ging. The
opera houses were smaller and so were the orchestras. The singer could
stand still in the middle of the stage and pour out beautiful tones,
with few movements of body to mar his serenity. But we, in these days,
demand action as well as song. We need singing actors and actresses. The
music is declamatory; the singer must throw his whole soul into his
part, must act as well as sing. Things are all on a larger scale. It is
a far greater strain on the voice to interpret one of the modern Italian
operas than to sing one of those quietly beautiful works of the old
school.

"America's growth in music has been marvelous on the appreciative and
interpretive side. With such a musical awakening, we can look forward to
the appearance of great creative genius right here in this country,
perhaps in the near future. Why should we not expect it? We have not yet
produced a composer who can write enduring operas or symphonies.
MacDowell is our highest type as yet; but others will come who will
carry the standard higher.

VOICE LIMITATIONS

"The singer must be willing to admit limitations of voice and style and
not attempt parts which do not come within the compass of her
attainments. Neither is it wise to force the voice up or down when it
seems a great effort to do so. We can all think of singers whose natural
quality is mezzo--let us say--who try to force the voice up into a
higher register. There is one artist of great dramatic gifts, who not
content with the rich quality of her natural organ, tried to add several
high notes to the upper portion. The result was disastrous. Again, some
of our young singers who possess beautiful, sweet voices, should not
force them to the utmost limit of power, simply to fill, or try to fill
a great space. The life of the voice will be impaired by such injurious
practice.

VOCAL MASTERY

"What do I understand by vocal mastery? It is something very difficult
to define. For a thing that is mastered must be really perfect. To
master vocal art, the singer must have so developed his voice that it is
under complete control; then he can do with it whatsoever he wishes. He
must be able to produce all he desires of power, pianissimo, accent,
shading, delicacy and variety of color. Who is equal to the task?"

Miss Farrar was silent a moment; then she said, answering her own
question:

"I can think of but two people who honestly can be said to possess vocal
mastery: they are Caruso and McCo