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Cacophony!

Reimagining Historical Voices

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    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    Giovanni Camillo Maffei on Those who ‘Sing the Bass, the Tenor, and any Other Part with Great Ease.’

    ‘Thus I say, that these voices are born from the matter of the tube [throat]; and by tube [throat] I mean all the parts mentioned above,...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Leopold von Sonnleithner Remembering in 1857 Johann Vogl’s Singing and Influence on Franz Schubert

    ‘Without a doubt, [Johann] Michael Vogl stands foremost among those who recognised and promoted Schubert’s genius early on. As far as...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Sylvestro Ganassi on Imitating the ‘Galanteria’ of Singers Through a Trembling of the Fingers (1535)

    ‘...you would be compelled to be an imitator of the proficient and expert singer, and [this] would entail an instrumental performance...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Thomas Robinson (1603) on ‘Passionate Play’

    ‘Now you shall have a general rule to grace it, as with passionate play, and relishing it: and note that the longer the time is of a...

    Tim Braithwaite

    John Arnold on Collective, Florid Psalm Singing (1761)

    Of the Several Graces Used in Music: The first and most principle grace, necessary to be learned, is the trill or shake; that is, to move...

    Tim Braithwaite

    The Performance of Passaggi in Irregular Rhythms According to Lodovico Zacconi (1596)

    ‘All these things require aptitude, agility, and time, without which nothing can be achieved, and the singer, in using or adopting them...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Luigi Zenobi on the Role of the Inner Voices in Polyphonic Singing (c.1600)

    Since we’ve already seen Zenobi’s comments on the requirements for a soprano (https://www.cacophonyhistoricalsinging.com/post/luigi-zenob...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Johann Quantz on ‘Allzuhäufigen Trillerns’

    §6 ‘Some persons believe that they will appear learned if they crowd an Adagio with many graces, and twist them around in such fashion...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Adriano Banchieri on Cacophonous (!) Counterpoint

    ‘In Rome...while singing [extempore] counterpoint, in the mind (alla mente) above the bass, nobody does that which his partner sings, but...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Nicola Vicentino on Ensemble Ornamentation (1555)

    ‘Moreover, such diminutions should be used in [works for] more than four voices, because diminution always causes the loss of numerous...

    Tim Braithwaite

    Johannes Tinctoris on 'Counterpoint' and 'Res Facta' (1477)

    ‘Moreover, simple as much as diminished counterpoint is made in two ways, that is, either in writing or mentally. Counterpoint...

     

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