Messa di Voce
This term, which in Italian means “placing the voice,” indicates…
That perfection of technique by which the artist is able to swell a note, in the same breath, from the softest sound to the loudest, and back again to the softest degree possible, without change of mechanism being observed. It is the true culmination of the art, and is too seldom heard nowadays. It should be practised diligently as soon as the “Ah” with open throat has been attained.
With command over the breath, the soft head voice can unconsciously change to medium, or the medium to chest voice, according to the talent and capacity of the singer. If any slip of breath, or obvious change in the throat is perceived, stop and try again. The natural expression of the face and eyes should continue through the crescendo and diminuendo; there is no better exercise for freeing the voice and strengthening breath command. The control for governing the increase of force and intensity of the “messa di voce,” though tiring to the student, tends to enlarge the chest considerably and the breadth of the body. The reward is, however, when every note becomes sensitive to the breath pressure, and phrasing an unconscious delight.
—Shakespeare, William. Plain Words on Singing (1924).
Readers of VOICETALK now have access to Shakespeare’s Plain Words on Singing (1924) at the download page via the HathiTrust Library database.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the HathiTrust copy is inscribed by “Frances Greer, Ann Arbor 1957,” a leading soprano, then “Mrs. Fred Matthaei,” who died at the age of 88 in Ann Arbor in 2005. Greer sang at the Metropolitan Opera at the same time as Margaret Harshaw, beginning in the same year—1942—both winning the Met Auditions on the Air. Learn more about Greer here, and listen to her luminous voice on YouTube.
To learn the technique of messa di voce, contact the Shigo Voice Studio for voice lessons in New York City.
