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

Formed to Perform
The division in three registers, the physiological interest in the mechanics
of the voice, as well as the use of voix mixte placed Berg at the heart of
nineteenth-century teaching methods. In his concept of registers he was
clearly inspired by the teachings of Manuel García, Jr.
Breathing techniques
Berg’s views on breathing are a combination of eighteenth-century ideas,
probably communicated via Giuseppe Siboni, and nineteenth-century science,
for instance, the treatise on breathing Sur la respiration by a certain
Dr. Mendt. Berg used breathing exercises without tone and declared that
the air had to be taken from the lower abdomen. He described the difference
between abdominal and clavicular breathing and warned against the latter.
Air should be allowed to fill the lungs noiselessly. He also provided the student
a method for determining whether they are breathing correctly:
For this to be executed correctly the posture of the body should be as I
described in the previous chapter, and I consider it both unnecessary and
wrong to protrude either chest or belly, as many say you should. The mouth
and throat are opened, letting the atmospheric air fill the lung, so quietly
that one cannot hear any sound – this is the simplest and, in my view, the
truest principle of breathing. If one wants to be sure that it is done correctly,
one only has to touch the larynx with a finger during respiration – inspiration
– and be sure that it remains perfectly still. If the breath is clavicular,
the larynx will, often quite violently, lower itself… 32
Inhalation and expiration should both be practised an equal amount of
time, 33 but not to the point of exhaustion. The most common fault among
students, according to Berg, was that they use too much air when singing.
He stated that a tone, like the stomach, can suffer indigestion, that is, lose
resonance, and that too much pressure damages the organs. Less air gives
more sound (Berg 1868, pp. 27–32).
32 ”För att detta rätt skall utföras skall kroppens ställning vara sådan jag i det förra
Capitlet beskrifvit, och anser jag som både obehöfligt och orätt att bröstet eller magen
framskjutes, som mången påstår. Munnen och halsen öppnas, och låte man den
atmosphäriska luften inströmma i lungan, så tyst att man sjelf derutaf ej förnimma
något ljud – detta är den enklaste och, enligt min tanke, sannaste principen för
andhämtningen. Vill man ytterligare försäkra sig att den göres på rätta sättet, behöfver
man blott med fingret beröra larynx under inandningen – inspirationen – och göra sig
förvissad att den står orubbligt stilla. Är andetaget deremot clavikulärt, sänker sig
larynx, oftast med häftighet”, author’s translation. (Berg 1868, pp. 28–29)
33 It is not clear whether Berg means that the inhalation and exhalation in these
exercises should be equally long or if the amount of time allotted to their practice
should be equal.
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