THE' OREGON ' SUNDAY, JOURNAL., PORTLAND, ; SUNDAY HORNING, MAY 17. 1908
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A WOMAN MADEVITII KDAUGH
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r 5 believed that there ate in this coun- :
try; many children who possess capa
bilities, now latent, of becoming
operatic stars. Is your child among themf
Did you ever realize that it might be pos
sible for your own little girl to rise to won
derful heights in the realm of song, even
though she might not quite attain the plane
of Madame A delind Patti, who at one time
received $$000 a night for singing, or of Teh
razz'mi, who made the most recent conquest
of music lovers in America?
"Take a child-evcn when it is in arms
arid train it, and you may produce another ,
Patti" remarked a competent teacher of
vocal music, the other day, "The divine
spark may be given to few, indeed, but the
vocal organ can be perfected wonderfully in
a most mechanical way in almost any child."
You never- knew that before, did you?
Perhaps you doubt it. 'Well, the teacher
quoted is the mother of a little girl, a living
embodiment of her theory, a product of her
unremitting care, a child who composed ai
melody at 4, and plays Bach, Beethoven and
Schubert and sings Wagner at 11.
Which recalls a story.
WIIXETTE 'WILBOTJRN wai born In Ban Fran
,, Cisco eleven years ago.
It wu one cold, day In the winter of 190S
that George Henschel. the great teacher, vis
ited Madame Rita Wllbourn. the mother, at her home
In an eastern city.
The great man had been asked to come and hear
the "young: lady." Madame Wllbourn wished to set hie
verdict on her system of training: of which you shall
learn presently and awaited the master's opinion with
almost breathless Interest.
It was snowing outside. A glowing: fire shot sparks
In the (rate. Rubbing: his hands, Mr. Henschel waited.
The door opened, and the mother,, beaming' with pride,
led a little girl a rather plump little girl with a
freckled face and wide-open gray eyes into the room.
'.'This is my daughter, WMlette. Mr. Henschel," said
Madame Wllbourn. The old man rose, Indignation
bristling' from every inch of him.
Evidently here was a child of only 9 so evident.
Indeed, that Mr. Henschel exclaimed, raising: his
hands:
"That thelrl that that That the girl you asked
me to come to see? Well, Well, well, well "
But gently the mother protested that the child
could sing. She begged the great man Just to listen
only to listen.
Well, he was there; he sank back In his chair, im
patience on his countenance; he would listen; yes, yes,
let the little girl sing; he was there. It would take but
a little time longer. Let her sing!
ASTONISHED THE .MASTER
Ko WUlette sang. She tra-Ia-laed the "Swiss Echo
Song," sang "Comin Thro' the Rye," with a cadeoaa,
and what was this? arias from the Wagner operas!
Like sunshine dancing on leaves the childish voice
rippled and played with marvelous flexibility, won
drous sweetness and unbelievable clearness. The ut
tered notes rose like winged birds, and arias fell
from her Hps like Jewels. A perfect coloratura voice
waa developed, absolutely free of tension,
"Wonderful! Wonderful! The little beak is filled
with song."
Clapping his hands the teacner listened, entranced,
. laughing with the sheer delight of the artist in finding
perfect art. He grasped Madame Wilbourn's hand.
For such a thing had been unheard of. Most of the
great singers began to train their voices when 18 or
ZO.' But to begin to train a child's voice when it is
yet In arms! When Madame Wllbourn first explained
her theory to Henschel he pooh-poohed it; he would
not listen. Impossible, foolish. And then WUlette
sang
Madame Wilbourn's theory Is that the vocal organs
of a baby, which are plastic, pliant, can be perfected
into pure singing organs or hopelessly marred. Take
the baby when It la In arms, train it to utter tones,
teach It the scales, and Instead of coaching it in "baby
talk" give it song scales and you may start a Tetraz
ginl or a Caruso on a career.
You mould the singer as the artist moulds clay.
Tou take the child and string the cords so they pro
due golden notes. Of course you or the person who
takes the child must be able to sing.
"The reason there are no great alngera In America
is because Americana have not learned to train their
voices." declares Madame Wllbourn. "There are thou
sands of people who sing execrably. Yet if children
were taught, almost every child could aing beautifully
when it grew up.
''But children are not taught at home nor In most
of the schools. Go
to a
puoiio sonooi; you will hear
the children bawling, screaming; 'The Star-Spangled
Banner" or 'Columbia, the Gem of i the Ocean.r Thev
sin at the tOD of their volcoa: thav itnln thi.
to the limit; I shiver when I hear It. This sort of
thing would ruin the most talented child In the world.
And I am aure countless children who might In time .
sing almost as well as Patti-are blasted by this reck
less disregard of the voice. '
CLOSE ATTENTION REQUIRED
"From the age of 4, children should be given tone
study in the schools. The most delicate attention
should be given to the vocal cords. Parents with
cracked voices should not teach their children to sin
however, but should get some one who can sing.
"In this country sfnging Is a lost art. Not one per
son lit ten uses the vocal cords correctly, even in
speaking. Singing and elooution go hand in hand, and
the child should be taught to speak as well as to sing:
the most wonderful voices are ruined by violent treat
ment : . .
"If parents, instead of teaching -baby talk and
letting children sing the execrable so-called popular
songs, would begin teaching them sweet lullabies and
good music, wonderful voices could be .developed In -America."
And undoubtedly one has been developed In lladama
Wilbourn's own little girl. At the age of 3 or 4
WUlette was familiar with the themes of operas, and
at 4 composed a number on the piano,. "Birds un a
Tree." She sings aarlas from the operas, and after
only a year's proper training at the piano plays from
Bach, Beethoven, Poldlnl, Schumann, Grieg, Scbar
wenka and other composers.
WUlette grew up in musical atmosphere, nat
urally her soul absorbed it. Her fairy world was that
oi me - rvieoemngeruiea, ana ner xairies and child
hood gods were Siegfried and Brunhllde.
When a child of she was told i the story of how
Alberlch stole the magic gold from the bottom of tba
Rhine, how he beat aijd mistreated poor Mime.; the
forger of the TarnhelnCPAnd the baby girl listened
entranced to the story MrBrunhllde, the shining Val
kyria, who, because of her pity for Slegmund and Bleg. '
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llnda, was condemned by Wotan to mortality and to
aleep until wakened by the kiss of the lover who was
to come to her.
This magio world was WUlette Wilbourn's child
world, and you may rest assured that she loved Wag
ner more than taffy on a stick and spearmint candy.
Even her dolls were named after the heroes and
N'
'QW and then it is well to "see ourselves as
others see. us." The fair ones of earth
Jl should certainly be pleased to do this, as
. : s deligctiul reflection may usually be ex-'
pecicuv
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heroines of Wagner.
But Just how Madame Wllbourn trained the little
child, using ber own theories of development, is what
Is particularly Interesting. '
"When WUlette was a baby." she said. "I let her
use a nipple. One day, as I stood by the cradle. I no
ticed the action of the tongue. I studied it for ten
But it isn't well, always, to feed on flattery.
Mental and moral indigestion may ensue. Now
and then a man appears who is bold enough to an
nounce the results of a cold-blooded, scientifically
analytical study of woman such as is given be
low, for example. Perhaps he has rushed in where
angels fear to tread but that is his buainess. Here
are his conclusions.
By a Man Unafraid
"W
' OMAN, lovely woman," has, as a rule, been
most generously treated, most extrava
gantly eulogised, in the domain of litera
ture. In srivate oral discussion she is
usually handled In a less rhapsodic fashion, and --n-fined
more nearly to her Just dues.
Yet, even In this latter, less formal arena., she fre
quently carrlea away more than her honest share of
the spoils or adulation, gathered in from the generous
and unresisting hands of infatuated masculinity, bask
ing still in the glow of passion's spring time.
Let us see if we cannot supply some of literature's
omissions by holding in cold print an unbiased clinic
pn certain portions of the moral anatomy of our "gen
tle" sisters.
Be it understood, however, that we shall be speak
ing only of the "middle" and "upper" class members of
the sex; that we shall not be making; aniversal, but
only fair average generalisations, and above all, that
we acquit the management of this Journal of even the
slightest complicity in the violation of Chivalry (In the
interest of truth) which Is about to be perpetrated.
Aftd now, "unto the breach, dear friends!" .
Imprimis a our friends, the lawyers, would say
woman Is distinctly mercenary in her attitude toward
VV "X,.
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minutes. I realized that this movement could ruin her
voice for life. So I did not give her the nipple. I relate
this to show the extreme care that should be taken
to that the muscles of the mouth and the vocal organs
are not made defective.
"From the time the child was 2 to 8 months old
I would sing fifteen minutes each day the tune of "Old
Aunt Tabby,' Soon the tiny mouth began to grunt the
tune after me, and in two to three months the child
began to coo the tone. And In six months she had per
fected It. By this method I developed the child's ear
for music; she got the theme of the melodies, and a
a result could carry tones at the age of six months.
"Six months later I began to nourish the baby on
scale practice, and sang selections from 'Hebenera,'
La Boheme' and 'Cavallerla Rustlcana.' From the
age of two years I trained the child with scale prac
tice, with the Idea of giving pure tone, and by the
time she was 3 to 4 years of age she was familiar
with the themes of the operas. At 4 she sang Mozart's
'Lullaby.' "
With Infinite attention. Madame Wllbourn uttered
intonation and tones day after day. tirelessly,
until
marriage. She looks upon a prospective husband first
and fundamentally as a prospective "provider," and
appraises his value mainly by that standard.
When he appears in the role of suitor, plump down
upon his skin, in a figurative sense, goes her littlo,
petty, selfish microscope, while she figures out Just
now much of money, bow much of fine clothes, how
much of theatergoing, and of envy-arousing display
she may expect from him, in return for her physical
surrender; for the absence1 from the transaction of
any but the most attenuated sort of "love" reduces
the contemplated relationship very nearly, if not quite,
to this crass and material basis.
If he doesn't look good to her from her calculating
viewpoint, .Iff adieu to his aspirations; but If he as
says well things are at once made unanimous, and in
return for being "well kept" she will graciously per
mit herself to be loved.
Moreover, she will even begin, at times, to feel In
herself the feeble glow and tepid warmth of an emo
tion which she Imagines to be love, but whose main
prop is her view of the prospective husband as the
source from which are to flow all the tinsel blessings
of ease, luxury and fine drees, which to her seem to
constitute so large a measure of the things worth
having. . -
DISCONTENT A COMMON LOT
A man-j-the average man approaches marriage
with his fountains of affection running over, readv
and anxious to glv all. asking only love, fidelity and
appreciation in return.
Woman, on the contrary, advances willing to re
ceive all, nay, expecting and demanding it in ,h,er
secret hearty and requiring the moral assurance that
she will get it, before she will begin to pass out even
the debased coin of counterfeit love in exchange.
Even in those more or less exceptional casea where
the women of today allow themselves to be- appar
ently mastered by a genuine passion.' they will in ..
thousands of instances, with Spartan self-control, or :
moved oy - the counsels or sophisticated " sisters or
mothers, tear the holy emotion from their hearts, or
Insult it bv rautimin rialll&nca
and delay, rat.-er than
fnrearo th "nomna and vanities ef tMra wicked world
to enter a meager life Of self-dental wua the objects
Of their affections.-. ,i ..i - -
How rarely, -t moreover, doe this genuine passion. '
even when it has obtained the mastery still leas that
counterfeit presentment of It which U tlie only dowry of
y. 4
7 $&3T&3.
she was successful, and the child repeated them. - At
S years of age Gillette's voice was flexible, clear, per
fectly relaxed; she sang scales and trUls and achieve!
perfect coloratura singing. " r t:
At the age of 18 months Madame Wllbourn pul th
little girl at the piano. Oh, no, she did not mean t
teach her to play, but she wanted to train the Httl
flrrgers, so that the muscles would gain agility on th
keys.
Taking the tiny hand in her own, Madame
bourn would train the baby Angers, and this went a
year after year. WUlette naturally took to musio asa
duck to water, and at the age of 4 would go to th
piano alone and ripple off simple melodies one her own;
composition.
"WUlette never knew a -popular song,' " aafol
Madame Wllbourn. "Once, when quite small, aha went
out on the street and heard some one singing There'll
be a Hot Time,' and she came dancing home, shouting
'There'll be a Hot Time' with great gusto and gle.
Her throat was tightened, and, unconsciously, she had
adopted the frightful way of singing she had heard.
"I gave her the severest scolding she aver, knew,
and then I sang the song as she had. She realised
how terrible It waa, and laughed. Then I sang It aof tly
and sweetly, and she never forgot that lessen."
According to Madame Wllbourn, a child should ha
taught tone at from the age of 4, while teaching artic
ulation should be begun soon after it Is born. From
the age of 13 to 15 there should be an absolute rest
and unremitting care, and study should be resumed at
15 or 16. .
By this method five or alx yearaT, time would be
saved the ordinary singer. The usual period of study
is ten years. The average person spends from one to)
two years in a studio attaining an ordinary tone. Had
training been begun in childhood, it would not require
more than two or three months.
SHOULD ACQUIRE THE THEORY
A knowledge of the theory of music, Madame Wll
bourn declares, is essential to the great singer. Chil
dren should learn to play the piano. Little mora than
a year ago WUlette began taking lessons and pro
gressed so phenomenally that at her first recital,
short time ago, she played a program of fourteen clas
sics. Among them were the "Eighth Invention," byi
Bach; Beethoven's "Rondo," Poldinl's "Harlequin, Voni
Wilm s "Toccatina," and the "Dance of the Elves," by,
Grieg. And there were two original compositions
"The Witches' Dance" and "The Pixies Dream" by)
herself. j ;' ;;v -
Three years ago WUlette was taken to hear Parsifal.
and was so moved by the ravishing melody that aha
broke down and wept. The following day Madama
Wllbourn, on returning from an errand, saw WUletta
In the bedroom with her dolls, giving a miniature per
formance of "Parsifal."
So familiar and intimate are Wotan, Siegfried and
Mime to her that she would play with them. Sieg
fried was her hero, and when she would become fright
ened would excuse herself by saying, "Well, that
might have scared Siegfried, too." You ask her about
it. and she'll tell you: "I'm going to be Brunhilda
when I grow up."
WUlette goes to a private school, and although her
world thunders with the chariots of Tonner and the
fires of Loki and the walling of the Rhine Maidens,
she enjoys diabolo and roller skating aa much a any
other child. She is a chubby, healthy little' girl, an. I
so normal that there are days when she frets because
she must practice from one and one-half to tw hours
like any other child. .
What has been done for this little girl could ba
done with many other children, according to the the
ories of the mother. "I expect American mothers t
awaken to the possibilities of their children." she says;
"and when they do beg-In to make singers by teaching
them singing at an eariy age, America may lead l.i
vocal art.
multitudes of women endure through the pi.-al-?
course of the later years of married life, when V.it
false glow of the honeymoon or, honey-year is pa;
when the burdens of children come, and house n
cares and enforced economies supervene, and wh.
it gradually forces itself upon the woman's mind ti .
her husband, though devoted, is doomed to medlocrii ,
and that there is little or no hope in the future th
he will be able to "give -her things like other wome'
This mute but ignoble tragedy is written, Jti t
streets and in public conveyances, on the features ,
thousands of married pairs bearing the outward air-'.
of a scanty existence. The physiognomies of th . ,
present an interesting, though not a cheering study.
On the other hand, the husband is apt to be sub
dued, humbly sctteltous; and mutely apologetlo in de
meanor, as though humiliated and depressed by tii
fact that he has not been able to pay the full prl
which the modern woman demands of a man for th
valuable privilege of working for her.
But enough of marriage, as many a benedict hat
ecrasion to say when too late.
The lovely goddess presents Some Other- etrlklr, -contrasts
to the "hardened male wretch." She hn iw
distinctly lower standard of honor than he; her verac
ity and candor are less to be depended on than hi;
she bat less of Christian charity and more- of pet!
spitefulness than he; and she has a more eontempiihi-j
aptitude for prying into other people's business tliam
Illustrations 'could be adduced by the hundred if
space permitted, which it does not; but for a simple
exemplification of the relative standards of honor o
the sexes, a fact may be mentioned which the experi
ence of thousands will confirm
In a game of cards for a prise,' ten women wi'
cheat to one man, Women will squirm and eoek i
evade the payment of a lost bet, but they are vrn it .
shyiocka In collecting. A more unfair and one-t :, ;
transaction than a game of cards for value hvt- ,
mea and women Is hard to conceive, Rome wUi Km
this a narrow basis for a broad eoncluxtori, h i
know of no better test of the ingrained mural t
than thla very one I have Used.
Who. will deny, moreover, that deeelt Is - .
peculiar weapon? and while men-will lit), tnt, i ,
without tear or successful contradiction that i'.r
man wno win ten a lie aooui some particular n
is duplicate can be found in tti t-n t It -r.
thousands, yes. hundred of thousand i.( ,
lie industriously in mattea vpon wM. t-t
fnan would acorn to say ausUt l.i ue i . , ;