A Letter from Roland Hayes

prov-e-nance (prov'e-nens) n. Place of origin, source. [LAT. Provenire, to originate.]A BRIEF EXPLANATIONGROWING UP, I WAS AWARE that my father Theodore Haines had studied with Roland Hayes, the magnificent American tenor. But it was only after my father died in 2001, and I was going through his papers, that I realized that he had carried on a correspondence with Mr. Hayes and had written letters and journals about his experience.Born in Curryville, Georgia, Roland Hayes rose from his beginnings as the son of former slaves to become one of the most renowned singers of his era. sang for kings and queens, with orchestras, in concert, and toured widely in Europe, Great Britain, and North America. At the height of his career he was the highest paid tenor in the world.1 He was an artist's artist, a musician's musician, ever the idol of the connoisseurs. There was finish in his vocalism, art in his phrasing and elegance in his diction.2 Hayes also wrote many of his own arrangements of the spirituals that he sang in concert.Also a highly regarded singing teacher, Roland Hayes wrote a letter in September 1936 to my father, a young farmer from Canada. The letter, which is reproduced here, illustrates the serious thought that Mr. Hayes put into his singing and teaching; it outlines many of his ideas about singing and quotes extensively from an unnamed treatise. The often read and refolded letter has a few notes in the margins written in my father's hand. It was so precious that he completely rewrote the entire document on a separate page in order to be able continue to study it without causing further damage. This was before the advent of the photocopier!The honey that Mr. Hayes mentions was from my family farm in Cheltenham, Ontario. My father's sister Miriam also travelled to Boston to study with Mr. Hayes. When there they would sometimes stay with Mme (Helen) Hopekirk, the Scottish pianist and composer. As he mentions in his letter, Hayes performed her songs in concert.58 Allerton StreetBrookline, Mass.September 29, 1936Dear Mr. Haines:I am delighted to have your letter today with its warmth of goodwill, good cheer and gratitude. My wife, baby and I were genuinely happy to greet you and your sister Miriam while you were here, but regret exceedingly that you will not return for the Winter months for study.We have thought of and spoken of you much since you and your sister left. Then Mme. Hopekirk sent me down the delicious can of honey which you were so good as to leave with her for me. Frankly, I have never tasted a more delicious honey flavor and very, very rarely have I tasted honey that comes up to its fine quality. Would that it were possible to buy your honey here in the U.S.A. If you have it on sale here perhaps you will be good enough to tell us who handles it so that I can always be assured of a brand of sweet that I dearly love.In thinking of you and your study of voice production and tonal placement, I have given myself to the idea of typing out a very fine treatise on the subject. Here it is:The inherent quality of tone depends upon the number of its harmonics, upon their relative position and strength, and also upon the way in which the tone is attacked and released.In the voice the harmonics of the tone depend upon the resonating cavities of the larynx, pharynx, nose, and mouth.A good quality of tone can only be attained by peculiar co-ordination and adjustment of these cavities.To secure this, a vowel should be used which is most conducive to this condition, one which contains the richest overtones, and at the same time induces increased tension in the vocal cords.The nature of the initial attack is altered by every consonant employed. Therefore a consonant should be prefixed to the vowel, which least disturbs the muscular poise and insures [sic] the least injurious attack.The first point is to secure the relaxed condition of the jaw, tongue, soft palate, and lips. …

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.