for it must be admitted that there are
false prophets among singing teachers no less than among the members of
other professions. There is one interesting thing connected with the
work of these vocal reformers. From the beginning they have insisted
that the art of _bel canto_ is lost. Tosi (1647-1727), Porpora
(1686-1766), Mancini (1716-1800), three of the greatest teachers of the
old Italian school, all lamented the decadence of the art of singing.
Others before and since have done the same thing. It seems that in all
times any one who could get the public ear has filled it with this sort
of pessimistic wail. From this we draw some interesting conclusions:
First, that the real art of singing was lost immediately after it was
found. Second, that the only time it was perfect was when it began.
Third, that ever since it began we have been searching for it without
success. If any of this is true it means that all of the great singers
of the past two hundred years have been fakers, because they never
really learned how to sing. It is surprising that we did not see through
these musical Jeremiahs long ago. In all ages there have been good
teachers and bad ones, and it would not be surprising if the bad ones
outnumbered the good ones; but the weak link in the chain of argument is
in estimating the profession by its failures. This is a cheap and much
overworked device and discloses the egotism of the one using it. There
are teachers today who thoroughly understand the art of _bel canto_.
They have not lost it, and the others never had it. This condition has
obtained for centuries and will continue indefinitely. An art should be
measured by its best exponents, not by its worst. To measure it by its
failures is illogical and dishonest.

In recent years the process of reformation has been applied to all
branches of music teaching with the hope of reducing these failures to a
minimum. The profession has suddenly awakened to the fact that it must
give a better reason for its existence than any heretofore offered. It
has become clear to the professional mind that in order to retain and
enlarge its self-respect music must be recognized as a part of the great
human uplift. To this end it has been knocking at the doors of the
institutions of learning asking to be admitted and recognized as a part
of public education. The reply has been that music teaching must first
develop coherence, system and standards. This has caused music teacher