Tim BraithwaiteFrancesco Lamperti on the Open and Closed Timbres‘ARTICLE V. OF THE QUALITIES OF THE VOICE. Q. How many different qualities are there in the voice ? A. The principal are two, the open...
Tim BraithwaiteDomenico Corri on Larynx Height Rising and Falling with Pitch:‘You may observe, that the different tones of the voice are produced by the different positions which the larynx assumes in its rising...
Tim BraithwaiteManuel Garcia on how to Express the Different ‘Shades of Passion’‘A few trials will suffice to prove that every shade of passion, however slight, will effect in a peculiar way the physical condition,...
Tim BraithwaiteCharles Burney on the Students at the Conservatorio of S. Onofrio: Wednesday 31st October 1770This morning I went with young Oliver to his conservatorio of S. Onofrio, and visited all the rooms, where the boys practice, sleep and...
Tim BraithwaiteA Comparison Between Cathedral Singing and the Singing of David’s Psalms (1644)Davids Psalms sung in our English Meeter differ much from Cathedrall singing, which is so abominable, in which is sung almost every...
Tim BraithwaiteGiovanni Bardi on the Ancient and Modern Methods of Singing Different Modes (c.1578)‘It should be noted that the [ancient] tonoi were not sung as we do [ours], that is, the bass [singer] intones re or ut or some other...
Tim BraithwaiteThomas Morley Describing a Hypothetical Competition in Improvised Singing (1597)‘When I learned descant [1] from my master Bold he, seeing me so inclined and willing to learn, always had me in his company, and because...
Tim BraithwaiteReminiscences of a Cacophonous (!) way of ‘Singing on the Book’ in Early 19th-Century France‘I know of no musician today who has any idea what it means to sing on the book. It was an improvised and simultaneous melody [chant]...
Tim BraithwaiteSummary of the Rules of Singing on the Book: Those of “strict counterpoint” in two voicesThe summary below is from Jean-Paul Montagnier, “Le Chant Sur Le Livre Au XVIIIe Siècle: Les Traités de Louis-Joseph Marchand et Henry...
Tim BraithwaiteImprovising on a Plainchant (Chanter sur le Livre) as described in Early Nineteenth-Century France‘... France, where musical taste has always been somewhat backwards, has never abandoned the mania for improvising on plainchant. The...
Tim BraithwaiteFriedrich Weber on Choral and Solo Singing and Training the Choral Voice (1800)‘Singing exercises that last too long and involve too much effort make the voice screeching, cause the voice to go out of tune, and are...
Tim BraithwaiteTosi on the Excesses of Modern (1723) Singers, and the Patience of the Waiting OrchestraԤ 5. Every Air has (at least) three Cadences, that are all three final. Generally speaking, the Study of the Singers of the present...
Tim BraithwaiteJohann Hiller on improving the text setting of even ‘the best composers.’ (1780)‘When several notes are sung to one syllable, the performance is called melismatic singing. Thus, every long or short extension of a...
Tim BraithwaiteDo Tosi and his commentators prefer too many or too few ornaments?I was recently flicking through an instruction book aimed at teaching modern singers how to ornament eighteenth-century repertoire, and I...
Tim BraithwaiteJohann Friedrich Agricola (1757) and Wolfgang Caspar Printz (1678) on Choral Singing‘The loudness or softness, especially on long and serious notes, must be observed even by those who sing the supporting voices [not the...
Tim BraithwaiteGiovanni Bardi Discussing Good and Bad Singing in a Letter to Giulio Caccini (c.1578)I become nauseated when I recall some singers I have heard, whether solo or accompanied by others, improvising on a choirbook, not caring...
Tim BraithwaiteJohn Crompton on Suitable Voices for the Countertenor Part (1778)‘Suitable voices for the middle, or counter part are rather difficult to find; but let no-one, for that reason, attempt it with a feigned...
Tim BraithwaiteThomas Morley on Transposition, and the Difficulty of Solmising Pieces with More than One Flat‘The music is indeed good, but you have set it in such a key that no man would have done, unless it were intended to be played on the...
Tim BraithwaiteCardinal Domenico Capranica (1400-1458) on the singers of Pope Nicholas V‘In honour of immortal God, the Supreme Pontiff Nicholas V filled the most sumptuous sanctuary that he had erected among the papal courts...
Tim BraithwaiteIsaac Nathan’s Annotations on a Handel Aria and the Swelling and Dying of the Voice‘The preceding examples receive their colouring from the discrimination of the singer; but a still nicer task remains for him to execute,...
