National Schools of Singing - Richard Miller

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Richard Miller


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8/485This study is dedicated to the many theater colleagues who over the years have discussed


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national approaches in singing with me, and to those numerous English, French, German and

Italian teachers of singing who so generously shared their studios and their methods with me.

To some extent, I am but their amanuensis.


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List of Illustrations xi

Preface to the Revised Edition xiii

Acknowledgments xxxi

Introduction

Multiplicity of Tonal Ideals xxxv

Purpose of This Study xxxvii

Areas of Pedagogical Controversy xxxvii

Information Regarding This Study xxxvii

I. The Attack 1

The Physical Action 1

Garcia and Three Views on Attack 2

Th G S h l 4


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The German School 4

The French and Italian Schools 5

The English School 6

Stylistic Demands and the Attack 6

II. The Mechanics of Breath Management 7

Conceptual Perception 7

The Respiratory Apparatus 7

The Lungs 7

The Thoracic Cage 8

The Intercostal Muscles 9

The Diaphragm 9

Muscles of the Abdomen 12

Dorsal and Other Accessory Respiratory Muscles 14


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Dorsal and Other Accessory Respiratory Muscles 14

Clavicular Breathing 14 Diaphragmatic Control 19

III. Breath Management Techniques in the German School 21

Low Dorsal Breathing 22

Gluteal-Pelvic Contraction 24

Low Diaphragmatic Fixation 26

Epigastric Distention 27

Hypogastric Distention 27

Stauprinzip 28

Induced Exhalation 29

Minimal Breath System 30

IV. Breath Management Techniques in the English School 32

Upper Dorsal Breathing 32


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Upper Dorsal Breathing 32

Fixed Diaphragmatic Breathing 35

Elevated Chest and Contracted Abdomen 36

Costal Arrest 37

V. Breath Management Techniques in the French and Italian Schools 39

The French School 39

Natural Breathing 39

The Italian School 41

Appoggio 41

VI. Techniques of Vowel Formation in Singing 45

Acoustic Properties of the Vocal Tract 45

The German School 46

Fixed Buccopharyngeal Principle 46


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Fixed Buccopharyngeal Principle 46

Buccal Rounding 47

Preferred Vowels for Vocalization 47

Equalization of Vowel Sounds 48


Buccal Posture 49

The Vocalizing Vowel 49

Labial Mobility 49


Jaw Function 50

The Preferred Vowel 52


Relationship of Speech and Song 55


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Relationship of Speech and Song 55

Vocalizing Vowels in the Italian School 56

VII. Techniques of Resonance in Singing 58

Resonator Combining 58

The Buccopharyngeal Muscular System 60


Role of the Pharynx 65

Stimmbildung 67

Posterior Sensation 67

Kopfstimme 69


Role of the Mask 75

Elevated Tongue 76


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Elevated Tongue 76


Cathedral Tone 77


Gola aperta 78

Voice Placement 78

Impostazione and Appoggio 79

Timbre Terminology within the Italian School 80

VIII. Laryngeal Positioning 83

The Elevated Larynx 83

The Depressed Larynx 84

The Stabilized Larynx 91

IX. Vibrato and National Tendencies 92


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IX. Vibrato and National Tendencies 92

Stylistic Uses 92

Physical Factors 92





X. Vocal Registration and National Attitudes 98

Register Transition and Muscular Function 98

Voce di petto 102

Falsetto 104

Vocefinta 116

Voce di testa 117


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Voce di testa 117

Bell Register 118

Male and Female Register Parallelisms 119

Summary of Register Categories 122

XI. Registration Events and Voice Categorization 125

Approximate Passaggi in Male Voices 126

Approximate Passaggi in Female Voices 127

Chest, Mixture and Head in the Female Voice 129

XII. Vowel Modification 134






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g

The Even Scale 138

Vowel Modification Guidelines 138

XIII. The Soprano Voice 140





XIV. The Mezzo and Contralto Voices 149






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g

XV. The Tenor Voice 153





XVI. The Baritone and Bass Voices 163





XVII. The Role of Language in National Pedagogies 171

Italian as a Language for Singing 172


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g g g g

French as a Language for Singing 176

German as a Language for Singing 180

English as a Language for Singing 182

Singing Foreign Languages 185

XVIII. National Temperament and Vocal Ideals 187

XIX. International Tonal Ideals 194

XX. The North American Singer and the National Schools 200

Notes 206

Appendices

1. Institutions Visited in Connection with This Study 211

II. IPA Symbols Used in This Volume 213

Bibliography 215


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Index 229

About the Author 237


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1. Cavity of the larynx, as seen by means of the laryngoscope. A. Rima glottidis

closed. B. Rima glottidis widely opened. 2

2. Muscles of the larynx. Top, the muscles of the posterior surface of the larynx. Right, themuscles of the larynx viewed from the left side. Bottom, the cricothyroid muscle viewed

from the left side and somewhat in front. 3

3. A series of diagrams to show different positions of the vocal folds and arytenoid

cartilages. 4

4. Anterior view of the lungs. 8

5. Bony thorax, anterior aspect. 10

6. Intercostal muscles of the right chest wall. 10

7. The diaphragm, with muscles and nerves of the posterior wall. 11

8. Deep muscles of the abdominal wall. 13

9. First layer of the muscles of the back. 15

10. Superficial muscles of the back. 16


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11. Muscles of the trunk. 17

12. Muscles of the chest. 18

13. Muscles of the front of the neck. 18

14. The cavity of the mouth. 61

15. Muscles of the tongue and pharynx. 63

16. Interior of the pharynx. 63

17. The muscular wall of the pharynx viewed from the right side. 64

18. The pharynx with the constrictor muscles behind. 65


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A Second Look at National Schools of Singing

The purpose for writing English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing was toexamine comparatively the historic and then-current techniques practiced in the four major

Western European schools of vocalism and to determine what technical maneuvers withi

them might be most efficient from the standpoints of physiologic and acoustic function.

(Vocal efficiency may best be described as producing the most favorable phonatory results

with the proper levels of energy.) Although the book was published in 1977, it presented the

results of more than twentyfive years' close observation of the professional vocal performance scene.

In the intervening decades, the world has grown smaller. It therefore seemed appropriate

to the editor and the author to take a second look at the substance of the study. The aim is to

ask which techniques within the national schools are common to them all and to examinewhich idiosyncratic regional tendencies remain.

In recent decades, concern for the care of the professional voice user, including the singer,

has grown enormously. The interchange of information among the related disciplines o

vocal pedagogy, otolaryngology, and vocal therapy has greatly expanded. Spectrographic

analysis of the sounds of singing is more frequently applied. Fiberoptic and stroboscopic

examination of the vocal mechanism during singing is no longer unusual. This new

i f ti b f l i ll t l f i i R lt fi th t th


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information can now be useful in all styles of singing. Results confirm that there are

commonalities that transcend national or regional vocal pedagogies, while national

tendencies continue to exist.

When plans were in progress for a comparative study of national tonal preferences andtechniques, I had intended to visit the conservatories of both Eastern and Western Europe.

An international crisis forced a revision of those plans. Only several years later was I able

to visit Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. By then, because of the frequent

student exchanges between the states of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and

the satellite Eastern European nations during that period, I was fortunate to be able to hear

singers from all areas of Eastern Europe. Although I did not separately pursue Easter

European vocalism at length, I became convinced that there were identifiable characteristics

in traditional and regional vocal techniques indigenous to Eastern Europe. However, I did

not feel it was appropriate to include them without more extensive exposure to them. Now,

with the continuing integration of singers from Eastern Europe with those of Western Europe,

the knowledgeable listener can readily confirm differences in tonal ideals. One can assumethat with time, as integration of East and West continues, their vocal aesthetics will modify

each other.

Partly as a result of the new mobility among singers of all national origins, it appears

appropriate to re-examine the international vocal scene after twenty-five years (and nearly a

half-century's total observation) and to reassess national tendencies. At the risk of appearing

complacent, I have to say there is little I would wish to change regarding the major premises

of the earlier study as they relate to the art of singing at the time it was undertaken Perhaps


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of the earlier study as they relate to the art of singing at the time it was undertaken. Perhaps

some emphases could have been more clearly detailed, and some topics may have deserved

greater attention.

Since the appearance of English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing, mown teaching experiences in European countries have continued to expand. It has been a

privilege to frequently be a visiting professor of singing in several European countries and

to teach many singers of various national origins. Most of my earlier premises have bee

confirmed regarding the national and regional pedagogies being presented in regional

conservatories of music and by private teachers.

However, in larger numbers, singers from differing pedagogical origins have begun to

oin the international performance scene. To do so, they have had to modify their own

national and regional technical excesses or limitations to meet international standards. There

are fewer premier singers who sound patently French-trained, German-trained, or English-

trained. At the risk of chauvinism, it may be postulated that the historic Italian School osinging has its most comfortable home in North America and that the rest of the world is

very much aware of that.

The upward mobility of the Asian singer on the operatic scene is yet another indicatio

that the historic Italian School is the most nearly universally appealing of all the national

schools. Asian singers who emulate typical French, German, or English techniques are

seldom successful, while those who adhere to the principles of international vocalism are

definitely on the increase


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definitely on the increase.

Another reason for taking a second look at a study devoted to national origins of vocal

techniques is the recognition that the vocal art itself has never been static. The solo

performer has always been prominent in the history of vocal music (the solo cantor in thechant, Minnesingers, troubadours, trouveres, and, somewhat later, the Meistersinger and the

English lutenists, for example). However, beginning with the birth of opera and the

emergence of the solo singer in the early seventeenth century, each subsequent decade has

placed increased technical demands on the solo singer. This is true of our own era as well.

One need only examine the internal evidence of vocal scores to see what remarkabledevelopments took place in the demands placed on the solo singer between the beginnings o

opera and its status only a few decades later. The Mantuan Monteverdi of Orfeo, 1607, is

not the same as the Venetian Monteverdi of Il Ritorno d'Ulisse,1641, nor of L'incoronazione

di Poppea, 1642. (Some scholars believe that the years of composition for these later works

by Monteverdi may have been somewhat earlier than the performance dates, although notsignificantly so.) The vigor and intensity, particularly of the Poppea roles, are reflected i

the mounting vocal demands of range, agility, and sostenuto, far exceeding those of the first

decade of the century.

With the arias and fragments that remain from the operas of Cesti, Cavalli, and

Alessandro Scarlatti, along with other works of the Roman and Neapolitan Opera Schools, it

can be determined that skillful vocalism was at a high level by the close of the seventeent

century and that the modern solo singer was firmly in place by the early decades of the


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century, and that the modern solo singer was firmly in place by the early decades of the

eighteenth century. The Italian operas of Handel, bursting forth in the early years of that

century, attest to such development. By the mid-eighteenth century vocal demands are found

that were never envisioned by composers of the early seventeenth-century Florentine

camerata.

Mozart increases technical and dramatic demands. Witness a few well-known examples:

Et incarnatus est, Non mi dir, 11 mio tesoro, Der holle Rache, Non pii di fiori, and the

concert arias. In solo vocal writing there is a direct lineage from the Italian operas o

Handel to the Mozartian requirements. (In fact, were one to select from all the existing vocal

literature two composers who most thoroughly embody the complete art of elite vocalism,Handel and Mozart must surely be chief contenders.)

It is but a brief time from the era of Mozart to the so-called bel canto literature of Rossini,

Bellini, and Donizetti. (Contrary to what is sometimes reported, the period between Mozart

and the Italians is not a barren one vocally.) The term bel canto was applied in the latter halof the nineteenth century, after the fact, to a style of vocal writing prominent in the pre-

Verdian period as exemplified in the writings of the three composers just mentioned. Bel

canto, of course, simply means "beautiful singing"; its two main pillars-fioritura and

sostenuto--comprise an aesthetic ideal in which the singing voice remains preeminent over

all other parts of dramatic performance. These two capabilities, 1) rapid execution o

melismatic passages ("runs" and feats of agility), and 2) sustained legato, are the chie

requirements of vocal skill; they characterize the bel canto style.


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Recent decades have brought no abatement with regard to new demands placed on the

solo singer. Contemporary vocal writing often entails vast range extension, register and

sostenuto extremes, a variety of vocal colorations, and disjunct intervallic leaps that go

beyond even the pyrotechnics of traditional bel canto scores. Throughout history, theaesthetic goals of professional vocalism have constantly altered; they continue to expand.

Larger performance spaces and louder orchestral sound have contributed to the growing

demands put on the singing artist, as has the emergence of the stage director (who

increasingly is not a musician) and the orchestral conductor (who may have little experience

with the professional singing voice) as the most important members of the performance team.

Further, professional musicians are displaying increasing interest in ethnomusical

literatures (Musics of the World) and in popu lar-music idioms. These forms of vocalism are

aggressively invading the tonal concepts of traditional sacred and secular music, both in the

church and in the concert hall. No longer do today's singers always receive instruction based

on the ideals of beauty, strength, and health. Since the inception of the solo singer, these three

criteria have provided the foundation on which the art of Western European vocalism has

been constructed. Today, that is no longer necessarily the case. There even exists a current

category of vocalist termed "the untrained professional singer" who is among the highest

paid of all performers but who lacks the most rudimentary skills of the singing craft.

Because contemporary culture is largely dictated by the television entertainment industry,

serious music has been invaded by the sounds of pop culture Whereas fifty years ago


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serious music has been invaded by the sounds of pop culture. Whereas fifty years ago,

youthful Italian singers, when in trattoria, ristorante, or other public places, heard recordings

of skilled singers performing familiar opera arias and Neapolitan canzoni, today's young

vocal aspirants are bombarded publicly with the same vocal pop culture as are the Nort

American, British, French, Northern European, Eastern European, and Asian singers. (Isthere any doubt that the worst of American culture is the most frequently exported?)

Throughout history, the evolving demands on the solo singer have changed almost decade

by decade. (The operatic writing from 1840 to 1880 is a prime example.) Recognition o

this is pertinent to any study of the current state of the art of vocalism.

However, due to a trend toward cultural globalization and to the changes in popular taste,

elite vocalism in some respects has become more homogenous than it was some fifty years

ago. In professional circles of this era, with its rapid intercontinental transportation, regional

and national tendencies cannot as easily remain isolated as they could even four or five

decades ago. Recorded performances make international vocal stars almost as available tothe student studying singing in a provincial conservatory as those premier singers are to the

ticket-holder at the opera house of the great metropolis. Yet parallel with this increase in the

accessibility of international singing styles, many private teachers and public conservatories

of music retain those national and regional tendencies that formed the original subject of this

study.

Singing artists must recognize these lingering national or regional tendencies if they are to

transcend them. Sometimes one still hears that a tenor trained below the Alps has different


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transcend them. Sometimes one still hears that a tenor trained below the Alps has different

tonal ideals than one trained in Northern European techniques. Is his British or Frenc

counterpart ever able to completely submerge national tonal preferences into the

international model? The question is not one of style and literature but of vocal technique,

because vocal freedom is essential to all styles and literatures. One does not sing Bach andPuccini with the same degree of vibrancy or vocal coloration, but one does not need two

different singing techniques to accomplish both literatures. The physiology and the acoustics

of the vocal instrument are unalterable givens.

Onset and Breath Management

Rather than considering each of the national schools independently as to how they approach

the onset of tone, some further general observations may be in order regarding national as

opposed to international techniques. The aerodynamic/myoelas- tic functions (muscular

response to airflow) of the vocal instrument during any sung phrase are largely determined

by the manner in which vocal sound is initiated. This remains as true in this current decadeas it was at the time of the original study on national schools of singing.

Many are the pedagogical viewpoints as to how a singing sound can best be initiated.

Some are the result of national tonal preferences. The "soft" onset, during which breath flow

precedes sound, is falsely assumed to be a technical maneuver that produces "flow

phonation." Sighing and yawning induce high airflow rates. These combined maneuverscontinue as an important characteristic of the typical German-Nordic School. They claim a


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continue as an important characteristic of the typical German Nordic School. They claim a

minority of North American pedagogues whose sighing and yawning techniques made

considerable impact on American pedagogy in the late 1940s through several books writte

by articulate and influential adherents. The number of American teachers associated with the

movement is clearly diminishing. Yawn/sigh singing techniques have their origins in thetherapeutic treatment of pathologies associated with the tense speaking voice. Sometimes

verification of this pedagogy is sought by subjecting the singing voice to instrumentation that

measures airflow rates. The chief error in the assumptions made from such studies is the

false presumption that the opening and closing phases of the glottis are identical in the tasks

of singing to those cycles found in speech-related tasks. These researchers, who do not

generally have access to successful professional singers, ignore the increased energ

demanded of the singing voice, a demand that extends far beyond that of the speaking voice.

Sung demonstrations of so-called "flow phonation" (also called "free-flow phonation") ofte

become examples of the aspirated onset continuing breathy phonation into the subsequent

phrase. The resultant timbre strikes its admirers as "relaxed" and, according to one Norther

European researcher, "more mystical" than "Italianate or American" singing. (This is aexample of how "voice science" is called on to provide justification for tonal concepts

associated with specific historic pedagogies.)

Although recognizable characteristics distinguish national tonal preferences and the

techniques by which they are accomplished, no nation or region displays monolithic

conformity in any area of vocal technique. A subjective estimate may be that well over halthe singers and teachers within a given school adhere to specific national tonal preferences


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g g p p

while the others embrace international concepts. With those comments in mind, let us take a

look at the teaching of singing as the twenty-first century is about to begin, starting with the

German-Nordic, or Northern European School.

Many Northern European teachers have always associated themselves with the historic

international Italianate School. (It should be recalled that G. B. Lamperti at one time taught

in Munich.) Others tend to divide themselves into advocates of either high airflow (slac

vocal-fold response) or, conversely, of excessive glottal resistance to airflow. It may well

be that it is in reaction to the hard onset (the Sprengeinsatz) advocated by some Germanic

teachers that the use of the exaggerated aspirated onset (Gehauchtereinsatz) dear to "free-flow advocates" has developed such importance in some segments of the current Norther

European School. The earlier study also suggested that the existence of the "whispered

attack" (gehauchter or weicher Einsatz) may in part be explained as a conscious reaction to

the Sprengeinsatz of the more commonly found heavier German-Nordic production. The

"soft attack" has certainly played a role in the technical and vocal coloration arsenal of somenoted post-World War II Lieder singers, often resulting in high levels of airflow that verge

on breathy phonation. In contrast to those Germanic techniques that stem the flow of breat

(producing pressed vocal-fold closure), adherents of induced exhalation and minimal breath

techniques prefer a loose glottal closure. Both orientations continue to abound in the

Northern European Schools.

Furthermore, Northern European cultural influences extend far beyond national borders.Vocal art has not escaped the German fascination with the mechanics that produced fugues,


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p p g ,

cameras, precision instruments, rockets, and Volkswagens. The volume of imaginative vocal

pedagogy literature that emerged from Germany during the latter decades of the nineteenth

century and throughout the twentieth century cannot be equaled elsewhere.

The French approach to the onset, I have come to realize during the past decade, is not as

neatly associated with the Italianate 1'attacco del suono model as I originally presumed.

My opinion changed in part because the centralization that has so affected all music-making

in France in recent decades has been more intrusive in French vocal circles than I had

recognized. The modern French Ministry of Culture has long had official inspectors who

visit regional conservatories of music to check the condition of vocal pedagogy. Several othese inspectors were highly influential during the post-World War II decades, demanding

from regional and municipal conservatory voice teachers absolute conformity to the

inspector's concept of the vocal "attack" (onset). These techniques are based on strong

inward abdominal thrusting at the moment of onset, inducing high levels of airflow at the

commencement of phonation. (When a phrase begins breathily, it continues to maintain higlevels of breathiness in the subsequent phrase.) Laryngeal response is to resist this excess

airflow, resulting in a "held" sound that often is above pitch. This accounts for the pushed,

sharp phonations so characteristic of many French sopranos. The ubiquitous inward

abdominal thrust explains many of the tensions found among all categories of Frenchtrained

singers, including some talented artists who therefore seldom succeed beyond France's

borders.


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As consultant for the French Ministry of Culture, offering pedagogy courses over the past

twelve years for the preparation of certification for teachers within the conservatory system,

I have encountered hundreds of teachers of singing and many young French artists. As a

result, I have had to alter my earlier assessment that the appoggio was more or lesscharacteristic of French approaches to breath management for singing.

Turning to practices of the English School, I remain convinced that two opposing

viewpoints prevail on vocal onset. First, continuing to thrive is the traditional, nearly treble-

voiced Cathedral Tone concept, with its high level of airflow that produces the initiall

generated ("pure"!) straight-tone sound so beloved of many English voice teachers. It maywell be that the English School itself greatly influenced the post-World War II Frenc

tendency toward "in and up" techniques of breathing. That tonal concept coexists i

pedagogical circles today in Great Britain with the second approach, the internationall

practiced appoggio onset described in English, French, German and Italian Techniques o

Singing as the characteristic practice of much of the British and the historic Italian Schools.

The Italian singers prominent in today's performance world are, almost without exception,

appoggio oriented. The same evaluation is appropriate to the great number of excellent

North Americans performing successfully in many international opera houses.

Although the first version of this study treated the topics of vocal onset and breat

management separately, the two technical maneuvers are undoubtedly closely related. As isclear from this critique, it is artificial to discuss one independently of the other. The number


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of breath-management techniques in national schools was detailed in the first comparative

study. All continue to flourish in some national quarters.

Despite their divergence, most but not all national (as opposed to international) breath-management systems fall into two general categories: 1) those that consist of downward and

outward lower abdominal distention and 2) those that consist of inward and upward

abdominal and epigastric movement. It is not unusual for singers who are not trained in the

appoggio technique to ask each other if they are "in and up" or "down and out" breath-

management adherents. In fact, those who are most successful with breath management

continue to be neither "in and uppers" nor "down and outers" but singers who retain theinspiratory position as long as possible (appoggiato). The termination of the sung phrase (the

release) becomes the new silent inspiration, resulting in a continuously evolving cycle o

breath management.

No compelling evidence demands revision of the earlier estimate of the high degree o

concentration in techniques that involve lower abdominal distention typically found i

Germanically oriented vocal studios. Variations on this "down and out" theme, detailed i

the original study, also continue to abound in a few pedagogic enclaves of North America.

These breath-management techniques were mid-century Germanic imports. Adherence to

Bauchaussenstutze technique still flourishes in isolated regional pockets, but the school itsel

has lost much of its previous following. Some few prominent American instructors continue

to teach "down and out" techniques under a variety of names ("belly breathing," "pelvic breathing," "low-trunk breathing"). Damming the flow of breath is often an inherent part o


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these techniques, inducing tensions in the anterior hypogastric (pubic) wall, wit

contractions of the anal sphincter ("squeeze the dime," "imitate difficult defecation,"

"pretend you're giving birth"). Not infrequently in this breath-management system, singers

are told to involve the sex organs as means of "support." Fortunately, today's intelligentsinger is far less likely to accept such bizarre admonitions.

It should further be remarked that these Northern European approaches to breat

management are not restricted by national boundaries. Yet it is part of my current purpose to

alleviate any impression that all teachers in German-speaking countries adhere to regional

and national tonal ideals that diverge in several directions. There has always been a largegroup of German and Nordic teachers who adhere to the appoggio principles of the

international school of professional vocalism, and it is my opinion that the number is

growing because of the increasing contacts with the international vocal world).

With regard to the English School, empirical evidence continues to indicate that "in and

up" techniques predominate in that part of the British School that admires the "cathedral

tone" so typical of many English-trained sopranos (and some tenors and male low voices),

particularly those who are not concerned with the operatic literature. The basic concept o

this technique is that breath has to be consciously moved in order to supply air to the larynx.

This notion is often motivated by the belief that a stream of air must be initiated by a

inward abdominal thrust. This ignores the fact that air is already present in the trachea

below the larynx and that air does not need to be "sent" consciously from one location toanother. It also fails to take into account that the antagonism (tonus) among the muscles of the


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lower abdominal wall so essential to the appoggio technique is negated through inwardl

pulling on the abdominal wall. This "move-the-wallinward" technique is often encouraged

by imaginative pedagogical admonitions.

The singer may even be requested to envision a flow of breath, initiated and maintained

by inward abdominal pressures, on which sound is carried (even by an upwardly bubbling

fountain on which vocal tone rides!). An imaginary column of air is then described as rising

from the umbilical (or even hypogastric) region extending upward through the body to the

larynx. The physiology of such instruction is totally insupportable. It is clear that suc

imagery produces high airflow rates.

This technique also ignores the fact that breath passing over the vibrating vocal folds

results in sound waves that are perceived by a listening ear as vocal tone, and that the aim is

not a high emission of breath. The technique is in direct opposition to the appoggio, in whic

breath is purposely retained longer by not inducing emission through the use of inward

abdominal force. (Breath is not to be heard; tone is.)

It is certain, though, that as a breath cycle nears completion, some inward motion must

occur in the abdominal wall, but the "in and up" approach to breath management generally is

directed to the very commencement of phonation. Indeed, some teachers in the Britis

School advocate an inward motion in the umbilical region upon inspiration itself, continuing

such contraction of the abdominal wall during the singing of the subsequent phrase. Such aconcept confuses inspiratory and expiratory gestures. In many instances, there is a


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misunderstanding of the location of the diaphragm itself or of its basically passive role

during the act of singing. Sometimes "sing from the diaphragm" and "sing on the breath" are

companion admonitions along with "move the breath upward." "Diaphragmatic fixation," the

basis of some pedagogical thinking, is equally untenable physiologically. Upper-back spreading (distention of the shoulder girdle with resultant falling of the pectoral muscles)

also still has its share of British adherents.

It is sometimes amusing to hear a British colleague maintain that there is not now, nor has

there ever been, a British School of singing, even though being quite willing to recognize the

existence of other national schools. (One such English colleague assured me, "Your book onational schools is right on the mark except for your assessment of the English School.")

British insularity, it would appear, may be alive and well in such viewpoints.

Laryngeal Positioning

The position that the larynx is asked to assume for singing has a direct effect on resultant

vocal sound. As can be readily verified by any observant listener, a high laryngeal positio

produces distinct vocal timbres, while a depressed laryngeal position produces other

qualities of sound. The stabilized larynx, which is neither raised nor depressed, results i

yet another basic timbre distinct from the first two. Laryngeal positioning is a factor in

identifying national tendencies. All three postures should be examined in light of vocalefficiency.


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It might be assumed that a raised larynx would never be a conscious pedagogical aim but

that is not the case. Many teachers of singing in the French School (and a few in America)

still believe that in order to free the larynx for singing, the head and the chin must be

elevated. It is even advocated that the "sword-swallowing position" be assumed. This, it is

thought, allows air to pass over the larynx without meeting resistance, thereby avoiding

"pressed" phonation. As the larynx rises, the vocal tract is shortened because the distance

between the glottis and the velum is reduced. Shortening the vocal tract will reduce depth o

timbre (lengthening the resonator tube will augment it) resulting in a brighter, thinner sound.

A characteristic postural attitude of the typical French singer is the raised head and theelevated larynx. One gets the impression that communication is directed to occupants of the

balcony tiers, never to patrons seated in the orchestra sections of the hall nor to colleagues

on stage. The external-frame muscular support of the larynx is removed through suc

elevated postures. It is difficult to maintain a noble posture of chest and torso when the head

is elevated in this manner. Because of the falling torso, the collapsing ribcage, and therapidly ascending diaphragm, laryngeal elevation has a direct influence on breat

management.

Resultant tensions at the level of the glottis cause the vibrato rate in the typical Frenc

School to be faster than the international norm. (German-trained singers, by contrast, often

have slower cycles per second and larger pitch excursions of the vibrato.) Laryngeal

elevation is not an efficient method of vocalization, yet it occurs with surprising frequency iFrench vocal studios. (Among unskilled singers of all countries, the larynx tends to rise wit

ti f d t l f i i ll h i i it h i t it b d th


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mounting fundamental frequencies, especially when singing pitches in a tessitura beyond the

speech range. Unskillful singers choreograph the change of pitch through altering head

positions.)

Across the Rhine, raised laryngeal positions definitely are not the pedagogical fashion.

Indeed, the lowered larynx is favored. Pedagogical devices are developed for lowering the

larynx and for maintaining it in a depressed position during singing.

The lowest possible position of the larynx is achieved with the full-blown yawn, during

which action the vocal tract is elongated (the distance from the vocal folds to the velum isincreased). It goes unremarked by its advocates that this maneuver induces tension among

muscle groups of the neck that normally achieve an external-frame support for the laryn

during singing. Some Germanic schools of singing mistake these spreading sensations in the

neck musculature for "opening the throat." Hands are placed on the singer's neck "to feel the

throat open with the yawn." The muscular tension that results in the submandibular region is

then thought to produce "space" for the production of improved vocal sound. The tongue,

which is a complex bundle of muscles, is thereby forced into a low and grooved position.

Because the palatopharyngeal and the palatoglossal muscles have their origins in the faucial

arches (the velar region), with their insertions in the pharyngeal wall and at the base of the

tongue, the yawn solicits a different set of muscular responses during phonation than that

which normally pertains.

The yawn is a muscular stretching, not a muscular relaxation maneuver. To recapitulate,the appeal of yawning as a device for achieving and maintaining a lowered larynx-a chie

t t f th G N di S h l i th t th l th l d th


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tenet of the German-Nordic School-is that the yawn lowers the larynx, expands the

pharyngeal wall, and raises the soft palate, thus rearranging space in the vocal tract. The

yawn is a beneficial momentary action, but its function is not intended for extended

phonation. Even in speech, the distortion audible during the act of yawning is apparent. Isinging, a Knddel (throaty sound) is the result.

In some sections of the German-Nordic School, the sigh is combined with the yawn,

producing the "yawn/sigh" pedagogical maxim. Sighing and yawning induce momentar

relief in pathological conditions of pressed phonation, but continuation of this joint

maneuver during sustained singing results in excess expiratory air being passed over thevocal folds, thereby inducing temporary loss of muscle tonus and inviting a diminishing o

natural coordination among the tripartite areas of the vocal mechanism (breath management,

laryngeal action, resonator response).

For the most part, techniques of singing that posit a continuation of the yawn as a

favorable condition for singing are based on the false assumption that a fixed resonator is

ideal for singing. This viewpoint largely ignores the phonetic nature of phonation and leads

to the heaviness often associated with the typical Germanic vocal production. Vibrato rate,

as mentioned above, frequently becomes slower than that found in the international norm,

and vowel distortion is the rule.

The "yawn/sigh" is generally combined with Bauchaussenstiutze breath-managementtechniques. Thus, the lowered larynx, hypogastric distention, and vocal tract fixation (one

"ideal" mouth and jaw posture through which the vowels are sung) are united in the typical


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"ideal" mouth and jaw posture through which the vowels are sung) are united in the typical

German-Nordic School of vocal technique.

Before leaving laryngeal positioning and turning more fully to supraglottal considerations

in singing, it should be mentioned that a recognizable portion of the French School, i

response to the charge that French vocal quality is superficial (which many times is the

case), borrows laryngeal-positioning techniques from their neighbors across the Rhine.

These viewpoints are often taught to French singers by non-French teachers (Nort

American as well as German) in order to counteract the high larynx, the inward abdominal

thrust, and the lateral buccal postures so frequently associated with traditional "white"French vocalism. The result is not salutary for the art of singing among the French.

Laryngeal positioning has never received the same degree of attention in the Englis

School as it has in French and GermanNordic schools. In most cases, British singers are

taught to maintain the same stable laryngeal posture, neither rising nor falling wit

inspiration nor altering with changes in tessitura. In this regard, the English School tends to

follow the precepts of the historic Italian School.

The posture of the larynx during skillful singing is, indeed, relatively low. This position is

achieved through silent, deep inspiration, in which the larynx is neither elevated nor

depressed. (It is true, however, that as the singer additionally energizes for sustained

phonation in the upper registers of the voice, the compactness of the body resulting from the"noble" position may induce a slightly lower laryngeal posture as well.) Complete

inspiration causes a natural expansion of the pharyngeal wall elevation of the soft palate


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inspiration causes a natural expansion of the pharyngeal wall, elevation of the soft palate,

and a widely opened glottis. These postures occur in conjunction with the expansion of the

anterolateral abdominal wall and expansion of muscles in the low dorsal region. This

synergistic action was described in the original version of English, French, German andItalian Techniques of Singing as the technique of appoggio. It clearly remains the main route

of international vocalism, combining the three parts of the vocal mechanism-breat

management, laryngeal action, and resonator responses-into one unified action.

Supraglottic Considerations

As mentioned, the third area of vocalism (following breath management and laryngeal

factors) that separates or unites diverse vocal pedagogies concerns what takes place in the

vocal tract above the larynx-supraglottically. The resonator tube extends from the vocal

folds to the lips and is largely made up of the buccopharyngeal chamber. This chamber

serves as filter to the laryngeally generated sound. Many pedagogical theories exist amongall the national schools regarding the "placement" of vocal sound; the expression "voice

placement" is universal in all the languages of vocal pedagogy. Inasmuch as sound cannot be

"placed," these theories must be based on sensations of sympathetic vibration that

accompany singing. They were fully described in the original study, and the pedagogical

means for inducing them were considered there. Technical means for "placing the voice" are

indigenous to the several national schools, and they remain just as applicable to thoseseveral techniques as when the original study was undertaken.


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Nationalism and Internationalism

Were I to retitle English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing, I think I wouldchoose to call it National Schools of Singing. To what extent have national schools o

singing been modified in the last several decades? It is my impression that there is a greater

degree of universality in the teaching of singing than was the case in 1950, and equally so i

the sounds coming from the professional stage.

In some respects, there has been a diminution of the narrowly national and a return tointernational tenets associated with the historic Italian School. I believe this is particularly

the case with regard to breath management ("support"). I find it to be less the case wit

supraglottic ("placement") matters. Clean vowel definition, balanced resonance in all

registers, vocal freedom, and agility are not accomplished equally well within the

pedagogical orientations of the national schools.

However, extreme forms of laryngeal elevation or of laryngeal depression are not

generally involved in the performances of premier singers, regardless of their origin. But

when these events do occur, the results on the vocal spectra are immediately audible, and

they can be verified by spectrographic analysis. Because no singer is perfect, such faults

tend to invade public performances of even good singers who try to combine national tonal preferences with international aesthetics.


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Adversely, there may be an increase in the influx of heavier vocal production based on

pseudoscientific assumptions. A fair assessment must mention that technical maneuvers

intended to produce large voices for singing dramatic literature in large and acousticall

ungrateful halls have taken a heavy toll on efficient vocalism among some fine singing

artists, even to the point of shortening careers. Sadly enough, low pitch, or wide, slow, and

uneven vibrato rates (or intrusive straight tone that alternates with uneven vibrato), and

vowel distortion seem not to bother a number of current conductors and impresarios. (Or are

they helplessly bound by contractual agreements to continue to use "name" singers?)

Although the art of singing is basically alive and healthy, the danger today is that it will beadversely affected by the growing influence of three undesirable factors: 1) the increasing

search for the big sound, 2) the invasion by pop vocal cultures, and 3) the commercializatio

of the performance professions.

Finally, a note on revised thoughts about teaching countertenors. Countertenoring is a

lucrative route for some male performers who would otherwise not be heard. Decades ago

singers such as Alfred Deller and Russell Oberlin established the male falsettist as a viable

solo performer. Especially in France, in the hope of authentically recovering Early Music

and Baroque styles, his appeal grows. Because of functional vocal differences betwee

altered and unaltered males, the countertenor does not recover castrato vocal timbres.

Register blending and airflow levels required for an even scale in falsetto singing require

special pedagogy. Today's international teacher must be prepared for these tasks.

Over the years, a number of my colleagues have twitted me for having professed a


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y , y g g p

position of objectivity regarding national schools of singing while at the same time clearl

expressing a preference for the historic Italian School. I make no apology for that preference

because I believe that such historic international vocalism is in accordance with the voice as

an acoustic instrument and with the voice as a physiological instrument.

Yet I have very little favorable to say about the teaching of singing as found today in Italy.

For the most part, the results of current Italian vocal pedagogy are not encouraging. No

country has had more difficulty in maintaining its once-splendid pedagogical roots. The

conservatories of music are seldom well organized. Private teaching of singing has beedisplaced by vocal coaching, often at the hands of non-Italians, or is offered by retired

Italian singers who know little or nothing about the teaching profession. Indeed, my advice

to the professional singer who wishes to be vocally acceptable in Rome, Paris, London,

Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Sydney, or Moscow is to search for the principles o

historic international vocalism that so clearly characterized the art of singing in decades o

the not-so-distant past. This is best accomplished not by flying to the Italian peninsula for

vocal instruction but by continuing to study on the North American continent. It is here

(apologies to many fine European colleagues) that internationalism in vocal pedagogy has

made its firmest, but hopefully not its last, stand.


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It is not possible to mention the vast number of persons who have helped shape this book b

supplying practical, empirical knowledge about techniques of singing. On the other hand, I

can be very precise in acknowledging the assistance I have received from a number o

sources with regard to physical function in singing. I owe a very real debt to several authors,

some of whom are quoted in this work. Others have contributed in a more general way

through their published research, among them especially Richard Luchsinger, Peter

Ladefoged, Godfrey Arnold, Knud Faaborg- Andersen, Paul Moore, G. van den Berg, Ralp

Appelman and William Vennard.

I wish to acknowledge the inclusion, by kind permission, of certain extracts from The

Respiratory Muscles, 2d ed. (London: LloydLuke [Medical Books], 1970), by Professor E.

J. M. Campbell, M.D., et al. I wish to thank Professor Harvey Ringel, editor of the NATS

Bulletin (put out by the National Association of Teachers of Singing) and Professor Homer

Ulrich, editor of the American Music Teacher, for their kind permission to make use o

material from those publications-the former, for portions of John Large's "Towards aIntegrated Physiologic-Acoustic Theory of Vocal Registers," vol. 28, no. 3 (Feb./Marc

1972), and of Michael Smith's "The Effect of Straight-Tone Feedback on the Vibrato," vol.

28, no. 4 (May/June 1972); the latter for portions of Elizabeth Rado's "Breath Crisis i

Relation to Breath and Resonance Control: I," vol. 23, no. 5 (April/May 1974). The

Editorial Board of the Emporia State Research Studies kindly permitted quotation from

Professor Robert Taylor's Acoustics for the Singer, which is vol. 6, no. 4 (June 1958) of thatseries.


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Permission by his publishers, Faber and Faber Ltd., London, to quote from Arnold Rose's

The Singer and the Voice (2d ed., 1971) was greatly appreciated. I am much indebted to G.

& C. Merriam Company for their permission to quote from the "Guide to Pronunciation" i

Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, ©1959.

To Oxford University Press go my thanks for permitting me to use certain passages from

Herman Klein's The Bel Canto (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press,

1923). William Heinemann Medical Books Ltd., London, kindly permitted quotation from a

work by V. E. Negus, The Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the Larynx (London:Hafner Pub. Co., 1962 reprinting). David D. Slater's Vocal Physiology and the Teaching o

Singing (London: J. H. Larway, n. d.) has been quoted with the kind permission of Edwi

Ashdown Ltd.

Permission to use material from W. A. Aikin's The Voice; An Introduction to Practical

Phonology (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1963 printing) and from W. J. Henderson'sEarly History of Singing (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1921) was granted by Longma

Group Limited.

Especial thanks are due to Churchill Livingstone, the Medical Division of Longma

Group Limited, for permission to use both quotations and illustrated material from Gray's

Anatomy, 35th British ed. (1973), edited by William Warwick and Peter Williams.

To the C. V. Mosby Co. of St. Louis, Mo., I am indebted for the illustrations from Carl C.


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Francis and Gordon L. Farrell's Integrated Anatomy and Physiology, 3d ed. (1957). I must

also extend thanks to the publishing firm of Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich, for the use o

plates from Atlas of Human Anatomy, vol. II by Johannes Sobotta and J. Playfair McMurric

(New York: G. E. Stechert and Co., 1928). Thanks also go to the Williams & Wilkins Co.,

Baltimore, for permission to use plates from Cunningham's Text-Book of Anatomy, 5th ed.,

ed. by Arthur Robinson (New York: William Wood and Co., 1919).

I am grateful also for plates used from Henry Morris, ed., Human Anatomy (Philadelphia:

P. Blakiston, Son & Co., 1893), and from Werner Spalteholz's Hand-Atlas of HumaAnatomy, 5th ed. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., n.d.).

Plates 1 and 7 (see page viii) are used by permission of the Williams & Wilkins Co.,

Baltimore, from Cunningham's Text Book of Anatomy, 5th ed., ed. by Arthur Robinson (New

York: William Wood and Co., 1919).

Plates 2, 14, 17, and 18 are used by permission from Atlas of Human Anatomy, vol. II, b

Johannes Sobotta and J. Playfair McMurrich (New York: G. E. Stechert and Co., 1928).

Plates 3, 10, 13, 15, and 16 are used by permission from Gary's Anatomy, 35th Britis

ed., ed. by Robert Warwick and Peter Williams (London: Longmans, 1973).

Plates 4, 5, and 9 are from Human Anatomy, ed. by Henry Morris (Philadelphia: P.Blakiston, Son & Co., 1893).


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Plates 6 and 8 are used by permission from Integrated Anatomy and Physiology, 3rd ed.,

by Carl C. Francis and Gordon L. Farrell (St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Co., 1957).

Plates 11 and 12 are from Hand-Atlas of Human Anatomy, 5th ed., by Werner Spalteholz(Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., n. d.).

A more direct and personal acknowledgement must go to Lawrence C. Meredith, M.D.,

otolaryngologist, who kindly spent tedious hours reading many portions of this work whic

deal with physical function; although he is in no way responsible for the accuracy of theideas presented, he is to be thanked for helping to clarify for me some aspects of vocal

mechanics.

I am also grateful to Robert Stillwell and to Daniel Messaros, photographers, for their

very ready help with the illustrations in this book.

Last and most especially, I must acknowledge the generosity of the Research Status

Program of Oberlin College which made possible released time to pursue and complete this

project of many years. I have greatly appreciated the help and encouragement given me b

various administrative officers and colleagues.


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This study is based upon the premise that the character of vocalized sound is in part


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This study is based upon the premise that the character of vocalized sound is in part

determined by tonal ideals which vary in some respects from one national school to another,

and further, that the national schools of singing found in England, France, Germany and Italy,

and in those neighboring countries with whom they respectively share a common cultural background, have developed technical means for achieving vocal sounds which accord wit

those ideals. These technical devices are clearly recognizable as distinct pedagogical

positions.

Although historically these techniques are to be encountered predominantly within certai

national or cultural boundaries, they have been exported as well, and are now to be found

wherever the art of singing flourishes. Even in new locales they retain an allegiance to a set

of aesthetic principles which indicate their cultural origins.

Multiplicity of Tonal Ideals

Surely it need not be argued that diversity with regard to the technical aspects of tone

production exists among singers. It must be equally apparent that the technical means

expressed within various pedagogies have developed in response to specific aesthetic goals.

Of considerable interest is the extent to which variants in aesthetic and pedagogical goals

relate to national propensities. In the process of comparatively examining these national

tendencies, those areas which form the basis of vocal pedagogy must be investigated; succomparative investigation comprises the body of this study.

Oft i t i d i d i l t diti h littl k l d f h


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Often a young singer, trained in one pedagogical tradition, has little knowledge of how

colleagues may approach the production of vocalized sound. Regardless of method, singers

who are natively endowed with fine vocal instruments, musicianly ears and communicative

powers may find themselves in performance circumstances surrounded by a variety of vocal

techniques some of which are foreign to them. A singer soon discovers that a wide spectrum

of vocal sound is found to be acceptable, even desirable, to conductors, to the Intendante

who hire singers, to the critics who evaluate them, and to the often less than discriminating

public which applauds them. The wider the singer's performance world expands, the more

evident it becomes that not all artists (therefore, not all teachers who teach them) are lookingfor the same tonal ideals.

Observing the performance of colleagues, a singer may well speculate as to how a

particular vocal instrument might sound if certain limitations or excesses built in by a give

pedagogy were removed. He or she, on the other hand, may observe the ease and control

with which a colleague handles an area of the voice which for that singer is still problematic. Technical conflicts between one's own vocal production and those of other

singers may begin to give the young singer pause.

At first, such a singer might assume that there are as many tonal ideals, and technical

systems for achieving them, as there are vocal pedagogues or singers (a favorite assumptio

on the part of people who are superficially involved with singers). On the contrary, anvocal method can be classified fairly specifically on any single technical matter. Even those

highly individualistic methods which one encounters from time to time generally turn out

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upon closer examination to be idiosyncratic variations, or compounds, of several commo

pedagogical premises dealing with the physical coordination involved in the production o

the singing voice. The singer will also discover how totally without foundation is the

comment often heard from teachers of singing who in spite of ample evidence to the contrar

like to maintain that "we are all after the same thing."

Only a naive singer, or one fanatically wedded to certain technical precepts, will close

ears and mind to the existence of techniques other than his or her own. In all probability, the

individual singer's technical approach is comprised of those elements which identify witone of the national schools of singing, even though the singer may be geographically remote

from that school.

Purpose of This Study

It is the purpose of this study to examine in what ways national preferences produce specifictechnical approaches and to examine those techniques in relation to physical function. I

those cases where physical function must be violated in order to produce a tone in keeping

with a particular national aesthetic ideal, the singer may wish to re-examine the sound

produced and look for some more efficient method of production. Without some knowledge

of existing techniques a singer is hardly in a position to assume that the peculiar technique

encountered by mere chance or physical location is unquestionably the superior one.

Areas of Pedagogical Controversy


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It can be substantiated that various methods of breath application make use of opposing

physical actions, and that registration principles differ widely. It is also observable that

there exist diametrically opposed attitudes toward resonance, vowel formation and

modification, vocal coloration, "cover," "placement," laryngeal positioning, buccal and

pharyngeal postures, the attack, vibrato rate, vocal classification, and the uses of falsetto.

The most basic kinds of muscular balance thought to induce proper coordination in singing

admittedly are variable from one technique to another.

National approaches to these areas of vocal technique frequently stand in opposition to

each other. It is the intention of this study not only to identify these technical processes as

they are found within specific national schools, but when possible to describe the physical

involvement which produces them. Further, some critical evaluation as to their functional

efficiency is offered. This critical appraisal is essential if the work is to serve its intended

purpose of assisting the singer to improve his or her own technical facility in singing.

Information Regarding This Study

Material contained in this study is partly the outgrowth of a number of years spent in Europe

in direct association with many singers having backgrounds in specific national schools, partly the result of the accumulation of data pertinent to the subject acquired over more than

twenty-five years, and in part the result of visits made to thirty-six conservatories,

d i ll d h l f i hi ll d lt ll l t d t th


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academies, colleges and schools of music geographically and culturally related to the

English, French, German and Italian national schools. (See Appendix I.)

During the course of this study, more than 700 voice lessons have been observed and

analyzed from over 165 vocal studios. Additionally, many teachers of singing have been

interviewed at some length on the subject of vocal pedagogy with special reference to

nationalism in singing.

It was, of course, always understood that anonymity would prevail in any written report,so that no list of individual performers or teachers and no attribution of individual positions

on pedagogy can be appended. The vocal techniques examined in this study were widel

encountered among a number of teachers and professional singers within a given school.

Alternately, such a study could have been made with the assistance of mechanical devices

for collecting pertinent data, supplemented by statistical survey. The present study makes noattempt to present laboratory proof for the existence of obvious, audible vocal phenomena

within the four national schools, but rather to describe and compare them.

For example, even the mildly discriminating lay ear does not need to subject a singing

voice to spectral analysis in order to recognize a generally acceptable vibrato rate (whic

falls within six to seven frequencies per second for most listeners not conditionedotherwise), or conversely, to hear an undesirably rapid tremolo. It may not be possible to

recognize the exact temporal rate of the vibrato, nor know the contributing causes, but even

the average non professional musical ear will detect the sound of a desirable vibrato or an


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the average non-professional musical ear will detect the sound of a desirable vibrato or an

aberrations therefrom. Therefore, no attempt has been made in this study to prove the

existence of diverse vibrato rates but rather to suggest what probable aesthetic and technical

factors may contribute to them. A similar approach is taken with most of the topics covered

in this study.

If the lack of hard scientific data seems regrettable, it should be noted that even in the

most rigidly controlled scientific investigations on vocal function, most conclusions must

ultimately be based upon subjective evaluation of the "quality" of the sound, ranging fromsuch categories as "best to poorest quality," or described by such non-scientific terms as

"metallic," "pinched," "mellow," "soft," "ringing," etc. Any aspect of singing which has to do

with vocal timbre finally must be assessed by descriptions which remain somewhat

subjective. This study assuredly does not escape that kind of subjectivism, no matter how

objective its intent.

When interviewed on the subject of national tendencies in the production of vocal sound,

some individual singers and teachers were extremely chauvinistic, demonstrating what the

felt to be the merits of their own national school and the deficiencies of another, not

infrequently through the use of quite recognizable parodistic means. The Italian will quickl

demonstrate the excesses of the low-breath and distended abdominal posture of the Germa

School; the German, in turn, will display the higher chest position of the Italian singer. Bothdemonstrations are given in evidence of excessive breath tension on the part of the other

national school. The English singer readily imitates what is considered to be the undesirable

spread smile position of the Italian singer while the unkind parody of the English dropped


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spread-smile position of the Italian singer, while the unkind parody of the English dropped

aw can be easily encountered anywhere on the Continent, but especially in France and Italy.

Many teachers in the non-French schools find the French vocal sound to be characterized b

a bright, thin, nasal quality which they believe can be mimicked easily. (It might be noted

that the imitative powers of teachers of singing must be an earmark of the profession.)

Of further interest for this study is the extent to which some teachers, geographicall

associated with a national school, often point out its deficiencies with razor-sharp criticism,

citing specific national tendencies against which they themselves work. This is morespecifically the case in Germany and England, and to a lesser degree in France, while

almost never occurring in Italy.

It would be false to assume that all teachers within a national school can be uniforml

associated with it, or that any given teacher embraces all of the tendencies of a school whic

may be here indicated. These qualifying considerations will be given occasional mentionwithin the body of the work, but will be kept in mind constantly. The word typical sees muc

service in this study.

With some frequency, teachers of singing who offered opinions on the subject of national

tendencies versus internationalism in singing, felt that the higher the perfection achieved b

the singing artist, the less apparent were the vestiges of national approaches to vocal sound.Almost all agreed that a knowledgeable listener seldom mistakes any internationally

accepted singer as having been trained in any school other than that from which the singer

has emerged Frequently this kind of sentiment was remarked: "Of course you would never


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has emerged. Frequently, this kind of sentiment was remarked: Of course you would never

mistake 'so and so' as being anything but Italian-trained (or German, French or English),

although he or she doesn't sound really typically so."

Certainly, a significant fact emerges: there is a nearly universal conviction among teachers

of singing and among performers that vocal pedagogy does divide in many respects along

lines of national tonal ideals. Surprisingly, little examination of those divisions has take

place, nor have they been subjected to comparative studies. This study is devoted to such a

examination.

The decision to restrict this survey to the English, French, German and Italian Schools

was made chiefly for practical reasons of time and the dictates of personal history. In an

event, it seems probable that the four major national schools treated in this study have bee

the chief contributors to the history of vocalism in the Western world. However, there is

sufficient evidence of distinctive pedagogical concepts in other national or regional Wester cultures to indicate that some interesting variations in tonal aesthetics and in vocal

techniques might be encountered outside the four major schools.

A number of European teachers and singers firmly believe that a Russian School o

singing is identifiable, based on clearly differentiated technical emphases, and that distinctly

individualistic tendencies exist in that part of middle-eastern Europe comprising much owhat was formerly the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Still others feel that Scandinavia and

Spain respectively offer interesting technical variations on the Germanic and Italianate

schools For the present however these schools lie outside the survey


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schools. For the present, however, these schools lie outside the survey.

While this work intends to treat a number of vocal subjects in as logical sequence as

possible, it has also been devised so that each chapter topic is more or less complete iitself. If a particular reader has specific interests, it is appropriate to go directly to the

section dealing with them.


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Skilfully coordinating the pressure of the breath with the proper degree of tension within the

vocal valve produces the clean, crisp, initial sound which characterizes the good attack.

Conflicting attitudes toward the production of a good attack can be identified among schools

of singing, differentiated to a large extent by national preferences for specific kinds of vocal

sound.

The Physical Action

In phonation, there is a split-second preparatory action during which time an adductio

process reduces the glottis to a linear chink. This fissure (the glottis) between the vocal

folds changes its shape in response to action by the muscles of the larynx. (See Plate 1.) The

laryngeal muscles (cricothyroid, cricoarytenoid, interary- tenoid, and thyroarytenoid) are

engaged in complicated patterns of movement, during which varying degrees of tension and

relaxation are achieved. The interarytenoids (transverse arytenoid and oblique) are the

primary muscles for bringing the vocal cords together (adduction). In contrast, the posterior

cricoarytenoid muscles perform maneuvers that open the glottis (abduction). Action of the

cricothyroid muscles causes the vocal folds to stretch longitudinally thereby raising the

pitch. (See Plates 2 and 3.) The vocal folds themselves offer more resistance, or less of it, tothe breath pressure that strikes them.

The muscular action which takes place in approximating the vocal folds is too complex to


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p pp g p

submit to voluntary control of individual muscle groups, yet the conceptual ideal of the

attack has a direct bearing upon that muscular coordination. In some pedagogies even the

word attack is avoided as being too suggestive of muscular activity, and some such word asonset replaces it.

Plate 1. Cavity of the larynx as seen by means of the laryngoscope. A. Rima glottidis is

closed. B. Rima glottidis is widely opened.

Garcia and Three Views on Attack

All national schools of singing concern themselves with the most favorable action for the

attack. Controversy arises as to whether the breath-flow should audibly precede glottal


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closure or whether there should be a recognizable commencing of cordal approximation.

In seeking answers to this technical dilemma, much speculation centers upon ManuelGarcia's perception of the glottal plosive, represented by the phoneme (7), and expressed i

several languages as it colpo della glottide, coup de glotte, and der harte Einsatz (also

known as der Sprengeinsatz). Some teachers of singing believe that Garcia advocated the

hard attack as opposed to the soft attack; others believe he was attempting to describe yet a

third sound which occurs when glottal closure and flow of breath coordinate nearl

perfectly.'

There are indeed three recognizable kinds of sound possible in the sung attack.

Regardless of Garcia's exact meaning, one such sound has become associated in many minds

with Garcia's term. This sound (?) has certain functional relationships to a light cough, being

the result of audible breath pressure against the closed glottis. The second kind of sound is produced by introduc ing the aspirate (h), so that a loosening of the valve takes place

immediately prior to phonation. A third approach attempts to avoid both the hard and the soft

attack, striving to achieve the exact balance of breath pressure and muscular tension whic

will produce neither the (h) nor the exaggerated valvular click (?).


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Plate 2. Muscles of the larynx. Top, the muscles of the posterior surface of the larynx. Right,

the muscles of the larynx viewed from the left side. Bottom, the cricothyroid muscles viewed

from the left side and somewhat in front.


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Plate 3. A series of diagrams to show different positions of the vocal folds and arytenoidcartilages.

Th G S h l


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The German School

Within the German School the hard attack (der harte Einsatz, der Sprengeinsatz of singer terminology) is often described as being an exaggerated Glottisschlag (also, Knacklaut:

stroke of the glottis). The soft attack (dergehauchte Einsatz) is expressed by the phoneme (h)

and describes the aspirated attack. In the German School, a third approach which results

from a precise balance of cordal approximation and breath-flow, eliminating both glottal

click and aspirate, has a minority group of advocates who term this phenomenon der

Stelleinsatz.

Surprisingly, the characteristic attack of the German School is not the hard attack one

might expect to emerge from linguistic events encountered in the German language, but rather

the soft attack (der gehauchte Einsatz).

The vocal mechanics of the soft attack are similar to those which take place in the act o

whispering, during which the arytenoid muscles somewhat relax so that the glottis remains

parted to a greater extent than in normal speech. A voiceless stream of breath as in (h) ma

be initiated before any vowel sound and will serve to influence the resultant attack. This

glottal fricative is in direct opposition to an attack which utilizes the more distinctivel

percussive glottal plosive. Essentially, (h) is noise, not tone, the result of escaping,unvocalized breath. Actual phonation does not occur until the glottis is allowed to close (a

action determined largely by vowel and pitch).

Alth h th t t f th i iti l b th d t th i t d tt k


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Although the extent of the initial breath used to commence the aspirated attack may var

among German teachers, most are committed to some form of the soft attack. We will later

see that it plays a role in stimulating the Kopfstimme (head voice) quality and in developingthe piano dynamic.

Because of their interpretation of Garcia's description of the attack as a light cough, and

because of his association with the historic Italian School, many German-schooled teachers

assume that the Italians prefer the hard attack. Sometimes German teachers take the positio

that the Italian physique will tolerate strenuous cordal approximation, but that northerners

cannot risk such activity. Given the existence of the Glottisschlag as a frequent phonic

occurrence in the German language (while being absent in the Latin languages), this

argument appears particularly contradictory. Furthermore, the avoidance of the stroke of the

glottis in singing an attack in the German School seems incompatible with the introduction o

the Glottisschlag for enunciative purposes during the course of the sung phrase.

Only among adherents of Stauprinzip (breath damming) (see Chapter III, Breat

Management Techniques of the German School) and related heroic techniques of the German

School is the hard attack recommended. Teachers who present this technique sometimes

claim it stems from the old Italian School and often cite Caruso as a prime practitioner of the

Sprengeinsatz.

The French and Italian Schools


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The ideal attacco of the Italian School avoids both the audible aspirate and the exaggerated

glottal click. However, there is present in the commencement of tone a subtle, audible

beginning. It should be remarked that this onset is by no means the kind of stroke associatedwith the heavier Sprengeinsatz of the heroic German School. The sound is also less distinct

than the colpo di glottide, yet firmer than the aspirated attack. The Italians term this sound

simply l'attacco del suono (attack of the sound) or 1'attacco della voce (attack of the

voice). They believe it to be the sound which results when proper breath application and

adequate valvular impingement conjoin. Most Italian teachers of singing are convinced thatGarcia was intending to describe this third approach with his colpo della glottide.

This coordinated attacco del suono is advocated in principle within the French School as

well as in the Italian. French singers seldom interpret coup de glotte as representing a heav

glottal stroke. Indeed, a general tendency toward a relatively low rate of energization among

French-trained singers often produces a less precise attack than that found within the ItaliaSchool.

The English School

Among singers trained in the English School, two distinct approaches to the vocal attack ca be identified. Greater use is made of the soft, aspirated attack in that part of the school

which adheres to the oratorio-choral literature; the crisp attack of the Italian School is more

frequently to be found among voices of operatic background.


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Stylistic Demands and the Attack

At least to some extent then, the stylistic demands of the literature influence the approach to

the attack, particularly in the English School. However, it should not be concluded that the

same singer will use the soft attack in oratorio and the more Italianate attacco in opera; the

singer is generally conditioned to one or the other. Additionally, it should be noted that most

German singers use the soft attack, whether singing Bach or Puccini. One may well concludethat preferences within schools are dictated more by pedagogical attitudes than by

considerations of literature and style.


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Conceptual Perception

The quality of cultivated vocal sound is largely determined by the manner in which breath is

turned into tone by the vocal bands as a result of the coordination of groups of muscles

within and around the larynx. The singer's conceptual perception of breath managementdetermines the kind of muscular balance, not just within the laryngeal mechanism itself but

throughout the entire instrument (the body), influencing the character of vocal quality. Direct

correspondence exists between the tonal ideal of any national school of singing and the

mode of breath application which it advocates.

Before examining breath support theories as they are found among the four nationalschools, some attention must be directed toward the actual mechanics of breathing. An

evaluation of the merits of breath management as practiced within a particular school can be

properly undertaken only in light of such information. This sort of critical evaluation will be

attempted in the subsequent chapters.

The Respiratory Apparatus

The Lungs

Although the lungs are the primary organs of respiration, their movement is largel


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Although t

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