth, truth, reasonableness, justness. No ono need bo hostile to large tones per so; a man may sing with a noble, godlike voice, and bo an artist. But thero must bo no sensationalism. sen-sationalism. Tho vory moment vocai quality is vitiated, and linguistic purity, pur-ity, musical meaning, and poetic Interpretation Inter-pretation nro marred, that moment tho ralson d'etro of tho human voice is ignored. If any man wants a standard whereby ho may judge how large a tone may bo, let him tako the words of tho text as his guide. If ho can not pronounce tho words as he would pronounce them were ho a cultivated cul-tivated actor, his t'ono Is too big." The two chief recommendations which Mr. Davies makes as tho ideal of tho singer is to strlvo tor mastery over all types of human expression, with verismllitudo as tho guiding principle. This Implies that voice culture can not bo regarded ns something some-thing apart from general culture; and tho singer who would satisfy the highest demands or his profession should not confine his study within tho bounds of tho art to which ho Is primarily devoted. "Beforo a man can acquire style which Is the man and not tho brute ho must read great books, and move among men and women who aro accustomed to think." Literary Digest. |