VOCAL PYROTECHNICS

Victorian actors learned to use a full range of vocal slides, rises, falls and waves -- these were not improvised, but followed a set of rules. Below is one such set from the Practical Elements of Elocution by Robert Fulton and Thomas Trueblood, 1893.


"Rising Concretes" (a slide in the voice from one point to some point higher). [marked with “↑”]

1. Direct questions (answered by yes or no)

Lucius Sir, ‘tis your brother Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.

Brutus Is he ↑alone?

Lucius No, sir, there are more with him.

Brutus Do you ↑know them?

2. Doubt, indecision, hesitation

“I think he is ↑honest.”

Shylock Antonio is a good ↑man.

Bassanio Have you heard any imputation to the contrary?

Shylock ↑Ho! ↑no, ↑no, ↑no, ↑no.

3. Anticipative or incomplete ideas

But whatever may be our ↑fate, be assured, this declaration will stand. ---Daniel Webster

Desirous of being accounted the best swordsman of ↑Rome, he still better enjoyed the reputation of being the incomparable archer. ---Maurice Thompson

4. Conditional or introductory clauses

When I spoke ↑that, I was ill-tempered too. ---Shakespeare
If this be ↑true, then should I know this secret. ---Ibid.

5. Words or clause with subordinate or restrictive clauses attached

Go bid thy ↑mistress, when my drink is ready,
She strike upon the bell. ---Shakespeare

6. Deference, courtesy, conciliation, modesty and shame

Portia I grant I am a wo↑man; but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife.

Antony Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,--
For Brutus is an honorable↑man,
So are they all, all honorable ↑men,--
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

7. Supplication, appeal, begging, and fawning
I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word,
Nor look upon the iron ↑angrily:
Thrust but these men a↑way, and I’ll forgive you
Whatever torment you do put me ↑to. ---Shakespeare

8. Items in a series, except the last (when taken as a whole)

And now abideth ↑faith, ↑hope, love. –1 Cor. xii: 13.

Sans ↑teeth, sans ↑eyes, sans ↑taste, ↑sans everything. ---Shakespeare

9. Negatives

I wonder that you will still be talking, Senior Benedick, nobody marks ↑you. –Shakespeare.

I care not how fickle other people have been ↑found. ---Webster

10. Surprise, astonishment, retorted questions

Benedick Come, bid me do anything for thee.
Beatrice Kill Claudio.
Benedick ↑Ha! not for the wide world.

11. Vocatives

My ↑Lord, I came to see your father’s funeral. ---Shakespeare.

O ↑Lord, our ↑Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. ---Psalms.


THE RISING CONCRETE OCCURS SO MUCH MORE FREQUENTLY [THAN FALLING OR WAVE] THROUGHOUT DISCOURSE THAT IT MAY BE SAID TO BE THE RULE. [authors’ note]