A Walk from London to John O'Groat's

Elihu Burritt

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• Publié par: orkie
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 42
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Delsarte System of Oratory, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Delsarte System of Oratory Author: Various Release Date: April 29, 2004 [EBook #12200] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DELSARTE SYSTEM OF ORATORY *** Produced by Distributed Proofreaders DELSARTE SYSTEM OF ORATORY 1. The Complete Work of L'Abbé Delaumosne 2. The Complete Work of Mme. Angélique Arnaud 3. All the Literary Remains of François Delsarte (Given in his own words) 4. The Lecture and Lessons Given by Mme. Marie Géraldy (Delsarte's Daughter) in America 5. Articles by Alfred Giraudet, Francis A. Durivage, and Hector Berlioz FOURTH EDITION N EW YORK EDGAR S. WERNER 1893 Copyright By Edgar S. Werner 1882, 1884, 1887, 1892 CONTENTS. DELAUMOSNE ON DELSARTE. B IOGRAPHICAL SKETCH PREFACE PART FIRST. VOICE. C HAPTER I. Preliminary Ideas--Criterion of the Oratorical Art. C HAPTER II. OF THE VOICE. Organic Apparatus of the Voice--The Voice in Relation to Compass--The Voice in Relation to Vowels--Practical Conclusions C HAPTER III. THE VOICE IN R ELATION TO INTENSITY OF SOUND. What is Understood by Intensity of Sound--Means of Augmenting the Timbre of the Voice--Rules for Intensity of Sound C HAPTER IV. THE VOICE IN R ELATION TO MEASURE. Of Slowness and Rapidity in Oratorical Delivery--Of Respiration and Silence--Inflections--Rules of Inflection--Special Inflections PART SECOND. GESTURE. C HAPTER I. OF GESTURE IN GENERAL C HAPTER II. D EFINITION AND D IVISION OF GESTURE. Gesture is the Direct Agent of the Heart--Gesture is the Interpreter of Speech--Gesture is an Elliptical Language C HAPTER III. ORIGIN AND ORATORICAL VALUE OF GESTURE C HAPTER IV. THE LAWS OF GESTURE. The Priority of Gesture to Speech--Retroaction--Opposition of Agents-Number of Gestures--Duration of Gesture--The Rhythm of Gesture-Importance of the Laws of Gesture C HAPTER V. OF GESTURE IN PARTICULAR. The Head--Movements of the head: The Normal State, The Eccentric State, The Concentric State--Of the Eyes--Of the Eyebrows C HAPTER VI. OF THE TORSO . The Chest--The Shoulders. C HAPTER VII. OF THE LIMBS. The Arms--Inflections of the Forearm--Of the Elbow--Of the Wrist--Of the Hand: The Digital Face, The Back Face, The Palmar Face--Of the Fingers-Of the Legs. C HAPTER VIII. OF THE SEMEIOTIC, OR THE R EASON OF GESTURE. The Types which Characterize Gesture--Of Gesture Relative to its Modifying Apparatus C HAPTER IX. OF GESTURE IN R ELATION TO THE FIGURES WHICH R EPRESENT IT. PART THIRD. ARTICULATE LANGUAGE. C HAPTER I. ORIGIN AND ORGANIC A PPARATUS OF LANGUAGE. C HAPTER II. ELEMENTS OF A RTICULATE LANGUAGE. C HAPTER III. THE ORATORICAL VALUE OF SPEECH. C HAPTER IV. THE VALUE OF WORDS IN PHRASES. The Conjunction--The Interjection in Relation to its Degree of Value--A Resumé of the Degrees of Value C HAPTER V. FRENCH AND LATIN PROSODY C HAPTER VI. METHOD. Dictation Exercises C HAPTER VII. A SERIES OF GESTURES FOR EXERCISES. Preliminary Reflections--The Series of Gestures Applied to the Sentiments Oftenest Expressed by the Orator: (1) Interpellation; (2) Thanks, Affectionate and Ceremonious; (3) Attraction; (4) Surprise and Assurance; (5) Devotion; (6) Interrogative Surprise; (7) Reiterated Interrogation; (8) Anger; (9) Menace; (10) An Order for Leaving; (11) Reiteration; (12) Fright--Important Remarks A PPENDIX EPILOGUE ARNAUD ON DELSARTE. PART FOURTH. C HAPTER I. THE B ASES OF THE SCIENCE C HAPTER II. THE METHOD. Ellipsis--Shades and Inflections--Vocal Music--Respiration--Position of the Tone--Preparation of the Initial Consonant--Exercises-- Appoggiatura-Roulades and Martellato--Pronunciation--E mute before a Consonant--E mute before a Vowel. C HAPTER III. WAS D ELSARTE A PHILOSOPHER? C HAPTER IV. C OURSE OF A PPLIED ÆSTHETICS. Meeting of the Circle of Learned Societies--Theory of the Degrees. C HAPTER V. THE R ECITATION OF FABLES. C HAPTER VI. THE LAW OF ÆSTHETICS. C HAPTER VII. THE ELEMENTS OF A RT. The True. The Good. The Beautiful. C HAPTER VIII. A PPLICATION OF THE LAW TO VARIOUS A RTS. Dramatic, Lyric and Oratorical Art. Application of the Law to Literature. Application of the Law to Architecture. Application of the Law to Sculpture. Application of the Law to Painting. C HAPTER IX. D ELSARTE'S B EGINNINGS. C HAPTER X. D ELSARTE'S THEATRE AND SCHOOL. C HAPTER XI. D ELSARTE'S FAMILY. C HAPTER XII. D ELSARTE'S R ELIGION. C HAPTER XIII. D ELSARTE'S FRIENDS. C HAPTER XIV. D ELSARTE'S SCHOLARS. C HAPTER XV. D ELSARTE'S MUSICAL C OMPOSITIONS. C HAPTER XVI. D ELSARTE'S EVENING LECTURES. C HAPTER XVII. D ELSARTE'S INVENTIONS. C HAPTER XVIII. D ELSARTE BEFORE THE PHILOTECHNIC A SSOCIATION. C HAPTER XIX. D ELSARTE'S LAST YEARS. LITERARY REMAINS OF FRANÇOIS DELSARTE. PART FIFTH. Publisher's Note. Delsarte's Last Letter To The King Of Hanover Episode I. Episode II. Episode III. Episode IV. Episode V. Semeiotics of the Shoulder. Episode VI. Episode VII. What I Propose. The Beautiful. Trinity. Reversal of Processional Relations. Passion of Signs, Signs of Passion. Definition of Form. On Distinction and Vulgarity of Motion. Gesture. Definition of Gesture. Attitudes of the Head. Attitudes of the Hands. Affirmation of the Hand. Table of the Normal Character of the Nine Attitudes. Attitudes of the Legs. The Holy Trinity Recovered in Sound. Speech. Breathing. Vocal Respiration. Logical Respiration. Passional Respiration. Vocal Organ. Definition of the Voice. What the Register is. On Shading. Pathetic Effects. On the Tearing of the Voice. Number. Medallion of Inflection. The Nature of the Colors of Each Circle in the Color Charts. The Attributes of Reason. Random Notes. PART SIXTH. THE LECTURE AND LESSONS GIVEN BY MME. MARIE GÉRALDY (D ELSARTE'S D AUGHTER) IN A MERICA. PART SEVENTH. Article by Alfred Giraudet. Article by Francis A. Durivage. Article by Hector Berlioz. DELAUMOSNE ON DELSARTE. THE DELSARTE SYSTEM, BY M. L'ABBE DELAUMOSNE, (PUPIL OF DELSARTE.) TRANSLATED BY FRANCES A. SHAW. FRANÇOIS DELSARTE. François Delsarte was born November 11, 1811, at Solesme, a little town of the Department of the North, in France. His father, who was a renowned physician and the author of several inventions, might have secured a fortune for his family, had he been more anxious for the morrow, but he died in a state bordering upon poverty. In 1822, François was apprenticed to a porcelain painter of Paris, but, yielding to a taste and aptitude for music, in the year 1825, he sought and obtained admission to the Conservatory as a pensioner. Here a great trial awaited him--a trial which wrecked his musical career, but was a decided gain for his genius. He had been placed in the vocal classes, and in consequence of faults in method and direction, he lost his voice. He was inconsolable, but, without making light of his sorrow, we may count that loss happy, which gave the world its first law-giver in the art of oratory. The young student refused to accept this calamity without making one final effort to retrieve it. He presented himself at the musical contest of 1829. His impaired voice rendered success impossible, but kind words from influential friends in a great measure compensated for defeat. The celebrated Nourrit said to him: "I have given you my vote for the first prize, and my children shall have no singing-master but you." "Courage," said Madame Malibran, pressing his hand. "You will one day be a great artist." But Delsarte knew that without a voice he must renounce the stage, and yielding to the inevitable, he gave up the role of the actor to assume the functions of the professor. After his own shipwreck upon a bark without pilot or compass, he summoned up courage to search into the laws of an art which had hitherto subsisted only upon caprice and personal inspiration. After several years of diligent study, he discovered and formulated the essential laws of all art; and, thanks to him, æsthetic science in our day has the same precision as mathematical science. He had numerous pupils, many of whom have become distinguished in various public careers--in the pulpit, at the bar, on the stage, and at the tribune. Madame Sontag, when she wished to interpret Gluck's music, chose Delsarte for her teacher. Rachel drew inspiration from his counsels, and he became her guardian of the sacred fire. He was urgently solicited to appear with her at the Théâtre-Français, but religious scruples led him to refuse the finest offers. Madame de Giradin (Delphine Gay), surnamed the Muse of her country, welcomed him gladly to her salon, then the rendezvous of the world of art and letters, and regretted not seeing him oftener. He was more than once invited to the literary sessions of Juilly college, and, under the spell of his diction, the pupils became animated by a new ardor for study. Monseigneur Sibour had great esteem and affection for Delsarte, and made him his frequent guest. It was in the salon of this art-loving archbishop that Delsarte achieved one of his most brilliant triumphs. All the notable men of science had gathered there, and the conversation took such a turn that Delsarte found opportunity to give, without offence, a challenge in these two lines of Racine: L'onde approche, se brise, et vomit à nos yeux, Parmi des flots d'écume, un monstre furieux. ("The wave draws near, it breaks, and casts before our eyes, Amid the floods of foam, a monster grim and dire.") "Please tell me the most emphatic and significant word here," said Delsarte. All reflected, sought out and then gave, each in turn, his chosen word. Every word was selected save the conjunction et (and). No one thought of that. Delsarte then rose, and in a calm and modest, but triumphant tone, said: "The significant, empha