The Mechanism of the Human Voice

The Mechanism of the Human Voice is a work by Emil Behnke, edited with a new chapter on Voice Failure by Mrs. Emil Behnke. A preface to the ninth edition returns sincere thanks for the many kind expressions concerning the book's usefulness. According to Rossini, as the text reports, the decline of vocal art in these latter years is mainly due to the disappearance of this class of singers, but the writer fails to see in what way the disappearance of male soprani and contralti could possibly have affected tenors and basses.

The text discusses a tone known under the name of Coup de Glotte or Shock of the Glottis. Mr. Lunn is quoted as saying that it is not a shock of the glottis at all, and the writer replies that he is ready at any moment to show that the pocket ligaments never meet in singing. One quoted notice says that Voice Failure, by Mrs. Emil Behnke, has the merit of being practical and of containing truths which must appeal forcibly not only to singers, but also to listeners.