"Let their last feeble" etc. to end (page 117);— "Read this declaration at the head of the army" etc. to "walls will cry out in its support" (page 98); "But whatever may be our fate" etc. to "and of joy" (page 99). Movement or Time Movement or time is the sustained relative speed of utterance. It is in expression what "tempo" is in music. Much attention should be given to the control of one's movement. It is a common fault of young speakers to speak too rapidly. They should be required to practice slow movement. For slow movement stretch or distend the vowelsounds, and, at the same time, let the pauses be lengthy and frequent; for fast movement, the contrary should, of course, prevail. However, it must not be thought that long pauses are incompatible with fast movement. The varying rates of movement may be classified from the very slow to the very fast. Besides this classification we may distinguish movement that is sustained for a long time, and movement that is gradually accelerated or retarded (the "accelerando" and "ritardando" of music). The general principle is that slow movement is adapted to whatever moves slowly, and to whatever is relatively important, majestic, pitiful, instructive, difficult to understand; while fast movement expresses whatever moves rapidly, whatever is relatively valueless, frivolous, fantastic, well-known. The old, feeble, and dying speak slowly; the young, hilarious, and sprightly speak rapidly. Rules for Movement (1) Movement adapts itself to the speed of actions described, whether these be material or mental, thus: (a) Slow movement to slow, laborious motion. Examples: "Slow, slow, toll it low, As the sea-waves break and flow." "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day; The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea; The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me." The pupil should be asked to add one or more passages from the pieces of this book to exemplify this and the following rules of movement. (b) Fast movement to rapid, nervous motions. Examples: "Ah then and there was hurrying to and fro" etc. to "which ne'er might be repeated" (page 304); "And there was mounting in hot haste" etc. to "the foe! they come! they come!" (page 304, near bottom). (2) Slow movement expresses awe, reverence, pity, tranquility, deliberation. (a) Awe and reverence: "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth! The heavens and the earth are full of thy glory!" (b) Pity: "Tread softly-bow the head In reverent silence bow; No passing bell doth toll- Is passing now." (c) Tranquility: "Absalom" (page 376). (d) Deliberation: "Hamlet on Immortality” page 532): "Brutus' Soliloquy" (page 550). (3) Fast movement is used to interpret energy, vitality, the trivial, the fantastic. (a) Energy and vitality: 66 "Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!' he said." "On the Frontier" (page 427). (b) The trivial and fantastic: "How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" (page 279). Accelerated Movement This movement, equivalent to the "accelerando" in music, is used in climaxes of animated description and narration.-Examples: "They tug, they strain! down, down they go, The Gael above, Fitz-James below." "While pacing to and fro" etc. to "too late! too late! forever too late" (page 455, near middle). Relation of Movement, Force, and Pitch When there is a gradual swelling of excited emotion it sometimes happens that as the movement grows faster, the force (loudness) increases and the pitch rises. However, movement, force, and pitch are quite independent of each other. Indeed, it not infrequently happens that strong force is associated with slow movement and medium pitch, and vice versa. It is a common fault not to observe this distinction. Hence observe CAUTION: Do not read with less force (loudness) or drop your voice BECAUSE you happen to read more slowly. The following drill is intended to aid the student to observe this. Combination Drills on Force, Pitch, (1) Count from one to ten five times, each time louder and in a higher key but not faster. (2) Repeat 1, each time softer and in a lower key, but not slower. (3) Repeat first 1, then 2, substituting: Life is but an empty dream." (4) Count from one to ten five times, each time slower, in a higher key and louder. (5) Repeat 4, each time faster, in a lower key and softer. (6) Repeat 4 and 5 five times, substituting: Life is but an empty dream.” (7) Read first paragraph of "The Catholic Church" (page 3), three times, each time louder, in a higher pitch, but not faster.-Articulate well throughout these drills. (8) Read a paragraph of any other piece three times, each time louder, in a higher pitch, and slower. This last exercise should be repeated often, with untried pieces in Part I, to overcome the tendency of reading faster as one reads louder, and in a higher pitch, or of reading softer and in a lower pitch as one reads slower. The student should so master the three elements of force, movement, and pitch as to find it easy to read and speak loud, in a high pitch, but at the same time with slow movement. (9) Read first paragraph of "No Choice but War" (page 152) loud and in a high pitch but changing gradually, as you read, from fast to slow. (10) Repeat 9 slowly, but changing from soft force and low pitch to loud force and high pitch. (11) Repeat 9 reading fast, soft and in a low. pitch at the beginning, then gradually slower, becoming quite slow when nearing the end, at the same time reading louder and in a higher pitch.— This is an excellent exercise. Other paragraphs should be selected by the teacher for drill No. 11. For practice on Varied Movement, read "The Bells" (page 467). Form Form is the degree of percussion or stroke given to vocal utterance. Form is distinct from force or loudness, and so true is this, that a sharp stroke of the voice is compatible with soft force, and a smooth stroke with loud force. However, it often happens that the sharper the percussion, the louder the force is. |