‘A few trials will suffice to prove that every shade of passion, however slight, will effect in a peculiar way the physical condition,...

This morning I went with young Oliver to his conservatorio of S. Onofrio, and visited all the rooms, where the boys practice, sleep and...

Davids Psalms sung in our English Meeter differ much from Cathedrall singing, which is so abominable, in which is sung almost every...

‘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...

‘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...

‘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]...

The summary below is from Jean-Paul Montagnier, “Le Chant Sur Le Livre Au XVIIIe Siècle: Les Traités de Louis-Joseph Marchand et Henry...

‘... France, where musical taste has always been somewhat backwards, has never abandoned the mania for improvising on plainchant. The...

‘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...

Ԥ 5. Every Air has (at least) three Cadences, that are all three final. Generally speaking, the Study of the Singers of the present...

‘When several notes are sung to one syllable, the performance is called melismatic singing. Thus, every long or short extension of a...

I was recently flicking through an instruction book aimed at teaching modern singers how to ornament eighteenth-century repertoire, and I...

‘The loudness or softness, especially on long and serious notes, must be observed even by those who sing the supporting voices [not the...

I become nauseated when I recall some singers I have heard, whether solo or accompanied by others, improvising on a choirbook, not caring...

‘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...

‘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...

‘In honour of immortal God, the Supreme Pontiff Nicholas V filled the most sumptuous sanctuary that he had erected among the papal courts...

‘The preceding examples receive their colouring from the discrimination of the singer; but a still nicer task remains for him to execute,...

We understand by [the term] vibrating sounds a certain undulation or trembling of held notes which indicate the emotion of the spirit...

‘Note on this occasion that temperament is not the same on all instruments, it is inevitable, when many sorts of instruments play a piece...