Here I take occasion to remark upon the universal prejudice, that “a tenor ought to develop the chest-tones as far as possible, that they are the finest.”  In tenors, with very few exceptions, this mistaken treatment has been speedily followed by the loss both of voice and health.  Nicely shaded singing, from piano onwards, is thereby rendered impossible; and tones which are always forced must remain unpleasant, even although powers thus laboriously gained may sometimes have a fine effect in the opera.  A tenor who wishes to preserve his voice and not to scream in the upper tones, who desires always to have a piano at command and to possess the necessary shading and lightness as well as elegance and flexibility, should cultivate the falsetto, and endeavor to bring it down as far as possible into the chest-register.  This is as indispensable as is the use of the head-tones for the soprano.  When the falsetto has too striking a resemblance to the chest-voice, and is even inferior to it in power, it is the result of want of perseverance and prudence in its cultivation.  It ought to be almost imperceptibly connected with the chest-register by the introduction of the mixed tones.

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We shall probably soon be called upon to read an “Address of Young Female Singers to the Composers of Germany,” as follows:  “Freedom of thought! freedom in composition! freedom in the opera! but no annihilation of the throat!  You are hereby notified that we protest against all operas which are repugnant to the true art of singing; for it is not in your power to compensate us for the loss of our voices, although it may be possible for you, after using up our talent as quickly as possible, to look around for others, with whom you can do the same.  First learn to understand singing, or, rather, first learn to sing, as your predecessors have done, and as Italian composers still do, and then we will talk with you again.”

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“What a pedantic outcry about German want of adaptability for singing!  Pray where is there the most singing?” It is, I agree, in Germany.  “Is not singing taught in the public schools?  And consider, too, the innumerable singing clubs, singing societies, and singing institutions!”

That is just the misfortune which requires a thorough investigation.  How many promising voices do these institutions annually follow to the grave?  Who is it who sing in the schools?  Boys and girls from thirteen to fifteen years old.  But boys ought not to be allowed to sing while the voice is changing; and girls, also from physical reasons, ought not to sing at all at that age.  And what kind of instructors teach singing here?  Our epistolary and over-wise age overwhelms our superintendents and corporations with innumerable petitions and proposals; but no true friend of humanity, of music, and of singing, has yet been found to enlighten these authorities,