Lift Your Voice

Abstract

Lift Your Voice Richard Dale Sjoerdsma EDITOR'S COMMENTARY Click for larger view View full resolution Richard Dale Sjoerdsma Lift every voice and singTill earth and heaven ring,Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;Let our rejoicing riseHigh as the listening skies,Let it resound loud as the rolling seas.Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,Facing the rising sun of our new day begunLet us march on till victory is won. John Rosemond Johnson Upon first becoming informed of the 2022 World Voice Day theme, I must confess to have been taken aback by the lack of the typical adverb. In an overwhelming preponderance of sources that I investigated, biblical and poetic, the phrase included "up," or, as illustrated above by the lyrics to the song often referred to as the Black National Anthem,1 determiners such as "every" and "all." I am certain, however, that the WVD Committee intentionally avoided any qualifiers for the theme, and in so doing, encouraged intriguing possibilities for exploring its implications. Beginning in 2008—admittedly a little late to the party—in each March/ April issue of the Journal of Singing I have tried to draw attention to that year's April 16 World Voice Day commemoration. Since 2011, I have placed the theme on the cover of the periodical, and, upon learning the WVD theme sometime in October of a given year, have asked my regular contributors to consider addressing the theme in their respective columns, if appropriate. On the one hand, that practice lends a certain unity of content to the corresponding issue, while at the same time underscoring the importance of the observation; on the other hand, however, as the reader will determine in the pages of the current issue, my team has covered the topic so well, with perception, and from many diverse aspects, that the editor finds himself with little to add. Why is it important, even necessary, to lift one's voice? If the familiar adage that the eyes are windows to the soul is true, perhaps it also may be added that the voice is the expression of the soul. When the full-grown poet came,Out spake pleased Nature (the round impassive globe, with all its shows of day and night,) saying, He is mine; [End Page 431] But out spake too the Soul of man, proud, jealous,and unreconciled, Nay, he is mine alone;—Then the full-grown poet stood between the two, and took each by the hand;And to-day and ever so stands, as blender, uniter, tightly holding hands,And wholly and joyously blends them.2 And if that is true, one must exercise the WVD imperative with care and responsibility. In both singing and speaking, a top priority must be the nurture and care of the voice so that one can engage or "lift" it effectively and efficiently. Voice practitioners need assiduously to concern themselves with matters of vocal and personal health, voice pedagogy, cognition, and many related issues that have been addressed thoroughly by professionals better equipped than I.3 While nodding in the direction of interpretations of the WVD theme that are more appropriate to this periodical, and while acknowledging with gratitude my colleagues' competent treatment of it, I want to venture on a different path. I do so with some trepidation, hearing the voice of friend and journalistic mentor Richard Miller, when, at the beginning of my tenure as editor, I sought his advice on writing a more or less regular commentary. Richard approved of the idea, but warned against using the column as a "bully pulpit." I fear I transgress his admonition on this occasion, but we find ourselves in unusual circumstances that warrant unusual responses. As I write in early December 2021, we have entered a time that inspires—indeed almost demands—lifting the voice, not only for those of faith, but for all. One week before the season of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace—themes of the four Sundays of Advent—an unspeakable tragedy occurred in Waukesha, Wisconsin, only...