Music Trade Review

82
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namm.org
5th, 1881.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
noon, March 24 The artist formerly had the intention of giving seven re-
citals, but it seems that other arrangements of more private character inter-
fered with the second series of his recitals, and he closed with the fourth
recital. He offered on this occasion the following programme :
Chromatic Fantaisie and Fugue, Johann S. Bach ; Sonata, op. 57, F
minor, (appassionata), L. Van Beethoven ; Eondo Cappriccioso, E minor,
op. 14, F. Mendelssohn ; Etudes Symphoniques, op. 13, E. Schumann; Im-
promptu, op. 91, No. 1, F. Schubert; Berceuse, Valse, A flat, op. 42, Noc-
turne, D flat, op. 27, No. 2, F. L. Chopin ; Etude, op. 2, No. 6, "Sioiseau
j'e*tais," Ad. Henselt; Gavotte, Gliick-Brahms ; Serenata from op. 15, Mosz-
kowski; Siegmund's Liebesgesang, Feuerzauber, Der Eitt Der Walkiiren,
Wagner-Brassin
A large audience was present, and followed the gigantic task of the
pianist with great and undivided interest. Mr. Bummel will leave this coun-
try very soon, it may be for years, and it may be forever, and on the eve of
his departure for Europe, it is only just to acknowledge that Mr. Eummel
gave great pleasure to the musicians and the musical public during his so-
journ in America. He is an earnest artist and a man of conceptional facul-
ties. At the same time, we must not forget that he has improved wonder-
fully since he came here. "When he made his first appearance in New York
he was unripe, and accordingly given to exaggerations, he is now an artist,
not without blemishes, but with so much genuine stuff in him that he will
be instantly recognized as an excellent pianist, wherever he may appear.
We hope that fate will bring him back to the United States after a few
years.
Mr. E. A. Saalfield, gave the tenth concert of his series on Monday night,
March 28, with the support of the following artists . Miss Belle Cole, Miss
Zippora Monteith, Miss Lizzie Bacon, Miss Kate Vashti Hill, Mr. M. M.
Weed, Signer Gadoy, Carl Lanzer and Signor La Villa. Mr. Saalfield has
the greatest talent of any man in New York, of bringing a crowd of singers
and players together, hitherto utterly unknown in professional circles. We
shall henceforth call him "Saalfield, the discoverer."
THE THROAT IN ITS RELATIONS TO SINGING.
A SERIES OF POPULAR PAPEES BY WHITFIELD WAED, A.M., M.D.,
TO THE METROPOLITAN THROAT HOSPITAL.
PHYSICIAN
vni.
How TO TAKE CARE OF THE VOICE.
There are many different agents which, more or less, influence the voice.
I shall, however, confine my remarks to the four principal ones; viz : Cli-
mate, Dress, Diet and Exercise, and treat of each individually.
CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES.
Change of climate undoubtedly will for a time exert some slight deleteri-
ous influence on the delicate tissues of the larynx, but this influence is, in my
experience, greatly over-estimated. The climate of America, which is the
most changeable of any country under the sun, can be taken as an excellent
standard ; here we frequently have three out of the four seasons represented
in a single day—Spring in the morning, Summer at noon, and Winter at
night—and yet we constantly have sojourning with us the best vocal artists
of Europe, whose voices do not seem to be materially affected by the change.
The effect which our climate is apt to exert upon the new arrival is a slight
congestion of the larynx, which in turn produces a slight amount of hoarse-
ness, especially marked at nightfall. As soon, however, as the singer be-
comes acclimated, the symptom will disappear. The same rule applies here
as elsewhere, that unless the vocalist leads a regular life, avoiding every
excess, he cannot retain the gift entrusted to his care. By keeping the body
up to a high standard of health, he will be able to combat successfully the
different climatic changes to which he may be subjected. All ordinary
affections of the throat are either directly or indirectly caused by the influ-
ence of the atmosphere and the changes so characteristic of it.
The houses which many of us occupy have been constructed without the
least concern as regards their ventilation, hence, when fresh air is needed,
the windows must be lowered ; this procedure is not generally necessary
during the day, because pure- air readily effects an entrance through the me-
dium of the doors, which are constantly being opened and closed, but at
night when all entrances are barred, the lowering of the window becomes an
imperative necessity. If we sleep in closely confined apartments, the oxygen
—which is the element in the atmosphere absolutely necessary to life—con-
tained therein becomes speedily used up, and its place taken by carbonic
acid gas, which is a product of the waste of the body, and is exhaled through
the lungs. This consumption of oxygen and surcharging with carbonic acid
produces a vitiated atmosphere, which will poison the system in direct pro-
portion to the state of vitiation and the amount inhaled. The symptoms of
carbonic gas poisoning—many of which my readers have undoubtedly ex-
perienced—are headache, weakness of body, languor, dullness of intellect,
lividity of countenance, and, in marked cases, great difficulty of breathing,
which will result in fatal asphyxia unless pure air be speedily allowed to
enter. There are several well-known cases in which the speedy death of a
number of persons confined together has resulted from the neglect of the
most ordinary precautions for supplying them with air, that of the " Black
Hole of-Calcutta," which occurred in 1756, being the most noted. In this
instance, 146 prisoners were confined at night in a single room 18 feet square,
provided with two very small windows ; in the morning 23 only were found
alive, the balance, 123, having died of suffocation.
THE BODY WHEN OVERHEATED SHOULD NEVER BE EXPOSED TO DRAUGHTS OF
COLD AIR.
When the body is overheated, its surface is covered throughout its
entirety with profuse perspiration. Now, if while in this condition it be
subjected to cold, all the minute sweat pores which abound on its surface
and through which the perspiratory fluid oozes, will be instantly closed,
which in turn will cause an instantaneous checking of perspiration. When
the cutaneous secretion is checked in the above manner on any portion of
the frame, all the blood is driven from the surface to the organ or organs
immediately subjacent, which causes them to be supplied with a much
greater amount of sanguinious fluid than is necessary, producing congestion
the precursor of inflammation. If the system is in prime order, it will gen
erally be able to combat successfully this congestion and prevent its develop-
ment into inflammation, but if it is weak and run down, inflammatory
action is a foregone conclusion. The reason why the larynx, and the other
organs in its immediate vicinity, are so frequently attacked by cold are two-
fold: First, they are very near the external surface of the body, being
covered in lean persons by the skin and a few ribbon-like muscles; Second,
they are situated in that part of the frame which is, as a rule, unclothed.
There is a time when the singer is especially liable to take cold, and that
is when he proceeds from a warm apartment into the colder atmosphere
beyond immediately after acts of vocalization. The larynx when at work
requires a greater amount of blood than during rest; this causes it for the
time being to be in a congested state, which congestion, however, is per-
fectly natural; when the larynx has accomplished its task and is quiescent
this natural congestion gradually subsides, until the vocal organs contain
only their normal quantity of blood. Now, if the vocalist should expose
himself to the cold street air before this congestion has entirely subsided, he
is almost sure to suffer from his indiscretionary act.
OUT-OF-DOOR SINGING.
This species of vocalization is especially injurious to the voice. It
requires a much greater effort on the part of the performer to be heard in
the open air than within the confines of a theatre or hall; this extra effort
soon wearies the voice, and will certainly strain, if not paralyze, the vocal
ords if persevered in after a sense of fatigue is experienced. One of the
most tedious cases of paralysis of the vocal bodies that has ev«r fallen to
my lot to treat was produced in this manner.
ALL CLOTHING SHOULD BE LOOSELY ATTACHED TO THE BODY.
The style of dress adapted by the votaries of fashion of the present age
s not only decidedly uncomfortable, but also decidely unhealthy; the wearer
is as it were in a vice, and the chest and abdomen are unnaturally confined,
which preveats the lungs, and other organs contained therein, from acting
in a normal manner. When a fashionable belle dons her dress, she is com-
pelled, before the garment can be fastened, to evacuate a large quantity of
air from the lungs.
Some years ago the ill-effects of tight-dressing were forcibly impressed
upon my mind by an autopsy that I witnessed at Bellevue Hospital. The
subject—a female, aged about thirty—had, no doubt, for years striven by a
system of lacing to lessen the diameter of her waist; this—as the post-
mortem revealed—she accomplished, at the cost of her life. Upon opening
the abdomen, the surface of the liver was found to be stamped with the im-
pression of the ribs, the latter bodies having been driven about one-quarter
of an inch directly into the substance of that organ. The injury thus
inflicted brought about a series of phenomena, which culminated in death.
As the lungs are important factors in singing, it follows that impairments in
their action will alter the quality of the voice. An unnatural confinement
of the chest and waist will seriously impede vocalization, by not only pre-
venting a full inflation of the lungs, but also compelling the employment
of forced or false breathing, which will soon fatigue the voice and render it
useless. It is my firm conviction that many of the tones popularly known
™° "throaty," are produced by this last-mentioned style of breathing.
THE DRESS SHOULD BE WORN HIGH IN THE NECK.
The sensible female artiste avoids as much as possible appearing on the
stage in full dress, that is, low neck and short sleeves. Only those who
have been behind the scenes in one of our metropolitan theatres can appre-
iate the dangers to which an improperly dressed singer is exposed from the
numerous draughts which sweep the stage in every direction from every
wing. The larynx requires plenty of room for its proper mechanical action,
hence articles of wear such as collars, cravats, bands, etc., should never
tightly encircle the neck.
AVOID AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE WRAPPING UP OF THE THROAT WITH
COMFORTERS, MUFFLERS, ETC.
When once the throat becomes accustomed to "bundling," it demands
that the habit be faithfully persevered in. What effect does this "bundling "
have on the vocal organs'? It renders the delicate tissues of which these
parts are mostly composed exceedingly sensitive and very susceptible to the
action of cold.
The fashion has been in vogue during the past few years of wearing
what is designated by the patentees as " chest protectors." Several varie-
ties of these so called " protectors " are manufactur* d, the peculiar virtues
of which it is unnecessary to state here. It is sufficient for me to assert that
they are injurious, and that the person wearing them violates a fundamental
principle of health, in that he causes one portion of the chest to be more
thickly covered than another. Assidously guard against the wetting of the
feet. Many a sore throat can be ascribed to thoughtlessness or inattention
to this point. Be careful to remove all overcoats, sacques, furs, etc., when
entering a warm apartment, for these appliances are safe-guards against cold,
and if worn while tarrying in a heated hall or room, unless the stay be brief,
they soon lose their efficacy.
FOOD
Has a double office to perform within the human organism. 1st. To supply
nourishment. 2nd. To supply heat. The article of diet that has the special
property of producing heat in the body is fat. When this substance, which
may with propriety be called fuel, enters the stomach, which may be called
the stove, it undergoes a process of combustion, which generates heat.
This explains the reason why the temperature of the body remains at nearly
the same point throughout the entire year. This establishes the point that
fat is necessary to health. It is not necessary to eat the clear fat of meat, in
order that fat as such may effect an entrance into the body, for there are
many articles which enter into an ordinary bill of fare that contain great
quantities of it; for instance, butter, gravies, salad-dressings, milk, some of
the vegetables, soups, etc., and from which enough heat can be obtained to
satisfy all ordinary wants in a temperate climate such as ours. With regard
to food, the several points which the singer is most desirous of obtaining
information about are—
1st. What style of diet will conduce most to the preservation of the
voice.
2nd. When ought the meals to be partaken, and
3rd. How long after eating can vocalization be safely entered upon.
The diet of the singer should be bland as well as nutritious, he should
eat those things which have the dual quality of being easily assim-
ilated, and very nutritious. Of the different kinds of meats, venison,