Upon the theories advanced by self-styled scientists, many systems of
singing were based, without definite proof as to their being true or false.
These systems were exploited for the benefit of those who formulated them.
This condition of things prevailed, not only through the latter part of the
eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth, but still
manifests itself at the present day, and no doubt will continue to do so
for many years to come.
The vocal world undoubtedly owes much to the study and research of the true
scientist. All true art is based upon science, and none more than the art
of voice and of singing.
Science is knowledge of facts co-ordinated, arranged, and systematized;
hence science is truth. The object of science is knowledge; the object of
art is works. In art, truth is the means to an end; in science, truth is
the end.
The science of voice is a knowledge of certain phenomena or movements which
are found under certain conditions to occur regularly. The object of the
true art of voice is to study the conditions which allow these phenomena to
occur.
The greatest mistake of the many systems of singing, formulated upon the
theories of the scientists, and of the so-called scientists, was not so
much in their being based upon theories which oftentimes were wrong, as in
the misunderstanding and misapplication of true theories. The general
mistake of these systems was and is that they attempt by direct local
effort, by direct manipulation of muscle, to compel the phenomena of voice,
instead of studying the conditions which allow them to occur.
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