True Art Is Delicate
All true art is delicate. Music is the most delicate of all arts. Music
is expressed through thought and emotion. In this, music has much the
advantage over sister arts. The sculptor can chisel his thoughts into
marble, and there they can imperishably remain. To what small extent can
he express human emotion! The painter also places his thought on canvas.
As his art is more easily within his grasp, to change at will, he is
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enabled more fully to express emotion than is the sculptor. His finished
work remains. While at work upon it he may change here and there to suit
himself. That line and that shade of color, if not satisfactory, can be
changed. Not so in music. At one stroke--in one tone even--the musician
must express his emotion--and that expression, once uttered, is all that
he can use of his art. It is a delicate thing and requires sure thought,
complete mastery of emotion, and perfect ability in execution. Each and
every stroke must be perfect.
Voice culture is the preparation of the body and its
expression--voice--for use in this delicate art. Voice culture is that
through which we approach art. It cannot be roughly handled. If art is
to be delicately used, it must be delicately approached. He whose vocal
practice is forceful and rough will never know the delicacy of true art.
He may become a vocalist after whom the ignorant public will clamor, but
he can never be an artist. Seek the delicacy of true art, or decide to
be forever a rough mechanic. One may hew wood or quarry rocks, or he may
be a worker among jewels and precious stones. It is a time to say
"Decide this day which you will serve." The two masters do not belong to
the same firm and both cannot be served at the same time.