‘As for singing on the book in many parts made impromptu, my sentiment is that it is almost impossible to do well… I maintain that it is...

‘Singing on the book. A Plainchant or counterpoint in four parts, which the musicians compose and sing impromptu on a single [part]:...

‘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...

‘I would say to you, in an entirely insinuated way, that you must make yourself sweetened [adoucir] by a mild [legere] operation, which...

‘I have said that the tenor of the Italians was the haute-contre of the French; at least the tenors hardly differ if...

‘At five o’clock I went to the Concert Spirituel, the only public amusement allowed on these great festivals. It is a grand concert...

The repugnance which the Italians have for strong and loud voices, such as our own baritones [basse-tailles] and even haute-contres...

‘Observation teaches us that the Larynx rises in its entirety with the high pitches, and that it descends with the low pitches...