Part 2 (2/2)

Et ranimez, ra_ni_mez ma foi.]

The error is easily remedied:

[Music: (should be sung)

Et ranimez, rani_mez_ ma foi.]

In the contralto aria ”He shall feed His flock,” in Handel's _Messiah_, the unaccented word ”shall” falls on the most strongly accented note of the bar. If performed thus, it would give a most aggressive character to the pa.s.sage, implying that some one had previously denied the a.s.sertion. This would be entirely at variance with the consolatory and peaceful message that is contained in the text and shadowed forth in the music.

[Music: (as printed)

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.

(should be sung)

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.]

Instances of faulty syllabic accent abound in Handel's works, both his English oratorios and his Italian operas. Many examples could be quoted. Here is a phrase from the beautiful air for mezzo-soprano sung by Ruggiero in the opera of _Alcina_.

[Music: (as printed)

Verdi prati.

(should be sung)

Verdi prati.]

In Mendelssohn's _Elijah_, the following phrase is nearly always sung as written, unless the singer is familiar with the best traditions:

[Music: Give me _thy_ son!]

It may be that the artists who slavishly follow the published text fear being accused of altering the composer's music, or are ignorant of the fact that there exists a better version, which is this:

[Music: Give _me_ thy son!]

It will be seen that the music is not changed in the least; the musical and verbal accents have been merely readjusted and made to coincide.

In order to avoid the disagreeable effect of singing one half-bar _andante_ to the syllable ”_si_” (p.r.o.nounced like ”zee” in English), the following phrase of Marguerite de Valois in _Les Huguenots_ (Meyerbeer), Act II, is changed thus:

[Music: (as printed)

en aucun temps n'et choisi mieux.

(should be sung)

en aucun temps n'et choisi mieux.]

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