first I saw it, was a surprise to me; it has always been thought that no one could possibly falter in his speech who was born near the Garonne.[1]
In performing its great function of establishing all the social relations between man and man, the voice readily calls forth sympathies and antipathies; its quality reveals better than words the true feelings of the heart. A voice that is clear, pure, limpid, conveys the impression of frankness; one that is hesitating, drawling, betokens dissimulation; a harsh, grating voice indicates an evil disposition; while a voice that is sweet, harmonious, affects us as though it were the breathing of a gentle soul. These impressions made by the voice are usually correct, and rightly enough influence the relations of man to man, still we must not trust them too implicitly. No doubt language may serve to disguise thought, but the vocal instrument itself may also produce false impressions. Besides the effects of Nature, we have the effects of art. An orator wishing to make himself heard, or to produce a sensation, opens his mouth widely, and derives from the resonant cavities all the aid that they can supply; this is the declamatory style, condensed by good taste. If the mouth be opened very widely, and the breath emitted with force, the voice becomes imperious: such is the tone in which a military officer gives the word of command. Words that are in themselves simple enough, when uttered in a hard, brusque tone, become offensive. When the sounds are uttered softly, with some degree of tremulousness, the words succeeding one another with deliberate slowness and imperceptible lowering of pitch, the sympathy of the hearer is awakened. Some women, it is asserted, possess a wonderful power of thus rendering their entreaties irresistible. Historians affirm that Cicero's graceful utterance added greatly to the persuasive force of his words. The orator who possesses a good voice, and who can at will assume the tones that best agree with the sentiments, emotions, and passions, which he would arouse, will win the hearts of his auditors, whereas the grandest oration delivered by an unpractised speaker would fail to move them.
Singing requires of the vocal organs functions very different from those required for speaking. Furthermore, a good physical constitution and perfect regularity in the functions of the organism, are of inestimable value to the artist. In the emission of the voice the respiratory movements must be performed without strain or effort; they must be so regulated as to make the inspiration short and easy, and the expiration slow and prolonged. There is a struggle between the organs which retain the breath and those which expel it; practice, youth, and good health, are the conditions upon which an adjustment must be based. In the highly-gifted artist the larynx holds its ordinary position notwithstanding the variations of intensity and pitch of
- ↑ Memory and the faculty of coördinating words depend upon the brain. It appears, from Broca's researches, that these faculties are destroyed by a lesion of the third frontal convolution of the left side.
