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Jenny Lind - Record and Analysis of the "Method" of the Late Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt
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I
GQLDENBEBG
JENNY LIND
A RECORD
AND ANALYSIS OF THE "METHOD''
OF THE LATE
MADAME JENNY LIND-GOLDSCHMIDT
BY W.
S.
ROCKSTRO
TOGETHER WITH A SELECTION OF
CADENZE, SOLFEGGI, ABELLIMENTI,
IN
&c.
ILLUSTRATION OF HER VOCAL ART
EDITED BY
OTTO GOLDSCHMIDT.
PRICE
Two
SHILLINGS.
LONDON & NEW YORK
NOVELLO, EWER AND
1894.
CO.
All those portions of the following pages
which have already
been published are here reprinted from the work entitled
JENNY LIND THE ARTIST
(London, 1891
:
John Murray),
by kind permission of Mr. Murray.
The
Portrait
is
from an engraving by William Roll, after a
daguerreotype by Kilburn, London, 1848.
TO
SIGNOR MANUEL GARCIA
(KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF GUSTAVUS VASA
|
M.D., KoNIGSBERG
|
ETC., ETC.)
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE DEDICATED
AS A TRIBUTE OF SINCERE ADMIRATION
BY
OTTO GOLDSCHMIDT
AND
W.
S.
ROCKSTRO.
THE VOCAL METHOD
OF
MADAME JENNY LIND-GOLDSCHMIDT.
fortune to hear Mdlle. Jenny Lind on the Stage or in the Concert-room, after her had been fully matured, and while her voice was in its fullest perfection, cannot fail to remember the beautiful Cadenze which lent so distinctive a charm to many of her songs, or the passages of brilliant fioritura with which some of her masterpieces of Italian vocalisation were embellished. The originality of these Cadenze, and other embellishments, was so striking, and their charm so potent, that, in the year
sing, either artistic ideal
THOSE who had the good
1891, the authors of the Memoir, entitled JENNY LIND THE ARTIST, thought it desirable to include a few of them in the " " Musical Appendix with which that work was supplemented, with the view of ensuring their preservation to posterity and it is believed that this end will be still farther secured by their publication, with the addition of a few more examples, in a
;
separate form. It is in the hope of attaining this object that the following pages are presented to the public, in full assurance that the rising generation of vocalists cannot fail to be profited
by the study of Solfeggi, and other like passages, bequeathed to the world by one of the greatest singers of the present century. In order that this desirable result may be the more certainly
necessary that the Cadenze in question should be a clear and categorical account of certain circumprefaced by stances connected with the timbre and compass of Mdlle. Lind's voice, and some of the more important characteristics of her
obtained,
it is
of voice-production including some points which, before the publication of the work above alluded to, were known only to a few of her intimate friends.
method
;
Mdlle. Lind's artistic career began at a very early age but, unhappily, she had no opportunity of studying under an experienced Maestro of the highest order until she had nearly Her voice at that period had completed her twenty-first year. suffered much, both from over-exertion and the want of that
;
6
careful
JENNY LIND.
management which can only be acquired by long and
She diligent training under a thoroughly competent teacher. had tried to reach her high ideal by the only means she knew of
means very pernicious indeed. The had been cruelly injured, the mischief
result was, that the voice
being, moreover, seriously aggravated by the fatigue consequent upon a long and harassing provincial tour, undertaken in her native Sweden, in the spring
of the year 1841, for the purpose of acquiring the means necessary to secure for her a long and indispensable term of rest from
theatrical
engagements and an opportunity
for diligent private
study.
Alarmed at the chronic hoarseness and other marked symptoms of deterioration from which the vocal organs were
suffering at this period, she determined to seek a competent teacher in Paris where, towards the close of August, 1841, she was received as a pupil by Signer Manuel Garcia, the most talented and successful master then living. Under this unrivalled Maestro di Canto she studied diligently,
;
from the last week in August, 1841, until the summer of 1842 by which time she had learned all that it was possible for any master to teach her. The result for which she had so perseveringly laboured was now attained. Her voice, no longer suffering from the effect of
;
the cruel fatigue, and the inordinate amount of over-exertion which had so lately endangered, not merely its well-being, but
its
pristine vigour
very existence, had by this time far more than recovered its it had acquired a rich depth of tone, a syma birdlike charm in the silvery clearness of its pathetic timbre, upper register, which at once impressed the listener with the feeling that he had never before heard anything in the least
degree resembling it. No human organ is perfect. It is quite possible that other voices may have possessed qualities which this did not for, voices of exceptional beauty are nearly always characterised by an individuality of timbre or expression which forms by no means the least potent of their attractions. The natural flexibility of the Contessa de' Rossi's* voice was phenomenal. Mdlle. Alboni's involuntary vibrato breathed a languid tenderness of passion which could never have been attained But the listener never stopped by any amount of study.
;
*
Mdlle, Sontag, afterwards Contessa de' Rossi.
JENNY LIND.
to
7
analyse the qualities of Mdlle. Lind's voice, the marked individuality of which set analysis at defiance. By turns full, sympathetic, tender, sad, or brilliant, it adapted itself so perfectly to the artistic conception of the song it was interpreting, that singer, voice, and song were one. Time had been when, from sheer lack of technical knowledge, she had been unable to give expression to her high ideal when her method was as yet too unformed for the utterance of her grand concep;
tion of the parts of Agatha and Euryanthe, of Pamina and Donna Anna, of La Vestale and Alice, and Amina, and Norma,
and Lucia ; all of which she had already sung, in Stockholm, and felt deeply, and made her hearers feel, by resistless force of sympathy alone, though every one had fallen short of the perfect artistic interpretation which can only be attained when the poetry of the mental conception is supported by an amount of technical skill equal to its demands. But this time had Her voice was now so completely passed away, for ever.
under command, that
the singer's
genius,
its
thoughts,
to
obedience to every changing phase of every demand of the composer's
was absolute and instantaneous. All the technical perfection that could be attained by unlimited perseverance, under the guidance of an enlightened teacher, she had gained since her arrival in Paris the rest she had always possessed, for it was part of herself. She was born an artist and, under Garcia's guidance, had now become a virtuosa. The scales, " " sung slowly up and down, with great care," and the awfully slow shake,"* practised under his direction, had borne abundant Followed by exercises of a more advanced character, fruit. had resulted in producing a facility of execution which they
; ;
told
serves materially to strengthen our faith in the legendary stories of Farinelli and " II Porporino," Signore Strada, and
Cuzzoni, and Faustina, the Cavaliere NicoJini, and other marvellous vocalists of the eighteenth century, whose feats of skill have been described by admiring contemporaries in such terms of rapture, that one class of modern critics has been tempted to reject the whole story as a gross exaggeration, while another school would have us believe that the art of
vocalisation, as practised in that golden age,
* So described by Mdlle. Lind Sweden.
is lost
beyond
all
in a letter, written at the time, to a friend in
8
JENNY LIND.
There is no logical necessity for the possibility of recovery. of either of these trenchant theories. The music acceptance
written for, and sung by, those giants of a bygone age, proves that the stories told of their marvellous power are in nowise
exaggerated.
no singer now
Handel wrote passages, in Riccardo Primo, which and equally trying divisions, living could execute in Ariadne, Rinaldo, and other Operas, for the Cavaliere The Operas Nicolini, Carestini, Signora Strada, and Senesmo. of Porpora and Hasse abound with similar passages for " II Farinelli, and Porporino," Faustina, and their great con;
temporaries of the Italian School. No one now attempts to grapple with these monstrous tours deforce ; but Mdlle. Lind proved them to be still attainable by exceptional talent, supplemented by equally exceptional perseverance. The assumption that the art has been lost is absurd. The method may have been neglected, and temporarily forgotten. do not deny that. But there is not or ought not to be the possibility of such a thing as a " lost art." What has been done once can be
We
And it would be difficult, in the face of the Cadenze here given to the public, to imagine any ton r de force whether involving difficulty of intonation, or rapidity of execution, prolonged sustaining - power, or contrasts obtainable by apparently unlimited exercise of the messa di voce of which Mdlle. Lind was incapable, after the completion of her course of One great secret perhaps the greatest of all the key study. to the whole mystery connected with this perfect mastery over the technical difficulties of vocalisation lay in the fortunate circumstance that Signor Garcia was so " very particular about the breathing."* For the skilful management of the breath is everything and she learned to fill the lungs with such dexterity that, except with her consent, it was impossible to detect either the moment at which the breath was renewed, or the method by which the action was accomplished. say, " except with her consent," because, on the stage, there are moments when, for dramatic effect, the act of breathing has itself a rhetorical, or, in extreme cases, even a passionate significance when the correct delivery of the words demands that breath should be taken, without any attempt at disguise, in accordance with the grammatical punctuation of the text
done again.
;
We
;
;
*
Extract from the letter mentioned in the previous foot-note.
JENNY LIND.
9
and of this means of expression she fully appreciated the value. But where pure vocalisation was concerned, and unbroken continuity became an imperious artistic necessity, the moment at which the lungs were replenished remained as profound a secret as it did in the performances of Rubini who, fortunately for him, possessed a much greater natural capacity for abundant inspiration, and had therefore a less amount of difficulty to overcome in bringing his art to the ineffable perfection he so
well succeeded in attaining. cases but, in the one, it
;
physical organisation,
effect of art
The result was the same in both was materially aided by a happy while, in the other, it was wholly the
an art which, though possible to all, is so difficult most cases, of the necessary not one singer out of a hundred succeeds in perseverance, attaining it, even in a moderate degree. Signer Frederic Lablache once told a friend of the writer that, when singing, on one occasion, with Rubini, in the Matrimonio Segreto, he held the great Tenor's hand in his own, during a passage in the famous duet, and, at the same time, looked him full in the face, without being able to detect the act of breathing in the least degree. This wonderful power of concealment led to the belief that Rubini could sing during
to acquire that, through want, in
Of course, it was simply the triumph misunderstood only by those who were An absurd story ignorant of the first principles of singing. was even invented, to the effect that he, who never forced a note, and whose vocal registers were more perfectly equalised, more delicately blended into one than those of any other tenor that ever existed, once broke his collar-bone in the attempt to
the act of inspiration
of
!
consummate
art,
deliver a
mighty Si de poitrine by aid of a violent effort of He was just as likely to have broken his neck and fallen dead on the spot. Yet, to this day, the story is cited as an instance of the dangers of a vicious method of
clavicular breathing
!
the lungs: a proof that the study of breathing is still recognised as a necessary part of the singer's education, though the tale could never have obtained credence, had not the method pursued by the two great artists of whom we are speaking been hopelessly misunderstood. With the rare powers at her command, Mdlle. Lind was able, without effort, to give expression to every phase of the artistic conception which she had formed by the exercise of innate
filling
10
genius.
JENNY LIND.
Her acting had grown up with her from her infancy, and formed part of her inmost being. She had, indeed, gained experience by observation of others, and, calmly passing judgment upon her own performance, had carefully thought out the matter and the result was that the acting and the singing had become so closely interwoven with each other, that they naturally united in the formation of one single conception.
;
part as she interpreted it to herself was a consistent whole, dramatic and musical, breathing poetry and romance from beginning to end yet, as true to nature as she was herself, and no longer fettered by the fatal technical weakness which had so long stood between the ideal and its perfect
;
Each
realisation.
Mdlle. Lind's voice was a brilliant and powerful Soprano, combining the volume and sonority of the true Soprano drammatico to which class of voices it unquestionably belonged with the lightness and flexibility peculiar to the more ductile and airy Soprano sfogato, with the characteristic tenuity of which it had, however, nothing in common. Its compass extended from B below the stave, to_G on the fourth line above it in technical language, from b to g that is to say, a clear range of two octaves and three-quarters, as
;
shown
in the subjoined
diagram
:
[*)
(a)
JENNY LIND.
II
various registers of this extended compass were so blended into one, by the effect of art, that it was impossible for the most delicate or attentive ear to detect their points of junction. In fact, after the completion of its cultivation under the guidance of Signor Garcia, the entire voice became
skilfully
The
one homogeneous whole, so even in its calibre, that the notes were avowedly sung without a thought as to the best way of " " them. placing
Certain regions, however, possessed marked aesthetic qualities, very clearly distinguishable, though they could be modified, at will, in accordance with the demands of the passages into which they were introduced. For instance, three notes of the middle register (the F, G, and A, shown at (a) in the diagram) were invested, in piano passages, with a veiled tone of ravishing beauty as in the long-drawn A, in the middle register, which forms the opening note of Casta diva. These three notes were more seriously injured than any other region of the voice, by the hard work and faulty method of production that had been It is forced upon Mdlle. Lind before her journey to Paris. well known to every experienced Maestro di Canto, that more voices are injured by the attempt to sing these three important notes in the lower instead of in the middle register, than by any other error of production whatever and there can be no doubt that it was this error that caused so much trouble to Mdlle. Lind, who, notwithstanding the beautiful tone by which the notes in question were afterwards characterised, assured Froken " never became Signe Hebbe* that she believed that they
;
quite right."
was so much admired by Mendelssohn, that he in Hear ye, Israel, and other parts of it The A above it, was brought prominently forward in a Elijah. syncopated passage in the slow movement of Casta diva; and the same A, with the C above it, formed the first two notes in one of Mdlle. Lind's famous Swedish Melodies. It was remarkable that these exceptionally high notes, though
FjJ
The
constantly used
brilliant
beyond description, when used at their full power, could be reduced to a pianissimo as perfect as that of the veiled tones of the middle register. The pianissimo, indeed, was one of
*
A
intercourse with
dramatic singer at Stockholm, who lately published an account of her Madame Goldschmidt, in a Swedish newspaper.
12
JENNY LIND.
the most beautiful features of Mdlle. Land's singing. It reached to the remotest corner of the largest theatre or concert-room in which she sang it was as rich and full as her mezzo-forte ; yet it was so truly piano that it fell upon the ear with the charm of
;
a whisper, only just strong enough to be audible. The reader be interested in hearing that Her Majesty regarded this pianissimo as one of the most beautiful characteristics of " as Mdlle. Lind's singing, and Chopin spoke of its " charm " indescribable."
will
wholly different effect though bearing a certain sort of analogy to this was produced in the Norwegian Echo Song by a peculiar tightening of the throat, which Madame Goldschmidt once tried to explain to the writer, though the process was so purely subjective that she said it was almost impossible to describe it in words. The effect produced so nearly resembled that of a natural echo, reverberated from the opposite wall, that it never failed to mystify an audience before which it was
presented for the first time. The notes, C, D, E, F, G, A, marked (g) in our diagram, were noticed by Mdlle. Lind, at a very early period, as the best notes of her voice. And judging, from their position in the scale, that her voice was intended by Nature to resolve itself into a Soprano of exceptional "height, she practised these notes, with the semitones between them, more diligently than any others, with the full determination to extend the process until the tone of the remaining portions of the voice became as rich, as pure, and as powerful as that of the six notes which she regarded as forming the fundamental basis of the whole. How fully she succeeded in carrying out this intention we know already and it is scarcely too much to say, that it was to this firm resolve, and the clear foresight which prompted it, that her ultimate success is mainly to be attributed. Mdlle. Lind's voice was not by nature a flexible one. The rich sustained tones of the soprano drammatico were far more congenial to it, than the rapid execution which usually characterises the lighter class of soprano voices. But this she attained Her perseverance was also, by almost superhuman labour. indefatigable. Among the Cadenze with which she was accustomed to embellish her favourite airs was one adapted to a movement from Beatrice di Tenda, introducing a scale passage ascending chromatically to the upper E flat, and then descending
;
A
JENNY LIND.
in the
13
same manner.*
career, told
She once, while at the zenith of her Froken Signe Hebbe that she had practised such
;
passages all her life, but that it was only quite lately that she had succeeded in satisfying herself with them adding, that she never allowed herself to indulge in singing exceptionally difficult passages before the public, until she had thoroughly mastered them, but preferred simplifying them to running the risk of an imperfect rendering of the notes. Another remarkable feature in Mdlle. Lind's singing was the shake, which she delivered, at will, either with unapproachable brilliancy, or in the form of a whisper, more like the warbling of a bird than the utterance of a human
voice.
Though it is necessary that a perfect shake should always begin with, and lay the metrical accent continuously upon, the written note, it is notorious that most shakes fail through want of attention on the part of the singer to the upper auxiliary or unwritten note. The general tendency is to let this note
gradually flatten, until, in very bad cases, the distance between the two notes is diminished from a tone to little more than a semitone. So well is this fact known, that the late Mr. Cipriani Potter once told the writer how he had been taught, in his youth, to separate the notes so widely that "a cocked hat could be thrown between them." Mdlle. Lind devised a cure for this In teaching, she began by corrupt delivery of the shake. impressing the upper note upon the ear, as the most important, at this early stage of the process, both as to strength and duration leaning, as it were, upon it, and slurring up to it from the lower interval. She employed for this purpose, first, the leap of a fifth, then that of a fourth, and soon, until she reached the tone, or semitone, continuing the shake exercise between the
;
two
intervals, whatever their distance, for some time, before proceeding from the wider intervals to a lesser one ; always
adhering to the upper note as, at this stage, the most important one; and always making beginners practise it with extreme slowness.
The following exemplification of this particular exercise, written by herself, a few years ago, for the guidance of a young vocalist, and illustrating the way in which she not only practised
*
See page
II.
JENNY LIND.
the shake herself, but also, in later years, taught has been found among her music
:
it
to others,
(a)
(b}^
(a)
^-t5~U5r~t5~
M
tr-f-
(a)
(b)
(a)
At a later period of instruction, the notes marked (a) and (b) were to be omitted, and the succession of intervals blended into one continuous exercise, thus
:
But it was not until after considerable advance had been made, that the exercise was allowed to be sung with any degree
of quickness.
When, at last, after diligent practice, the perfect shake was attained, it was sung with the rhythmic accent on the real or written note, thus
:
tr
-tv
The various effects we have here attempted to describe would have been impossible, but for that skilful management of the breath of which we had occasion to speak when treating of
JENNY LIND.
15
Mdlle. Lind's studies under the guidance of Signer Garcia. of Mdlle. Alboni's or Signor Rubini's but she renewed her breath so rapidly, so
Her chest had not the natural capacity
;
quietly, so cleverly, that the closest observer could never detect the moment at which the lungs were replenished and, by the
;
outside world, her extraordinary sustaining power was attributed to abnormal capacity of the lungs. The apparent ease with
which she attained this difficult end was due to an artfully" studied combination of the processes technically termed "costal " clavicular and breathing"; in the first of which used only
after the completion of a distinct phrase of the vocal melody the lower part or " base " of the lungs, freed from the last remains of the previous breath, is refilled, to its utmost capacity, without undue precipitation, yet with sufficient rapidity to
answer all practical purposes while in the second used for the continuation of phrases too long for delivery within the limits of a single inspiration the lungs are neither completely nor completely refilled, but replenished only, by means emptied, of a gentle inhalation, confined to that portion of the organ which lies immediately beneath the claviculce, or collar-bones. The skill with which these two widely different processes were interchanged, when circumstance demanded their alternate
;
employment, was such as can only be acquired by long and unwearied practice, untrammelled by prejudice either for or against any special method whatever and it is not too much to say, that it was to the sustaining power, acquired by this careful management of the breath, that Mdlle. Lind owed her beautiful pianissimo, and that marvellous command of the messa di v oce which enabled her to swell out a crescendo to its utmost limit, and follow it, without a break, with a diminuendo which died away to an imperceptible point, so completely covering the end of the note that no ear could detect the moment at which it
;
faded into silence. Within the last few years, an attempt has been made to connect the term, clavicular breathing, with a mode of filling the lungs, pernicious, to the last degree a process which, we need scarcely say, was never practised, either by Mdlle. Lind or
Rubini, whose method of breathing seems to have been closely if not absolutely identical with her own. to, True clavicular breathing is not only a perfectly legitimate process, but one quite indispensable to the accomplished vocalist.
analogous
l6
It is
JENNY LIND.
necessary that
we should speak very
clearly
on
this point,
method of breathing has sometimes been quite misunderstood, and stories have been told of it, both in
since Mdlle. Lind's
print and in open discussion, as absurd as those circulated with relation to Rubini. Only a few years ago, her method was publicly described, in terms so incorrect that they could only
lead to the wildest misconception of the truth. And no less complete was Mdlle. Lind's command over the
difficulties of articulation
than over those of vocalisation pure
and simple.
impossible Tauscht das Licht des
delivery of the difficult we had almost said, passage in the grand scena from Der Freischiitz
Her
Monds mich
nicht !*
though so clear
distinct that not a syllable lost its full meaning, was nevertheless so soft and smooth that it could scarcely have been do not hesitate to say that she was the surpassed in Italian.
and
We
only great singer by whom we have heard this famous crux surmounted without a trace of harshness in the delivery of the words. On one occasion Madame Birch- Pfeiffer left her, alone, practising the word zersplittre ("to shiver to pieces"), on a high B flat, in the opening Recitative in Norma ; and, returning several hours afterwards, found her still practising the same word. And she continued to practise it, until she succeeded in pronouncing it quite perfectly on the high note, though few even of the best German vocalists attain, a better pronunciation than zerspldttre. But she never erred in the delivery of even the most difficult word in any language whatsoever. So perfect was the mastery she exercised over larynx, throat, lips, tongue, teeth, soft palate, each and all, that never a syllable was stifled at its birth, never a vowel-sound corrupted in its passage through the longest groups of mingled leap, arpeggio, or scale. It was this high quality that lent so powerful a charm to the " divisions," the rapid passages of fioritura, of complicated
which Lablache, in describing them to Madame Grisi, said that " every note was a pearl." The purity of the vowel-sound, by which the pearls were strung together, secured their perfect equality of tone and timbre ; and, whether the most rapid notes were sung legato, or staccato, they either ran on velvet, or rang out sharply and clearly as the touch of a mandoline. The technique, in either case, was absolutely faultless, and its
* "
Does not the
light of the
moon
deceive
me
"
!
JENNY LIND.
perfection
practice,
I"]
was entirely the result of hard work, indefatigable unwearying study. To the end of her career, she never sang in the evening without preparing for the performance by practising for a long time, earlier in the day always a Dtezza voce, to avoid fatiguing the voice unnecessarily, but never
sparing the time or trouble. And herein lay the secret of her victory over difficulties which tempt so many less courageous aspirants to despair. " method " thus diligently cultivated was, Undoubtedly, the in many points, subjective. possess, however, a letter
We
written by her to her friend, Fraulein von Jaeger, at Vienna, which enters into some particulars connected with our present subject of consideration, so curiously interesting, that we cannot
refrain from presenting
them
in extenso
:
"
Ems, June
8,
1855.
my good Gusti doing? as ever at her singing ? industriously " The chief that I have to
is
"And what
Is she
working as
thing part of Friedrich Schmitt's
for
say, to-day, concerns that
'
of which you wish an explanation.* " I do not think you have rightly understood the point. Read the paragraph again and it will surely become clearer to you. " Naturally, he does not mean that you are to attack a note twice but that, before you sound the note, the larynx must be
'
Singing School
;
properly prepared in the position in which the forthcoming sound lies, whether high or low. The result of this is a firm attack and, as soon as you have sounded one note, you must spring so nimbly on all those above or below it that no rift can be detected between the sounds and, in this way, the of the phrase is accomplished without a break. completion For instance, the notes
; ;
must so hang together that they make one whole and this results from binding and striking them, at one and the same time if I may so express myself though it is almost impossible
;
* " Grosse Gesang-Schule fur Deutschland," von Friedrich Schmitt (Miinchen, 1854) a work of which Madame Goldschmidt thought so highly, that she permitted her testimonial to be printed in connection with it.
;
l8
JENNY LIND.
to explain this clearly in words.
But
it
I
have often spoken
her.
It
to
my
Gusti about this and shown
to
lies
in
the
and must therefore be practised. Sing exercise, then, so that this flexibility of the throat may be your quickly developed. The attack of the single notes will thus be
flexibility of the larynx,
improved
is
;
and the string of notes
will follow."
in saying that it almost impossible to explain this clearly in words." No one knew better than she did that the best " Singing Schools "that ever were published are useless without the aid of a teacher for, until she found a teacher in Signer Garcia, she wandered daily farther and farther from the true paths, until, in the end, her voice but narrowly escaped from utter destruction. When once the truth was pointed out to her, her quick perception and unerring musical instinct enabled her to grasp it at a glance and, when once she began to practise upon true principles, the difficulties she had formerly experienced with regard to the
Madame Goldschmidt was
quite right
"
;
;
method
On one
of voice-production were at an end. point she always insisted very strongly.
She had an
innate hatred of the contortions with which so many vocalists of inferior order disfigure their features when delivering the
passages they wish to render most impressive. She was never satisfied with a song, unless the singer " looked pleasant."
She regarded singing as a beautiful gift of Nature a gift for which those who possess it should feel truly thankful, and
;
proclaim their thankfulness by the expression of their features. She had a horror of careless articulation, even in speaking. And she felt firmly persuaded that the practice of singing, on the true " method," tended to the invigoration of the body, and especially of a weak chest. She even thought that the lives of many persons with a tendency to consumption might have been prolonged, if they had learned to breathe, and sing, in the right way an opinion which is held by many medical authorities of
highest reputation, and the correctness of which is undoubtedly proved by recorded facts; and she frequently expressed her conviction that the mode of living in England, and the care taken
of health, were very favourable indeed to the fuller development of the physical frame, and, therefore, to the general vigour of the vocal organs.
She
also
taste in England,
had a high opinion of the standard of musical and on one occasion, when speaking of the
JENNY LIND.
different effect her singing
IQ
different audiences, she
produced on
said she could distinctly feel that her listeners were not always " For instance," swayed in the same manner by her power. she said, " I always feel that music has a greater moral power over the English than over any other people, and this is why I
would rather sing in Oratorio in this country than in any other." So deeply penetrated was Madame Goldschmidt with love for her Art, and faith in its ennobling influence, that, to the end of
her
life,
tion,
she took the keenest interest in promoting its instruc upon the true and well-tried principles of the pure Italian
School.
The following letter to the late Mr. H. C. the last she wrote upon the subject
:
Deacon*
is
one of
"
Wynd's
Point, Colwall, Malvern, July 3151, 1885.
"
DEAR MR. DEACON,
" It was very kind of you to let me know about the I am glad to hear that my Examinations. | sheep did not If would put her mind into her work she might badly.
become a
"
I
singer.
can but do
life's
my
I
best
;
and, with
my enormous
experience
and a
ought to be able to bring out singers. much moral and mental as it is mechanical. It is the combination of those qualities which alone can form the master and pupil. " I hope you and Mrs. Deacon are better, and that you will now have some rest. " Yours sincerely, " J. L. GOLDSCHMIDT."
study, " Singing is as
With
Solfeggi,
these
remarks,
we
present
the following Cadenze,
and Abellimenti to our readers, together with two of Mdlle. Lind's favourite Swedish Songs.
The
given
at
Solfeggi (including the Study for practising the Shake, page 14) contain passages of great value to the
aspiring vocalist. The Abellimenti
difficulties in
The
*
exemplify some of the most formidable the practice of florid vocalisation. Cadenze are examples of a form of ornamentation
to a degree of perfection
which Madame Goldschmidt brought
Madame
she
\
was then
Goldschmidt's colleague at the Royal College of Music, directing the training of the female vocal Scholars. At the Royal College of Music, above-mentioned.
where
2O
previously
JENNY LIND.
unknown to the generation in which she lived, and popularly supposed to have died out with the eighteenth century. Madame Goldschmidt's Cadenze were original, in the highest and best sense of the word stamped with the rare individuality of her artistic genius in strict keeping with the and never style of the music into which they were introduced so introduced without a legitimate reason.* Most of these were either written down by Mr. Goldschmidt, at her dictation, or inserted, in her own handwriting, in the copies she herself used, or in those of her pupils. Though some of the passages they contain will be thought extremely difficult, it is hoped that their careful study may be found useful, and do much towards the cultivation, in the future, of this beautiful form of ornament, the traditions of which are, it is to be feared, in danger of falling into oblivion. The purity of the musical text is vouched for, the fact that, in every case, it is here given exactly as edited by " " by Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, in the Musical Appendix to the " A MEMOIR OF work, entitled JENNY LIND THE ARTIST. \ MADAME JENNY LIND-GOLDSCHMIDT HER EARLY ART-LIFE AND DRAMATIC CAREER." By the Rev. Canon Scott Holland and Mr. W. S. Rockstro. First published in 1891.
;
; :
W.
London, 1894.
S.
ROCKSTRO.
* Madame Schumann, Herr Hauser, and others, give the like testimony to Madame Goldschmidt's loyal rendering of Mozart's music. And it is evident
that the three Cadenze given in the present collection were supplied by her because Mozart himself had indicated the place for their introduction.
f
A
few examples have been added
for this publication.
MUSIC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CADENZE.
Opera
Beatrice di Tenda
Bellini's
... ...
11
I.
1.
Three Cadenze from
Cadenza
at
Bellini's
2.
the
Close of
the Andante in
...
Opera
...
/ Puritani, Act II.,
3.
Scene 7
...
iv
Cadenza in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, No. 15, " Perche
non ho"
...
...
...
...
...
...
iv
4.
Cadenza contributed
of
in
1884 to Dr. Ferdinand
... ... ...
Miller's Collection
... ...
Autographs
in
v
5.
Cadenza
Pamina's
Aria
...
in
Mozart's
... ...
Die
Zauberflote,
...
Act
6.
II.,
No. 18
...
v
Two Cadenze in Aminta's Aria, with Violin Obbiigato, in
//
Mozart's
...
Re
Pastore, No. 10
...
...
...
...
vi
7.
Close in Chopin's Mazurka in ... for the voice) ...
A
flat,
...
Op. 24, No. 3 (as arranged
...
...
...
vm
x
8.
Cadenza
First
in
Donizetti's
...
La
...
Figlia del Reggimento.
...
Finale of
... ...
Act
...
II.
9.
Five Solfeggi
...
...
...
...
...
...
x
III.
10.
FULL EXTRACTS.
La Sonnambula
...
"Ah
non credea" (Amina), from Bellini's Opera
voce poco /&,"
xm
xvi
" 11.
Una
from Rossini's
II
Barbiere di Siviglia
IV.
12.
\
-SCANDINAVIAN SONGS.
...
...
Herdegossen by
I.
A. Berg (original version)
xxi
13.'
14.
The same,
as sung by
Madame Goldschmidt
...
...
...
xxn
xxiv
Norwegian Echo Song
...
...
...
...
II
N91.
Bellini's
Opera
BEATRICE DI TENDA N9
6 Cavatina(3 Cadenze.)
in the late
Cadenze b and o were by Madame Goldsehmidt'e permission included Mr. H. C. Deacon's Article on "Sing-ing-" in Grove's Diction-
ary of Music. They are given here again together with Cadenza (a) in a form shewing the bars in which she introduced them at many Concerts.
Ill
accel.
mio ros
Allegro moderato.
- sor!
10
/TN
^BEATRICE.
Ah!
la
Symphony
P
pe-nuin
tr
Coro
Allegro,
18
lor
piom
-
bo
Cadema (c)
Stretto assai.
f^\
a tempo
21
pe-najnlor piom-bo
19
Symphony
Ah!
la
Bellini's "7 voce."
PURITAN!" Act
II.
Scena N9
7.
Andante: Elvira,"Qui
In
Madame Goldschmidt, more particularly in later years, when singing the Andante only_ without the Allegro which follows- repeated the 17 bars at the end of this movement, substituting the second time instead of Bellini's bars 15 and 16 (in the voice part) the following two.
Andante.
las
-
ciate,
las-ci-a-
-te mi mo-rir
(Chord)
NP3.
Donizetti's
lished
"LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR" N9 15. Cavatina (Paris.Pubby Edmond Mayaud) Larghetlo \ in G. "Perche non ho" bar 33,
Cadenza."**
*) Introduced in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians Vol. page 508, also in the Musical Union Record, 1849.
III.
N9
4.
V
This Cadenza was sent to Ferdinand Hiller as a contribution to the well-known collection of Autographs which he left to the town of
Cologne.
The inscription accompanying the? Music is as follows "Herrn Doctor Ferdinand ran Hilltr zur freundlichen Er inner ung von Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt. London November
.
Cadenza
pp
Sebn-
-
sucht.
Mozart's
"DIE
ZAUBERFLOTE" Act
II.
NO
18. Aria.
Pamina.
Andante
-A
T~
*
T
\
*
Ach
==r^
ich
lo
fiihl's,
es
1st
A hi
so,
piu
non
ver m'a
-schwunden, e -wig che lag- - narmi -van-su
Grab, den Weg
pe-nar,
il
in's
Grab, den
nar,
il
Weg.
mi
-
mio pe
Lento.
in's
-
Grab.
-
o pe
nar.
+)
The Composer himself has placed
this pause
and indicated a Cadenza.
VI N96.
Mozart's Opera in two Acts "7L
RE PASTOR K' composed
in 1775
(words by Metastasio)
Aria (with Violin obtligato.) The following two Cadenze were composed in thu autumn of lH-~>4 by Madame Goldschmidt in collaboration with Herr Fr. Schubert (at
10.
N
the time First Concertmeister of the- Royal Orchestra at Dresden.)
Madame
Goldschmidt accompanied by Herr Schubert and subsequent-
ly by other Distinguished Violinists, sang the Aria with the addition of these Cadenze, at many Public Concerts, and also at Musical
Festivals in
Germany; they have not hitherto been published with
authority.
Andantiiw.
AMINT A.
pa
-
ce
-
io
tro - ve
-
ro
Violin obbligato
Voice
Violin
*)
Mozart has here indicated a Cadenza.
VII
f
Voic-e
f
Violin obbligato
Violin
Tranquil/o.
da Ice
p
cresc. e accel.
f
largemenfe
Mozart has here indicated
a
Cadenza
VIII
NP7.
The following Cadenza forms
the ending of
\\w"RECUEIL
DE
de F. Chopin" set to Italian words for (Soprano) Voice with Pianoforte obbligato(by Otto Goldschmidt) and sung by Madame
MAZOURKAS
Goldschmidt,from the year 1855, at her Concerts in Germany, Holland, and Great Britain. The Mazourkas introduced are four, viz.- Op. 50, N9 2. in A flat, Op. 30, N91. C minor, and N? 2. B minor,and lastly Op. 24, N9 3. of which Madame Goldschmidt sang the concluding strain, expanded on Chopin's own lines, as given on the next page in its entirety. This "Recueil" has not been published. Moscheles, having heard this piece, in Xovember 1857, at the Ge-
wandhaus
at Leipzig, entered in his
Diary the strain
in bar 10,
go -
high C, differently, He wrote from recollection only; ing up but in this form it has found a place not only in his Biography (Vol.
to the
London 1873) but also in Grove's Dictionary of Music Vol. II, page 141, and possibly elsewhere. Chopin's melody, however, had not been altered, and Madame Goldschmidt sang it as written by the Composer.
II,
Moderate con anima. (Mazurka
11=
N
il
3,
I
Jjj.
cor,
p
las - cia
al
Mio
po -ver
-man
fe-del
tu
-
a
do - lor a - mor
FIT
J> J> fl p li-vin pia-cer d'a-mor. Ri
J
P
I
^i
-
-cerd'amor.
O
speranza
vien ah vien dalciel,
JyJ
fi-doa-mo-re
|J'J)J
fi-doa-mo-re
mai non pe-ri
-
ra,
r
mai non pe
- ri
-
ra, no, no,
no,
no, no,
no,_
IX
a tempo
eSp re5S i Ya
tuo
a
-
mor,
al
dolce
mai non pe
Pianof.
-
n
di
mi
nu
-
en
S W
X
N?8.
Donizetti's 'LA
4*.!?
FIGLIA DEL REGGIMENTO" Finale of first
.
Act.
bar from the end
/T\.
N9.
FIVE SOLFEGGI.
I.
Allegretto (lega to.)
8
do.
sol
paco a paca cresc.
XI
rail.
a tempo
si
si_
I
pp
8 4
4
sol
si's
(d)
o rifrJiflrjiOTl JJ* ';afi
"
-
*
|
*.J
I
soi
-T
ii.
kom
till
mig.
Translation "Come to me."
XII
SOLFEGGI
continued.
Ful
-
dim.
-
mi-ne.
Son'
-
un fioco
rail.
- fe
-
li
-
ce.
Bellini's
"LA SONNAMBULA" Aria "Ah non credea" from
tho Finale
of the last Act as
quently at
sung by Mademoiselle' Lind on the Stage and subseher Concerts by Madame Goldschmidt.
Andante cantabile.
m
AMINA.
espressiYa
T
'
'
-
#
Ah!
non
cre-deu
yy
x
'
mi
Jj
J
-
-rar
-
-
ti
Si
pres
-
to
e -stin
to,
o
-
re,
Pas
-
sa
-
sti
al
par
d'a -
Hfto
-
-
re
Cheun
gior
-
no
so
-
lo,
cheun
gior
-
no
sol
du
-
-
ro,
che un
gior- no
XIV
so
-
lo
ah!
sol
du
-
ro.
L ;rr
(
r
Pas
-
sa-stial par d'a-mo-
Cheun
:
gior-no, cheungior-no sol
du
-
ro
J-J
^*
II
pian-to.il pian-to
mio
re
Ma
rav - vi
-
var
la
-
mo
-
-
re
il
pian
-
-
to
ppp
mi
o
ah
no,
no
non
piu
ah
non
ere
-de
-
'
F
i"
i
-a
ah non ere -de-
-a, Pa-sa-stial
n
gior
F
p
par,
al
par
d'a -
"
r
-mo
-
-
re
cheun
-
no
sol
-ro,
che
un gior -no
sol
du
-
ro,
che
un
M8*
.
.
rr7?>\
.
frv
-^
-ro.
7
r
*i
'
r
The embellishments
time, not quickly.
of Cadenze in this piece
were sung in moderate
XVI
\'.>
11.
" The following Version of Bosina's Aria "Una vore poco fa from Rossini's Opera "IL BARBIERE DI SI VIGLIA!' is that sung by
Madame Goldschmidt.
The Air, having been originally written for a Contralto (in the key of E ) must be transposed to a higher key, if sang by a Soprano; and in addition to this, various passages of low range have been
traditionally
in the
Madame Goldsohmidt
key
altered, to snit the higher voice. sang the Aria in the form given below (and of F) at her Concerts, and taught it to the few select
pupils who came under her care. No indications of traditional changes of
Tempo or marks
of expres-
sion- save those introduced by Madame Goldschmidt_ have been inserted here, as they are found in every good edition of the piece.
Andante.
fa
qui
nel
cor
mi
ri -
suo
-
no
il
mio
cor
fe-ri-toe gia
e
Lin
-
do-ro
fucheilpia-
-go.
-
Si,
Lin
-do-
-
ro
mio
sa
-
ra,
lo_ giu
-do
-
-
ro
mi-
-
-o sa-ra,
lo
giu-
XVII
XVIII
-
sa,
So
-
no ob
-
be
-dien-te,
del
-
ce, a
-mo
-
ro
-
-
sa,
Mi
la-scio
J>
j)
j)
fo
reg-ge-re, mi
la-scio
reg-ge-re, mi
gui
-
-dar,
mi
fo
gui
-
dar,
Ma
se
mi
toe-
-ca-nodov'eil mio
de
-
-
bo
-
le,
come u
-
na
vi -
-
pe
-
-
ra
sa
-
ro,
E cen-to
trap-
-po-le pri-ma
di
ce
-
-
de-re,
fa-ro gio-
-car,
fa-
-
ro
gio-
-car,
e cen-to
1
trap
-po-le pri-ma
di
ce
-
de-re,
fa-ro
XIX
-cur
fa-
-
ro
gio
-
-ca-re,
e
cen-to_
trap-po-le
pri
-
ma_
di
ce
-
de-re,
e
cen-to
le
fa -
-
ro, fa
Io so-no
do-ci-le,
so-no obbediente
mi
lascio
regge-re
mi
fo giu-
q tempo
toe
-
ca
-
no dov'
il
mio
de
-
bo
-
le
come
u
-
na
sa
-
ro,
e cen-to
trap
-
po
-
le, pri
-
ma
di
ce
-
de
-
re,
fa-ro gio-
XX
-ca
-
-
re,
e cen-to
Q
I
can abandon aaanaan
,
trap
-
po
-
le,
pri
-
ma
di
ce
-
de
-
re
fa - ro
gio
-
trap-po-le
pri-
-
ma
di
ce-de-re, e cen-to
trap-po
-
- le
fa -
-car,
tv
e
cen
-
to
trap
-
po
- le
fa
-
ro
gio
-
faft
-car,
e
cen-to
trap-po-le
fa- ro
gio-
-
car,
fa
-
ro
gio
-
car,
fa
-car,
fa
-
-
ro
gio
-
car.
Symphony
N'.>
12.
XXI
This is the Version transcribed from the (late) Courtsin^er LA. Berg's -hose kind own Mss. Musicbook, now in the possession of his son, 1 permission it is inserted here. [A]
HERDEGOSSEN.
o
j,
*
Corno.
^jer-ran
m
i
skog
f^
m
^m
Corno.
Klar for min sjal
Stra-lar din bild
Langt
fran dig skiljd
Hor
-
net min kla-gantill
dig
nu_
/T\
Corno.
for
Ger-na! Ger-na for dig jag
dor.
/Ts
J
f 1
*=
4
'^'^
r
XXII
N913.
This is the Version sung in Public by Madame Goldsohmidt both in Europe and in America, and in Private up to a late period of her life.
HERDEGOSSEN.
Composed by
I. A.
[B]
THE HERDSMAN'S SONG.
BERG.
a
Andante lento.
i Fjer- ran Far in the
Pi
skog woods
Langt fran dig Part - ed from
legato
^
P=i
skiljd
Klar for min sjal Thine i mafe fair
-
Stra
-
^
lar
din
dwells with
mif'
bild
'|if-
Hor
So
/7s
-
net
let
min kla
the
-
gan
me _
horn breathe my
I
T
XXIII
m
till
-
dig for
S
-
cret to thee:
ger-na for dig jag Death for my love hath no ter-ror for
Ger-na,
ack!
rf
piu sanare
dor..
Hor
So
-
net min
let
kla -
-
gan
me.-
the
horn breathe my
till
se.
-
-
dig for
fhn#:
Ger-
rr^t tn
Death for
na, ack! gerna, germy love
-
na
iff
5
XXIV
NQ 44.
NORWEGIAN ECHO SONG.
referred to
The following Norwegian Popular melody has been
more
than once in the preceding Volume~_ and in one instance by M411 Lind herself, in a letter dated Boston November 8. 1850. (See Book IX, Ch. V.) in which she calls it the Norwegian Fjall (Fell) Song. The version given here is as nearly what she sang, as a wild original piece of National Music, subject to many variations in detail at the humour of the Singer, (who invariably accompanied it herself on the Pianoforte) can be put on paper. The unaccompanied Coda at the close, introducing an Echo, was added by the Songstress, and has, it is thought, not hitherto been printed.
The Norwegian words only are here inserted, but a translation of the simple sense of the words will be found at the end of the Song.
Allegretto.
Fed.
^.sonore r in
Tempo moderato
hoah, hoah,
trr
ho, ho!
Kom
ku,komkalv,komkjy-ra,
Kom
f
P
i
i
XXV
-Jf-^f
IJDft
XXVI
nat-te kjemsnart
at
-
te -ve,
teek-je
meg
i
fan -go.
E?
Vivo.
suivez
EE
bJ
?
fa
-*-fc
f
H?-
?=$
Krytrein u-ti kvien star
eg
te
sao-ter-stu-li
gar!
^
~.
ten.
^
^
p
^^
^conforza
/T\
r^iBp
star-
Kritrein u-ti kvi-en
m P^
-eg
te sae
-
ter-stu-li
f
gar!
t
3:
Allegro
Tempo L
Kom
kjy-ra,
kom
kjyra
mi
kom
kjy-ra!
7
=
J
I
I
k
At this point Madame Goldschmidt turned from the Pianoforte towards the audience, facing it, and singing straight towards the length of the Room (having in view the production of the Echo) until the final notes,
when
Chord
she slowly turned back towards the Pianoforte, and struck to the same note in the voice part. of
the
D
(Translation.)
Come
hither,
come
hither,
come
hither!
Hoah, hoah, hoahl
Come cow, come calf and weanling brood Come all my cattle dear!
And
the smith come forth With hammer and tongs To put the brand on the animal For so will have it the Sheriff done. Hoah, hoah, hoah! Come all ye my poor dear! The sun is setting- behind the hills
And shadows And
The pot
are lengthning;
its lap.
The night will soon close in
hold us in
is
And
to
on the fire the Alp / wend my way.
Finis.
October,1894.
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed.
QL
OCT06
J<97
University of California
Return
Box 951388 305 De Neve Drive -Parking Lot 17 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 which it was borrowed. this material to the library from
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This document has been released into the public domain.
Rockstro, W.S.
garcia
great singers
italian technique
lind
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