Preface

Summary

When the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange was published five years ago, the reader was given the hope that a second work, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, would soon appear. This hope has now been realized, later perhaps than many would have hoped and wished, but still too soon for my own satisfaction. There is an extensive field to be explored here. In view of the abundant material which, more often than not, is only derived from minute observations based upon experience and is rarely covered or even sometimes overlooked in other books, it is easy to understand that the gathering and organization of these facts require due consideration. Hence it occurs that the plan which was designed and accepted one day is rejected the next. In all, it is the preparation of such an undertaking that requires more effort than the work itself, and then when other business interferes, the realization of such a project can easily be delayed for years.

But why should there be excuses about delay if, perhaps, the publication itself could have been dispensed with? It could have remained unwritten for two reasons: first, if the execution had not succeeded in treating such an important subject adequately, and second, if the Germans had never wanted to be advanced a step further in the fine art of good singing.