Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

Breathing technique
Formed to Perform
Stieler recognised the importance of correct breathing technique. He pointed
out that the beginner usually exhales more than he needs to. The right
way of taking a breath was to “raise the chest and pull in the lower abdomen”,
23 something that could indicate more clavicula, or costal breathing
than intercostal breathing. In the beginning this can be done slowly, but in
time the student should accustom himself to filling his abdomen rapidly and
then let the air slowly escape until the body regained the position before the
breath. With practice the breath should be prolonged. The student should
guard against letting the chest become too empty, since this weakened the
chest. To strengthen the chest, continual moderate exercise was needed
(Stieler 1820, pp. 37–38).
It is not clear whether or not Stieler practised breathing without pitch,
and therefore it is hard to determine the exact method of his practice. The
high placement of the breathing indicates an older technique, but possibly
this is a result of the wording. Stieler clearly understood the concept of subglottic
pressure and reflexive breathing. Breathing does not occupy many
lines in Stieler’s manual, a matter in which he follows older manuals.
The messa di voce
In the fifth section of his manual Stieler introduced the messa di voce. To
sing with expression, the singer should to master the different dynamic
shadings of a pitch. To train this Stieler proposed using the first exercises
on long notes as follows: The student attacks the tone piano and then lets
it swell to forte and then again diminish to piano, thereby making a gradual
crescendo and decrescendo. The tone should be steady without wavering
or going higher or lower. The exercise was to be performed in a comfortable
range, never too high, at least not in the beginning. It could also be
practised over several tones and then combined with legato. Stieler points
out that this exercise should not be performed by beginners since the voice
needs good intonation and firmness.
This is a teaching method of the nineteenth century. Stieler used the exercise
of messa di voce to train dynamics and does not mention it as a means
of training register.
23 In a footnote Stieler describes the wrong way of taking a breath, that is, no movement
should be detected in the chest, and the lower abdomen should bellow out. (Stieler,
1820, p. 37)
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