‘Nonetheless there are others who are of the opinion that half of the note value of the syncopated semibreve is deemed to be dead—whereby...

‘Although they are set only in the system of the cantus, these examples of accentus and variation of intervals can be used in the other...

III. Diminution Diminution occurs when larger notes are broken into many parts by the smaller ones in motion. The which must not...

Dowland’s Translation: ‘Every man lives after his owne humour; neither are all men governed by the same lawes, and divers Nations have...

‘How often may the master [Palestrina] himself have conducted it [the Missa Papae Marcelli] with sublime enthusiasm, full of the fire...

‘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...

‘What Must be Observed when Improvising a Third Part on Two Given Parts: Skilled contrapuntists occasionally want to improvise a third...

[fol. 22r.] Chapter two: of the definition and the division of melodía Melodía is to adorn and to grace the sounds of plainchant. Melodía...

‘[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...

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

‘Then out the People yawl an hundred Parts, Some roar, some whine, some creak like the Wheels of Carts; Such Notes the Gam-ut yet did...

‘Today, music has such great license in churches that even along with the canon of the mass certain obscene little ditties sometimes have...

‘To teach the art of singing well and elegantly to a boy, I advise first that he choose a teacher who sings pleasantly and sweetly with a...

'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,...

Davids Psalms sung in our English Meeter differ much from Cathedrall singing, which is so abominable, in which is sung almost every...

‘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...