--But now obey thy cherish'd, secret wish,
Embrace thy friends--leave all in order;
To port and hawser's tie no more returning,
Depart upon thy endless cruise, old Sailor!
SOME LAGGARDS YET
THE PERFECT HUMAN VOICE
Stating it briefly and pointedly I should suggest that the human voice
is a cultivation or form'd growth on a fair native foundation. This
foundation probably exists in nine cases out of ten. Sometimes nature
affords the vocal organ in perfection, or rather I would say near
enough to whet one's appreciation and appetite for a voice that
might be truly call'd perfection. To me the grand voice is mainly
physiological--(by which I by no means ignore the mental help, but
wish to keep the emphasis where it belongs.) Emerson says _manners_
form the representative apex and final charm and captivation of
humanity: but he might as well have changed the typicality to voice.
Of course there is much taught and written about elocution, the best
reading, speaking, &c., but it finally settles down to _best_ human
vocalization. Beyond all other power and beauty, there is something in
the quality and power of the right voice (_timbre_ the schools call
it) that touches the soul, the abysms. It was not for nothing that
the Greeks depended, at their highest, on poetry's and wisdom's vocal
utterance by _tete-a-tete_ lectures--(indeed all the ancients did.)
Of celebrated people possessing this wonderful vocal power, patent
to me, in former days, I should specify the contralto Alboni, Elias
Hicks, Father Taylor, the tenor Bettini, Fanny Kemble, and the old
actor Booth, and in private life many cases, often women.
Pages:
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830