MUSICAL STUDIES.

Shannon News, 8 June 1928, Page 3

MUSICAL STUDIES.

LYRICS AND BALLADS OF SHAKESPEARE.

FURTHER REMARKS ON VOICE CULTURE. The musical features of Shakespeare's plays were dealt with in an interesting manner in the lecture by Mr Edwin Dennis, A.R.C.M-, in the Band Room, Levin, on Tuesday evening. He prefaced his remarks by illustrating a 19th century musical interpretation of the spirit of Shakespearean drama, putting on the gramophone the "Merry Wives'of Windsor overture (Nicolai). The lecturer explained that the dramatist could be a musician while not necessarily being a composer. They would realise that the words and the lines of Shakespeare were very musical. Every poet must be, in a sense, a musician; he had to arrange his words so that they fitted, into each other and also sounded well together. Thus he produced a rhythm or metre, just as a composer did. a line of Shakespeare's was examined, it would be found to contain accented 1 , words or syllables, like the accented notes in music. He used his prefixes in the form of alliteration, as in "pale primroses," "fierce fires," "curled clouds, "misfortunes manifold." Mr Dennis gave several outstanding examples of Shakespeare's word-music. "I will not struggle. I will stand stone still." "When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees." "Some say the lark and the loathed toad changed eyes." "Methought the billows spoke and told me of it." The work was built to rhythm right through, and when reading Shakespeare that fact should be borne in mind. Another proof of Shakespeare's being a musician was that he referred in many instances to the instruments of his day—virginals, viols, lutes and recorders. The last-named was a more' or less glorified woodilute, but one which was blown,through the end instead of at the side.'

In practically every instance Shakespeare used music when he wanted his hearers to feel awe-struck. When a goblin or other objectionable creature appeared, it was generally introduced by an accompaniment of music. As examples of the weird settings calling for music, the lecturer instanced the song in "A . Midsummer Night's Dream," when Titania summons her attendants to sing her to sleep—-"Ye spotted, snakes"; and the witches' song in "Macbeth,',' "Come away, death." Mr Dennis also referred to musical examples in "Antony and Cleopatra" and "A Winter's-Tale." He remarked that Shakespeare made his heroines the most wonderful creatures; they guarded their honour with their lives, were beautiful in the extreme, and in every condition of adversity they maintained their sweetness of character. FAMOUS SONGS. There were clever songs in "Cymbeline," including "Hark, hark, the lark." This ballad, set to music by Schubert, and sung by the noted tenor Evan, Williams, was reproduced on the gramophone. Another record played was the song, '-'When that I was a tiny boy," from "The Merry Wives of Windsor." It was sung by Robert Eadford, one of the greatest basses in England to-day. This was followed by "Who is Sylvia?'| (Schubert), taken from "Two Gentlemen of Verona," and sung by the tenor Oldham. It was noticeable that, except in the refrain, the singer's diction was not clear, and Mr' Dennis explained that Oldham . resorted to tone-singing, as against a combination of tone and diction. "The public do love noises," he added, "and the man or woman who can give a variety of noises or sounds, whether soft or ' loud, goes further than . one who pays attention to diction." He pointed out that diction could be secured by the use of resonance, the practice of which also developed the voice.

PRODUCTION OF VOCAL SOUNDS,

Continuing his remarks on vocal culture, Mr Dennis said that for the purpose of producing sounds easily, prefixes were used. The principal ones were the consonants P, N and M. The P gave the explosion of the lips and allowed the tone to. come out. When N was used the sound came to the back of the nose, and with M there was a dragging-in effect. There were no two voices the same, nor any two throats, tongues, noses or cavities, and so it was impossible to standardise vocal teaching. It was because of this that there were so many people teaching singing who ought not to be allowed to teach because they had not studied the subject. There were some very brilliant' performers who were not good teachers. All the training given them had been to develop their voices to a state of high efficiency, and, not having had to go through the hard school of remedying several bad throat faults, it was not very likely that they could appreciate the faults of those who wished to sing. Resonance was obtained through the . sound vibrating in the resonating chambers. People did not like the phrase "nasal resonance," because it suggested a person speaking with a twang. The nasal twang, however, was not caused by resonance, but by the banging of the sound against a closed nose. As long as he did not close the back of his nose, and allowed his voice to vibrate, he obtained a clear sound. There were also cavities above and below the eyes, and these vibrated, making the sound double or treble what it would be otherwise.

SAYING "NO." The. tutor asked the class to" say "No," telling them that they could practise it at home, provided that the husbands did not say it too often to their wives. (Laughter). "Think 'N' before you start," he, said, "and say it while inclining the head a little and dro--'r.fr the jaw." JYom this sound,

the lesson proceeded to "no-mm," and the tut-r said he could hear a lot of throat movement. If the lips were drawn back, a throat tone was produced. It' the Jips were placed forward, the voice was sent out to the front. Kesonance would increase the character of one's speech by 50 per cent. Many young elocutionists in the learning stage were apt to bore people with their everyday speech, and so earned the name of "yellow-cution-ists." The voice should be adapted to the building in which one was speaking. In any ordinary hall he could make himself heard without shouting. In cases where the voice was forced, little bits of words only would be heard, because ' the second syllables were broken. If, in singing, some of the syllables were put forward and others" kept back, the singer would 'be in a greater muddle than if he had sung nothing forward. When the student came to song-work,- he found odd words which had to be adapted to the nearest vowel, because they were words which went back on the throat. The principal trouble encountered in learners was the stiffness of the jaw. Many folks did not move their mouths at all, but it was natural to move the mouth. In his student days, when he first freed his voice from the throat, he thought he had lost the singing voice and produced instead ''a rotten noise." The professor, however, said, "You have been making a rotten noise for so long that you did not know a good one when you heard it." The moment that people had a natural morement of the jaw, they did not recognise it, and thought they were making faces. "Use your lips and keep your jaw free," Mr Dennis advised the pupils, "and resonance will gradually creep in." He mentioned that, he had had to teach voice production to young students from the Teachers' Training College, and suggested that instruction in the use of the voice in speaking should form part of their educational course. Through lack of this knowledge they had been contracting tired throats. In the report of Mr Dennis's previous lecture the word "ay" was misprinted "ah," altering the meaning of one of his references. In the "ah" sound, the tongue should be kept flat and the face should be in the smiling position; in the sound of "ay," like that of "ee," the tongue should be lifted and the teeth should be" nearly closed.

Mr Dennis announced that the next lecture would be held in the De Luxe Hall on .Tuesday, at 6.45 p.m. He also stated that he hoped to give, later in the course, some "evenings" with the great composers." The gramophone and records used in connection with the lectures were lent by His Master's Voice Co.