'The Strascino [slide] (which is the continued plasma of the Ancients, and which is done by raising or lowering continuously the voice,...

‘[Alemanno Benelli:] But because of the presumptuous audacity of performers who try to invent passaggi, I will not say sometimes, but...

'As for singing upon a plainsong, it has been in times past in England, as every man knows, and is at this day in other places, the...

'Among the compositions made above a cantus firmus by the masters of the art, those [made] above introits are unique, and are used...

‘I have no doubt at all that the counterpoints above a cantus firmus from the introits by Constanzo Porta and Giovanni Matteo Asola,...

‘The hundred passaggi above, all having been printed in various works by modern authors, have been assembled with much study and...

*Notes* - The system (c.1500-1800) is based on three overlapping ’hexachords’ of six syllables - do re mi fa sol la. - In order to change...

‘You may observe, that the different tones of the voice are produced by the different positions which the larynx assumes in its rising...

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

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

I was recently flicking through an instruction book aimed at teaching modern singers how to ornament eighteenth-century repertoire, and I...

I become nauseated when I recall some singers I have heard, whether solo or accompanied by others, improvising on a choirbook, not caring...

‘Progressive rules for daily practice proportioned to the age and ability of Pupils: The intention of this Exercise is to acquire the art...

‘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,...

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

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

The extract below from William Babbel’s ‘Suits of the most Celebrated Lessons’ (1717) shows a transcription for keyboard of the famous...

‘Sometimes there sung sixeteene or twenty men together, having their master or moderator to keepe them in order ; and when they sung...

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

Tosi describes two main types of articulation for the performance of fast notes, the ‘marked’ (‘battuto’) and ‘glided’ (‘scivolo.’)