Principles of Orchestration Part 34

_Mozart and Salieri_ [[22-23]].

l) Gong, imitating a church bell:

_Ivan the Terrible_, Act I [[57]] and further on.

m) Ba.s.s Drum (without cymbals) to imitate the sound of cannon:

_Tsar Saltan_ [[139]] and later.

n) Small kettle-drum, in _D_ flat (3rd octave):

_Mlada_, Act III [[41]] and later (cf. Ex. 60).

o) Bells in various keys:

_Sadko_ [[128]] and [[139]].

No. 301. _Legend of Kitesh_ [[181]] and further on. See also [[241]], [[323]] and later.

* _Tsar Saltan_ [[139]] and further on.

p) Organ:

No. 302. _Sadko_ [[299-300]].

Wood-wind and strings are comparatively seldom used on the stage or in the wings. In Russian opera the strings are employed in this way by Rubinstein (_Gorioucha_), and in a splendidly characteristic manner by Serov (_Hostile Power_): in the latter opera the _E_ flat clarinet is used to imitate the fife in the Carnival procession.[17]

[Footnote 17: Mention should be made of the happy use of a small orchestra in the wings (2 picc., 2 cl., 2 horns, 1 trombone, tambourine, 4 Vns, 2 violas, 1 D-ba.s.s) in _The May Night_, Act II, Sc. I. [[M-P]]. (Editor's note.)]

Chapter VI (Supplementary).

VOICES.

Technical Terms.

Among all the confused terms employed in singing to denote the compa.s.s, register and character of the human voice, there are four which may be said to represent elemental types: soprano, alto or contralto, tenor and ba.s.s. These names are used to denote the composition of the chorus with sub-divisions of _firsts_ and _seconds_, to determine how the parts must be divided. (Sopr. I, Sopr.

II etc.) While the range of an instrument is exactly governed by its construction, the compa.s.s of the voice, on the other hand, depends on the individuality of the singer. It is therefore impossible to define the exact limits of each of these vocal types. When it is a question of dividing choristers into 1st and 2nd parts, those with the higher voices are cla.s.sed among the firsts and _vice versa_.

Besides the princ.i.p.al terms mentioned above, the names mezzo-soprano (between sop. and alto), and baritone (between tenor and ba.s.s) are also employed.

_Note._ In the chorus mezzo-sopranos are cla.s.sed with 2nd sopranos or 1st altos, baritones with 2nd tenors or first ba.s.ses, according to quality and timbre of voice.

Apart from these denominations which represent the six princ.i.p.al solo voices, a quant.i.ty of others are in use to denote either compa.s.s, timbre or technique, such as light soprano, _soprano giusto_, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, light tenor, _tenorino-altino_, _baryton-martin_, lyric tenor, dramatic tenor, _ba.s.so cantante_ ("singing ba.s.s"), _ba.s.so profondo_ (deep ba.s.s) etc. To this lengthy list must be added the term _mezzo-carattere_, of intermediate character (between lyric and dramatic soprano, for example).

If we try to discover the real meaning of these designations it soon becomes apparent that they are derived from widely different sources--for instance, "light soprano" implies agility and mobility in the voice; "dramatic tenor", the power to express strong dramatic feeling; _ba.s.so profondo_ signifies great resonance in the deep register.

Minute examination of all the methods of attack and emission of sound lies within the province of the singing master and to enumerate them here would only perplex the student. The same applies to the position and exact limits of register (chest voice, middle and head voice in women; chest voice, mixed voice and falsetto in men). The work of a teacher of singing consists in equalising the voice throughout its whole compa.s.s, so that the transition from one register to another, on all the vowels, may be accomplished imperceptibly. Some voices are naturally even and flexible. The professor of singing must correct faults in breathing, determine the range of the voice and place it, equalise its tone, increase its flexibility, instruct as to the p.r.o.nunciation of vowels, modulation from one grade of expression to another, etc. A composer should be able to rely upon flexible and equal voices without having to trouble himself as to the abilities or defects of individual singers. In these days a part is seldom written for a particular artist, and composers and librettists do not find it necessary to entrust a certain role to _fioriture_ singers, another to heavy dramatic voices. Poetic and artistic considerations demand greater variety of resource in the study of opera or vocal music in general.

Soloists.

Range and register.

I advise the composer to be guided by Table F. which gives the approximate range of the six princ.i.p.al solo voices. A bracket under the notes defines the normal octave, the register in which the voice is generally used. Within these limits the composer may write freely without fear of hardening or tiring the voice. The normal octave applies also to declamatory singing and recitative; the notes above it are exceptional and should be used for the culminating points of a pa.s.sage or for climaxes, the notes below, for the fall or decline of a melody. Employing voices in unusual registers for long periods of time will weary both singer and listener, but these registers may occasionally be used for brief intervals so as not to confine the voice too strictly to one octave. A few examples are added to ill.u.s.trate melody in different types of voices.

_Examples:_

_The Tsar's Bride_ [[102-109]] (for extracts cf. Ex. 256, 280, 284)--Marfa's Aria (Soprano).

" " " [[16-18]]--Griaznov's Aria (Baritone).

_Snegourotchka_--The 3 songs of Lell. (Contralto).

_Sadko_ [[46-49]] (cf. extract, Ex. 120)--Sadko's Aria (Tenor).

" [[129-131]]--Lioubava's Aria (Mezzo-sopr.).

" [[191-193]] (cf. extract, Ex. 131)--Ba.s.s Aria.

Vocalisation.

A good vocal melody should contain notes of at least three different values, minims, crotchets and quavers (or crotchets, quavers and semiquavers etc.). Monotony in rhythmic construction is unsuited to vocal melody; it is applicable to instrumental music, but only in certain cases. _Cantabile_ melody requires a fair number of long notes, and a change of syllable in a word should occur at a moment when the voice quits a long sustained note. Short, single notes, changing with every syllable produce a harmonious effect. Owing to the requirements of diction, extended melodic figures sung _legato_ on one syllable must be used with care on the part of the composer; to perform these the singer must possess greater command over flexibility and technique. The possibility of taking breath in the right place is one of the conditions essential to all vocal writing. Breath cannot be taken in the middle of a word, sometimes not even during the course of a sentence or phrase in the text; hence the voice part must be suitably interspersed with rests.

Table F. Voices.

Chorus:

[Music: Soprano.

Contralto.

Tenor.

Ba.s.s.]

Soloists: