These movements change the
overtones, of which the vowels are made up, and hence it is that the
human voice is capable of an infinite variety of tone-color, compared
with which Wagner admits that even "the most manifold imaginable
mixture of orchestral colors must appear insignificant."
Notwithstanding that the superiority of the voice is thus conceded,
even by the greatest magician of the orchestra, we daily hear the
complaint that the good old times of artistic singing are gone by, and
have been superseded by an instrumental era, in which the voice merely
plays the part of the second fiddle and is maltreated by composers,
who do not understand its real nature. So far is this opinion from the
truth that it must be said, contrariwise, that it is only within the
last century--I might almost say the last half century--that composers
have begun fully to recognize the true function of the human voice and
its principal advantage over instruments.
What is this advantage? It is the power of articulating, of uniting
poetry with music, _definite words with indefinite tones_.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211