THE DECLINE OF SINGING
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Mr. Dyneley Hussey's article on the above subject is one for which loVers of pure singing have been waiting for some considerable time.
He rightly says how rarely does any vocalist give us the authentic thrill of pure singing, of an open-throated tone poured out amply and with ease, and of phiases flexibly carried out to their climax. He further suggests that the cause of this decline in the art of singing is not any deterioration in the human voice, but simply a neglect to cultivate and exercise the voice sufficiently and the right way.
Surely the cause of this deterioration is the excessive use of the vibrato or tremolo by the singer.
Dr. Colles tells us that this objectionable cult was started years ago by a famous Italian singer who used the vibrato to conceal the fact that his voice was failing owing to adiancing years ! All musicians know that to sing in tune when excessive vibrato is used is almost an impossibility, many such singers being an eighth to a quarter of a tone either sharp or flat. And, to add to the discomfiture of listeners, the words are usually inaudible. Not only is there no soul in such singing, but the voice itself is soon ruined by this abuse. Mr. Dyneley Hussey recalls a performance years ago"' of The Messiah in which Mr. Ben Davies sang the tenor part, and despite his sixty years, obliterated his younger colleagues by the sheer beauty of his singing. I, too, had the joy of hearing this performance— not a semblance of a vibrato, but absolutely pure singing com- bined with perfect vocalisation. One expects plenty of vibrato in Opera singing and in passionate love songs, but not in English ballads, and particularly not in Elizabethan madrigals, in which vibrato, used by all four parts, is nothing short of painful.
One still hears pure singing-by Cathedral choirs, and one is glad to say, by the B.B.C. singers in the Sunday Epilogue, with every word distinct.
Cannot the B.B.C. help a bit more ? To sum up, vibrato singing is not English, but is a cult imported from abroad.—
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