How to sing tenor - whatever be the actual difference between the professional and the
amateur singer, if a person is worthy of the name of singer at all,
there should be no difference in their views of Art, and in their
devotion to practice.
Singing is an art, and one of the most difficult
of the arts to master; and any one who attempts to learn it must be
prepared to give the same devotion to it as is demanded by the sister
arts of painting and sculpture. I do not mean exactly devotion of the
whole time and energy of life to it; because, however necessary that may
be for the professional, who has to make his living by it, such entire
devotion to an accomplishment or an amusement (for such singing is to
the amateur) would, for a non-professional, be frequently impossible,
and very often wrong, as it would lead to a neglect of the duties of
life. But, while the entire devotion of time and energy of a
professional singer is demanded to master the various styles, and the
immense mass of music, with which he or she will have to deal in the
exercise of the profession, the amateur should bear in mind that such
time and energy as he can devote to singing must be firmly restricted to
doing what he undertakes thoroughly well--as well, in fact, as a
professional. The amateur's position, which forbids him to make singing
the work of his life, limits the range of his work, not the quality of
it. He cannot, even if he have the voice of a Rubini or a Braham, master
the difficulties of opera, oratorio, and ballad alike. Circumstances
forbid him to conquer the world, but there is no reason why he should
not be a king in his own special realm. To be that he will have to
follow the same rules as though he were able to attack the whole
universe of vocal music; for he should feel that the only difference
between him and the professional singer lies in the sphere of their
work.
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