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 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 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 BraithwaiteGiovanni 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 BraithwaiteSylvestro 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 BraithwaiteThe 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 BraithwaiteLuigi 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 BraithwaiteAdriano 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 BraithwaiteThomas Coryat on Choral Performance Practice and a ‘supernaturall voice’ in Venice (1611)‘Sometimes there sung sixeteene or twenty men together, having their master or moderator to keepe them in order ; and when they sung...
Tim BraithwaiteNicola 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 BraithwaiteNicola Vicentino on Vowel Alteration (1555)‘In setting these vowels, composers are advised that some, such as a, o, and u, are amenable to runs in the low registers and support the...