t keep my thought clear for the interpretation, for the
message I have brought to the audience. To be constantly thinking--how
am I doing this or that--would hamper me terribly. I should never get
anywhere. I must have my vocal apparatus under such control that it goes
of itself. A pianist does not think of technic when playing in public,
neither should a singer think of his vocal technic. Of course there may
be occasions when adverse circumstances thrust conditions upon me. If I
have a slight cold, or tightness of throat, I have to bring all my
resources to bear, to rise above the seeming handicap, and sing as well
as I can in spite of it. I can say gratefully, without any desire to
boast, that during the past eleven years, I have never once missed an
engagement or disappointed an audience. Of course I have had to keep
engagements when I did not feel in the mood, either physically or
mentally. Many singers would have refused under like conditions. But it
does not seem fair to the audience to disappoint, or to the manager
either; it puts him in a very difficult and unpleasant position. It
seems to me the artist should be more considerate of both manager and
audience, than to yield to a slight indisposition and so break his
engagement.

THE SINGER IN HIS STUDIO

"It makes such a difference--in quality of tone and in effect--whether
you sing in a small or large space. Things you do in the studio and
which may sound well there, are quite different or are lost altogether
in a large hall. You really cannot tell what the effect will be in a
great space, by what you do in your studio. In rehearsing and study, I
use half voice, and only occasionally do I use full voice, that is when
I wish to get a better idea of the effect."

VOCAL MASTERY

As we stood at the close of the conference, I asked the supreme
question--What do you understand by Vocal Mastery? The artist looked as
though I were making an impossible demand in requiring an answer to so
comprehensive a subject. He took a few strides and then came back.

"I can answer that question with one word--Disregard. Which means, that
if you have such control of your anatomy, such command of your vocal
resources that they will always do their work, that they can be depended
upon to act perfectly, then you can disregard mechanism, and think only
of the interpretation--only of your vocal message. Then you have
conquered the material--then you have attained Vocal Mastery!"