“Ability” and “Beauty” in Frederick Husler's Thoughts

Abstract

  Many studies approach the phenomenon of artistic singing from scientific viewpoints such as acoustics. However, from the practical view point of voice teachers and students, the pivotal problem is how to define the concepts of singing ability and beautiful voice. The purpose of this paper is to consider the concepts of singing ability and what constitutes a beautiful voice. In order to achieve this, this paper analyzes the thoughts of Frederick Husler. Most studies have either been interested in the influence of his teaching techniques during the vocal training, or scientific aspects of his teaching techniques. On the contrary, this paper is interested in his thoughts on “ability” to sing and “beauty” of the singer's voice. Husler argues that everyone has “ability” to sing, since everyone has vocal organs, therefore anyone can sing artistically if they use the vocal organs properly. He explains that “beauty” of singing voice reflects the proper use of the vocal organs. Husler's argument shows us the necessity of reconsidering the concepts of singing ability and beautiful voice. It will be shown that through his thoughts on vocal pedagogy, Husler reminds us of the importance of being interested in the thoughts of singers and singing teachers.