The Role of the Singer on the Stage

“In prehistorical times, exactly when we will not concern ourselves with here, singing was not regarded as an art in itself: it was not a distinct discipline so completely independent of poetry as it is now; where the poets have ceased to be also the singers, and the latter have also stopped composing the music, and, instead, are called on to execute that already written by the composer”. ⁽¹⁾