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CHAPTER II.

Of the Voice. General Precepts.

THE nature of the voice (says Quintilian) is first to be considered, the manner of using it next. The nature of the voice is known by its quantity, and by its quality. As to the quantity, it is easily estimated. It is upon the whole, either "powerful or feeble: but between these extremes, there are " intermediate descriptions; and from the lowest to the highest, "and contrariwise, there are many degrees. The quality is subject to greater variation, for it is either clear or husky, full "or small, smooth or rough, contracted or diffuse, harsh or flexible, distinct or confused: and all these qualities are affected by the strength or feebleness of the lungs." "The manner of

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managing the voice is also

very various."

The general precepts which relate to the voice may be classed under the following heads:

1. The preservation. 2. The improvement. 3. The Management of the voice.

In ea prima observatio est, qualem habeas; secunda, quomodo utaris. Natura vocis spectatur quantitate et qualitate. Quantitas simplicior est. In summa enim grandis aut exigua est ; sed inter has extremitates mediæ sunt species, et ab ima ad summum, ac retro, multi sunt gradus. Qualitas magis varia est; nam est et candida et fusca, et plena et exilis; et lenis et aspera, et contracta et fusa, et dura et flexibilis, et clara et obtusa: spiritus etiam longior breviorque. . . . . . . Utendi voce multiplex ratio. Quin. l. 11, c. 3.

2

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Ad actionis autem usum atque laudem, maximam sine dubio partem vox obtinet; quæ primum est optanda nobis; deinde quæcumque erit, ea tuenda. Cic. de Orat. l. iii. c. 60.

These precepts may be collected from ancient and modern writers, and being brought here together in one view, will necessarily occasion sonie repetition.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE VOICE.

1. The first rule for the preservation of the voice, and which is equally supported by ancient authorities, and modern experience, is, that the public speaker should, if he "strive for the mastery," be habitually" temperate in all things ;"-moderate in the use of wine, and in the indulgence of the table; and not given to any personal excess.* A bloated body, and an enfeebled constitution, are not only injurious to the voice, but render a man equally incapable of any other mental or bodily exertion.'

2. The voice should not be exerted after a full meal. This rule is a consequence of the first."

3. The voice should not be urged beyond its strength; nor be strained to its utmost pitch without intermission: such mis

31 Cor. ix. 25.

4 Sed cura (vocis scil.) non eadem oratoribus, quæ Phonascis, convenit; tamen multa sunt utrisque communia, firmitas corporis, ne ad spadonum, et mulierum, et ægrorum exilitatem vox nostra tenuetur: quod ambulatio, unctio, veneris abstinentia, facilis ciborum digestio, id est frugalitas, præstat. Quint. I. xi. c. 3.

Nam crudum quidem, aut saturum, aut ebrium, aut ejecto modo vomitu, quæ cavenda quidem monent, declamare neminem, qui sit mentis compos, puto. Quint. Ib.

Quare vocem deliciis non molliamus. Ib.

The players generally put off their principai meal till after the performance.

management would endanger its powers altogether; and it might break.' Frequent change of pitch is the best preservative.

The same rule holds in music. Well composed songs, and skilful singers, may sometimes, for brilliancy or effect, and to shew the compass of the voice, run up and touch the highest notes, or descend to the lowest, but they should by no means, in their modulations, dwell long on the extremes. High passion disregards this wholesome rule; but the orator will not be rash in its violation; nor should the composer of what is to be spoken, or sung, be remiss in his attention to it."

4. At that period of youth when the voice begins to break, and to assume the manly tone, no violent exertion should be made; but the voice should be spared, until it becomes confirmed and established. Neither, according to this rule, should the voice when hoarse, if it may be avoided, be exerted at any time.

5. Certain things are found injurious to the voice, and

7 Vox autem ultra vires urgenda non est. Nam et suffocata sæpe et majore nisu minus clara est, et interim elisa in illum sonum erumpit, cui Græci zawoμèv nomen a gallorum immaturo cantu dederunt. Quint. l. xi. c. 3.

Nam ad vocem in dicendo tuendam nihil est utilius, quam crebra mutatio; nihil perniciosius, quam effusa sine intermissione contentio. Cic. de Orat. l. iii. c. 69.

8" In the furious resentment and indignation, which Posthumus expresses against him"self, for giving credit to the infidelity of Imogen, (as Mr. Walker justly observes,) the

fury of the passion would be apt to carry the voice too high, but the poet has thrown in "breaks and alterations in the passion, which give the speaker an opportunity of lowering, "and altering his voice." See the Observations at large. Elements of Eloc. p. 312, et seq.

9 Illud non sine causa est ab omnibus præceptum, ut parcatur maxime voci in illo a pueritia in adolescentiam transitu. Quint. l. xi. c. 3.

therefore to be avoided. Butter and nuts, are accounted so among singers, and also oranges and acid liquors. The ancients considered also all cold drinks to be injurious, and dry fruits, of which in the notes in the Apppendix, a fuller account will be given."

6. Some things are found serviceable to the voice, and are used by modern singers. They may be equally advantageous to

public speaker. Warm mucilaginous and diluting drinks, in case of dryness of the fauces, or slight hoarsness, barley water and tea, preparations of sugar, sugar candy, barley sugar, and the various sorts of lozenges which modern ingenuity prepares so elegantly a raw egg beat up is reckoned the best substance for immediately clearing the voice, and is preferred by the Italian singers.-The ancients made use of warm baths, and the exercise of walking, and both perhaps with advantage. The Phonasci used various things, which will be detailed in the Appendix. Their plasma or gargle, was probably a sort of mulled or medicated wine. They confined themselves to a vegetable diet, and particularly valued for their virtues onions, leeks, and garlic, which last was much celebrated, and is still so, notwithstanding its offensive odour.

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IMPROVEMENT OF THE VOICE.

1. The great means of the improving of the voice, as of all other improvement, is constant and daily practice." The professional

10 For an account of the Phonasci and their arts, see the Appendix.

"Jam confirmatæ, constitutæque vocis genus exercitationis optimum duco, quod est operi simillimum, dicere quotidie, sicut agimus. Quint. l. xi, c. 3.

exercise at the bar, the pulpit, the senate, and the stage, if properly attended to with a view to improvement, may suffice for the orator of our times." But the ancients, even those who were in the highest real practice, exercised their voice besides in the daily practice of preparatory declamation. Their rule was, after proper bodily exercise, to begin at the lowest tones of their voices, and gradually to ascend to the highest, and thence again. to descend gradually to the lowest. This was called anaphonesis ; and sometimes the pean and the munio; the former the exercise of the voice in the highest pitch, the latter in the lowest. They used to pronounce about 500 lines in this manner, and these were committed to memory, in order that the exertions of the voice might be the less embarrassed.

2. The second rule has been anticipated, which is bodily exercise. The ancients recommend walking a certain space before breakfast; about a mile.-Riding on horseback we do not find recommended or practised as mere exercise.

3. In order to strengthen the voice,-Mr. Sheridan advises (Lec. 5) that any person who has fallen into a weak utterance,

12 And this remark (the laborious profession of the stage) brings into my remembrance a great and general mistake among the players, at rehearsal, where it is their common practice to mutter over their parts inwardly, and keep in their voices, with a misimagined purpose of preserving them against their evening acting. Whereas the surest natural means of strengthening their delivery, would be to warm, dephlegm, and clarify the thorax and windpipe, by exerting (the more frequently the better) their fullest power of utterance; thereby to open and remove all hesitation, roughness, or obstruction, and to tune their voices, by effect of such continual exercise, into habitual mellowness, and ease of compass and inflexion; just from the same reason, that an active body is more strong and healthy, than a sedentary one. Art of Acting, by A. Hill, p. 32.

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