LibriVox recording: The Speaking Voice

Well, this was a challenge: take a book by an extremely successful dramatic reader in the early 1900s, and follow her training programme on the speaking voice and the vocal interpretation of various literary genres.

This is not a book designed for the professional reader’s training. It is meant for anyone who wants to get the best out of their voice in ordinary life. Watch out, though – if you are in the habit of wearing tight corsets, she has some severe words for you!

The first two parts of the book deal with vocal production and techniques such as change of pitch, inflection and tone colour, then the eight chapters of the third part offer studies on various genres such as the essay, the short story, several types of poetry, ending with dramatic monologues and plays.

Actually, by the time I reached the last few chapters, she had more or less given up trying to teach me anything, because she said I was supposed to know it all by then, so those chapters comprise mostly complete poems for one’s own personal study.

I did find it interesting. I think I found it useful. I hope that others may also find it so. Never having been a devotee of the great English poets Shelley, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Tennyson – indeed, to be honest, never having been a great devotee of any poetry at all – I was surprised, and really rather pleased to be forced to study some of their poems. And even more pleased to find that I could appreciate them.

Here it is:
http://librivox.org/the-speaking-voice-by-katherine-jewell-everts/

Section 11 includes a detailed study of Shelley’s Ode to a Skylark and, in the order they appear, the complete poems:
The Lesser Children, or A Threnody at the Hunting Season by Ridgley Torrence
Hunting Song by Sir Walter Scott
It was a Lover and his Lass by William Shakespeare
Pack, Clouds, Away and Welcome Day by Thomas Heywood
Memory and Enamoured Architect of Airy Rhyme by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Love in the Winds by Richard Hovey
Candlemas by Alice Brown
She Was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth
Nonsense Lyrics Topsy-turvy World and I Saw a New World by William Brighty Rands
Hymn Before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamouni by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Juan’s Song from The Spanish Gypsy by George Eliot
Pablo’s Song from The Spanish Gypsy by George Eliot
My Star by Robert Browning
Cavalier Tunes Marching Along by Robert Browning
Garden Fancies The Flower’s Name by Robert Browning.

Section 12 has a study of part of Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning, and the complete poems:
Each and All by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Forbearance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Section 13 comprises mostly just the complete short story The Revolt of ‘Mother’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.

Section 14 has a study of a cutting of Gareth and Lynette from Tennyson’s Idylls of the King.

Section 15 has the complete poems:

A Tale (epilogue to Two Poets of Croisic) by Robert Browning
Incident of the French Camp
My Last Duchess

New LibriVox recording: The Cricket on the Hearth

Well, I didn’t quite make it by Christmas, but I have managed to get it finished before the old year dies.

Last year, I recorded Dickens’ second short Christmas book, The Chimes, and this year I have recorded his third, The Cricket on the Hearth.

http://librivox.org/the-cricket-on-the-hearth-by-charles-dickens-2/

This little book sat on the family bookshelf when I was a child, and it always looked a very strange title to me.

It is a very sentimental story, but not without flashes of Dickensian humour, and is the tale of John Peerybingle, the good-hearted carrier, and his young wife Mary (‘Dot’), interwoven with the story of poor toymaker Caleb Plummer, his beloved blind daughter Bertha, and the harsh old toy merchant Tackleton, who is due to marry May Fielding, a childhood friend of Dot. Comic relief is provided by Tilly Slowboy, the disaster-prone nursemaid of John and Dot’s baby, and Boxer, the family dog.

The cricket who chirps on the family hearth assumes fairy form to save the day when disaster looms in the form of a mysterious stranger.

The novella is subdivided into chapters called ‘Chirps’, similar to the ‘Quarters’ of The Chimes or the ‘Staves’ of A Christmas Carol.

I wish all my listeners a very happy and peaceful New Year.

At last! New free LibriVox recording: The Riddle Ring

Much delayed owing to horrible computer problems, today sees the release of my latest LibriVox recording: not, I am sure, one you will have heard of before, and perhaps a rather unusual choice for me, but well-written and with some intriguing characters.

The Riddle Ring, by Justin McCarthy, is a romantic mystery – or mysterious romance – and tells the tale of jilted lover, Jim Conrad, who discovers an unusual gold ring while on a visit to Paris. What is the story of the ring? Why is Clelia Vine so sad? Who is the nameless ‘chief’? And how is a dour English barber in a Parisian salon mixed up in all this?

Justin McCarthy was an Irish nationalist, Liberal historian, novelist and politician.

This is in the public domain everywhere in the world. I hope you enjoy it.

http://librivox.org/the-riddle-ring-by-justin-mccarthy/

Also in progress: another of Dicken’s Christmas stories. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to record for over a month, and it will be a miracle if this is finished before Christmas.

After that, I will be completing Volume 2 of Henry Lucy’s East by West, and returning to my old favourite Cleek for more adventures with Dollops and Inspector Narkom of the Yard. Lots of fun to come.

New Iambik audiobook: Trencarrow Secret

My latest recording for Iambik Audiobooks, Trencarrow Secret by Anita Davison, is released today.

It is available in MP3 or M4B format directly from Iambik Audiobooks, nearly twelve and a half hours for just $6.99 at:

http://iambik.com/books/trencarrow-secret-by-anita-davison/

or you may even be able to win it free if you enter the Iambik First Birthday competition!

Set in 1882, this is the story of the Hart family who spend summer as usual at their country house on the Cornish coast. But this year, things are different. The sheltered and sensitive Isabel is approaching her 21st birthday, and there is talk of an engagement to Jared, the son of old family friends, whom Isabel has known since childhood. Isabel’s mother Marie is seriously ill. And Isabel sees something that turns her world upside down.

The events of this sweltering summer, leading up to Isabel’s birthday ball, form the framework of the story. It is more than a simple historical romance. The Harts must keep up appearances before their house guests and friends despite the tensions that arise within the family, and there are family secrets that Isabel has never been told. Can Isabel come to terms with her deep-seated fears and face reality?

The characters are well-drawn and I had no difficulty in visualising them as I recorded the book. I particularly enjoyed recording the indomitable Aunt Margot, Isabel’s widowed aunt, and Isabel’s brother-in-law Walter who does, oh does so enjoy his food. All in all, a book that I think you will enjoy.

No violence, sex or swearing – makes a pleasant change!

“With rich prose and compelling characters, Anita Davison weaves a magnificent Victorian era love story filled with dark family secrets and intrigues. Each chapter is more tempting than the one before it. Fans of eloquent and meaningful romantic historical fiction will want to savour every word. Not only are the historical details well presented, but the love story that unfolds is exhilarating and stunning. A deep, enriching lesson on the nature of life and love.” — Mirella Patzer – Historical Novel Review Blog

Read more about the book and some of the characters on the Trencarrow Secret website and more about the author on her blog, The Disorganised Author.

June is Audiobook Month: narrator interview

The Audio Publishers Association writes that “Every June, the APA carries out a campaign to enhance visibility, awareness and popularity for audiobooks by directly reaching out to consumers. In 2010, over 100 authors and narrators teamed up with publishers to reach approximately 4 million people through all forms of social media.”

As our contribution to the fun, the fragrant Miette has been hounding gently encouraging Iambik narrators to answer a few questions for publication on the blog.

Read my little contribution on the Iambik blog.

As your reward, you can enter #jiam2011 at checkout on Iambik.com for 50% off all titles until the end of June 2011. Stock up for next year!

New LibriVox recording: The Wonderful Garden

Here, at long last, is The Wonderful Garden, or the Three C.s by Edith Nesbit. Sorry you have had to wait so long for it, owing to unforeseen and unwanted circumstances, but the good thing is that it is catalogued this year – exactly 100 years after it was first published.

It is a delightful book. E. Nesbit always charms both children and adults. I love the way she pops up as the author from time to time. It is dated, of course – children who know Latin… and wear their school blazers during the holidays… and have servants… and play pretend games about Arabs and Red Indians. But oh, I did enjoy it, and I hope you will too.

It is a book that few will have read – there is still no online text for it, and I bought a first edition just so that I could record it. Battered and well-read it was, and must have been enjoyed by many children.

Here is the LibriVox catalogue page: http://librivox.org/the-wonderful-garden-or-the-three-c-s-by-e-nesbit/

Or direct links are available on the Books for Children page of this blog.

Gore Vidal wrote a most interesting article in 1964 about Edith Nesbit, which is available here.

Christmas audiobook release

Here’s my little Christmas present to my listeners: Dickens’ second Christmas book, published the year after A Christmas Carol, and a year before The Cricket on the Hearth, but mostly, and unjustifiably, forgotten.

It is called The Chimes, and it is my one-woman mission to make Toby Veck (Trotty) as well-known as Bob Cratchit. The Chimes are the church bells, in which Toby, a poor ticket-porter, believes he hears messages, and they play a major part in the story.

It has, like all Dickens’ Christmas books, a strong moral message, and reminds us what absolute poverty is really like. Dickens was a champion of the poor decades before Charles Booth’s survey in the 1890s, when poverty was still widely seen as the fault of the individual.

Make sure you have a hankie, unless you have a heart of stone.

http://librivox.org/the-chimes-by-charles-dickens/

Cleek rides again!

I have just catalogued The Riddle of the Frozen Flame, the latest adventure of Hamilton Cleek.

I’m afraid it isn’t as good as previous Cleek mysteries, and I will choose more carefully if I record another. However, if you like Cleek (and I have to confess a sneaking partiality for the gentleman) I hope you will enjoy it.

http://librivox.org/the-riddle-of-the-frozen-flame-by-mary-e-hanshew-and-thomas-w-hanshew/

New LibriVox recording

My latest LibriVox recording may be an acquired taste, but was fun to read: Christmas Comes but Once a Year by John Leighton. It is the tale of the snobbish Brown family at Christmas time, 1850, and their experiences with the dubious Captain Bonaventure de Camp, the new tenant of the other half of their suburban villa.

It did make me laugh, even though sometimes I thought the endless sentences of the wordy Mr. Leighton would drive me nuts. In addition, interested in the Victorian period as I am, I was enthralled by this peep into the social life of a well-to-do family in the mid-19th century.

http://librivox.org/christmas-comes-but-once-a-year-by-john-leighton/

New Recordings March 2010

I have been rather remiss in keeping this blog up to date, for which I apologise.

Since I last updated properly, I have completed several solo recordings:

Fiction: The British Barbarians by Grant Allen
The Riddle of the Purple Emperor by Mary E. Hanshew and Thomas W. Hanshew (further adventures of Hamilton Cleek).
Non-fiction: How to Sing by Lilli Lehmann
Children’s fiction: Merry Clappum Junction by Arnold Kennedy

Works in progress:

Travel: East by West: a Journey in the Recess by Henry Lucy
Fiction: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Children’s fiction: The Wonderful Garden by E. Nesbit

I promise to update this blog as soon as I complete each of these.

You can also follow my new releases on Twitter @RuthGolding. Bah, now I shall have to remember to tweet regularly too.