Reading a poem over the radio.

 

Although poetry programs on the air are comparatively few, they seem to have a constant, if small, listening clique. Poetry, up to the present writing, is fortunate in being a radio feature that has not been worked to death. Music and prose dominate the radio menu, and poetry is served only in small portions. Radio is a stimulant for verse, which, being too ethereal to be bound to a printed page, is in danger of extinction. Radio allows poetry to get back to its own medium-the air-to be heard, not to be studied in black and white. Lovers of poetry who read it feel the rhythm and hear the sounds even though they read it silently; but for those who cannot get the feeling of poetry from seeing it in type, radio opens a new field. In fact, poetry itself may undergo a change through the influence of broadcasting. New fields within the art may be opened, new methods of presentation undoubtedly will arise, and a new attitude toward poetry will gradually evolve. Perhaps the best way in which to discuss material for poetry programs is to review the programs that have recently been on the air. For years Ted Malone has been reading poetry to his radio listeners. He starts out with something like, "Hello there, everybody, may I come in? I'll take this chair here by the radio and just sit and chat awhile." This is an effort to achieve an atmosphere of informality and friendliness. This friendly intimacy can be overdone. Then he intersperses poems with just plain chatter and bits of philosophy over music or with musical interludes. He reads poetry that is written by his listeners and sent in to him. Little of it is worthy, but the idea is good. It gives opportunity for expression to many who aspire to be poets. No doubt there is a need for this sort of thing; but since there is such a wealth of living poetry that listeners have never heard, and since good poetry becomes better with repetition, the need for a better type of program is more urgent. More recently Ted Malone has been conducting a "Pilgrimage of Poetry." It is novel, educational, and arouses a feeling of nearness to various poets. Malone actually goes into the homes of American poets and dramatizes the settings in which in many instances the poems he is reading were written. He brings in bits of biography and vivid descriptions of the places visited. The 32 American poets covered in his pilgrimage were selected by vote of the members of English departments of 700 American colleges and universities. Here we have good poetry presented in an interesting and novel way. It is, however, irritatingly over - sentimental. Few wish to listen to soft -voiced pleasantness reading all types of poetry. Poetry is universal; it can be used to express any human emotion, not only sentimental sweetness. Malone, nevertheless has made radio listeners poetry -conscious and has broadcast a wealth of good poetry. Edgar Guest uses the same approach as Ted Malone-the best approach for a program of this sort-the friendly, informal, personal approach. He reads his own poetry, which, of course, is of a popular quality. This "homey," "folksy" poetry pleases the millions of listeners who compose the radio audience and possibly is a step in the development of a poetic taste. Edgar Guest comes on with "a bit of music, a bit of verse" for 15 minuted. He projects a pleasing personality but is a better student of human emotions than a broadcaster. Variety is given to this program by a soloist who sings sentimental songs. Edgar Guest is in on the commercial with the announcer and talks in a chatty style. The program sounds disjointed; first there is a commercial, then a song, then a poem. Fading is not used, and there is no transitional music or continuity; the result is rather an abrupt pause betweèn each part of the program. Yet the program is popular and sponsored, proving that the audience is the judge. Broadcasters and sponsors put on the air what they find through research the people want to hear. There is enthusiasm for poetry; perhaps by gradual steps the public will become educated to the better poetry. Radio has developed the public taste for excellent music, the same may be accomplished for poetry. The most notable poetry -reading programs yet to reach the microphone were those which Margaret Anglin offered a few years ago. Broadcasters are on an increasing hunt for originality. Louis Reid in an article, "Drama, Fiction, and Poetry on the Air," says that the reading of poetry on the air-even dramatic poetry has attained to date only meager representation. "Only sporadically have the broadcasters taken advantage of the many eloquent and experienced voices at their command t.o bring to interested listeners first-class representations of the world's great poetry." In the oral interpretation of poetry the need for a thorough understanding of a selection before it is to be read aloud cannot be overemphasized. Before a poem can be read feelingly to others, it must be fully understood by the person who is to do the reading. These requirements are enlarged upon by any good textbook on oral interpretation. Certain specific suggestions for the broadcaster should also be borne in mind: By all means, read the poem many times quietly to yourself, and also aloud, so that you become thoroughly familiar with the manuscript.

Relegate the less important phrases to minor emphasis and determine the main ideas to be brought out. (It is sometimes helpful to underline the main thought of the sentence so that proper emphasis may be assured.) Know your manuscript so well that you may voice it as though it were your own (as by now it should be). Forget the rhyming of lines, forget the marks of punctuation, and concern yourself only with the thought. One can lay down the general principle that there are more pauses needed in reading aloud (in rare cases, fewer pauses) than are indicated by the marks. While rhythm or tempo is an outstanding factor, it is never emphasized at the expense of thought. The temptation to speed or "race" must be overcome; the listener has not had the opportunity to study the article that you have had and needs time to grasp it. Furthermore, a clear, distinct (not precise) enunciation is necessary. Naturalness and simplicity should be the constant goal, and these characteristics will be there if inwardly you have the sincere desire to share the thought with the listener. Simplicity and naturalness are needed in the read -er, who must become the poet when he reads on the air, or his failure is obvious. Any detail of speech that interferes with understanding may be justly described as bad. When you can lose consciousness of the printed page, the microphone, and the studio and enter into and understand another person's hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, ideas and ideals, then you may rightly feel yourself ready to interpret. The reader must not only understand but must rethink the idea as he speaks. Listen to other programs; can't you feel when the reader is smiling? Then do not forget that the radio has eyes as well as ears and will broadcast your smiles and frowns so long as they are real, and that it will also intensify any unreal attitude. Have variety of poetic forms and thought in the program. Avoid programs that are entirely sentimental, or tragic, or humorous. The less subtle things are best. Whole programs of varied selections should be organized around a central theme for best results. More dramatic effort is required to present poetry over the air than is required to present it from the platform. Just as you like variety in food, and entertainment, so does the listener like variety in voice. Practice this, if you would hold your listeners. Music interludes are useful here, as would be a different voice; however, the general mood or theme of the readings should remain the same. A "one-man show" is seldom successful in the reading program; listeners prefer a variety of voices reading different stanzas or lines successively. A number of really good verse experiments have been made by Archibald MacLeish (" Fall of the City," "Air Raid "), Alfred Kreymborg ("Planets," "Fables in Verse"), and Norman Corwin. In recent years Mr. Corwin inaugurated a new series of programs called "Words without Music," which has revolutionized the presentation of poetry on the air. "He has given to poets a new flexibility of format so vigorous and so sensible that it is bound to attract many new writers to the field of broadcasting." His original verse drama (in reality not in the same category as the poetry program), "They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease," was chosen as the finest single broadcast of the year by the Tenth Institute in Radio for Education. Another superior contribution was his skillful adaptation of Benét's "John Brown's Body." Norman Corwin has probably gained greatest fame recently from his unique dramatic skit in verse form called "Seems Radio Is Here to Stay." It is powerful, human, entertaining, educational, humorous, dramatic, and uniqueall in one. He employs all sorts of sound effects, many different voices and combinations of voices, music written especially for the program, and perfect timing and interrelation of the various units. He uses montage, unusually long pauses, and many other ear -attracting special effects. This type of program is definitely not to be undertaken by the inexperienced director, for it requires absolute precision in every detail.

 Choral Reading. 

The speech textbook considers choral reading as a teaching aid for participants. The radio studio, however, is not a classroom for performers but is a workshop in which to originate programs that will interest the listener. The broadcaster does not talk in terms of unison, cumulative, antiphonal, or sequential reading but there are multiple -voice techniques that create desired effects for him. The montage for fast-moving narrative transitions is used frequently as a background to evidence a lapse of time. In motion pictures, as photomontage, it consists of scattered and overlapping flashes. In radio it includes distinctive voices in short, disconnected sentences and fragments, with sound effects and music. It is particularly useful in historical sketches in which much introductory and chronological material must be rapidly summarized. As choral reading is a musical speech pattern with harmonizing voices, it may be used as "mood words" in place of mood music to supply oral and tonal background atmosphere or feeling for a play. Another use of these multiple - voice and unison techniques in prose drama is for scene changing or transitions, for "the chorus is the living curtain which separates one scene from another." The verse dramas have demonstrated the use of multivoiced techniques in poetic drama. But probably the greatest opportunity for true choral reading lies in the interpretation program. A wide variety of forms may be used by the radio verse choir, including chants, ballads, nonsense verse, epic poetry, lyric poetry, and any poetry with a refrain. There are many compilations of material for choral reading. As popular poems for the beginner I suggest "The Kitchen Clock," "The King's Breakfast," "Spin, Lassie, Spin," "Negro Sermons in Verse," "The Pied Piper," "In Come de Animals." Choral reading, however, is not limited to story poems, for sound poems are equally effective. In choosing selections for the radio program choose those that have a universal appeal rather than those which appeal to the technique of the choral reading teacher. Audiences like the familiar, the romantic or adventuresome, and the obvious rather than selections requiring thought, and above all else prefer those that have a catchy rhythm. Prose passages with some suggestion of rhythm can be worked in effectively. Limited rehearsal time is the greatest deterrent to the development of a radio verse choir. Practice for a single program is not worth while. Unless the chorus is to be kept together and trained for a series of programs its effort will be unfinished. The longer the verse choir and its director work together the easier it becomes to experiment with new and difficult selections. The director must have the foresight of a showman, combined with the knowledge of a dramatic -interpretation instructor and choral director, who thinks of voices in musical terms and dramatic effects. He or she, for in many instances a woman makes a better director, should gather suggestions for the interpretation of the poems from other members of the group; otherwise the chorus is apt to imitate the leader or give a singsong type of utterance. It is not easy for a group of readers to get the same rhythm or to express the subtle meaning and beauty of a poem. The difficulty arises when the group in struggling for perfect synchronization lapses into stereotyped speaking. The leader must watch for this artificial speaking and try to correct it by stressing the meaning and the structure of the poem. Each selection to be used should be studied carefully by the director, considering tones and tempos, solos and choral backgrounds. Much variety is possible in the interpretation of group -read poetry. Light and dark voices can speak in sequence at times with effective results, but such a pattern must not be maintained. In other numbers solo voices can be used with the choir as background. The light and dark voices are blended or opposed in harmonious melody as suggested by the mood of the poem. Experimentation will result in the best combination of parts and individual voices for interpreting a selection. There should be no set pattern for verse interpretation. Attention should be given to the reading of each poem to make it a distinct selection portraying the spirit intended by its writer. If singing voices can be blended under the guidance of a director it is only logical that speaking voices can be blended as well. Since volume can be controlled over the air, the soloist can come up on the mike and the chorus can be kept off mike; a small number of wellchosen voices is preferred. A large group in unison speech does not result in clear enunciation; the words are not distinctly heard by the listener. Just as a quartet is more understandable on the radio than a glee club, 10 to 15 voices in the verse choir will be understood far better than a class indulging in unison reading. Usually there are more feminine voices than male because the listener, not educated to high fidelity, is inclined to set his tone control to emphasize low frequencies. In selecting the choir, seek only voice perfection and variety. In general, avoid voices that are monotonous. However, in one broadcast a group of Negro children muttered in monotones a skit on Uncle Tom's Cabin. Somewhere in the group was a weird voice carrying the narrative. The soloist could not be identified, and the monotones of the background gave a rendition that could not have been obtained through color. Nasal tones should usually be avoided, although there are, occasionally, selections that require just that nasal effect. In fact, the type of the poem, the effect desired, may result in the discarding of any set rule. Tonal qualities are fitted to the content of various speeches. Participants in speaking choirs must have the ability to interpret and to control tones. Volume should be adequate for understanding, but is not used to bring out the subtle shades of imaginative speech. Every person participating should have a sense of phrasing and pitch, a feeling for rhythm as distinguished from meter. Sincerity of thought and dramatic feeling are also essential. In drama the characters may be addressed by name and frequently identified; in the verse drama the individual voices must be definite enough to carry the characterization and identification. For certain poems an entirely male choir will work out best. The choice of the cast depends upon the selections. You must have voices that blend, not merely a group of soloists; balance of tone is what the director seeks. The choir should not be spread out before the microphone, because closeness allows the readers to hear one another. A wedge-shaped formation is effective to use. The lighter voices should be close to the mike, while the heavier and warmer voiced people stánd back. Women's voices are lighter than men's and as they generally outnumber the men they are divided into two groups, tenors and contraltos. Soloists step forth to the mike when reading and back into the group for the choral effect. The voice that stands out distinctly from the others is reserved for solo lines or the narrative parts and must not stand out in the chorus parts. Only experimentation before the mike will determine the desired positions. To decree that a single voice is ample for reading a poem over the radio is as illogical as to contend that a solo voice is as good as a choir. Variety is desired; new effects are sought by radio. Choral reading has not beèn adequately developed by the broadcaster despite the fact that some years ago an N.B.C. bulletin announced "The latest development -the verse -speaking choir." Unison reading has been tried to a slight extent in commercial announcements (remember the Interwoven Pair?) hut it is still new; it has not been worn out by the constant use that radio demands of its features

Musical Background or Introduction.

 There is one other thing that is essential in dramatic reading on the radio. That is the use of the musical background. It is unrivaled in its ability to create the desired mood or atmosphere. The main thing to be remembered in connection with this part of the program is that there should always be a logical reason for any music used. The selection should be adapted so that it can be lengthened or curtailed if necessary. Musical background unquestionably aids the spoken word when definite color is wanted as a background to words of sheer beauty, It helps much in conveying the intended mood and creates the atmosphere that is wanted. Whenever it is used, however, it should be with the utmost discretion and after serious consideration as to the right music. If it is too loud, it will drown out the speaking; if it is too soft, the listener is apt to think he has two stations instead of one. Background music seldom fully synchronizes with both mood and tempo; consequently some authorities maintain that, unless the music is written especially for the program, it should be used only to introduce or connect material. Be careful not to allow the speech rhythm to fall in with that of the music. Music is the listener's favorite radio entertainment. 

Poetry approaches music in that it combines its meaning with much melody and rhythm. Voice. The most important thing to the dramatic speaker is his voice and the training of it. Vocal training has been found to be very beneficial to the radio speaker, no matter what type of thing he does. It is of prime importance to the dramatic speaker. Vocalists have much healthier and more cultured voices. Their voices are richer, better modulated, more pleasant, and less likely to rise to the sudden peaks that are so injurious to the sensitive ear of the mike. Of vital importance to anyone doing dramatic reading on the radio is his use of tone, volume, and pitch. The tone production must be perfect, the volume properly varied and controlled, and the pitch flexible. He must know how to use correct pause (for breathing, of course), accent, rhythm, inflection, and emphasis. The speed must be watched carefully too. He must read slowly enough to be understood and yet fast enough to hold interest without seeming hurried. Enunciation must be clear and distinct and the pronunciation exact, with correct accent and sound of letters. The technique in dramatic reading is merely a matter of keeping the voice at the proper level and timing the speaking to a background of music. Reading must utilize special techniques, such as the technique of the sigh, the genuine whisper, the catch in the breath, and other sounds that would not be clearly audible if done on the platform. The speaker must be alert about diction, enunciation, inflection of syllables, and voice humor. He must never let bad humor show. He must be as careful of his voice as a prima donna; a cold, too much tobacco, or overindulgence in alcohol will roughen his voice badly. And he must always remember that singing is fine for his speaking voice. The tone produced in the same manner as in singing is the best for the radio because a melodious quality is secured which is very pleasant and particularly desirable in a reading of dramatic literature or oral interpretation. Do not fix your voice tone to fit the mood. Allow your mood to determine the voice tone. In other words, work from the inside out rather than from the outside in. Tone is greatly dependent upon the mental attitude and emotional response. Contempt, love, sorrow, anger, pity-these moods demand corresponding tonal qualities in the voice. The actor has a right to use any quality of voice that correctly characterizes the role he is playing. But the speaker on the radio can only portray himself, his reaction. The quality of the voice is self -revealing