The Voice: Its Production, Care and PreservationMiller, Frank E. (Frank Ebenezer)
Philosophy
The Voice: Its Production, Care and Preservation
Miller, Frank E. (Frank Ebenezer)
Singing -- Instruction and study; Voice -- Care and hygiene
Between the two, however, between mind and body, there lies, like a
borderland of fancy, yet most real, the nervous system, crossed and
recrossed by the most delicate, the most sensitive filaments ever
spun, filaments that touch, caress, or permeate each and every muscle
concerned in voice-production, calling them into play with the rapidity
of mental telegraphy. Over this network of nerves the mind, or--if you
prefer to call it so--the artistic sense, sends its messages, and it
is the nerves and muscles working in harmony that results in a correct
production of the voice. So important, indeed, is the coöperation of
the nervous system, that it is a question whether the whole psychology
of song may not be referred to it--whether the degree of emotional
thrill, in different voices, may not be the result of greater or less
sensitiveness in the nervous system of different singers. This might
explain why some very beautiful voices lack emotional quality. In such
singers the physical action of the vocal organs and of all the resonance
cavities of the head may be perfect, but the nerves are not sufficiently
sensitive to the emotion which the song is intended to express, and so
fail to carry it to the voice.
Immense progress has been made in anatomical research, and in no other
branch more than in the study of the throat and of the larynx, which is
the voice-box of the human body. There also has been a great advance in
the study of metaphysics. It would seem high time, therefore, that both
the results of modern anatomical study and the deductions of advanced
psychological research, should be recognized in the use of that subtle
and beautiful thing, the human voice, which in its ultimate quality is
a combination of physiological and psychological phenomena--the physical,
voice-producing organs acting within and for themselves, but also being
acted upon by a series of suggestive impulses from the mind and soul,
countless in number and variety. Indeed, one might say that while in
singing the vocal organs are the first essential, they must, in order
to achieve their full effect, be in tune with the infinite. Artistic
singing involves complete physiological control of the voice-producing
function, combined with complete command of the metaphysical resources
of art. Thus only can voice be produced with that apparent spontaneity
which we call artistic, and at the same time be charged with the
emotional quality which gives it individual significance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account