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...

‘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...

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

‘To Marcus Pabius Quintilianus You would think but slightly, my dear Fabius, of all these [the accomplishments of the citharists], if,...

‘The Cathedral bell is striking two, and in the passage boys scud to and fro shouting “Practice!" and racing to their places in the...

‘Whether descant may be commendable in the divine service, and of certain things which ought to be eschewed in song. Like as it is...

‘The harmonic flower [flos harmonicus] is, however, an ornament of the voice or sound, and a very fast and storm-like vibration. Some...

This kind [the motet] of all others which are made on a ditty [text], requireth most art, and moveth and causeth most strange effects in...

‘On the difference between the syllables/voices [stimmen]. From the above mentioned six syllables two are called b molles, ut and fa,...

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...

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

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

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

‘The common singing-men in cathedral churches are a bad society, and yet a company of good fellows, that roar deep in the quire, deeper...

‘All the singers of France have learnt the Italian style that they now call ‘French’, but cannot express perfectly the tremulous...

‘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...

‘Not content even with these things, we have brought into the churches some kind of laboursome and theatrical music...