Manuel Garcia’s A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing Part 1
Ok, Historical Vocal Pedagogy nerds!
Have you wanted to read Donald Paschke’s excellent translation and textual comparison (1840/1872) of Manuel Garcia’s A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing but believed it to be out of print? And an original copy was expensive? (I’ve seen originals going for 800 bucks.)
I have news for you!
You can obtain the first part of Garcia’s two-part treatise at Rockwell Blake’s site.
Blake has worked with the author to release this edition, which won’t appear on the download page because it’s not public domain material. However, at 38 dollars, you will obtain a groundbreaking book for an excellent price. My hard copy, which I got thirty years ago, was $30 bucks a pop!
The second volume contains musical examples and is a gold mine for those who want to know more about 19th-century performance practice. One can only hope that Blake and Paschke will bring us the second volume.
Now, for those of you who are new to historical vocal pedagogy: why is this text important?
It’s more than a historical curiosity. Garcia—being the first person to see living vocal folds in action (they called them cords or even chords back then)—maintained that the primitive laryngoscope he used confirmed the theories set forth in his text. (He first used two dental mirrors to see his vocal folds in 1855.).
Garcia put the teachings of the old Italian school in physiological terms.
Garcia’s theories hold up. Garcia was the first to go deep into the physiology behind vocal timbre and the action of the vocal folds. He also dealt with registration and the start of the tone. It’s heady stuff.
Voice Science begins with Garcia.
While Lamperti had a larger number of successful students as a result of group and 1:1 instruction, Garcia—who only taught 1:1—was considered the big Kahuna. His influence on the teaching of his time was—and still is—immense.
