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Cacophony!

Reimagining Historical Voices

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    Tim Braithwaite

    Manuel 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 Braithwaite

    Charles Burney on the Students at the Conservatorio of S. Onofrio: Wednesday 31st October 1770

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

    Tim Braithwaite

    A 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 Braithwaite

    Giovanni 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 Braithwaite

    Thomas 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 Braithwaite

    Reminiscences 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 Braithwaite

    Summary of the Rules of Singing on the Book: Those of “strict counterpoint” in two voices

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

    Tim Braithwaite

    Improvising 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 Braithwaite

    Friedrich 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 Braithwaite

    Tosi on the Excesses of Modern (1723) Singers, and the Patience of the Waiting Orchestra

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

    Tim Braithwaite

    Johann 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 Braithwaite

    Do 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 Braithwaite

    Johann 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 Braithwaite

    Giovanni 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 Braithwaite

    John 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 Braithwaite

    Thomas 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 Braithwaite

    Cardinal 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 Braithwaite

    Isaac 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,...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Charles de Bériot on ‘the Vibrating Sound’ in Singing and Violin Playing (1858)

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

    Tim Braithwaite

    Jean-Laurent de Béthizy on Singing with Instruments Using Artificial Tuning Systems (1764)

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

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