MU SIC.

A SINGER ON HIS ART.

THE career, the achievements, and the marked individuality of the writer claim an attentive and sympathetic hearing for Sir Charles Santley's little book on "The Art of Singing."* It is more than fifty years since he made his first public appear. ance, and he still maintains his position as the foremost figure amongst native singers. Throughout his career be has fully justified the title he gave to his earlier volume of reminiscences. He has always been a student as well as a singer, never content to rest on his laurels or proceed on the lines of least resistance. He graduated in opera when Mario and Grisi were names to conjure with, and, abandoning the boards in the "seventies after the failure of a venture to establish English opera, to further which he had severed his connexion with the Italian lyric stage, he devoted himself to concert and oratorio work, with results which are happily familiar to the present generation of concert-goers. Throughout his career, again, he never sought to disguise his individuality or his nationality. Trained in Italy, and an excellent linguist, the core of the man was always British and manly, free from the affectations and mannerisms which many singers deliberately cultivate. This unaffected sincerity is one of the chief charms of this volume. Sir Charles Santley not only speaks from a ripe and almost unrivalled experience, but he speaks with a frankness which leaves nothing to be desired. The literary quality of the book is negligible, its vocabulary is curiously limited, and the author's outlook by no means devoid of prejudice, and even Philistinism. But, on the other hand, he utters a good many home-truths with refreshing bluntness, and his warnings on the subject of " production quacks " were never more needed than at the present day. Sir Charles Santley apparently accepts as correct the prodigious estimate of ten thousand as the number of those engaged in teaching singing in London alone, and even if we divide it by two, at least four out of that five thousand are wholly unfitted for the task. Sir Charles Santley, it is true, addresses himself primarily to students who intend to take up singing professionally ; but while his remarks may have the desirable result of discouraging a certain number of incapables, they will be none the less appreciated by serious amateurs who have no intention of taking to singing as a livelihood.

The prime requisite in a singer, according to Rossini, was a voice. Recently an able musician declared that no singer was worth his salt unless he sang with brains. Now comes Sir Charles Santley, who pronounces patience to be the great desideratum, while, of course, admitting the need of natural resources and intelligence as well. There are no short cuts to success in singing, and he strongly emphasises the value of a deliberate and leisurely preparation, insisting at the outset that "the only adviser to be consulted is a conscientious, practical artist who has ' gone through the mill' and come out • The Art of Singing and Vocal Declamation. By Sir Charles Santley. London; Macmillan and Co. [Ss. 6d. net.] stamped ' genuine.' " He is no believer in a singing-master who is not or has not been a good singer. For the rest, he attaches importance to vocal exercises, solfeggi, &o., and the study of the work of the great artists as opposed to the adora- tion of the idols of an ignorant public. But practice and intelligent imitation are not enough. The serious aspirant must choose a singing-master, and here Sir Charles Santley

has some illuminating remarks on the claims of those " who profess to teach the production of the voice on scientific principles," showing that he would entirely endorse the satire implicit in the stanza about "the young lady of Brussels" of whom it is written that-

" When they asked Can you sing ?' She said My ! what a thing !

But I'll tell you a lot about muscles."

According to his view, the more a master knows of anatomy, the less he will talk about it to his pupils :- "Manuel Garcia is held up as the pioneer of scientific teachers of singing. He was—but ho taught singing, not surgery ! I was a pupil of his in 1858 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 perfectly acquainted with their functions, but he used his knowledge for his own direction, not to make parade of it before his pupils, as he knew it would only serve to mystify them, and could serve no good purpose in acquiring a knowledge of the art of singing. My experience tells me that the less pupils know about the con- struction of the vocal organs the better ; in fact, as 1 heard a master once remark, better they should not be aware they had throats except for the purpose of swallowing their food.'"

In the chapters specially addressed " to the pupil " Sir Charles Santley inculcates self-denial and moderation in all things,—food, drink, exercise, sleep, and study. His own experience inclines him to regard tobacco as a valuable sedative ; but he does not advocate smoking, while vigorously deprecating the invectives of those who denounce smoking as a filthy habit. His remarks on general culture are decidedly vague. " A vocal artiste "—Sir Charles Sautley uses this detestable form throughout,—" must have a nodding acquaint- ance, at least, with the sister Arts, literature, prose and poetry (especially the latter), and painting." Languages are essential, especially Italian, " as the best works as studies for a singer are written in that language." But he differs tote caelo from those English singers who declare that Italian is much easier to pronounce than their own language. In his opinion, few foreigners ever acquire a pure Italian pronunciation. The upholders of the Bohemian life as the only artistic existence are dismissed with a flat denial. "I never yet encountered a great artiste who led a Bohemian life, or was unsystematic in his work." Much less disputable than this peremptory assertion is the statement that "you cannot be an artiste and

a votary of Society at the same time. It has been often tried and always proved a failure." On the subject of articulate enunciation Sir Charles Santley's remarks are above reproach :—" 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

clearly in ordinary conversation, and so acquire a slipshod, inelegant enunciation which requires patient, persevering study to correct and fit them for public speaking." This, as he further notes, is not the fault of the language, but of those who speak it without learning how it should be spoken. Here we may quote an interesting personal experience of the writer :—

"I was once present at a performance of The Merchant of Venice at the Princess's Theatre. Carl Formes, the once celebrated bass singer, played Shylock. He always preserved a strong German accent in conversation ; 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 enunciation was perfectly distinct. I did not miss a single syllable throughout his entire performance."

The recent performance of the Ring in English at Covent Garden furnishes a confirmation of this criticism. The foreign singers who took part, though not always intelligible, were on the whole much more articulate than their British

colleagues.

The bulk of Sir Charles Santley's advice to young singers is tolerably obvious, but some of his sayings combine practical wisdom and good feeling to an extent on which it would be.

hard to improve. Thus, after impressing on his readers the need of patience and courtesy, of conquering shyness and giving full play to artistic feeling whilst preserving modesty of demeanour, he enlarges on the value of keeping 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."

He might have added that the singer who can only talk "shop" of this sort is one of the worst of bores. Excellent also is his caution with regard to the choice of agents :- "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 would have an opportunity to display your talents in their various phases and obtain notices of your perform- ance 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."

Another valuable hint is addressed to the singer who has secured an operatic engagement, and has been cast for a

part :—

" 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 anticipa- tion, 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-performers, that you may do your share in carrying out the interest of the drama."

Lastly, we may quote, from his chapter on the stage, his condemnation of experienced actors who abuse their position

to play practical jokes on "greenhorns "

" When you arrive at being an old stager do not play tricks on the inexperienced—it is bad manners, unkind, and instead of enhancing your reputation, will lessen you in the estimation of those among your audience and comrades who are aware of your disloyal conduct."

The value of the book has already been illustrated. Some of its blemishes remain to be indicated. The tone throughout is that of the laudatar temporis acti. Not only is there no mention of a single living singer, or, indeed, of any one later than Sims Reeves or Gardoni, but the general impression conveyed is that singers holding the first rank at the present day are ignorant of the very foundations of the art which they practise. There is no acknowledgment, again, of the immense improvement in the choice of songs at modern concerts and recitals as compared with, say, thirty years ago, or of the value to the musical community of good amateurs.

Indeed, the possibility of an amateur being an artist seems to be flatly negatived by the contemptuous reference on p. 22.

These omissions, and the somewhat bitter tone of certain passages, are to be regretted in a singer who has so little cause to complain of generous recognition as Sir Charles Santley. The book abounds in good advice, but it is not so much from singer to singer as from the old man to the young, and much of it is sententious in form as well as trite in matter. It lacks organic cohesion, and is rather a series of obiter dicta on various aspects of singing than a connected treatise. His exposure of quackery, charlatanism, and faddism is as well timed as it is vigorous. There is, indeed, hardly a word with which one can disagree ; but he does not tell us enough. It is an ungrateful task, however, to criticise the work of a great man who has rendered such splendid service to his art, though we are sure that, as he has never minced his own words, he will be the last to resent outspoken criticism. For the rest, we have only to add that young singers who do not go and hear Sir Charles Santley while there is yet time will miss an invaluable oppor- tunity of completing a liberal musical education. He is still a giant amongst singers. He still personifies, as he has done from his early days, all that is virile, sound, and sincere in the art of song, and such an experience will do far more good to the aspirant than the study of his book, excellent and timely