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its delivery "be in carnest." A simple system of NOTATION, will be of great assistance in the formation of a habit of discriminating Expressiveness.

20. In the following Scheme such general elements of expressiveness are included as fundamentally affect the quality of the voice, or the mode of utterance. They are* Whisper, Sostenuto, Audible In- Chuckling,

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spiration, Foy, Prolongation, Audible Ex- Sobbing,

Hoarseness, Rhythm,

Orotund,

Falsetto,

Monotone,

Effect of Dis- piration, Sadness,

tance,

Plaintive, Effect of

Tremor,

Staccato,

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Imitation, Apathy,

Sympathy, Sudden Break, Straining, Laughter, Expressive Panting, Weeping, Pause.

21. The WHISPER is used to express secrecy and cunning; it denotes also apprehension of evil, or fearful suspense in presence of danger. HOARSENESS, or an aspirated vocality, is employed to express horror, loathing, agony, and despair, The OROTUND, a deep, mellow quality of voice, is appropriate for expressions of pomp, sublimity. and vastness· also for those of bombast, and self-importance. The FALSETTO is expressive of puerility or senility; it denotes also acute anguish, or an overpoweringly mirthful feeling. The MONOTONE is reflective, in moods of gloom and melancholy. PLAINTIVENESS is

produced by employment of the semitonic interval of inflexion; it is expressive of suffering-but not without hope,-of sympathy in suffering, of fond desire, of supplication, and also of mild reproach. TREMOR, an unsteady, tremulous formation of voice, is expressive of anxiety, alarm, eagerness, and intense emotion. When the intervals of the tremulous movement are not chromatic or plaintive, but diatonic, the tremor is expressive of selfgratulation, exultation, boasting, triumph, &c:-it is then, in other words, CHUCKLING, by which term we designate this vocal effect in its joyful application. The STACCATO movement consists in a strongly pointed, abrupt, and frequent ACCENTUATION, and is expressive of recrimination, reproach, and all acrimonious sentiments; and also of any marked sentential emphasis.

* Abbreviations for notation will be found in the Recapitulative Table, page 117.

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The SOSTENUTO movement consists in a smooth equable accentuation, and is expressive of admiration, tenderness, love, and pleasing sentiments generally. A RHYTнMICAL, or measuredly accented utterance, is used to express regularity or alternation of motion, or to suggest the association of music. PROLONGATION of voice, or of articulative effort, is often most expressive, but so variously that its precise effect cannot be briefly denoted; -- it is frequently employed in scorn, derision, malignity, &c., but it is often also used to convey the very opposite sentiments—it is an intensive effect, applicable to many passions. The effect of DISTANCE differs from low modulation and feeble force it is a "ventriloquial" effect, but one within the compass of any voice. The effect of STRAINING differs from any of the qualities of Force and Modulation, it subdues the volume of the voice, and renders the articulations, more firm and explosive than usual ; it is not loud, though expressive of loudness. Ordinary respiration should be silent, and almost imperceptible; perturbation and mental suffering, nervous excitement. flurry, exhaustion, &c. may be expressed by convulsed, heaving, or PANTING RESPIRATION. An AUDIBLE, gasping, or semi-vocal INSPIRATION is wildly expressive of despair, and generally of mental or bodily agony. AUDIBLE EXPIRATIONS, if slowly accompanying the utterance (noted Ex.) produce the effect of sighing, and suit the action to the word" of sadness; if suddenly gushing out with the accented syllable or word, (noted exp.) they have the effect of denoting intensity of the feeling in the passage, whether of joy or sorrow. The occasions for a strictly IMITATIVE tone must always be obvious, and the effects of the imitation will, of course, be as various as its objects:-but there is a certain sympathetic suiting of the sound to the sense, employed by the effective reader in almost every paragraph of descrip

*

* The functions of Laughter and Crying—as Dr. Rush remarks in his "Philosophy of the Human Voice," -are organically the same: their different effects arising from the chromatic intervals of the aspirations of sorrow, and the diatonic intervals of those of joy. This accounts for the tears of laughter, and for the common and notable phenomenon of children crying and laughing "in the same breath."

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tive language, which, though not strictly imitative, may yet be called analogously so. Thus, in describing cheerful or gay objects, the voice will leap from pitch to pitch in its inflexions with a buoyancy of effect that aptly analogizes the bounding pulse and buoyant spirits of cheerfulness; in depicting gloomy, solemn, or sad objects the inflexions will be low and limited, and the march of accentuation slow and equable; in speaking of the roaring or the whistling wind, the booming shot, the crashing and rolling thunder, the sweep of the hurricane, the heaving and splashing of waters, and glowing, crackling fire, &c., the pronunciation of the words may be made highly illustrative of the objects by this sort of imitative effect. Indeed, the articulative construction of the most expressive words is often strikingly imitative of the objects they denote, so that the words not only bear, but seem to require this illustrative effect in utterance. use the notation sym. (Sympathy,) where mental emotion is to be expressed, and im. (Imitation,) where physical properties-sound, motion, &c. are concerned. LAUGHTER and WEEPING come seldom within the scope of reading, though acting and gesticulated recitation must occasionally employ them: we need not point out the situations in which they would be appropriate. A CHUCKLING effect is expressive of self-satisfaction and boasting: in a modified degree, it may be generally used in the utterance of all triumphal or congratulatory sentiments, for which the notation is j. (joy.) This sort of effect with waving tones is used in sneer, ridicule, sarcasm, &c. A SOBBING effect may be quite admissible in expressive reading: the degree in which it is employed, and the occasions for its employment, will greatly depend upon the temperament of the reader. The notation sad. (Sadness) expresses the more modified degrees of grief. Callousness and indifference are denoted by ap. (Apathy.) The SUDDEN BREAK (...) in utterance may be demanded by a rhetorical break occurring in the composition, or it may be simulatively introduced by the reader, for some purpose of effect. The EXPRESSIVE PAUSE (~) is reflective or monitory, conveying the effect of meditation, deliberation, &c., or of preparation for important emphasis; it also denotes listening, and is highly effective in representations of terror, anxious watchfulness, &c.

TIME.

FORCE.

MODULATION.

INFLEXION.

V. RECAPITULATIVE TABLE

OF THE NOTATION OF

INFLEXION, MODULATION, FORCE, TIME, AND EMOTIVE

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Tone.

High Key.
Higher.

Lower.

Conversational.

Low Key.

PROGRESSIVE ELEVATION is denoted by this mark (1) before the Modulative number: Thus-[3, [2, [4, &c.

PROGRESSIVE DEPRESSION is denoted by this mark (1) before the Modulative number: Thus-14, 12, 13, &c.

Elevate Subordinate clause or sentence marked

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e.-energetic.

m.-moderate.

f.-feeble.

p.-piano.

r.—rapid.
9.-quick.
0.-ordinary.
s.-slow.
a.-adagio.

wh.-Whisper.

h. Hoarseness.
or.-Orotund.
fals.-Falsetto.
mon.-Monotone.
pl.-Plaintive.

tr.-Tremor.

st.-Staccato.

sost.-Sostenuto.
rh.-Rhythm.
pr.-Prolongation.

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PROGRESSIVE INCREASE OF FORCE, marked Cres. (Crescendo) or < PROGRESSIVE DIMINUTION OF FORCE, marked Dim. (Diminuendo) or>

PROGRESSIVE ACCELERATION OF TIME, marked Ac.

PROGRESSIVE RETARDATION OF TIME, marked Ret.

dist.-Effect of Distance.
str.--Effect of Straining.
pant.-Panting Respiration.

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EXPRESSION.

VI. EXPRESSIVE EXERCISES.

22. The following varied selection of short expressive passages, carefully marked for exercise, will enable the student to acquire an agreeable flexibility and effective modulation of the voice, and to cultivate the habit of SUITING THE SOUND TO THE SENSE in reading A perfect acquaintance with the system of notation and the mechanics of expressiveness, as explained in the preceding part of this work, is, of course, indispensable to the successful vocalization of these passages.

23. The marking is to be considered MERELY AS AN EXERCISE. The same passages might be read,—and perhaps with equal effect-in a variety of ways. The notation simply illustrates one mode, which is at least effective and fully expressive of the sense and sentiment.

24. The preparatory pitch of syllables before the accent is not indicated in the printing. It is always, however, implied. Thus the introductory couplet in the first extract is to be read:—

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Not always actions show the man; we find Who does a kindness is not therefore kind: 5 ƒ

4

3 e

4

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Perhaps prosperity becalmed his breast;

Perhaps the wind just shifted from the east:

Not therefore humble he who seeks retreat;

Pride guides his steps, and bids him shun the great:

Who combats bravely is not therefore brave.

He dreads a death-bed like the meanest slave:
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Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise,

His pride, in reasoning, not in acting lies.

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