From: Margaret Branscombe
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Marchesi Vocal Exercises
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Alia,

Marchesi was very much a proponent of beautiful singing in no matter which
language; and that Dover book is the recommended one for beginners. Basically
Mathilde divided her exercises and vocalises into three parts. The first was to
"place the voice" using Part I of the Dover book transposed into many keys. The
second was to sing vowels in the vocalises to work with musical phrasing; and the
third was to sing simple songs in Part III vocalises (another book) which added
consonants to the vowels.

There is no tape because she died in 1913. The best one could do would be to
listen to some of her pupils like Melba, Eames or Alda; or else of her daughter
Blanche (also a fine teacher) or Blanche's own pupils, like Desmond or Brunskill.

I hope this helps.

Margaret Branscombe