SINGING. Like other arts, singing has had its periods of development, culmination and decay. It reached its highest point towards the end of the 18th century, since which time the devel opment of music—largely in relation to the orchestra—has led composers to a relative neglect of the voice as an instrument to be studied on its own account.
In its highest sense we must regard singing as the art of emit ting the voice in fulness, unerringly on the pitch, so that each word is prolonged as naturally as during the most expressive talk ing. Such a standard demands a special mode of controlling the breath in order that the voice, issuing in freedom and with open ness of throat, can be sustained and intensified.
Any language, whose practice is to dwell on the vowels and to avoid throaty combinations of consonants, must tend towards sonority of speech and freedom of throat. We are indebted to the "Land of Song" for the art of bel canto, or beautiful singing. To copy the haunting purity of the vowels as sung by Italian artists has ever been the longing and despair of other nations. It may well be that such purity was originally developed through the singers having to sustain, in large cathedrals, the long phrases characteristic of the music of Palestrina (b. Unfortunately it was not the habit of the old masters to publish books on their art. He who would form a bel canto of the vowels of his own country must rely mostly on the sayings or maxims of the old singers which have been handed down, and show their attitude towards singing and their ideas relative to its cultivation. Of especial interest is Angelo Bontempi's description of the plan of studies at the Papal School at Rome (about 1624). Assembled in class, the pupils practised, for one hour daily, exercises on richness of tone ; a second hour was devoted to the "trill"; a third hour to rapid passages ; finally, one hour to the cultivation of taste and expression. All this was done in the presence of a professor who saw that the pupils sang before a looking glass so as to learn to avoid grimaces : wrinkling of the brow, winking of the eye-lids, or distortion of the mouth. The richness of these voices was undoubtedly assisted by extreme caution in the selec tion of studies, always kept within the natural compass of the voice.
It is to the credit of the early English composers, Byrd, Morley, Dowland and Lawes (155o to 165o) that they wrote songs de manding sustained power. Purcell (b. 1658) composed his touch ing "Dido's lament" also songs demanding execution, such as "Let the mighty engines." In Italy, celebrated composers for the voice were Carissimi (b. 1604), Alessandro Scarlatti (b. Lotti (b. 1667) and Bernacchi (b. 1690) ; the latter was engaged by Handel to sing in his opera "Rinaldo." Porpora (b. 1686), a pupil of Scarlatti, established a school of singing, whence issued those wonderful singers Farinelli and Caffarelli. The latter, who was kept to one sheet of exercises for five years, excelled in slow and pathetic airs. He was un approachable in beauty of voice and in the execution of the trill. Farinelli became possibly the most remarkable singer who ever lived. Porpora's airs and exercises are mostly directed to flexi bility of the voice; they are of such difficulty as to be almost impossible of execution by singers of the present day. Here for instance is a portion of an aria from his opera "Siroc": . . , --, • • P mmilm?••••=m Qual-che spe-ra - - - - The noble music of Handel, Bach and Gluck was performed with masterly ease and expression by singers of this period. As time passed, the purity of style of the operas of Mozart (b. 1756) and Cherubini (b. I760) became overshadowed by lovely melody, admirably adapted for the display of the voice. Rossini (b. 1792), Donizetti (b. 1797), and Bellini (b. I8oi ), composed the delight ful music which was sung by such famous artists as Malibran, Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini, Lablache and Jenny Lind. The singing of Mozart's aria "L'amere" by Jenny Lind was a notable achievement. Later two of the most famous of English singers, the tenor Sims Reeves and the baritone Santley rose to fame in England after completing their studies in Italy. And about the same time Francesco Lamperti of Milan, as the master of Italo Campanini and Albani, became noted as a teacher of bel canto.