Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation by Johann Adam Hiller (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs)

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Hiller’s Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation was published in Germany in 1780 and is an important manual on vocal technique and performance in the eighteenth century. Hiller was a masterly educator and was active not only as a teacher but also as a critic, theorist, composer, conductor, and music director. Thus, his observations served not only to raise the standards of singing in Germany, based on the Italian model, but to present complicated material, particularly ornamentation, in a manner that his peers, the middle class, could emulate. This present edition, translated with an introduction and extensive commentary by musicologist Suzanne J. Beicken, makes Hiller’s treatise available for the first time in English. With its emphasis on practical aspects of ornamentation, declamation, and style, it will be valuable to instrumentalists as well as singers and is a significant contribution to the understanding of performance practice in the eighteenth century.  .  is Lecturer in historical musicology at the University of Maryland and is also a performer, concert manager, and music administrator. She is founder of the award-winning Maryland Boy Choir.

C AMBR ID G E MU SI CAL TEXTS AND M ONOGRAP HS General editors: John Butt and Laurence Dreyfus This series has as its centers of interest the history of performance and the history of instruments. It includes annotated translations of authentic historical texts on music and monographs on various aspects of historical performance and instrumental history. Recent titles John Butt Bach Interpretation: Articulation Marks in the Sources of J. S. Bach 0 521 37239 9 Nicholas Thistlethwaite The Making of the Victorian Organ 0 521 66364 4 (paperback) Christopher Page (trans. and ed.) Summa musice: A Thirteenth-Century Manual for Singers 0 521 40420 7 Ardal Powell (trans. and ed.) The Virtuoso Flute Player by Johann George Tromlitz 0 521 39067 2 (hardback) 0 521 39977 7 (paperback) Beth Bullard (trans. and ed.) Musica getutscht: A Treatise on Musical Instruments by Sebastian Virdung 0 521 30830 5 David Rowland A History of Pianoforte Pedalling 0 521 40266 2 John Butt Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque 0 521 43327 4 Rebecca Harris-Warrick and Carol Marsh Musical Theatre at the Court of Louis XIV Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos 0 521 38012 X Julianne C. Baird (trans. and ed.) Introduction to the Art of Singing by Johann Friedrich Agricola 0 521 45428 X Valerie Walden One Hundred Years of Violoncello A History of Technique and Performance Practice, 1740–1840 0 521 55449 7 Bernard Brauchli The Clavichord 0 521 63067 3

Illustration on title page of Hiller’s Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange (Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation), published in Germany in 1780. Photograph by John Consoli

TREATISE ON VOCAL PERFORMAN CE AND ORNAMENTATI O N BY JOHANN ADAM HI L L ER     S UZA N N E J. B E I C K E N U N IV E R SITY O F M A RY L A ND

          The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 2004 First published in printed format 2001 ISBN 0-511-03718-X eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-35354-8 hardback

Contents

Acknowledgments

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

page ix

Translator’s introduction and commentary Note on the text and musical examples

1 32

     

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Preface Dedication On the qualities of the human voice and its improvement On good performance and how to use the voice On good performance, with regard to text and music On good performance, with regard to ornaments On good performance, with regard to passaggi On good performance, with regard to the various genres of vocal forms and in consideration of performing in various places On cadenzas On arbitrary variation of the aria Appendix: Biographical information on musicians mentioned by Hiller

35 49 51 56 66 72 101

Bibliography Index

110 121 135 155 185 190

vii

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the many people who encouraged and supported me in this project: Leonard Ratner, who first opened my eyes (and ears) to a new way of understanding eighteenth-century music; Joan Smiles, for introducing me to Hiller; Shelley G. Davis, for introducing me to Cambridge University Press and for his careful and thorough reading of the manuscript; the late Bernd Baselt, for his generosity; Mary Jean Simpson, for her editorial expertise; April Nash Greenan, for her proficiency in checking and editing the musical examples; John Butt, for being such an astute series editor; Penny Souster at Cambridge University Press, for her long-suffering patience; Lucy Carolan, for her insightful editing; my husband, Peter Beicken, for his years of scholarly and emotional companionship; my father, Leo Bartel, who waited so long for the publication of this work; my mother, Trudy Bartel (librarian at heart) who researched numerous details; and Julie and Sascha for their patience.

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Translator’s introduction and commentary

 Hiller’s Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, offered here in English as “Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation,” is an important manual on performance practice worthy of being considered in the company of works by such familiar figures as Quantz, Leopold Mozart, C. P. E. Bach, Mattheson, and Marpurg, to name a few of the major eighteenth-century theorists. A masterly educator, Hiller initiated much improvement in the state of singing in Germany through his teaching and diverse activities as critic, composer, conductor, and music director in Leipzig. With this treatise and the earlier, more elementary tutor, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange of 1774 (“Treatise on Vocal Performance and Technique”), Hiller’s goal was to educate German singers in the elaborate traditions of vocal art emulating the superior achievements of the Italians. As a pragmatic and insightful pedagogue, Hiller aimed at a presentation of performance practice material that would serve to raise the standards of singing in Germany. His 1774 treatise on “Richtigkeit” represents, according to John Butt, the “most radical break with traditional methods of ‘mainstream’ school singing.” Together with “the originality of his pedagogic approach,” this shows Hiller’s “deep insight into the learning process – or, rather, his method conforms to a more ‘enlightened,’ psychological awareness of the pupil’s natural learning abilities.”1 The subsequent 1780 treatise on “Zierlichkeit” updates the traditional system of ornamentation, particularly the 1

John Butt, Music Education and the Art of Performance in the German Baroque (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 173, 174, 176. Butt considers Hiller “the most notable figure in German music education during the latter half of the eighteenth century” (p. 167). In commenting on the 1774 treatise, Butt observes that it “doubtless reflects Hiller’s experience as a teacher in his own music conservatory” (given that he was yet to become Cantor of the Thomasschule), while also stating that it “was more of a prescription than a reflection of actual practice in school music” (p. 173). In his 1774 treatise Hiller gives “perhaps the clearest picture of German singing in the 1770s and its relation to the school environment.” According to Butt (p. 167) Hiller also “uncovers what he sees as an unthinking attitude towards learning, one that evidently seemed anomalous in the Age of Enlightenment.” For an older view of Hiller’s achievements, see Friedrich Rochlitz, “Johann Adam Hiller,” Für Freunde der Tonkunst, vol. I, 3rd edn. (Leipzig: Carl Cnobloch, 1868), p. 27.

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work of Tosi–Agricola, from the viewpoint of a new “enlightened” musical sensibility addressing “the more advanced, potentially professional singer, in an attempt to raise the general standard of singing in Germany.”2 Johann Adam Hiller represents a musical culture that increasingly sought distinction from that of the court music sponsored by the aristocracy in the eighteenth century. Although he was occasionally employed by aristocratic sponsors, Hiller was a musician who exemplified many of the virtues of his social background: honesty, diligence, versatility, adaptability, and innovation. The historical and sociological situation placed limitations on the middle class in its desire for political and cultural emancipation. As in court life, there was room to assimilate the accomplishments of foreign musical cultures. Hiller was an important figure in the endeavor to shape a musical idiom which gave expression to the feelings and aspirations of his peers. While enlightened despotism and absolutism brought about significant cultural changes, middle-class artists and intellectuals sought to break down many barriers and privileges by popularizing learning and art. This movement, observed as one of the key projects of the Enlightenment, is aptly described in one of the more ubiquitous sources: Philosophy, science, literature, and the fine arts all began to address a general public beyond the select group of experts and connoisseurs. Popular treatises were written to bring culture within the reach of all, while novelists and playwrights began depicting everyday people with everyday emotions. Powerful support for this popularization came from the “back to nature” movement, which prized sentiment in literature and the arts.3

As a versatile composer of Singspiele, Hiller contributed significantly to the efforts to create a popular musical culture that reflected the cultural life of Leipzig and aimed beyond its environs. His “pioneering work as an impresario” was groundbreaking in meeting the needs of a relatively new phenomenon, the “theatrical singer.”4 Above all, Hiller’s greatest accomplishment was that of mediator and pedagogue for an audience that increasingly showed interest in musical activity and entertainment. In this context he understood that his purpose as a musician was to be a teacher to the future singers of his nation: “so many elements of his teaching are directly applicable to the needs of his age.”5 All aspects of his musical endeavors are to be seen in the light of this personal and professional mission. Hiller the conductor, the performer, the teacher, the theorist, and critic can only be grasped fully if one looks at his achievements as 2

3

5

Butt, Music Education, p. 177. Hiller’s stature with regard to earlier theorists and his indebtedness to treatises, particularly to the works of Tosi and Agricola, is emphasized by Julianne C. Baird in Introduction to the Art of Singing by Johann Friedrich Agricola, trans. and ed. Julianne C. Baird (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 34: “Updating Agricola by providing specific directions and musical examples of how these ornaments should be performed pertinent to his own day, Hiller, the only other notable writer of a German singing treatise in the era of Agricola, used and modernized the Anleitung [i.e. Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung zur Singkunst (Berlin: George Ludewig Winter, 1757) and supplanted Agricola as the foremost German writer in the eighteenth-century tradition of singing and as an authority on ornamentation.” This summarizing view in Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 5th edn. (New 4 Butt, Music Education, p. 177. York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), p. 443. Ibid., p. 179.


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manifestations of an extraordinary service and unrelenting dedication to the cause of cultural and national identity. To meet the challenges of the day, Hiller employed his resourcefulness and versatility in playing several instruments, conducting, and composing, although his greatest love remained the human voice. Ever since he came to know Hasse’s operas in Dresden, his preference was established and reinforced. As a labor of love he painstakingly copied Hasse’s scores, familiarizing himself with his idol’s art and operatic tradition. Hiller followed through with his unwavering dedication to vocal music from the Dresden years (1746–51) to his Cantorship at the Thomasschule in Leipzig (1789–1801). In Hiller the musician and theorist two traditions intersect: the theoretical line of vocal pedagogy as represented by Tosi, Agricola, Marpurg, and Mancini, and the musical practice of Handel, Hasse, C. H. Graun, C. P. E. Bach, and W. A. Mozart. It is in his vocal treatises that Hiller demonstrates the results of his endeavors in theory and practice to improve the quality of singing in Germany. Having heard many Italian virtuosi perform and through his acquaintance with the writings of Burney and Mancini, Hiller became aware of the superior training available to singers in Italy. He complained often and persistently about the lack of training facilities for singers in Germany, as the German school system no longer placed any special emphasis on this subject. The Italians, however, had special music schools called Ospedali or conservatories: in Venice there were four such conservatories, and Naples had three.6 Italy also had many more opera houses; the larger cities sometimes boasted several. In Germany there was no longer much indigenous opera and the comedies often performed by traveling acting companies were unsuited to German singers.7 Hiller found that the state of music in the church also left much to be desired. To improve these discouraging conditions he undertook two major steps: first to provide the opportunity to learn how to sing properly, and second to motivate singers to acquire such musical training. Since vocal music was of great importance in the eighteenth century, Hiller devoted much time and energy to engendering significant change and improvement in the German tradition, in the hope of raising it to a level comparable to Italian vocalism. Hiller’s concern for an identifiable German style in singing and vocal music was part of the general movement in the arts through which the German middle class sought to establish its own terrain within the Enlightenment. The drive to create a national theater, led by many artists of the time, among them brilliant writers such as Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller, was an integral part of the movement toward a national identity and culture. In tune with these emancipatory trends, Hiller’s wish to overcome the Italian domination in singing led to his 6

7

See “Preface,” p. 39 below. As Butt, Music Education, p. 176, notes: “In contrast to the German treatises on ornamental singing from the previous century, Hiller lays great stress on the thoroughness of Italian music education.” He also observes that Hiller “is fully conversant with the practices in Italian conservatories.” See “Preface,” p. 38 below.

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pivotal role in the creation of Singspiel. In his attempt to nationalize opera, he aimed at a lighter and more popular form. This endeavor to contribute to national culture positions Hiller at the forefront of major cultural developments in the eighteenth century. Whatever opera took place after the Thirty Years War (1618–48) at German courts, especially in Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin, almost exclusively employed Italian singers. The lack of opportunity for German singers was so severe that they had to travel to Italy to study singing and return not only with Italian training but with Italian names as well, essentially coming home as Italian artists.8 The resulting Italianization, for both economic and opportunistic reasons, caused resentment among many Germans and attempts ensued to establish opera companies for home-grown talents as well. Occasionally, there were attempts at creating German opera, notably the Weissenfels court theater and the Hamburg civic opera. The wealthy port of Hamburg founded its own company in 1678 which lasted until 1739. Its most successful director was Reinhard Keiser (1674–1739), whose successor, Georg Philipp Telemann, assumed the directorship in 1722 after Keiser had departed for Copenhagen. Telemann, however, could not prevent the demise of the Hamburg opera, and when German opera failed Italian opera once again gained the upper hand. Like Hamburg, Leipzig was another major trade center with a wealthy, culturally aspiring middle class. Steeped in patrician tradition, Leipzig was at the center of some of the most frequented trade routes to Hamburg, Nuremberg, Vienna, Danzig, Strasbourg, Frankfurt am Main, and Breslau. The impact on Leipzig at the hub of the crossroads was overwhelming: its trade fairs became the meeting places for all German merchants.9 Economically prosperous, Leipzig developed a rich and diverse culture with a flourishing musical life. Unlike other important musical centers of the eighteenth century – Paris, Vienna, Prague, Mannheim, and Berlin – which revolved around court life, Leipzig was determined by the tastes of the trade-oriented middle class. Boasting approximately 30,000 inhabitants in the early eighteenth century, this flourishing city had the nimbus of a “little Paris” and a “little paradise” as well.10 A proud city government not only administered to the needs of the people but also sought to keep high cultural standards. The presence of its prestigious university contributed to a lively intellectual atmosphere enhanced by Leipzig’s status as a center for publishing made famous by its annual book fairs. In the 1720s there was hardly another city in Germany (perhaps with the exception of Hamburg) that boasted such vigorous commerce and modern life. In Leipzig, the churches were an important part of the vibrant cultural 8

9

10

Karl Peiser, Johann Adam Hiller: Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Leipzig: Gebrüder Hug & Co., 1894), p. 41. Eberhard Rebling, Die soziologischen Grundlagen der Stilwandlung der Musik in Deutschland um die Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Saalfeld, Ostpreussen: Günthers Buchdruckerei, 1935), pp. 10–11. Arnold Schering, Musikgeschichte Leipzigs in drei Bänden, Vol. II, Von 1650 bis 1723 (Leipzig: Fr. Kistner & C. F. W. Siegel, 1926), p. 6.


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heritage. There were five of them apart from the University chapels, and all had daily services in addition to the special services at festival times. The people of Leipzig had ample opportunity to worship in churches where music was an essential part of the service. While sacred music was available in abundance, several attempts were made over the years to establish opera in Leipzig and to foster the development of German opera in its indigenous form. As part of the effort to foster German opera, an initiative in 1743 tried to establish Singspiel in Germany by following an English model. However, this initial attempt resulted in instant failure. Almost ten years passed before Gottlieb Heinrich Koch, one of the leading comedians and Director of the Leipzig theater, made another attempt in 1752 with the same work, Der Teufel ist los (from the English Devil to Pay), but with new music by Standfuss, a violinist for his ballet troupe.11 This new effort met with a great deal of success. Standfuss gave his music a certain folk-song quality that Hiller later made a distinctive feature of his own Singspiele. Both Koch and Standfuss produced another Singspiel, Der stolze Bauer Jochem Tröbs, which also found high acclaim in Berlin. The subsequent performance of the second part of Der stolze Bauer, however, met with a cool reception; the text seemed outdated, and the music had lost its appeal. As a formula for a German equivalent to the English ballad opera, Italian opera buffa, or the new French opéra comique (better known as comédie mêlée d’ariettes, a “comedy [in spoken dialogue] mingled with songs”),12 the Singspiel still had to overcome more obstacles before it became successful. Among the difficulties encountered by this light, entertaining genre was the rapid change in taste typical of this period. These volatile conditions made a lasting acceptance of the Singspiel difficult. In the course of time, however, Singspiel was successful. In 1764 Koch approached the well-established poet Christian Felix Weisse, who, in turn, asked Hiller to write new music for Der Teufel ist los, the same opera that had been performed in 1752. Since the performers were actors and not singers, Hiller had to meet the standards of untrained voices by reducing vocal demands. The result was an emphasis on the Lied. As it turned out, this accessible vocal form was both pleasing and entertaining and became an instant hit with the audience. The ordinary burghers enjoyed nothing more than simple tunes which they could hum, whistle, and sing. The popular Lied, replacing the more elaborate Italian aria, was something common people could relate to and freely imitate. Here, in the strophic Lied form, Hiller found his best musical medium. From the beginning of his collaboration with Weisse, he was able to use the melodic lines of the Lied adroitly for characterization and comic effect. Consistently tailoring his vocal 11

12

See Hans Michael Schletterer, Das deutsche Singspiel von seinen ersten Anfängen bis auf die neueste Zeit (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1863) and Georgy Calmus, “Die ersten deutschen Singspiele von Standfuss und Hiller,” Publikationen der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, Beihefte, vol. VI, 2nd sequence (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1908). Standfuss, on whom there is scant biographical information, never reaped the rewards worthy of his talents, and he died in poverty in a Hamburg hospital in 1756, according to Schletterer (Calmus gives a different date, 1757 or even later). Donald Jay Grout with Hermine Weigel Williams, A Short History of Opera, 3rd edn. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), p. 295.

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parts to fit the respective character on stage, Hiller used popular melodies for peasants and other members of the lower classes whereas kings and other noble figures were given more ornate, Italianate arias. This distinction also followed the contemporary pattern of presenting characters on stage according to the conventions of the social hierarchy. Hiller’s success in responding to the popular need for enjoyable and entertaining songs is reflected in Peiser’s assessment which credits him with arousing in the Germans a “Lust zum Singen.”13 Numerous other Singspiele followed, among them Die Jagd in 1770, which was probably the most popular of Hiller’s works in Germany and abroad.14 Hiller’s musical ingenuity is evidenced by the fact that he sensed the needs of the day while being able to come up with the right formula to satisfy them. The Singspiel was not just a pastime of popularizers and entertainment seekers. Some of the greatest creative minds and artists of the eighteenth century were attracted to this agreeable and versatile musical form. Goethe, himself drawn to Leipzig in part because of its cultural riches and student life, was intrigued by Singspiel. While studying at the university, he frequented performances of Singspiele, among them Hiller’s Lisuart und Dariolette which premiered on November 25, 1766. Because of its lightness and comic element, Singspiel held a particular attraction for Goethe, who subsequently wrote numerous Singspiel texts; one of the most significant examples is his attempt at a sequel to Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in 1798. Years later, in 1824, the aging Goethe remembered his student days in Leipzig and his encounters with the composer whom he endearingly recalled as “der gute Hiller.”15 Before Hiller decided to devote his life entirely to music after years of diverse studies and musical activities, he – like Goethe – had engaged in the study of law. He entered the University of Leipzig in 1751. But his love for music had been with him since his childhood and he did not fail to spend as much time on it as he could. Giving music lessons partially helped his financial situation as a student.16 Hiller also tried his luck at composition although he considered the works of this early Leipzig period insignificant. His attention was turned more 13

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Peiser, Hiller, p. 59. A more recent assessment of Hiller’s Singspiel production is to be found in Kyoto Kawada, “Studien zu den Singspielen von Johann Adam Hiller (1728–1804),” Ph.D. dissertation, PhilippsUniversität, Marburg an der Lahn, 1969. A slightly earlier Singspiel is Hiller’s Die Liebe auf dem Lande. Singspiel in 3 Akten (“Love in the Country. Singspiel in three acts”). The fair copy of the autograph, estimated to be from the year 1768, was on display at the Dresden exhibition in the Library of Congress, April 11–July 13, 1996. See Margrit B. Krewson (ed.), Dresden. Treasures from the Saxon State Library (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1996), catalog, item 151, p. 101. Goethe’s Singspiele are numerous. Here is a list of some from the 1770s: 1775 Claudine von Villa Bella (“Claudine of Villa Bella”) 1775 Erwin und Elmire (“Erwin and Elmire”) 1777 Lila (“Lila”) 1777 Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit (“The Triumph of Sensibility”) 1779 Jery und Bately (“Jery and Bately”) The references to Goethe are in Goethes Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, vols. X, XI (Stuttgart and Tübingen: Cotta, 1828). “Johann Adam Hiller,” in Lebensläufe deutscher Musiker von ihnen selbst erzählt, ed. Alfred Einstein, vol. I (Leipzig: C. F. W. Siegel, 1915), p. 35, fn. 10. See also Calmus, “Die ersten deutschen Singspiele,” p. 35.


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toward theoretical endeavors and his first attempt at writing about music, his Abhandlung von der Nachahmung in der Musik, completed in 1753, impressed Marpurg enough to publish it in volume 1 of his Historisch-kritische Beiträge. Continuing his studies of law at the university, Hiller was encouraged by this successful enterprise to persevere in his pursuit of musical matters on his own. Essentially Hiller was self-taught in many areas of interest, both in music training and in scholarship. While he lacked the financial means to afford a proper musical education himself, he managed to achieve a sufficient level of performance on the piano, flute, and violin that would allow him to make good use of it in his future career as composer, teacher, and theorist. However, in his autobiography, Hiller claimed to have no illusions about the limitations of his playing skills.17 Likewise his compositional output was, by the standards of his time, modest at best. Yet Hiller was confident of his voice and his accomplishments as a singer. The favorable reputation he had achieved in Leipzig reinforced his preoccupation with the human voice. Like so many of his contemporaries, he considered it the greatest instrument. At Leipzig University, the renowned Johann Christoph Gottsched18 and Christian Fürchtegott Gellert19 were among Hiller’s teachers. In 1754, through the assistance of Gellert, the young student was appointed to a position as tutor in the service of the Brühls, an aristocratic family whose residence in Dresden was one of the centers for the arts in that city.20 The possibility of studying music more thoroughly and the opportunity to come into direct contact with the latest artistic activities were particularly attractive to Hiller. Stimulated by this environment and secure in his modest position, he finally gave up his studies of law to devote himself completely to music. Characteristically, Hiller did not pursue music studies with a single goal in mind. A variety of activities attracted him, ultimately leading him to a much diversified career as an editor, musical director, conductor, composer, critic, 17

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19

20

Einstein (ed.), Lebensläufe, vol. I, p. 14. Despite this claim, Hiller seemed to have some confidence in his abilities as a violinist. He published an instruction manual, the Anweisung zum Violinspielen für Schüler und zum Selbstunterrichte (Leipzig, 1793). This “Tutor On Playing The Violin, For Students And Self-instruction” indicates Hiller’s general teaching interests and his experience as a self-trained player as well. Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700–66): German writer and Professor of Philosophy and Poetry at Leipzig University; a key figure of the early German literary Enlightenment and a major theorist and critic, he compiled a catalogue of German plays from 1450, including those with music. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–69): he studied philosophy and theology in Leipzig and served from 1745 as Professor of Poetry, Eloquence, and Ethics at Leipzig University. As author and teacher, he was highly esteemed by the intellectuals of his time and even was considered the “plus raisonnable de tous les savants allemands” by Frederick the Great. Hiller was in service to Count Heinrich Adolph von Brühl (1700–63), a nephew of Count Heinrich von Brühl, the powerful minister of Friedrich August II, the Polish King and Saxon Elector (1696–63). Being a tutor to the younger Brühl, Hiller attended some of the lavishly produced musical performances at the minister’s residence in Dresden, among them several of Hasse’s operas. The minister is notorious for the enormous wealth he accumulated from state funds, with ruinous consequences for Saxony’s finances. With a weakened army, he entered into the calamitous Seven Years War with Prussia (1756–63), which resulted in irreparable losses for Saxony, including the loss of the Polish crown. Brühl’s legendary book collection of 62,000 volumes was sold by his heirs in 1768 to the Kurfürstliche Bibliothek (Electoral Library) in Dresden, adding to its status as one of the finest collections in Germany.

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theorist, and teacher. While the Seven Years War, which had started in 1756, dampened cultural activities both in Dresden and in Leipzig, Hiller, undeterred by the impact of political events, continued his involvement in music, furthering his career by establishing important social contacts. Thus, he befriended Karl Wilhelm Müller, the future Mayor of Leipzig, who many years later was instrumental in providing a new facility for Hiller’s Gewandhaus Conzerte in 1781, a milestone in the history of public concert performances. Hiller suffered all his life from headaches and hypochondria, ailments that time and again interfered with his plans and activities. When his headaches became insufferable for a period in 1760, he left Count von Brühl’s service. Despite his ill health he managed to realize his idea of publishing the first weekly music periodical, the Musikalischer Zeitvertreib, which was brought out by Breitkopf & Härtel in the same year. However, at the time that this anthology of small musical compositions was received with acclaim, Hiller’s health problems again became more acute and forced him to discontinue publication of his innovative serial. The real turning point in Hiller’s career came in 1762 when he was asked to set up a series of subscription concerts which had been discontinued during the Seven Years War. With it came the opportunity to play a major role in Leipzig’s musical life by way of concert activities. In his earlier years in Leipzig, Hiller had ventured into musical composition, writing a Passionskantate, some chorale melodies for his teacher Gellert, and a collection of songs dedicated to his canary, a dedication made in jest that he withdrew in the second edition.21 Not unaware that he could not excel in composition save for the later Singspiele and cognizant that he also could not compete with such successful peers as C. P. E. Bach, Georg Benda, and Johann Joachim Quantz,22 Hiller shifted his interest to editing and musical directorship, compiling the anthology Loisir musical, which included some piano sonatas. But when he began the new concert series in 1763, opening it with a cantata of his own, he marked the beginning of his most significant career as musical director and leading figure of music life in Leipzig. Public concerts had a certain tradition in Leipzig, where one of the first groups to appear in public was the Collegium musicum of the University, a student society which had been founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1704 when he was a student of law and modern languages. After Telemann’s departure for Sorau, Melchior Hoffmann took over this post in 1704 and devoted himself not only to performance, but to practice, teaching, and educating the participants as well.23 As it turned out, the foundation for the future conservatory was being laid. By the time Johann Sebastian Bach became the Director of the Collegium musicum in 21 23

22 Einstein (ed.), Lebensläufe, vol. I, p. 18. Ibid., p. 14. Melchior Hoffmann (c. 1685–1715): German composer and conductor, who held the posts of director of music at the Neue Kirche, the opera, and the Collegium musicum – with the exception of a year’s stay in England (1710–11) – until his death.


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1729, these concerts were being offered in the coffee houses of Leipzig.24 As of 1746 there were three such music groups or Collegia weekly in town, indicating the proliferation of these musical activities and the growing interest among the city’s population. One group was directed by the organist of the Neue Kirche, the second by the organist of the Thomaskirche, and the third was under the direction of the “Herren Kaufleute und andere Personen in Drey Schwanen im Brühle.”25 This third group became known as the Grosses Conzert and it was the direct forerunner of the Gewandhaus Conzerte. From the beginning the Grosses Conzert was a great success. Hiller himself had previously been associated with the organization before he became its new director. From 1751 to 1754, while studying at the university, he had played flute and sung bass in the Grosses Conzert. It is possible that he already at that time influenced the programming and selection of compositions performed, in particular the music of Hasse.26 In addition to heading the Grosses Conzert and including as much vocal music as possible, Hiller gave private voice lessons to both boys and girls. When the number of students he was teaching grew considerably, he established his own Musikübende Gesellschaft. Several women, respected in the community for their musical talents, joined as harpsichord players and other members of the orchestra. Subsequently, this Musikchor achieved such a high level of playing that Hiller was able to give concerts with them, and the works he selected became increasingly difficult and demanding. Originally the performances were thought of as rehearsals, but in order to give the group the opportunity to perform in public, Hiller founded another concert series, the Concerts Spirituels. During Advent and Lent, the Musikübende Gesellschaft performed works in public which were appropriate to the season. In 1778, owing to a lack of funds, the Grosses Conzert was forced to stop temporarily, while the Musikübende Gesellschaft continued to flourish. Encouraged by his success as music director and pedagogue, Hiller founded a conservatory for students and amateurs in 1776. A public performance three years later achieved much acclaim, and the Musikübende Gesellschaft soon became one of the most esteemed groups in Leipzig, and their concerts “am Markte” in the Thomashaus were in great demand among the public, as had been the former concerts in the Drey Schwanen. Lacking, however, was an appropriate concert hall. Hiller’s friend the Bürgermeister Karl Wilhelm Müller was able to fulfill the wish for a new facility. In 1781 the new Gewandhaus was completed, 24

26

For Bach’s involvement in the Collegium musicum see Eberhard Creuzburg, Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1931), p. 11. For a more recent account see Christoph Wolff, Bach: Essays on his Life and Music (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991), p. 30: “Bach’s directorship lasted into the early 1740s. Unfortunately we know nothing of the programs of the ‘ordinary’ weekly concerts, which took place in winter on Friday evenings from eight until ten o’clock in the Zimmermann coffee house, and in the summer on Wednesday afternoons from four to six in the coffee garden ‘in front of the Grimmische 25 Creuzburg, Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig, p. 12. Tor.’” Arnold Schering, Musikgeschichte Leipzigs in drei Bänden, vol. III, Von 1723 bis 1800, Part II, “Das Zeitalter Johann Adam Hillers 1750–1800” (Leipzig: F. Kistner & C. F. W. Siegel, 1941), p. 401.

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and Hiller became its first musical director. He maintained this position until the winter of 1784–85 when he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Duke of Courland. Finally, having returned to Leipzig, Hiller, who first assisted Cantor Doles at the Thomasschule, took over this post in 1789 and held it until ill health forced his resignation in 1801. Hiller is best remembered for his pivotal contribution to Singspiel and in his role as first conductor of the Gewandhaus Conzerte, which started a formidable tradition in music making. Another of the lasting effects of Hiller’s musical activities at the Gewandhaus is the concert format that he created after the design used for the Grosses Conzert: a two-part program, with an intermission to allow for the audience to refresh themselves and take in the second part of a concert with renewed attention and expectations. Both parts of the concert, largely parallel in design, were designed to provide a fairly symmetrical structure. Usually a symphony would open part 1, to be followed by a concert aria, a concerto for soloist (violin or piano), an aria from an opera, and some more ensemble playing in a divertissement. After the intermission break, the audience was greeted with another symphony, another aria and the final piece, usually another symphony for the entire orchestra. This format served as a model for the programming of the Gewandhaus Conzerte for years to come.27 In public concerts, Leipzig rivaled London and Paris. Most of the audience comprised wealthy burghers, merchants, churchmen, civil servants, and artisans who not only enjoyed listening to music but liked to perform it themselves. Thus, a demand arose for music simple enough for the modestly equipped amateurs to play in their homes. This type of music – Hausmusik – became increasingly popular and widespread. Entire families joined together, practicing and performing, enjoying each other’s company in the process. Soon they were giving concerts among themselves and for friends. The Hauskonzert became an important socio-cultural event: “A moderately well-to-do comfortable, somewhat educated German burgher family needed music through which to pour the overflow of its affections; it wanted to participate in music actively at home, even more than listen to it in passive admiration in church or elsewhere.”28 Naturally, keyboard instruments played a major role in Hausmusik together with singing. Hausmusik not only fostered Geselligkeit (socializing), it also, as Preußner has remarked, did much for the advancement of music: “The enrichment of music (Musikpflege) owes everything to house music and house concerts: it was the basis for a valuable group of listeners, for a musically enthusiastic youth, and the seed for musical talent.”29 While singing was an integral part of most Hausmusik, the German bur27

28 29

For a discussion of the concert format and examples of programs for the Grosses Concert and the first Gewandhauskonzert of November 25, 1781, see Creuzburg, Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig, pp. 18f. and 23ff. Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), p. 53. Eberhard Preußner, Die bürgerliche Musikkultur: Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Musikgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Hamburg: Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt A.-G., 1935; 2nd edn., Kassel and Basel: Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1950), p. 41: “Der Hausmusik, den Hauskonzerten verdankt die Musikpflege alles: den Stamm einer wertvollen Hörergemeinde, die musikbegeisterte Jugend, die Keimlegung für das musikalische Talent.”


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ghers had to satisfy themselves with such musical forms as the Lied – rather than more sophisticated vocal music – owing to their lack of training.30 One of Hiller’s important contributions to Hausmusik was his successful adaptation of foreign styles, above all the Italian. This required transcriptions, and Hiller supplied quite a few by reducing available music (often his own) to its basic components and structure so it would be accessible to the educated amateur. Audiences at public concerts or opera desired to “take the music home.” Consequently there arose a market for piano versions of currently successful music. Since Hiller’s Singspiel tunes and melodies had become so popular that they were hummed and sung in the city streets or played on the piano at home, the composer hurried, encouraged by his publisher Breitkopf who gladly took advantage of this trend, to produce piano–vocal reductions of his Singspiel scores. Lottchen am Hofe and Die Liebe auf dem Lande did exceptionally well and went through four editions – 2,750 copies altogether – within fifteen years. Die Jagd was issued immediately in an edition of 2,000 and in two additional editions of 1,000 each.31 An equally important contribution to church music occurred while Hiller was at the Thomasschule. Just as he had used the appeal of the Lied to popularize German opera, he revised and simplified the German chorale. In 1793, his Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch für Kirchen und Schulen was published, with two supplements appearing in 1794 and 1797. This work, one of Hiller’s most significant achievements during his years at the Thomasschule, met with considerable success. It was widely read and remained highly influential long after its publication. Again, accessibility and simplification served as guiding principles in Hiller’s attempt to foster improvement and change in the state of singing in Germany. The purpose of the Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch was to train children to sing chorales in the right manner and, at the same time, provide them with enjoyment in their own music learning and making. The Allgemeines ChoralMelodienbuch can be considered as a highpoint in Hiller’s life-long dedication to the improvement of singing and his efforts to enhance the German people’s experience of music. Here, his pedagogical goal is consistent with the educational objectives that he expounded both in his various singing instruction manuals, tutors, and treatises for use in schools32 and in his major works, the vocal treatises Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange and Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange. These two works, published six years apart and often referred to by Hiller as Part I and Part II, comprise his manual on the theory and performance practice of vocal music, beginning with the elementary tutor in the first treatise, and his introduction to the art of ornamentation in the second treatise. Beyond using the Lied and its inherent melodic qualities in his Singspiele, Hiller showed genuine concern for this popular form and its stylistic features, which, in 30

Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos, pp. 53–54.

31

Ibid., pp. 153–154.

32

See the works listed in fn. 40.

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Germany, were greatly indebted to Italian and French influences. Early in the century German anthologists had published, in response to popular demand, a number of Lieder collections. By about 1730, however, the word Lied carried a negative connotation, while the term “ode” was much preferred and respected. The Lied had come to refer to that kind of song – a sort of lower-class ditty – which was sung by those who frequented houses of ill repute. Its position improved in 1736 with Sperontes’ collection of songs called Die singende Muse an der Pleisse, in 2 mahl 50 Oden (“The Singing Muse on the Pleisse in 2 Times 50 Odes”). The author, Johann Sigismund Scholze, using a pseudonym, was apparently too embarrassed to employ the word Lied in the title of his song book. The success of this Leipzig collection, however, was so great that, as Rebling accounts, three more supplements appeared by 1745, and the first part of the anthology alone appeared no less than five times by 1751.33 When the Singspiel became more established, Hiller improved upon it by his innovative development and use of the Lied. As has been noted above, he not only gave the characters on stage music appropriate to their social station but, for the first time, had ordinary people (peasants, etc.) singing folk songs to the audience. Thus the Singspiel left a significant mark on the development of the Lied. Many of Hiller’s Singspiel songs, with their really tuneful melodies, were light entertainments easily transferable to social gatherings. Perhaps under the influence of his stage expertise, Hiller created the through-composed Lied (durchkomponiertes Lied).34 This innovation is an example of his attempt to make the Lied more artful and demanding while keeping its popular appeal. At the same time, it demonstrates how Hiller found pragmatic solutions in his effort to enrich German vocal music.35 Song collections grew in popularity, and after 1760 there was a marked increase in editions.36 These anthologies served all purposes, needs, situations, and walks of life. Hiller even assembled a collection of songs for children to poems by his Singspiel collaborator Weisse, 50 Geistliche Lieder für Kinder. In the introduction to this collection, he states categorically that he prefers “the easy and natural singable material to the pompous and artificial.”37 As always, Hiller was sensitive to the special needs of his given audience by using appropriate, appealing, and pedagogically sound materials. Trying to make the songs more attractive to children, he used secular texts instead of the customary chorales and hymns. Altogether, as Rebling states, Hiller felt that “This [music education] must already begin in early childhood, and the little Lied served this purpose for him.”38 Hiller replaced the Latin that was left in Lutheran church music with motets and chorales in German. At the Thomasschule he was in charge of fifty33 34

37

38

Rebling, Die soziologischen Grundlagen, p. 58. David C. Taylor and Hiram Kelly Moderwell, The Voice and Vocal Music. The Art of Music, vol. V (New York: 35 36 Ibid. Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos, p. 55. The National Society of Music, 1915), p. 176. Rebling, Die soziologischen Grundlagen, pp. 72–73: “Hiller betont in seiner ersten Veröffentlichung von Kompositionen Weißescher Gedichte für Kinder, daß er ‘das leichte und natürliche Singbare dem Schwülstigen und Gekünstelten vorziehe.’” Ibid., p. 73. “Das mußte aber bereits in frühester Jugend beginnen, und zu diesem Zweck diente ihm das kleine Lied.”


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six pupils and initiated many changes to improve the educational environment and ease the daily routines of the young students. He freed them from such chores as fetching firewood and water, simplified the dress code, improved their recreational reading material, and provided them with much-needed medical care and an infirmary. He also trained them as instrumentalists so that after a few years he had an entire youth orchestra in addition to the choir at the Thomasschule.39 Hiller used his innovative skills as a teacher to educate the general public about music, placing great emphasis on the instruction of children at an early age for the improvement of music education.40 Hiller could speak from his own experience as a youngster. In the Preface to his 1774 treatise on “correct” singing, he recalled his own singing lessons: In singing I enjoyed instruction, communally along with others, from my twelfth year onwards, as is usual in schools. To be sure, pitching and rhythm were certainly the goal towards which we had to run; but the way was so uncertain and uneven that it took much time before one learned to go without stumbling. The example of this or that interval, written on the board according to the succession of scale degrees, was always soon learned; but if one of these intervals should be given out of order, we were like the honorable Corporal Trim in Tristram Shandy, who knew the fourth Commandment very well; but only when he could begin with the first. Of good use of the voice, of the comfortable drawing of breath, of a pure and clear pronunciation, however essential these elements of singing were, little or nothing was mentioned.41

Clearly, Hiller critiques an outmoded form of singing instruction that apparently taught him many more lessons than intended. His own approach to teaching singing tried to avoid the pitfalls inherent in the “backwardness of German 39

40

41

See Peiser, Hiller, pp. 83–85. It is interesting to note here that Hiller’s enlightened efforts to give the pupils an excellent music education were met with suspicion and resentment by his conservative colleagues and superiors. Apparently, his reform-minded activities conflicted with the traditionalists at the Thomasschule, who were concerned about its academic reputation. The Director, Rector Fischer, took the opportunity in 1795 to weaken Hiller’s position. But the Leipzig City Council, functioning as an arbitrator, found a modus vivendi to appease the feuding parties that allowed Hiller to continue with many of his reforms. See Peiser, Hiller, pp. 86–89. Aside from the above-mentioned Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch für Kirchen und Schulen of 1793, Hiller, in pursuit of his goals as music educator and editor, published widely. Noteworthy are his Letztes Opfer der komischen Muse (Leipzig, 1790); Religiöse Lieder mit Melodien, zum Singen beym Clavier (Hamburg, 1790); and coedited with J. A. Hasse, Beiträge zu wahrer Kirchenmusik (Leipzig, 1791). Additional manuals, tutors, and treatises include: Anweisung zur Singekunst in der deutschen und italiänischen Sprache, zum Gebrauch der Schulen, mit ausführlichen Exempeln und Übungsstücken versehen (Frankfurt am Main und Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1773); Exempelbuch der Anweisung zum Singen, zum Gebrauch der Schulen und anderer Liebhaber des Gesanges (Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1774); Kurze und erleichterte Anweisung zum Singen, für Schulen in Städten und Dörfern (Leipzig: J. F. Junius, 1792). Compared to his more advanced treatises, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange of 1774 and the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange of 1780, which are more rigorous in their training from beginner to professional, Hiller, once again, exhibits in the 1792 publication his renewed dedication and service to singing education in schools. Butt observes in his discussion of this “concise treatise for school singing”: “Such are the constrictions of the school schedule that Hiller seems to have returned to the more traditional format for German school treatises” (by abandoning the lesson format of the 1774 primer), although particularly interesting “recommendations on the singing of passages” and other directives, above all his choice of examples, indicate his “careful blending of tradition with innovation and his sensitivity to the contingencies of his age” (Butt, Music Education, pp. 178f.). This passage from Hiller’s 1774 “Vorrede” is quoted in Butt’s translation from his Music Education, pp. 167f.

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singing” that resulted from “an unthinking, mechanical attitude to the art,” as Butt rightly observes.42 Aside from his service as pedagogue, music director, and organizer of concerts, Hiller added to his editorial activities the role of music critic, providing commentary and guidance for his middle-class audience in musical affairs. He initiated what was to become his best-known publication, the critical periodical Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend (“Weekly Reports and Remarks Concerning Music”), which appeared between 1766 and 1770. This was the first music journal, which earned Hiller the flattering title “Father of Music Criticism.”43 In this publication, rather than following the scholarly tradition of treatise writing, Hiller compiled information, review articles, and evaluations which were intended as orientation for his readers interested in the local music scene and musical affairs in general. Hiller’s activities as reformer and innovator show a remarkable degree of consistency. Able to maintain his long-term goals and apply them to the subject that he dealt with, he set out to modernize conditions in a world that, inspired by the Age of Enlightenment,44 was in the throes of great dynamic changes politically and socially. One major aspect of the changing culture was the increased importance of music as a vital means of self-expression for the German middle class. Leo Balet and E. Gerhard, taking the sociological factor into account, state, with specific reference to Hiller’s exemplary achievements: “Everywhere music schools for dilettantes were founded. It would take us too far afield to list even the most important ones here. We would like to mention the efforts of Johann Adam Hiller, who strove, with great energy, to improve the level of singing in Germany by means of personal instruction and theoretical works. All these facts suggest that the middle class enriched its emotional culture through music.”45 Hiller’s pioneering aspirations were also devoted to helping women achieve greater equality in music. Taking the Italian conservatories as models, he not only set up singing schools for boys and girls but also favored training women in singing, as he was strongly opposed to castration. In his Preface to the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Hiller emphatically proposed his new ideals, condemning, at the same time, the injustices suffered by women in the past.46 42 44

45

46

43 Butt, Music Education, p. 168. Peiser, Hiller, p. 14. The effect of the Enlightenment on cultural evolution in the eighteenth century with regard to music has been summarized aptly by an older source: Paul Henry Lang, Music in Western Civilization (New York: W. W. Norton, 1941), pp. 570–579. Leo Balet and E. Gerhard, Die Verbürgerlichung der deutschen Kunst, Literatur und Musik im 18. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, and Vienna: Ullstein Verlag, 1973), p. 392: “Überall entstanden Musikschulen für Liebhaber. Hier auch nur die wichtigsten zu nennen, würde zu weit führen. Wir wollen nur die Bestrebungen von Johann Adam Hiller erwähnen, der sich durch persönliche Unterweisung wie durch Bücher energisch für die Hebung des gesanglichen Niveaus in Deutschland einsetzte. Aus allen diesen Tatsachen kann man erkennen, in welchem Maße das Bürgertum die Gefühlsbereicherung durch die Musik durchführte.” Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Preface, pp. 40f. below. Hiller’s youngest daughter, Elisabeth Wilhelmine, apparently encouraged and fostered by her father’s progressive stance, was reputedly an accomplished singer. Married to an official, the “geheimer Kammersekretär” (secret cabinet secretary) Bürde in Breslau (today Wrocl-aw, Poland), she died there on January 10, 1806, only two years after her father’s death.


15

It was the departure of one of his finest female pupils, Gertrud Schmehling (married name Mara), whose position he found so difficult to fill upon her leaving Leipzig, that gave Hiller the impetus to establish a music and singing school for both male and female singers. His fight for women’s rights is indicative of his persistence in improving untenable situations and obsolete conditions which prohibited middle-class women from most activities outside the domestic realm. Hiller’s attempt to further women in music shows him to be on the progressive side of the German bourgeoisie. His ardent advocacy of the cause of women in music suggests that Hiller proposed changes not only for pragmatic reasons (lack of castrati in Germany, for example) but also out of the growing conviction that women were endowed with at least equal if not greater vocal abilities than their male counterparts.47 Consequently, Hiller made significant efforts to provide training opportunities for women to sing and he deserves full recognition for his steadfast support of women’s musical emancipation. The ability to show concern and compassion for his fellow citizens won Hiller many friends during his lifetime. Friends, colleagues, students, and acquaintances were full of praise for a man who was at the center of musical life. Johann Friedrich Rochlitz (1769–1842), a well-known German critic and founder of the important musical review Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, who knew Hiller personally (as well as Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Goethe, and Schiller among other major figures of the time), began his article “In Memoriam Johann Adam Hiller” – which appeared in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung one week after Hiller’s death in 1804 – with a quote by Lessing: “Einige sind berühmt, andere verdienen es zu seyn” (“Some are famous, others deserve to be”).48 Obviously Rochlitz felt that Hiller had not received the fame and acknowledgment which he deserved and, in writing this memorial to him, was attempting to pay due respect to an accomplished man. He goes on to say that some people have genius and create because they must, following an inner necessity but rarely delivering truly impeccable work, whereas others without that special gift are able, through talent, insight, and diligence, to create works which are totally their own, and benefit others at the same time. The former become famous; the latter do not.49 While not placing him in the category of genius, Rochlitz nevertheless extols Hiller’s talent and diligence. Rochlitz knew Hiller to be a very humble man, less taken by his own compositions than by the works of other composers. Although Hiller favored Hasse and

47

48

49

Recognizing Hiller’s championing of women, Butt observes: “His departure from the norms of the conservative church/school tradition is shown even more clearly by his advocacy of the musical education of women, who should have every right to sing church music; the fact that it was traditional to exclude women from church music was, in itself, no good reason” (Butt, Music Education, p. 167; cf. “Preface,” p. 41 below). Comparing the God-given talent of men and women to sing, Hiller claims that it is “the other sex which has received this gift to a greater extent from its creator.” See “Preface,” p. 41 below. [ Johann Friedrich Rochlitz], “Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,” Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung no. 51 (September 19, 1804), p. 845. This article is printed without an author’s name; however, it differs only slightly from the 1768 article in Rochlitz’s Für Freunde der Tonkunst and can therefore be attributed to Rochlitz. [Rochlitz], “Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,” p. 845.

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Graun throughout his life, he was deeply moved when Mozart’s widow came to Leipzig in 1792 with a manuscript of her late husband’s Requiem. According to Peiser,50 she brought the manuscript directly to Hiller, who was so impressed by the magnificence of the music that he, “taken with joy and admiration for Mozart,” immediately prepared a German translation and performed the work in Leipzig.51 Noteworthy here is the fact that Hiller found it necessary to translate the Latin text of the Requiem Mass in order to make it accessible to his predominantly protestant audience. A similar event had occurred a few years earlier, when Hiller directed a performance of Handel’s Messiah in Berlin on May 19, 1786. The oratorio, a great favorite of Hiller’s, was translated by him from English into German, but because the most prominent singer was an Italian who could hardly pronounce German, another translation, this time into Italian, was necessary to ensure the proper pronunciation of the text.52 In general, Hiller’s contemporaries spoke of him in glowing terms. Among his many admirers was Beethoven’s teacher, Christian Gottlieb Neefe (1748–98). His long account of his relationship with Hiller overflows with praise and affection for a man, teacher, and musician so capable of great warmth and friendship. One of the things Hiller and Neefe had in common was that they both suffered from hypochondria and, in turn, they showed deep compassion for one another: A closer friendship between Hiller and myself developed out of an affliction, and similar fates usually bring people closer together. Now that I have mentioned Hiller again, I feel duty bound to write about him in more detail. Where can one find a music lover who does not know and adore this intelligent, tasteful and sensitive composer, this musical Gellert! and where can one meet an ingenious performing artist who does not value him! I have never seen such all-out patronage of his art as practiced by him. He used his financial means and exhibited the most glowing fervor in subsidizing young talent, helping it develop and promoting it. It is this man, then, more than any other, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. He is the wellspring of my better musical knowledge, though I have never been subjected to his teaching in an organized manner. But his conversations about musical matters, the suggestions regarding my work, his readiness to supply me with the finest examples and to point out their most exquisite beauties as well as the stimulation of further interest by such books as for instance, Hume’s Grundsätze der Kritik [An Enquiry into Human Understanding] and Sulzer’s Theorie [der schönen Künste], wherein art was dealt with along psychological lines of thought, all this did me more good than any formal instruction might have done.53

Neefe’s affectionate appraisal of Hiller vividly portrays a major musical figure who gained the status of model and friend in many people’s lives. It is an assessment which points to the exceptional qualities of a man who played such diverse roles in the musical life of Germany. As a teacher he was “the most 50 52 53

51 Peiser, Hiller, p. 94. [Rochlitz], “Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,” p. 857. Peiser, Hiller, pp. 63–64. Paul Nettl, Forgotten Musicians (New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1951), Part II, Five Eighteenth Century Musicians as They Saw Themselves: The Life of Christian Gottlieb Neefe, pp. 253–254.


17

notable figure in German music education during the latter half of the eighteenth century.”54 Hiller was skilled as innovator and educator, initiator and mediator, patron and participant, and as close friend and selfless colleague. Being personable and generous, he affected others decisively, bringing out the best in them. To sum up his importance for eighteenth-century German music, there can be little doubt that among Hiller’s greatest assets was his ability to foster the musical development of the middle class. Hiller, who “spent much of his career outside the traditional church and school establishment,”55 employed his many talents to contribute significantly to the process of change by which his own social class assimilated and transformed the musical legacies of the past that had been dominated by privilege and high station. He helped to give vocal music a more popular appeal while, at the same time, appropriating principles and traditions that engendered high standards of performance.

 In writing his singing treatises, Hiller examined vocal music from both a practical and a pedagogical point of view. Having gained considerable insight into the state of singing in Germany from his experience as singer and teacher, he strove to improve both the conditions and the teaching of singing with his Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange in 1774. This “Treatise on Vocal Performance and Technique” is a tutor concerned with the basics: the acquisition of the elementary knowledge and skills of musicianship, harmony, theory, and performance technique as a singer. Clearly, Hiller had general instructional purposes in mind. His second treatise, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, considered by Hiller as a sequel to the earlier tutor, was to elaborate on performance practice and present a manual on the intricate art of fine singing and ornamentation. As a master teacher, Hiller displays his knowledge of the finesse with which singers embellish music. At the same time, he offers his pedagogical insights into the means by which the student can go beyond basic musicianship and master the intricacies of ornamentation. In publishing this treatise in 1780, six years having elapsed since the appearance of Part I, Hiller fulfilled his innermost wish to use and modify the established system of ornamentation with the goal of creating a model by which German singers could emulate the accomplishments of the Italians. In the Preface to the 1774 “Treatise on Vocal Performance and Technique,” Hiller allies himself with the tradition of the great masters of vocal and performance practice such as Tosi, Agricola, Marpurg, and Mattheson. He laments the substandard singing in Germany, points out the excellence of Italian standards of singing and teaching, and begins to suggest how the Germans could raise the 54

Butt, Music Education, p. 167.

55

Ibid.

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level of singing in their country. Although Hiller speaks with unmistakable frustration about the state of things in vocal music, his treatise displays a positive attitude of encouragement and motivation. In a most logical and organized manner, he teaches beginning singers to become knowledgeable musicians by offering them detailed instructions on how to sing and to practice. In addition, he defines and introduces concepts and exercises leading to the fine art of ornamentation. Already in Lesson 1, Hiller introduces two of the most essential ornaments, the appoggiatura and trill, so that the student is made aware of and begins to learn these difficult but important elements of advanced singing early on. Clearly, Hiller wants the student to start cultivating these necessary techniques in the first stages of training, thereby reaching for the highest levels of singing as soon as the basics are in place. Lesson 13, then, is devoted in its entirety to the importance of passaggi and the difficult patterns that comprise them. While this tutor is revealing of Hiller’s pedagogy and sensible approach to the development of good musicians and singers, its scope is naturally limited to the fundamentals of both the basic and the advanced levels of singing. Part II, the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange (1780), goes far beyond the elementary aspects and offers a sophisticated and comprehensive method of performance practice in the late eighteenth century. The format of the 1780 Anweisung or “Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation” follows the tradition of musical treatises of the eighteenth century and offers a sequence of chapters rather than lessons. More specifically, the body of this treatise or Part II is divided into two main sections: the first three chapters briefly review the elements of singing, dealing with “The Quality of the Human Voice and its Improvements; On Good Performance with Regard to Text and Music.” The second section, chapters 4–8, delves into the actual subject matter of performance practice: ornamentation, passaggi, cadenzas, and arbitrary variations. Whereas his predecessors, such as Tosi and Agricola, were rich in technical detail, Hiller simplified the presentation of this intricate material and made the complexities of ornamentation more accessible. Numerous wellchosen musical examples illustrate the theoretical points. For the most part, Hiller’s treatment of the material is straightforward and clear, although every so often both language and style become convoluted and laborious.56 However, unlike his predecessors who elaborate with scholarly rigor and abundant detail, Hiller communicates his insights despite his wordiness with pedagogical sensibility and understanding for the psychology of the learning process. One of the characteristic features in this treatise is Hiller’s inclination to provide aesthetic speculation and critical judgment along with theory. In accordance with his views on music, its essence and mission, he treats ornamentation as an integral part of the musical process rather than an art in itself. Following 56

Hiller’s style and manner of presentation did find criticism. Butt (Music Education, pp. 177f.) lists G. F. Wolf, who in his Unterricht in der Singekunst (Halle, 1784) finds Hiller’s treatise “too expansive and rambling,” while J. F. Reichardt complains about “not enough order or conciseness” and also “verbosity.”


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the direction of Tosi and Agricola and, to a great extent, preserving the Baroque concept and tradition of performance practice and ornamentation, Hiller’s treatises nevertheless represent a changed historical situation. His music aesthetic and sensibility reflect the aspirations, priorities, and tastes of the new cultural class that increasingly takes control of musical life in the late eighteenth century. Considering the virtues and accomplishments of his two vocal treatises, most notably the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, Hiller’s task seems to have been to adapt the elaborate and sophisticated art of singing and ornamentation of the ancien régime to the tastes of the middle class for whom he wanted to preserve and further a rich legacy by reconsidering and reappropriating its essential elements. It seems to follow that Hiller had to work so diligently to improve the state of singing in Germany: in order to deliver the excellence of a past era to the present the conditions for a successful reception and assimilation had to be fostered. The following summary of the most significant aspects of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange will reveal Hiller’s congenial concept of performance practice and his intention to stimulate new levels of mastering the fine art of singing. Hiller’s treatise is important to performers today because of the invaluable insights it provides into historic performance practices.

Declamation In the Italian virtuoso tradition, declamation57 was a practical skill which placed great stress on ornamentation, and, at the same time, drew upon gesture for support. The Germans, as indicated by Christian Gottfried Krause,58 found it more desirable to be able to understand words set to music rather than to be merely entertained by sound. For Hiller, whose aim was to improve the level of singing in Germany, declamation was of primary concern because of the intricate relationship between music and text. Since the Italian style set the standard for vocal music, Hiller, as a pedagogue and teacher, sensed that a comparable national style could succeed only if both the singer and the composer observed the characteristics of the German language in their musical endeavors. Nevertheless, he recommended learning Italian and becoming familiar with the Italian virtuoso style, while believing that the Germans could successfully develop a style of their own which would utilize the elements indigenous to the German language. The advance of the Singspiel, which Hiller helped to establish, increased the importance of declamation by shifting the focus from the aria with its florid style to a more folk-like and Lied-oriented type of singing in which the 57

58

For additional information see the article “Deklamation” in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. Friedrich Blume (Kassel and Basel: Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1954), vol. III, pp. 101–114. Christian Gottfried Krause, Von der Musikalischen Poesie (Berlin: Johann Friedrich Voss, 1753); facsimile edn. (Kassel: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1973). Hiller also points out what little training there was in some basics concerning “good voice production, clean and clear pronunciation, smooth breathing,” which “is nowhere thought of, though everything depends on it.”

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words were more prominent. It is in this context that Hiller devotes an entire chapter to declamation and its impact upon both unembellished and ornamented music. While Tosi and Agricola are aware of the importance of declamation, they do not devote separate chapters to this subject. However, we can assume that they would have recommended “good placement,” as they discuss various aspects of diction and pronunciation in their chapters on the placement of ornaments and passaggi, giving examples of the syllables upon which ornamentation is inappropriate. Furthermore, they direct the singer away from mere bravura practices and emphasize the projection of affect through well-placed ornamentation, i.e. essential and arbitrary ornaments, which indicate respectively those that are required and others left to the discretion of the performer. To both Tosi and Agricola, skillful ornamentation was an important means of achieving proper declamation. Like his contemporary Rellstab,59 Hiller was an admirer of the Italian art of singing. But he realized that the brilliant Italian vocal style could not be duplicated in the German language because of its different sound structures and indigenous characteristics. Moreover, the Germans lacked the talent and training of the Italian virtuosi. Considering the state of singing in Germany, and recognizing the taste of a predominantly middle-class audience, Hiller saw the need for a style that would negotiate between sophistication and simplicity. The shift from the brilliant Italian style to the proposed German style was intended to stay within the declamation principles of the German language while, at the same time, reflecting a modification in aesthetic priorities, particularly by curtailing virtuosity for its own sake. For both Rellstab and Hiller, Affektenlehre took on the meaning of proper and fitting diction. In discussing basic elements of speech, such as punctuation, meter, and accent, Hiller points out their importance for the articulation of meaning in language, stressing the notion that musical phraseology should reflect and enhance these structuring principles.60 Hiller, like Rellstab, emphasizes that it is the composer’s task to be observant of the patterning principles of language in his compositions. But in the final analysis both theorists point out that it is the good taste and musical sense of the performer which supplant any formal rules.61 Likewise meter, which organizes long or stressed and short or unstressed syllables, requires the singer to make the music follow the rhythmic qualities of the text. Hiller is in agreement with other eighteenth-century theorists, such as Mattheson and Marpurg, and refers the singer to their detailed discussions of meter. 59

60

61

Johann Karl Friedrich Rellstab, Versuch über die Bereinigung der musikalishcen und oratorischen Deklamation (Berlin: Im Verlag der Musikhandlung und Musikdruckerey des Verfassers, 1786). For a general discussion of punctuation in music and language see Leonard Ratner, “Eighteenth Century Theories of Musical Period Structure,” Musical Quarterly 42 (1956), pp. 439–454. Rellstab, for example, writes: “Hard and fast rules about this matter cannot be supplied even by the very best masters. Experience, a trained ear, and a fine sense of rhythm will therefore take the place of all rules” (“Förmlich festgesetzte Regeln lassen sich auch wohl von den besten Meistern hierüber nicht geben. Erfahrung, ein geübtes Ohr, und ein gutes rhythmisches Gefühl werden füglich die Stelle aller Regeln vertreten können”) (Rellstab, Versuch, p. 15).


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Accent is an essential means of modifying the voice. Using the terminology presented in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Dictionnaire de Musique and Johann Georg Sulzer’s Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste, Hiller elaborates on the importance of accent, distinguishing, like his predecessors, three types: grammatical, oratorical, and pathetic. The grammatical accent differentiates between long and short syllables and, according to Hiller, lingers somewhat on the long syllable, which in musical terms means that it takes up the long part of the beat or falls on the downbeat. The oratorical accent, which Rousseau also calls the logical accent, emphasizes the meaning of speech through the structuring and patterning of word and sentence intonation. In this it comes close to the pathetic accent, through which speech expresses emotion by various fluctuations of tone, the raising or lowering of pitch, and the change in tempo of speech. While the grammatical and oratorical accents organize the syntactical and the logical parts of speech, the pathetic accent has an emotive and expressive function. Following Sulzer’s notion that music has greater power to modify the affects than does language, Hiller feels that the singer must go further than the composer in expressing, through swellings and mutings of the voice, that which the composer cannot indicate. In cases where a composer disregards rules of prosody, Hiller calls upon the singer to make impromptu decisions to improve upon the perceived imperfections of the compositions, or even to correct obvious mistakes by the composer.62 Typical for the Age of Enlightenment, Hiller envisions an educated singer, well versed in history, mythology, and languages, to convey meaningfully the texts that he or she performs.

Essential ornaments For Hiller, like his predecessors Tosi, Agricola, Quantz, C. P. E. Bach, and Marpurg, ornamentation is a quintessential part of musical performance.63 There were two major categories of ornaments, the essential and the arbitrary. The essential consisted of the appoggiatura (and the double appoggiatura), the trill, and the turn, which all had to be performed in particular places in the music whether they were indicated or not. The arbitrary ornaments, namely the mordent, Nachschlag, arpeggio, and vibrato, were left to the discretion of the performer. Coming at the end of a long tradition, Hiller reflects upon the customs and discusses the uses of ornaments while recording, in detail, their diverse functions. Although he affirms the need for ornamentation, Hiller realizes that ornaments are the result of musical development and thereby not an absolute given. They have become a necessity through tradition: “ornaments are not essential to the melody but are rather arbitrary embellishments which, for our taste, have 62 63

Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 27; p. 67 below. Hiller, the pedagogue, incorporated ornamentation into his teaching instruction at a very early stage. His 1774 treatise on “Richtigkeit” introduces trills right away in Lesson 1 and again in Lesson 12, while Vorschläge appear in Lesson 7. As Butt notes: “it is remarkable how many ornamental devices are presented.” Also, “certain elements of ornamentation are relevant even at a comparatively early stage, before ‘Zierlichkeit’ is officially introduced.” (Music Education, pp. 174f.)

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become a necessity.”64 By linking ornamentation to historical development, Hiller is aware that musical conventions play an important role in performance although musical taste may shift. Because he favored a musical style that incorporated principles of Enlightenment aesthetics, Hiller espoused a concept of ornamentation that reflects the ideal of simplicity. Hence he seeks to provide a framework within which to apply ornaments with skill and taste, effectively limiting excessive or abusive use of ornaments by the performer. Hiller’s attitude toward ornamentation and its application reflects the shift of control from singer to composer. In Tosi’s time, the performer in Italy was at much greater liberty to place ornaments according to the established rules of performance practice. Hiller, aware of the less favorable conditions for training singers in Germany, is concerned that not all singers are skilled enough to ornament according to tradition. Thus he suggests, like Agricola before him, that composers not only indicate ornaments but also notate them in large notes so that there can be no question about note values.65 A noticeable change in performance practice has taken place here. For Tosi it was unusual even to give signs for appoggiaturas, whereas Agricola defends the composer’s right to write out appoggiaturas (at least changeable or long appoggiaturas).66 This shift in attitude is a further illustration of the increased limitations placed on the performer in ornamenting by the likes of Agricola, Quantz, and Hiller. While the change does not reflect any alteration in the actual performance of the ornaments themselves, it serves as an indication of a growing trend among German theorists to abridge the freedom of the performer. What Agricola finds so lamentable, namely the tendency among singers to take too many liberties and have an inflated sense of self, is made fun of in Benedetto Marcello’s Il teatro alla moda, a satirical treatment of the state of affairs in early eighteenth-century opera. With regard to the imbalances caused by the vanity of the singers vis-à-vis the composer, Marcello writes: “Whenever the composer walks in the company of virtuosos, and especially castrati, he should let them walk on the right side; he should carry his hat in his hand and stay one pace behind, remembering that the lowest of them, in the opera, represent at least a general or captain in the king’s or queen’s guard.”67 64 65 66

67

Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, pp. 34f; p. 72 below. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 40; p. 76 below. It is of interest here that Agricola, unlike Tosi who attacks those who indicate ornaments, defends this common practice among German composers, acknowledging the need to indicate appoggiaturas in small notes. In addition, Agricola remarks in jest that there should almost be warning signs where not to place appoggiaturas in order to prevent excesses by the glamor-seeking virtuosi of his time. The difference between Tosi and Agricola also illustrates a distinction between the Italian habit of relying on conventions of ornamentation and the need on the part of the German theorists to provide stricter guidelines due, in large part, to the lack of familiarity with these conventions and performance practices. Cf. Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, II (h) and (k), pp. 58f. See also Baird, Introduction, pp. 92f. Baird also observes: “Most German and even many of the Italian composers were already indicating the appoggiatura by the mid eighteenth century. Agricola concurs with C. P. E. Bach (and not with Quantz) in favoring the systematic indication of exact note values for the appoggiatura” (Baird, Introduction, p. 267, fn. 10). See Reinhard Pauly, “Il Teatro Alla Moda,” Musical Quarterly 34 (1948), p. 384. In general, while many German theorists admire Italian music and art of singing, they sometimes react with reservations as to certain excessive (“oft überladen,” Türk) and “unrestrained,” “arbitrary,” “bizarre,” and “extravagant” (Quantz) qualities. See D. G. Türk, Klavierschule, Faksimile-Nachdruck der ersten Ausgabe von 1789, ed. Erwin R.


23

For Hiller, the notation of ornaments is not a mere provision against a potential abuse or actual capriciousness. The growing unfamiliarity on the part of both singer and composer with what had been common knowledge in the past is of greater concern to him in his consideration of the notational changes in performance practice. In addition, Hiller stresses that ornamentation is a means of emphasis and accentuation in the music–text relationship. In linking ornamentation to declamation, Hiller makes the point that “all musical ornaments are essentially accents, and should be used to emphasize certain notes and syllables.”68 Ornamentation as accent serves as a point of departure for Hiller, giving him the opportunity to introduce the dot after a note as an arbitrary embellishment which he considers to be of great significance to the basic principles of ornamentation. Hiller’s strategy in presenting his discussion of essential ornaments differs from that of his predecessors. While both Tosi and Agricola devote separate discussions to appoggiaturas and trills, Hiller combines them in one lengthy chapter which he curiously introduces by elaborating on the dot after a note as a minor arbitrary embellishment. Although not identified as an ornament by either Tosi or Agricola, according to Hiller the dot after a note functions as a means of accentuation, namely, “it emphasizes the accent of the declamation.”69 The beauty and clarity of the vocal line is of primary concern to Hiller. To him, vocal virtuosity is not a means in itself. After considering the various ways of using the dot after the note, Hiller strongly suggests that “the singer, when adding ornaments to beautify a melodic line, must take care not to rely on only one type of ornament and must aim for variety.”70 Following these preliminaries, Hiller embarks upon his observation of the essential ornaments in his chapter “On Good Performance, with Regard to Ornaments” by dividing the appoggiaturas into long and short ornaments and giving rules for their application “based upon musical and declamatory principles in accordance with good taste at all times.”71 There follow extensive rules for the other essential and arbitrary ornaments: the Nachschlag, Anschlag, Schleifer, trill, mordent, turn, vibrato, and others. In establishing the rules for their proper application, Hiller teaches the correct use and distribution of these ornaments, “always bearing in mind melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic situations.”72 When

68 69

70 71 72

Jacobi (Kassel, Basel, London, New York: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1962), p. 404; Johann Joachim Quantz, On Playing the Flute [Berlin, 1752]. trans and ed. Edward R. Reilly (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975), pp. 334–335. Quantz also complains: “Some persons greatly abuse the use of the extempore embellishments as well as the appoggiaturas and the other essential graces as described here” (p. 99). Perhaps it is the realization of these German theorists that the Italians had superior musical training and vocal skills which causes them to put more restraints upon German singers in the practice of ornamentation. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 34; p. 72 below. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 35; p. 73 below. Butt, Music Education, p. 176, notes: “The introduction of unnotated dotted rhythms is another feature that can be traced back to the Italianate ornamental methods of the early Baroque.” Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 37; p. 74 below. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 35; p. 73 below. Joan Smiles, “Improvised Ornamentation in Late Eighteenth-Century Music: An Examination of Contemporary Evidence,” Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1975, p. 284.

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Hiller comes across important material already presented by a predecessor or colleague, he quotes freely, always acknowledging his indebtedness. Thus, in this chapter, he incorporates several parts of Agricola’s supplementary notes to Tosi’s tutor which reinforce Hiller’s position that the essential ornaments are a necessary part of good performance. Another essential ornament, the trill, like the appoggiatura, had to be taught from early on, according to Hiller, who is of the opinion that singers had to learn where to place it, as it was not always indicated. That cadences were among the most important places and required trills whether they were indicated or not is generally agreed upon by all eighteenth-century theorists.73 Hiller even suggests using a trill when an appoggiatura is not indicated but warns that the trill may not be used as frequently as the appoggiatura because its repetition becomes boring.74 Considering the function of the trill in cadenzas and at fermatas as very significant, Hiller devotes a major section of a chapter to it: Chapter 7, “On Cadenzas.” As with the appoggiatura, he introduces the trill in Lesson 1 of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange so that the student can begin studying this difficult ornament as early as possible.75 Altogether he lists five kinds of trills: (1) the whole trill, (2) the half trill or inverted mordent (Pralltriller), (3) the mordent, (4) the turn (Doppelschlag), and (5) the tremolo (Bebung). Hiller goes so far as to list a variety of alternatives for the singer who is not yet ready to trill or for the singer who is unable to trill at all.76 Throughout his discussion of the essential ornaments, Hiller’s interest in advancing the study of singing in Germany and in improving the state of vocal instruction is consistently maintained.

Passaggi and arbitrary variations As with the essential ornaments, Hiller believes that singers must acquire the skill of performing and placing arbitrary ornaments, such as passaggi and arbitrary variations, correctly. He notes a general misuse and misplacement or even overabundance of passaggi in Italian and German opera as well as in the church. To guide the performers against such mishandling of these figures, Hiller devotes an entire chapter in this treatise to the appropriate placement and performance of passaggi. He refers the reader to Lesson 13 of the Anweisung zum musikalischrichtigen Gesange, where he included a whole lesson on passaggi and the figures that constitute them. In that first tutor, Hiller quotes from Marpurg’s Anleitung zur Singkunst to categorize and give musical examples of figures, such as Rückung or Tonwiederholung (syncopation), Schwärmer or Rauscher (quick repeated note figures), Tonverziehung (tone displacement, which is like the Italian tempo rubato), 73 74

75 76

Robert Donington, The Interpretation of Early Music (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974), p. 241. “weil er leicht Überdruß erregt, wenn er zu oft gehört wird.” Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 66; p. 93 below. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, p. 38. See footnote 63 above. Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 71; p. 96 below.


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Tonverbeissung (truncation), Läufer (in which the singer fills in all the tones between two separate notes), the Walze and Halbzirkel (both consisting of four notes, with the first and third being alike in the Walze and the second and fourth being alike in the Halbzirkel), and the Brechung (arpeggio).77 Hiller defines passaggi in Part I as nothing more than “arbitrary ornaments or variations of simple melody in particular places.”78 Distinguishing between those figures that are either prescribed by the composer or invented by the singer, Hiller elaborates on the composite nature of passaggi, and he indicates that they can be based on the figures he has just listed or that they comprise various combinations of these given figures. Realizing that it is difficult to describe the musical possibilities that such combinations can unfold, Hiller includes numerous examples, selecting arias by Hasse, Graun, and Traetta. Although he is aware of the difficulty of the material for the beginner, Hiller, for pedagogical reasons, makes a special point of including it in his first tutor to give the singer a head start in mastering the art of performing passaggi. Hiller expands his discussion of passaggi in the Anweisung zum musikalischzierlichen Gesange. As the function of passaggi is to enliven and enhance the melodic line, he wants to see them used in a controlled manner and with discretion, but he does not believe that they should be totally abandoned, because they have become part of the musical style and the audience expects them. As music demands variety and change, passaggi serve as a means of diversification. But, as with the essential ornaments, the use and frequency of passaggi must be subservient to the music. Hiller strongly opposes the manner in which singers have indiscriminately employed passaggi to show off their vocal artistry and dexterity, paying too little respect and attention to the given music. Hiller asserts that the singer must take ability in performing passaggi into account and be aware of his/her limitations of technique and skill. He also stresses the need to examine the character of a given piece or aria so that the ornamentation can be matched with the musical style and affect. It is probably Hiller’s greatest fear, and in this concern he is consistent with his remarks on essential ornaments, that the singer may be tempted to show off virtuosity at the expense of passion. While composers of the late eighteenth century normally indicated the essential ornaments, Hiller, like other theorists such as Marpurg and Sulzer, wanted to provide the singer with the necessary knowledge and expertise to add ornaments where either the composer was inconsistent or the copyist omitted them. In addition, problems arose because many performers were not familiar with all the conventions of placing ornaments and lacked the knowledge of how to introduce them properly. Then, there was another reason to train singers in the art of passaggi and arbitrary variations: theorists saw the importance of teaching the singer to prepare 77

Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 13, pp. 175ff.

78

Ibid., Lesson 13, pp. 180–183.

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variations when melodies were repeated or cadenzas were improvised. For this purpose, Hiller devotes an entire chapter, Chapter 8, to arbitrary variations. No matter, however, whether Hiller is describing the simple figurations which constitute passaggi or the extended divisions which make up longer variations, his criteria for tastefully placed ornamentation as an addition to, but not in place of, the essential beauty of singing remain constant. The art of improvising arbitrary variations represents, for Hiller, the culmination of vocal study and performance practice. He calls upon the singer to devote him/herself with patience and diligence to the development of this important skill since the audience, and above all the connoisseur, are to enjoy and appreciate the combination of technique, acquired knowledge, and musical taste. For Tosi arbitrary variations amount to the most beautiful and pleasing accomplishment a singer can achieve. Hiller, in support of this contention, elaborates on the instructions both Tosi and Agricola present, which he supplies with two extensive musical examples, a German and an Italian aria with completely written-out ornamentation for the repeat of the aria.79 Tosi bemoans the fact that he must forgo the opportunity of supplying musical examples here because of the printer’s inability to print notes, an omission that Agricola acknowledges with regret, as he had hoped to demonstrate with examples what was so difficult to express in words. Agricola, not giving examples of his own, refers the reader to a “treasure chest” of arbitrary variations in Quantz’s Versuch.80 Concurring with Tosi’s and Agricola’s recommendations, Hiller instructs the singer not to go to extremes in the process of adding arbitrary variations, and cautions the performer that a simple rendition of the composer’s written-out melody with essential ornaments is more desirable than excessive variations. This warning against excesses reminds the singer that adding appropriate variations in the correct places is as important as the proper execution of the variations themselves. As far as the technical details are concerned, Hiller elaborates on Agricola’s three-fold distinction: either more notes are added to a few, or more notes are changed into fewer, or, finally, a certain number of notes are exchanged with an equal number of different notes. This basic rule of producing arbitrary variations is supplemented by the use of all those figures that constitute passaggi, as well as tempo rubato, and other means of varying the voice. 79

80

In case additional examples are desired, Hiller refers to his publication, Sechs italiänische Arien verschiedener Componisten, mit der Art sie zu singen und zu verändern (Leipzig: Johann Friedrich Junius, 1778). This volume contains arias by P. Anfossi, K. H. Graun, J. A. Hasse, F. di Majo, and A. M. G. Sacchini. Additional material is to be found in Meisterstücke des italiänischen Gesanges, in Arien, Duetten und Chören, mit deutschen geistlichen Texten, nebst einer nöthigen Vorrede und einem nützlichen Anhang für Sänger (Leipzig, 1791). This collection, published by Hiller at his own expense, contains six arias, two of them for soprano, one for alto, two for tenor, and one for bass voice with an additional duet and choral piece. See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, p. 235 (Baird, Introduction, p. 235) and Quantz, On Playing the Flute, Chapter 13, “Of Extempore Variations on Simple Intervals,” pp. 136ff. Unlike Tosi and Agricola, Hiller supplies the singer with five options of figures at the end of his chapter on passaggi to aid in the process of learning how to perform da capo ornamentation.


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In the da capo aria the arbitrary variations should be left to the discretion of the singer and not to the composer, according to Hiller, who joins Tosi, Agricola, and Quantz in this view. Variations, altogether, should only be applied to arias that are either partially or completely repeated but can be used for both Adagios and Allegros, or any other place that requires particular vitality and brilliance. The strictest observance of the tempo and a firm knowledge of harmony and figured bass are mandatory. To help the singer avoid the common pitfalls in performing arbitrary variations, Hiller selects ten salient rules from Tosi’s tutor, instructing the singer to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

make the difficult appear effortless; avoid violating declamation; place legato variations in slow arias and detached ones in allegro arias; balance dynamics and affect; favor conjunct variations, especially chromaticism in pathetic arias; use passaggi in melismatic extensions; avoid the repetitious use of ornaments; emphasize inventiveness rather than technique; avoid variations on unpleasant vowels; enhance the composer’s original intent.

As is evident, the rules for applying arbitrary variations had remained, in principle, the same since Tosi’s time. However, as Agricola’s warnings and Hiller’s cautions indicate, there is a greater reluctance to accept excessive passage work. Ultimately, Hiller proves to be the executor of a long tradition. Respectful of the legacy of the art of ornamentation, he uses his closing statement on passaggi to set the singer of his time free to use acquired skills, techniques, and knowledge to further the art of vocal music with both sound performance practice and individual taste.

On cadenzas According to Hiller, cadenzas offer, as do arbitrary variations, the singer the true opportunity to improvise freely. Since he favors having all essential ornamentation written out by the composer, it is quite logical that he should perceive cadenzas as a special place to preserve the art of improvisation. Considering the potential for misuse of ornamentation in cadenzas, Hiller is fully aware of Tosi’s verdict against the excesses of his contemporary Italian virtuosi who took advantage of cadenzas for reasons other than artistic purposes, such as fame, fortune, and vanity. While Tosi only allows for small elaborations at the closings of the sections of a da capo aria on the condition that they do not disturb the time of the bass, his remarks reflect the widespread use of cadenzas at the final cadence of the da capo aria. Hiller concurs with Agricola, who vigorously argues against Tosi’s restrictions

28


and defends the singer’s right to show his/her inventiveness, skill, and the need for aesthetic pleasure, owing to his belief that an artful and brilliantly performed cadenza can highlight an aria and please the audience with musical surprises. The most important rules which Hiller lists for cadenzas follow Agricola’s and Quantz’s instructions: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Cadenzas must not appear too often and should not be too long. They ought to be sung in one breath. Cadenzas should be based upon the chief affect and main character of the aria and may make use of passages from the aria itself. The singer observes the main tempo marking of the aria but does not follow the meter strictly. The more unexpected the material introduced in a cadenza, the more beautiful it is.

Hiller also discusses fermatas and demonstrates harmonic situations in which they occur. He even gives examples of how to handle those cadences in slow movements which have no fermata but may be ornamented. He includes some occasions in which “holds” occur in the middle of arias, holds that he designates as caesuras but which are also indicated by fermatas. To decorate them, Hiller suggests improvising a small arbitrary passage or substituting a trill without a Nachschlag. Other uses of the fermata include transitions which generally occur in the rondo and those placed at the beginning of an aria. Hiller gives musical examples to cover these instances. To meet the demands of double and triple cadenzas, Hiller suggests that the soloists write out their elaborations and take breaths as the length of these cadenzas increases dramatically over the solo ones. Specifically, he prescribes that imitations be incorporated, melodic lines contain variety, and that they progress at intervals other than simply thirds and sixths. For the singer less able to improvise cadenzas, Hiller recommends, as a simple solution, that a few tones within the harmony be sung, followed by a trill. In advocating the freedom to add embellishments at cadences and fermatas, Hiller shows his interest in keeping the art of improvisation alive. His aesthetic sensibility is geared to the principle of musical balance. While improvisation should not obscure composition, it also should not overpower a given piece: hence Hiller’s belief that ornamentation can never make up for a poorly performed aria.

Vocal forms and performing in different places Like the theorists to whom he is indebted, Hiller devotes himself to the important aspect of setting for a musical performance, namely proper vocal performance in the church, chamber, and theater in relation to arias, recitatives, duets, and choral music. As the church requires a sacred attitude, Hiller favors those


29

ornaments that support sincerity and sensitivity. In the theater the singer has greater freedom to ornament, but the role that is being portrayed restricts his/her use of embellishments since the character of a given role imposes psychological and aesthetic limitations upon the musical choices. It is in the chamber then, according to Hiller, that the singer has the most liberty to show off musical and inventive abilities. Hiller agrees with Tosi and Agricola that the da capo aria gives the singer the greatest opportunity to improvise embellishments and add ornaments because its very structure of repetition invites musical variation. In Hiller’s time, however, changes in the form of the da capo aria had begun and allowed for the replacement of the simple repeat with a more elaborate written out section, effectively curtailing the singer’s opportunity to improvise. Hiller, aware of this development, observes that unless it is an adagio or cantabile movement, the singer has little chance to ornament. In his rules for the addition of ornaments to recitative, Hiller agrees with Tosi and Agricola that the place of performance determines how many and what kind of ornaments are to be added. Ample musical examples are given to demonstrate how to place appoggiaturas, mordents, inverted mordents, and Schleifer in recitative. Finally, Hiller addresses ornamentation by more than one singer. When performing duets, he suggests that soloists should discuss the ornaments prior to the performance, and if they have no opportunity to do so, should omit the ornaments completely or select only those which other singers can easily imitate. The more soloists perform together the more each singer must refrain from ad hoc decisions to add notes and must stick to what is written. In choral music, Hiller warns against all improvised variations but allows for short appoggiaturas, an occasional inverted mordent, and trills only in the correct voices at cadences. In agreement with his predecessors Tosi and Agricola, who also voiced reservations concerning the over-use of ornaments in arias and recitative, Hiller feels that expressive performance should outweigh virtuoso display, no matter where the performance is held.

Conclusion Virtually every page of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange gives evidence of the dominating influence that Italian vocal art had upon Hiller’s attempts to establish a German singing culture. Apart from the section on essential ornaments, French influence in this treatise is not really manifest. In considering Hiller’s relationship to the important international styles of his time, one needs to take into account that French music served as an influential model for him as well. The Singspiel, after all, was modeled upon the French opéra comique and Hiller’s favorite genre, the Lied, represents a counterpart to the popular French chanson. With regard to the concerts that Hiller directed and programmed, he

30


followed fashions that had been influenced by the format and conventions of concerts in France. Both in his music making and teaching the art of singing, Hiller coordinated important elements from Italian, French, and domestic German influences. In this, Hiller adopted the flexible attitude described by both Quantz and Türk as an appropriate German way to enhance musical style. But while both Quantz and Türk thought it necessary to take freely from both the Italians and the French to improve German style, Hiller assembled only the best features of the Italian style and to a lesser extent the French model. In amalgamating all these influences, he attempted to make the key elements accessible to the public with the intention of fostering a German national style that espoused the principle of simplification. Conveying exemplary aspects of the Italian vocal style, Hiller felt that the Germans could develop and elevate their indigenous taste and art of singing. Quantz and Türk show, perhaps, a more eclectic assimilation of influences and a more theoretical approach, whereas Hiller pursued more practical interests and pedagogical goals. The use of the international style, envisioned by Hiller, was to give the Germans a vocal idiom aspiring to be on a par with the Italians and French. Hiller, whose familiarity with the writings of the major theorists such as Mancini, Burney, Quantz, Tosi, Agricola, Marpurg, and Mattheson is beyond any doubt, did not merely copy the tradition at hand. As Bernd Baselt observes: “Referring to well-known experts on a chosen subject does not imply that he [Hiller] slavishly follows the methods as exemplified by Mancini or Tosi– Agricola.”81 Hiller approached his predecessors not uncritically. For example, in the Preface to his 1780 treatise, he distances himself from Mancini, whose unappealing manner and dryness make much of his material unusable. Nevertheless, Hiller shows the influence of recent Italian theorists, as in general he “lays great stress on the thoroughness of Italian music education.”82 Aiming to match these exemplary standards, Hiller sought to develop suitable teaching models. In his pedagogy, Hiller follows Tosi–Agricola more closely. Whereas Tosi maintained the line of vocal performance practice exemplified by the castrati and Agricola was the preserver of that tradition, Hiller became the transformer who revised the Italian model to accommodate the changing needs of his German audience as the crucial shifts in late eighteenth-century aesthetic sensibility were taking place. Modifying the elaborations of the past theorists, Hiller infused into the treatise tradition a greater sense of the musical culture of the Enlightenment “with its secular leanings, its cultivation of music as an aesthetic, non-functional art.”83 But to inspire his people with a vision of singing that built upon the glory of the past, Hiller went beyond the role of a mere mediator who assimilated the 81

82

Bernd Baselt, “Afterword,” in Johann Adam Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, facsimile edition, with an Afterword and Name Index by Bernd Baselt (Leipzig: Edition Peters, 1976): “Sich auf anerkannte Autoritäten der gewählten Materie zu beziehen, heißt für ihn [Hiller] keineswegs, sich nahezu sklavisch an die von Mancini oder Tosi–Agricola gelehrte Methode zu halten.” 83 Butt, Music Education, p. 176. Ibid., p. 177.


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tradition of ornamentation. As his pioneering work as an impresario indicates, Hiller had a keen sense of innovation in his pedagogy which John Butt has characterized as “revolutionary.”84 Such an appraisal recognizes Hiller’s achievement as an outstanding teacher-theorist. This introduction and commentary together with the translation of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange are offered in the attempt to further the appreciation of Hiller’s remarkable accomplishments. 84

Ibid.

Note on the text and musical examples

Hiller’s own footnotes, designated in the original publication by asterisks, are here similarly indicated by symbols, in order to distinguish them from the numbered editorial footnotes below them. The musical examples have been modified to conform to modern notational practice with regard to clefs and initial bracelines and bracketlines.

Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation

Preface

When the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange was published five years ago, the reader was given the hope that a second work, the Anweisung zum musikalischzierlichen Gesange, would soon appear. This hope has now been realized, later perhaps than many would have hoped and wished, but still too soon for my own satisfaction. There is an extensive field to be explored here. In view of the abundant material which, more often than not, is only derived from minute observations based upon experience and is rarely covered or even sometimes overlooked in other books, it is easy to understand that the gathering and organization of these facts require due consideration. Hence it occurs that the plan which was designed and accepted one day is rejected the next. In all, it is the preparation of such an undertaking that requires more effort than the work itself, and then when other business interferes, the realization of such a project can easily be delayed for years. But why should there be excuses about delay if, perhaps, the publication itself could have been dispensed with? It could have remained unwritten for two reasons: first, if the execution had not succeeded in treating such an important subject adequately, and second, if the Germans had never wanted to be advanced a step further in the fine art of good singing. I am more or less at ease about the first point, as Part I [the first treatise – Anweisung zum musikalischrichtigen Gesange]1 has been accepted with success time and time again, in public schools as well as in the course of private instruction, and has been used profitably. This is by no means an infallible indication of the high quality of the present treatise; but since I have worked on it with no less honesty and care, one may at least give me the benefit of the doubt in assuming that it will be no worse than its predecessor. The first treatise has not only had the honor of being translated into Danish but also has been published in excerpts by Herr Höpfner, the Stadt-Cantor of Sondershausen, although this is not acknowledged in the title or 1

Throughout the translation “first treatise” refers to “erster Theil” (Part I) or Anweisung zum musikalischrichtigen Gesange (1774). Together with the present treatise or “zweiter Theil” (Part II), Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange (1780), Hiller envisions a unity of his theoretical endeavors which makes him speak of the two treatises as Part I and II in the present work.

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Treatise on vocal performance and ornamentation

in the preface. The former is a rather pleasant occurrence; the latter I would have preferred to prevent. The second point deserves to be taken into consideration on its own account. Perhaps I exaggerated in doubting that the Germans would ever be inclined to advance themselves even a step further in the proper manner of singing. They no more lack enthusiasm than they do talent, but it is opportunity and encouragement which they are missing to a regrettable extent. I leave it to the reader to reflect upon the absence of encouragement; I would, however, like to say more about the lack of opportunity to study singing properly and of perfecting their talent. In the first treatise, I pointed out that, in general, Germany has no other singing schools than its town schools, where singing is one of the subjects taught or, at least, one that ought to be taught. Apart from the ineptitude or laziness of many a teacher who has the obligation to teach music in such schools, no one school has the intention of producing highly qualified musicians or singers. I would not hesitate to pass judgment on whether this is truly right or not; at least out of gratitude, music should be treated with more respect in the public schools. More care should be taken over the cultivation of this art, as music often invites many endowments out of which teachers’ salaries and inheritances are paid and from which a considerable number of poor students are supported. Should these contributions be collected from the schools along with the money that students have earned through daily or weekly singing in the streets or in the homes, there might be good reason to complain about want and need. Still another reason should prompt those men who have influence in the school system or those who are in immediate charge of it to sponsor, with greater zeal, the study of a subject which cannot be looked upon with indifference or even disdain without doing injustice to it. Is not singing an essential part of our religious worship? Is not good church music, composed in the right spirit, a sure means for the celebration of our holidays and for the awakening and strengthening of our devotion? Who would believe that God can be honored with coarse and wild screaming and miserably ill-performed music as well as with gentle and euphonious singing and music which is full of dignity and strength? Which of these two methods is more likely to arouse devotion in the listener? The answer is simple – and Heaven help us – if it were only as easy to demonstrate that singing and music in our churches do not need any improvement! Let him who wishes take the trouble to prove it; I must object to it. The Italians still have the advantage over us in singing, if not in other aspects of music too, and they may well maintain it for a long time. The reason is that they have what the Germans lack: the encouragement and opportunity to study. As far as these two aspects are concerned, it is worth the effort to pause for a moment and draw a comparison between the two nations. Such a comparison, in addition to providing an expansion of the reader’s insight into the history of new music, also gives the opportunity to express some good wishes and not

Preface

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entirely objectionable suggestions for improving the study of singing in Germany. Finally, I should like to give a catalogue of famous singing masters and male and female singers who have become well known in and outside of Italy since the beginning of this century. Let us hope that many an over-zealous detester of music, when he sees that many musicians have been showered with honor and wealth. will be rescued from the erroneous illusion that it is music that creates despicable and immoral people. But you, my young friends, who strive to achieve fortune and honor through practice of such an admirable art, take example from your famous predecessors and let them arouse you to untiring diligence! And when you have reached the summit from which you sweep everyone away with delight and astonishment, protect yourself from a scandalous life-style and unfitting behavior so as not to lose what you have achieved through talent. The historical facts which I would like to present will be taken primarily from two writers on music. The first is an Englishman and a Doctor of Music, Charles Burney, who is probably well known to all music lovers because of his musical journey, a description of which was published in German translation in Hamburg in 1772.2 The second, Giambattista Mancini, singing master of the Imperial Court in Vienna, published a book in quarto in 1774 entitled Pensieri e Riflessioni pratiche sopra il Canto figurato.3 I am sorry that there was little in this book 2

3

Hiller refers to the German translation of Charles Burney’s musical tours in Europe (The Present State of Music in France and Italy and The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces, first published in 3 volumes in 1771). Charles Burney, Tagebuch seiner musikalischen Reisen, 3 vols. (Hamburg: Bode, 1772, 1773): vol. I, Tagebuch einer musikalischen Reise durch Frankreich und Italien welche er unternommen hat um zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte der Musik Materialien zu sammeln, trans. C. D. Ebeling, 1772; vol. II, Tagebuch einer musikalischen Reise durch Flandern, die Niederlande und am Rhein bis Wien, trans. J. J. C. Bode, 1773; vol. III, Tagebuch einer musikalischen Reise durch Böhmen, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Hamburg und Holland. Mit Zusätzen und Anmerkungen zum zweyten und dritten Bande, trans. J. J. C. Bode, 1773. On the basis of the first edition (1771), the “second edition, corrected” (vol. I, 1773; vol. II, 1 and II, 2, 1775), additional manuscript material omitted in the first and second editions, and the editorial footnotes of the German translation, Percy A. Scholes has edited Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, 2 vols. (London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1959): vol. I, An Eighteenth-Century Musical Tour in France and Italy; vol. II, An Eighteenth-Century Musical Tour in Central Europe and the Netherlands. Subsequently, all references are made to Scholes’ edition, except for Hiller’s own references to the German translation which will be cross-referenced with the Scholes edition. Hiller had actually met Burney in Leipzig in September, 1772, when he acted as Burney’s host. Noting Hiller’s hospitality in his Musical Tours, Burney had these kind words to say about his character and status as a musician: “This gentleman, who is not only an eminent writer on the subject of music, but the first and most popular composer of comic operas in the German language, was indefatigable in his endeavors to serve me the whole time I remained in Leipsic” (vol. II, p. 153). During his visit, Burney and Hiller attended a performance of a comic opera in Leipzig which prompted Burney to make the following remarks about the quality of singing in Germany: “The performers did not charm me, either by their singing or acting; all were out of tune, out of time, and vulgar. I hardly ever was more tired” (p. 154). Burney repeated his criticism after visiting the playhouse where one of Hiller’s comic operas was in rehearsal. “I found this music very natural and pleasing, and deserving of much better performers than the present Leipsic Company can boast; for, to say the truth, the singing here is as vulgar and ordinary as our common singing in England, among those who have neither had the advantage of being taught, nor of hearing good singing” (p. 154). Hiller must have felt quite pleased with Burney’s praise for his musicianship when he came across it in the German translation of the Musical Tours. He also must have been quite encouraged about his own efforts to improve the state of singing in Germany, having a reliable critic chastising the poor quality of singing and acting. It is no surprise, then, that Hiller makes frequent references to Burney as a source in his Preface. Giambattista Mancini. Practical Reflections on Figured Singing (Vienna, 1774), trans. and ed. Edward Foreman, Masterworks on Singing, vol. VII (Champaign, Ill.: Pro Musica Press, 1967).

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of which I could make use. Practical examples are almost entirely absent. The author dedicated his work to the Archduchess Maria Elisabeth, whom he instructed in singing. He says of her in the dedication: “She was able to execute the greatest subtleties with such precision and confidence that few other examples of such exceptional ability can be cited.”4 Burney learned from Mancini, whom he met in Vienna, that he had taught eight of the Archduchesses to sing, most of whom had good voices. They had achieved considerable proficiency, particularly the Princess of Parma and the Archduchess Elisabeth who had “. . . good shakes, a good portamento, and great facility in executing simple divisions.”5 Mancini may well be a good singing master for princesses, but whether or not he is a good writer I do not wish to discuss here because I would like to use his work now and then as a reference. And now to the point: it is very encouraging for an Italian singer to have so many opportunities in and outside his homeland to show his talent and to be handsomely rewarded for it. Every city of considerable importance in Italy has an opera house where tragic or comic operas are performed. The larger cities have several theaters, as for example Venice, which has seven* named after the saints of the churches where the theaters are located. San Moisè, San Samuele, San Benedetto, and San Cass[i]ano are for tragedies, whereas San Luca, San Grisostomo, and Sant’Angelo are for comedies. It is well known to what extent Italian singing is appreciated outside of Italy, at the various German courts, in England, in Russia, and in almost all the European realms. Not only the theater but also the church strives to search for musical talent and to reward it. Any church in an Italian city celebrating the feast of its patron saint or some other important feast will not fail to call upon the most famous virtuosi from other regions and contract them by paying considerable rewards for helping to make the festival more beautiful through their singing talents. Everyone knows what the state of music is like in the theaters and churches of Germany. Although we still have no opera, something resembling it does exist, but it is restrained by comedy. Under such conditions opera cannot easily become the gathering place of German virtuosi. And the churches – O dear God! – it is sad to say at what price music is to be performed there to honor God, to promote the devotion of a Christian congregation, and still to assert its own dignity. Can music performed under such circumstances be anything but bad, so that many reasonable men consider it to be completely dispensable? Yet, should music really be permitted to fall victim to such disdain – something which was always considered an essential part of the service, which was so beautiful and splendid in the time of David and Solomon – a science which the great Luther ranked immediately next to theology? The Italians actually surpass us not only by encouraging musical talent, but * D. Volkmann. Historisch-kritische Nachrichten von Italien, vol. III. Leipzig: Caspar Fritsch, 1778. p. 617. 4

Ibid., p. 1.

5

Burney, Musical Tours, vol. II, p. 115.

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also by having institutions to train these talents and lead them to a certain degree of perfection. At the present time, Italy is still the only country which has established music and singing schools and has thereby found a means to further the successful careers of poor children of both sexes, at the same time making the Italian art of singing predominant throughout Europe. These music schools are called Conservatories or Hospitals. Venice has four and Naples three. Those in Venice are for girls while the Naples schools are set up for boys. The Ospedale della Pietà in Venice has the most pupils: it is attended by more than one thousand girls of which seventy study music with the best teachers. Not only do they sing, but they also play the organ, violin, flute, violoncello, and even the Waldhorn. Every Saturday and Sunday evening there are performances in each of the four conservatories, just as there are during the major church festivals. At each conservatory a maestro or Kapellmeister is in charge of the curriculum; he writes music for the school and generally conducts the performance himself. The present Maestro della Pietà, Signore Furnaletti, is a friar. This hospital is a kind of foundling home for illegitimate children and is under the protection of several noblemen, citizens, and merchants who, no matter how high the institution’s income, contribute yearly to its maintenance. The girls are educated there until they get married or find further support through their music. The cost of music lessons at such a conservatory is supposed to be minimal, as only five or six teachers are paid for instruction in singing and various instruments, while the older girls teach the younger ones. With respect to vocal and instrumental training, Burney prefers the Ospedale agl’Incurabili to the other three schools in Venice. This institution is said to offer not more than forty musical subjects, fewer than are taught at the Ospedale della Pietà. However, the compositions of a certain Galuppi, the maestro of the Ospedale agl’Incurabili, and perhaps the better teachers of this conservatory, give it an advantage over the others. Hasse was once its maestro. He wrote a Miserere for two sopranos, two altos, with two violins, viola, and bass accompaniment, which is still performed during Passion Week and which Padre Martini has called a wonderful composition. Burney attended a concert at the Conservatorio de’ Mendicanti which the Prioress, an elderly lady, conducted herself. Every instrument, including the bass, was played by some young woman. It was here that the two famous musicians, Archiopata, now Sgra. Guglielmi, and Sgra. Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen, who is famous in both England and Germany, received their training. Sgr. Bertoni is the Kapellmeister at the Conservatorio, and Sgr. Sacchini at the Ospedaletto a Giovanni e Paolo. Most of the children in these three conservatories are poor orphans, although other children who pay for room, board, and tuition are accepted and taught. The three conservatories in Naples, namely Sant’Onofrio, la Pietà, and Santa Maria di Loreto, are, as I said before, for boys only. There are ninety students in the first conservatory, one hundred and twenty in the second, and two hundred

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in the third. They receive instruction in singing, various instruments, and composition. Each of these conservatories has two chief conductors, one who looks at and corrects compositions and the other who is in charge of the vocal program. For instrumental instruction there are other teachers available, who are known as maestri secolari. Piccini, Paisiello, Boroni, and many other Italian composers are indebted to these conservatories for their education. What then do we have that can compare with the Italians? Do our itinerant boys’ choirs and boarding schools compare to their conservatories? These schools must provide us with singers for our church music. Since, however, none are accepted for the sole purpose of becoming outstanding musicians and since a young boy who shows an exceptional inclination for this highly esteemed science [i.e. music] inevitably meets with reproach and vexation in many places, it is no wonder that he never seeks to achieve anything more than mediocrity. Rather, he looks at this education only as a means of having his needs taken care of in a public school for nine or ten years. Therefore, our church music cannot have much appeal as far as performance is concerned. Burney, however, doesn’t paint a very rosy picture of the average church singer in Italy either, when he says:* “All singers in the church are taken from the rejects of the opera houses, and rarely in all Italy does one find a singer with a tolerable voice who works for the church. The virtuosi who only occasionally sing on the high holidays are generally hired foreign singers who are paid for their services.” However, when Burney says that most of these singers do not have good voices, he does not exclude the possibility that they could be welltrained and intelligent singers, as they have previously been singing opera for a long time. This is not at all true for our church singers. They seem to lack experience and insight above all, even if they occasionally have the advantage of a good voice and a sound knowledge of music. In another passage Burney says that opera in Italy deprives the church of many good singers because it offers better pay.6 Again, this is not the case in Germany, since many a singer performs in our theaters who would not be employed by the church, as there, in the church, he would be required to know at least the principles of music. Female voices, indeed, are not permitted in church music in Italy, as their parts can always be replaced by castrati. Since we cannot exclude women and do not want to have castrati, the only reason that women are not included in church music is that this matter has not been considered seriously enough and without * Burney’s Tagebuch, vol. I, p. 227. [Burney states: “Indeed all musici in the churches at present are made up of the refuse of the opera houses, and it is very rare to meet with a tolerable voice upon the establishment in any church throughout Italy. The virtuosi who sing there occasionally, upon great festivals only, are usually strangers, and paid by the time” (Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. I, p. 248). Burney explains the term musici in a footnote: “The word musico, in Italy, seems now wholly appropriated to a singer with a soprano or contralto voice, which has been preserved by art.”] 6

See Ibid., p. 231. Burney refers to suggestions “not to expect to find the music of the Pope’s chapel so superior in the performance to that of the rest of Italy, as it has been in times past, before operas were invented and such great salaries given to the principal singers.”

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41

prejudice. If God primarily endowed humans with the splendid talent of producing a melodic tone with the throat in order to praise Him, then it is highly unfair to exclude the one sex, which has received this gift to a greater extent from its creator, from worshipping Him too. “It was not customary in the past,” it is said. The reason that it did not occur in the past is based on conditions that do not apply in our times. Should we evaluate as good only that which was valuable in the past, then we are badly advised about the order of this earthly world as well as about the goal of our stay on earth. I would think that if we do know how to do something better, it would be our duty to improve it without first asking permission of the past. Another disadvantage is brought about by the poor conditions of our church and theater music. Here, young talents never have the opportunity to hear anything excellent which could serve as a model for them to imitate. This is, at least, the case in all those cities where the court has no chapel. These cities are more numerous by a ratio of about thirty to one. Italy has a great advantage over Germany in this respect. Considering all the churches, cloisters, theaters, and private concerts which are found not only in the more important Italian cities but also in the smaller ones, it is no wonder that the street virtuosi* in Venice put certain German concert orchestras to shame. For this reason alone, a trip to Italy is very advisable for a young talent. From the given description of the state of music in Italy and the comparison with the German conditions, there is little doubt which of the two countries is to be preferred. We are obviously still behind; but shouldn’t we attempt to catch up? Perhaps we can never count on the encouragement and support which the study of music has in Italy, but should we therefore neglect it completely? According to God’s wise counsel, music is intended for our enjoyment. It is surely the most noble and innocent pleasure that humans can have on earth. In order to give this pleasure greater charm and subtlety, could and should we not then feel obliged to make its improvement and refinement our goal? We have a means which could easily be put into practice in most places without much difficulty. Concert societies and weekly rehearsals could be established according to the conditions within a community, with the main focus directed upon the * Burney’s Tagebuch. Vol. I, p. 100, [vol. II], p. 104. [Hiller makes two references here; the second one is actually from volume II of Burney’s Tagebuch. The first one refers to Burney’s experience of street musicians in Venice: “The first music which I heard here was in the street, immediately on my arrival, performed by an itinerant band of two fiddles, a violoncello, and a voice, who . . . performed so well, that in any other country of Europe they would not only have excited attention, but have acquired applause, which they justly merited” (Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. I, p. 110). A few pages later, Burney notices the “great number of vagrant musicians” with the resulting effect that the performance of “street-music is generally neglected, as people are almost stunned with it at every corner”; but he is quick to praise the Italians for the “taste and discernment” with which they “express rapture in a manner peculiar to themselves” when “they do admire” (Ibid., p. 114). Hiller’s second reference relates Burney’s experience of street musicians performing on wind instruments (“French horns, clarinets, hautboys, and bassoons”) at the Golden Ox, an inn in Vienna, which prompted his disparaging remark: “all so miserably out of tune, that I wished them a hundred miles off.” Burney then proceeds with the statement Hiller paraphrases: “In general I did not find that delicacy of ear among the German street-musicians, which I had met with in people of the same rank and profession in Italy” (Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. II, p. 114).]

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improvement of singing. One should not again, however, make the mistake of excluding women. Of course this demands a hardworking and understanding person who devotes himself more out of love for music than for a considerable reward, one who is willing to commit himself to such a tedious business as the instruction of singing truly is. Our concert societies and the singing schools connected with them will never achieve the stature of Italian conservatories, nor will they have as much influence on music as a whole. But they would not be entirely without use since the music which is performed in churches will certainly improve, insofar as it would be performed by the members of such a society who practice together. Furthermore, this society could regularly select such pieces for performance which are taken from church music. I am speaking here from personal experience; and if I do not further elaborate upon it, it is to avoid being accused of vanity. And now I would like to present the promised list of famous singing teachers and male and female singers from Mancini’s above-quoted treatise. Even if this should not contain anything for the betterment of the unfortunate detesters of music, I do not doubt that a more intimate knowledge of these singers would serve as an encouragement or glorious emulation for young people who wish to follow such a career. “The most respected and famous schools,” says Mancini, which have had the highest reputation in the last fifty years are those of Francesco Antonio Pistocchi in Bologna, Brivio in Milan, Francesco Peli in Modena, Francesco Redi in Florence, Amadori in Rome, and of Nicolo Porpora, Leonardo Leo, and Francesco Feo in Naples. The merit of these schools, in respect to the teachers as well as the pupils, cannot be praised enough. So that I can proceed in an orderly manner, I will briefly mention those worthy men who gained fame at the end of the last century. At that time Cavaliere Baldassarre Ferri, who was born in Perugia, had the most beautiful, extensive, flexible, pleasant and melodious of all voices. He was such an admirable* singer that throughout his lifetime the sovereigns in Europe competed for his presence, showered him with honor and riches and, after his death, Italian muses sang his praise. His contemporaries said that the beauty of his voice and the charm of his singing could not be expressed with words. He possessed, to the highest degree, all the characteristics of perfection in every respect: he was lively, daring, ceremonious, tender at will, and he tugged at every heart-string when he sang with expression. With a single breath he was able to sing two full octaves up and down with connecting trills. He achieved, unaccompanied, all the chromatic intervals with such exactness that, when during the improvisation the orchestra accidentally struck the same tone which he was presently singing, be it indicated by a flat or sharp, everyone was astonished at how clean and in tune it was. The famous singers Siface and Cavaliere Matteucci were both extraordinary due to the unusual beauty of their voices and because they knew how to touch the heart. * In Walter’s Dictionary [Johann Gottfried Walther, Musikalisches Lexicon, oder musikalische Bibliothek (Leipzig: W. Peer, 1732; facsimile reprint edn., ed. Richard Schall, Kassel: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1953)] he is mentioned as an outstanding instrumental musician, and for proof Bontempi Istoria Musica is listed.

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Matteucci, after having served the Spanish Court for many successful years, retired in his old age to his home town, Naples, where he still lived in 1730 and sang in the church every Sunday night, purely out of devotion. Although he was well over eighty, he still had such a fresh and light voice and still performed all the ornaments with such lightness and fluency that every listener who did not see him was forced to think that this was a youngster in his most lively years. The outstanding Gaetano Orsini, who died in service at the Imperial Court in Vienna, also had the good fortune of maintaining his beautiful, flowing, and flexible voice until he was very old. At the end of the last century Francesco Antonio Pistocchi, who was initially hired by the Oratorians at Forlì, settled in Bologna, his birthplace. Here he opened a singing school where he taught each student with so much love and insight that one need only consider the success which his efforts had in order to be convinced of his knowledge. The most distinguished of his four famous pupils was my teacher Antonio Bernacchi, who came from Bologna. As nature had not endowed him with a very good voice, something which he himself admitted, he decided upon his friend’s recommendation to study with Pistocchi, who not only accepted him very willingly but also immediately gave him exercises which he had to practice diligently in order to achieve the skill which would bring him success. The obedient student did not hesitate to undergo the trouble, although it was irritating and difficult, and practiced for some time following his master’s instructions, while visiting him every day in order to get his advice on all matters. During this time Bernacchi did not sing in any church or on stage; he did not even want to perform for his closest friends. He remained steadfast until his master advised him that the time had come to be assured of general admiration for having achieved perfection. This great success was due to the assistance of a good master and the untiring diligence of a willing student. My pen would undertake too much if it were to write down all the praises which this great man deserves. It is enough when I say that he was universally admired and that he was one of the finest singers of his time, as anyone who has heard him (many of whom are still alive) can, without doubt, testify. From this account the student may come to the useful conclusion that with continuous diligence, a bad voice can be made into a good one under the direction of a gifted master. Bernacchi was not only one of the foremost singers of his time, but he also imitated his master by opening a school for the benefit of young people. Almost all his students have died; only the renowned Tedeschi Amadori, good old Tommaso Guarducci, and the famous and well-known Anton Raff are still alive. These three Professors* gained general approval in each of their various, selective, and individual styles and showed such a worthy way of life that art is obliged to honor their memory. Antonio Pasi of Bologna, also a student of Pistocchi’s,† became famous for his masterly singing style which was of the rarest taste. As a result of his solid portamento and * That is the way every musician who has accomplished something outstanding in his art is called in Italy. [Burney actually addresses his source, Signor Mancini, as “this able professor” and uses the term “scholar” to mean “student” when he states: “Bernacchi was the scholar of Pistocco” (See Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. II, p. 115).] † It is therefore an error when Burney, Tagebuch. vol. II, p. 249, states that the aforementioned [Antonio Pasi] and the following two [Giambattista Minelli, Bartolino da Faenza] were students of Bernacchi’s. [In referring to Bernacchi and his principal students, Burney states, listing a first name different from Hiller’s Bartolino da Faenza: “His principal scholars were Antonio Pasi, Gio. Battista Minelli, Bartolomeo di [recte Bartolino da] Faenza, Mancini, and Guarducci” (See Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. II, p. 115).]

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complete evenness of voice, he made certain ornaments his own, such as Schleifer, mordents, and distortion of the beat [tempo rubato]. Executed to the highest perfection in appropriate places, they produced an individual and admirable style. Giambattista Minelli, also from Bologna and from the same school as well, sang the range of contralto with a firm tone and a good portamento in his voice. As this was combined with deep insight, he became very well known for his style. Bartolino da Faenza, also a pupil of the aforementioned Pistocchi as well as a fellow student of Bernacchi, was one of the most outstanding singers of his time. Senesino* and Giovanni Carestini became famous as a result of a very original manner of singing and excellent acting. The latter was born in Monto Filatrana in the region of Ancona. As a boy of twelve he came to Milan, where he took the name Cusanino in honor of the benefits he received from the Family Cusani. Although his voice was beautiful by nature, he did not neglect to improve it by diligent study, achieving skillfulness in all types of singing to such a degree that already in his youth he attained great fame and confidence. He had a resourceful mind and very fine powers of judgment so that he was never satisfied, no matter how agreeable his inventions were. One day a friend came to him as he was practicing and applauded his fine singing. Carestini, however, gave him the following answer: “When I myself cannot accomplish enough to my satisfaction, I certainly will not be able to do it for others.” He then practiced this aria again and again until he discovered a manner that gave him satisfaction. Therefore, in his singing, he was all discrimination, reflection, and grandeur. He did not neglect acting, but rather studied it very assiduously. Thanks to a good figure, he succeeded in perfecting all the characters he performed and became famous for this reason alone.† And now I take the enchanting opportunity to name the memorable ladies who flourished at the same time as the aforementioned famous singers.‡ The first place, without doubt, belongs to Vittoria Tesi Tramontini, who was born in Florence, where she received her first training in singing from the famous maestro di cappella Francesco Redi. Subsequently she went to Bologna, where she continued her studies under the direction of Campeggi while, at the same time, she attended Bernacchi’s school. Although she never neglected the study of singing, she followed her natural inclination more toward practice in acting. In the year 1769, she had the honor of being awarded the medal of faith and constancy by the King of Denmark.

(Tesi was endowed by nature with a strong, masculine contralto voice. Several times in Dresden in the year 1719, she sang arias which are generally set for basses. Now, however, in the year 1725 while she was singing in the opera house in Naples, she acquired a pleasing and flattering style in addition to her splendid * He acquired this name from his town of birth, Siena. His first name was Francesco Bernardo. In 1719 he sang with the opera in Dresden, then went with Handel to England, and finally returned to his home country with glory and 15,000 pounds. J. Hawkins, General History of Music, vol. V [London, 1776; Novello, 1875], p. 306. † All that is mentioned about Carestini here is very true. I have seen this man, who is certainly great in his art, perform in the operas Archidamia, Leucippo, and Demofoonte in Dresden. He sang contralto, ranging from high g⬙ to as low as eb and d. His low tones were unusually secure, full, and strong. His modesty was still as great as his dexterity at that time. ‡ Mr. Mancini, in describing the achievements of these women, is a little verbose and obscure. I will therefore borrow what Quantz has to say, which appears in volume I of Marpurg’s Beiträge [Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik, 5 vols. (Berlin: 1754–62, 1778)] and put it into parentheses each time I quote him.

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and serious singing. The range of her voice was extraordinarily large. Singing either high or low caused her no trouble. It was not her habit to make use of many passaggi. She seemed to be born to captivate her audience by acting, especially in male roles, which she performed to her own advantage in a most natural manner.) Immediately following is Faustina Bordoni, the wife of Hasse, the Electorate of Saxony’s leading conductor. She was born in Venice where she studied singing under the direction of Michelangiolo Gasparini Lucca.

(Faustina had a not too light but penetrating mezzo-soprano voice whose range, in the year 1727 when she sang in London, stretched from b to not much higher than g⬙, but which, after a time, did reach a few tones lower. Her style of singing was expressive and brilliant (un cantar granito). With her agile tongue she was able to enunciate words rapidly, one after the other, and still to pronounce them quite clearly; she had a very dexterous throat and a beautiful and very practiced trill which she could make use of with the greatest of ease wherever and whenever she wanted. She knew how to perform passaggi at the fastest possible tempi, so skillfully that her execution equalled that of instruments, whether the passaggi were set as runs or leaps or consisted of many rapidly repeated notes. Undoubtedly, she is the first singer who performed such passaggi, which consist of many notes based on a single tone, with the greatest success. She sang Adagio[s] with great affect and expression, except for when the movement was dominated by an all-too tragic passion, which could only be expressed through slurred notes or constant portamento of the voice. She had a good memory for improvised ornaments and a keen sense which enabled her to give the words their suitable emphasis by performing them with the greatest clarity. She was especially talented in acting. Because she was, to a great extent, gifted in the art of representation, or what Mr. Mattheson calls Hypocritik, she could mime at will as she pleased. Therefore, serious roles as well as those of tender lovers fitted her equally well. In a word, she was born for singing and acting.)7 Francesca Cuzzoni from Parma was a pupil of Francesco Lanzi, a meritorious singer. In London she married the great keyboard and organ player, Sandoni.

(Cuzzoni had a very pleasant and light soprano voice, clear intonation and a beautiful trill. The range of her voice stretched from c⬘ to c⵮. Her manner of singing was innocent and moving, and because of her sweet, pleasing, and 7

Mattheson, in Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg: Christian Herold, 1739; facsimile reprint edn., ed. Margarete Reimann, Kassel and Basel: Bärenreiter Verlag, 1954); trans. Ernest C. Harris (Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1981), Chapter 6, “Von der Geberden-Kunst” (“The Art of Gesture”), §1, facsimile, pp. 33ff., Harriss translation, pp. 132ff, defines hypocritica as the art of gesture, referring to pantomime which uses gesture to act out what is otherwise sung or spoken. Thus Mattheson adopts Cassiodorus’ idea that pantomime is silent music because it presents, in gesture, what goes beyond words or sound. Later in this chapter (§22, p. 37; Harriss translation, p. 137) Mattheson views gestures, words, and sound as three elements which must be in perfect harmony to achieve the greatest impact upon the audience. Tosi, on the other hand, doubts that a great singer can also be a great actor because he believes that one cannot perfect two different means of expression at the same time (Chapter 9, §31, p. 152).

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smooth performance, her ornaments did not appear to be unnatural. Moreover, because of this gentleness in performance, she captivated all her listeners. In Allegro[s], however, she did not sing passaggi with the greatest dexterity, although she performed them in very rounded, amiable, and pleasant manner. Her acting was somewhat cold and her figure was not too favorable for the stage.) Gaetano Majorano Caffarelli was born in the province of Bari. In his youth he went to Naples, where he set upon his singing studies with such diligence that he gained the admiration of all the experts within a short amount of time. Thereafter, he sang in many theaters in Italy and thus made a big name for himself. As he is still alive, I would not like to speak too extensively about his merits, as they are known throughout Europe.* Carlo Scalzi, a Genoese, succeeded in his art to such an extent that he was considered to be one of the leading singers. Since that time the following have become famous: Giovacchino Conti Gizziello, Agostino Fontana, Regginella, Domenico Annibali, Angelo Maria Monticelli, Giuseppe Appiani, Felice Salimbeni, all from Milan, and finally the two good tenors Gregorio Babbi of Cesena and Angelo Amorevoli of Venice. Among the female singers who have gained fame in the course of time are: Peruzzi, Theresia Reuther, a chamber singer at the Imperial Court in Vienna, Catarina Visconti, Giovanna Astrua, and Mingotti. My plan is not to undertake an extensive laudation here, as I do not wish to dally too long in this article; also, I am convinced that the reader has already gained some knowledge of their accomplishments from other sources. Nowadays there are still some who know how to maintain the honor and dignity of their art. For example – Rosa Tartaglini, the wife of the worthy tenor Tibaldi, who left the theater out of her own choice some years ago: Catarina Gabrielli, Lucrezia Agujari, Anna de Amicis, Elisabeth Teuberinn, Antonia Girelli Aguillar, Antonia Bernasconi, Catharina Schindlerinn, and her granddaughter, Marianne Schindlerinn. Among the male singers: Santarelli, Giovanni Manzuoli, Filippo Elisi, Ferdinando Mazzanti, Giuseppe Aprile, Gaetano Guadagni, Pasquale Potenza, Carlo Nicolini, Ferdinando Tenducci, Carlo Conciolini, Giuseppe Millico, Antonio Goti, Venanzio Rauzzini, Antonio Grassi, Giovanni Toschi, Giuseppe Cicognani, Consorti, Pacchiorotti, and various others. Since these artists are still alive and acquiring so much honor and glory for themselves through their skillfulness, it would be presumptuous for me to believe that I could increase their fame through my praise.

So much for Mr. Mancini. He gave us a rather dry and incomplete register of names which I could easily have made more comprehensive and instructive if I did not fear to draw this introduction out too much. I shall have the opportunity of filling in this author’s loopholes on another occasion if God grants me life and health. Now I shall proceed with my intended work. If it is to present the doctrine of musikalisch-zierlicher Gesang, I need only indicate that everything in singing which * This is saying a great deal, but of no less importance is what Burney says about him, calling him the sire of song [Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol. I, p. 279] (Altvater). This famous singer bought a dukedom which his nephew was to inherit after his death. His title is: Duca di Santo dorato. He is very rich, yet he often sings for money in churches and cloisters. He had a very imposing manor built for himself above whose gates the inscription reads: Amphion Thebas, ego Domum (Amphion built Thebes; I built a house).

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is to be considered as embellishment and ornamentation has to be based upon the rules of harmony and melody if the result is to be good. Consequently, everything is to be considered bad and despicable which the singer undertakes at free will without insight into, and the necessary knowledge of, the principles of music. Here I have found it useful to integrate the material to a greater extent, since it is, unlike the material of the first treatise, not the subject matter of a learning process which advances from one lesson to the other, but rather the subject of continuous consideration and practice. The division into chapters seemed to me to be more advantageous than the previous division into lessons.8 A certain good friend openly accused me of presenting the lessons in disorderly fashion and also criticized various items in the former work. As he himself admitted to me, he was, at the time of his critique, in a position only to reproach, when he would have preferred to praise. Thus it frees me from the troublesome duty of seeking justification against his criticism. In the eyes of the unbiased I was already justified beforehand; now, I am also rehabilitated in his eyes, and we are friends as before. I do not flatter myself in any way that I have presented everything about good and ornamented performance in the present treatise as clearly and easily as some would have wished and demanded. The material is often so intricate that it can only be grasped through intuition and never fully expressed by words. Likewise, even notation cannot represent it well, or if so, only with imperfections. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to give some notion of this subject matter. Although this notion may be somewhat fanciful, it can nevertheless be easily realized in an appropriate form if there is the opportunity to hear a good singer. Actually, familiarity with the practice of performance serves as a means of hearing such a singer more profitably. Some general remarks on singing instruction, for students as well as teachers, may conclude this introduction. The study of singing should not be taken lightly. Aside from learning the principles of music which every instrumentalist also has to know, singers must exhibit great diligence in the training of their voice and pay a great deal of attention to the clear pronunciation of syllables and words. Often, there are many obstacles, and only with much assiduousness and patience can they be overcome. Therefore, the teacher must show as much concern and understanding as the student. It is a misconception to think that in one year, let alone in a few months, it would be possible to train a perfect singer even if he/she knows something of the fundamentals of music. Even with the most dedicated teacher and in the best-equipped singing school, three years will always be necessary for the education of a singer. Learning the rudiments of music and their application to pitch and rhythm easily takes up a year and may continue through the following year with a different method. In the Italian schools, they do nothing but solmization for more than a year; i.e. they sing with letters and the Guidonian 8

Hiller is referring to the structure of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange.

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syllables. Teachers in German schools should not rush this instruction either, as it is the foundation of all musical knowledge. Teaching scales and keys as well as intervals must be included in the first period. In the second period all this material should be diligently repeated, in order to make certain that the student has it at his command and, at the same time, to prepare for pure pronunciation of words by means of certain syllables; in the first treatise the seven syllables da, me, ni, po, tu, la, and be were suggested.9 If all this is appropriately pursued with diligence and patience, one can proceed with certainty to standard vocal music and apply all the artistic means which belong to good performance, a subject matter which constitutes the content of the present work. If the student asks how many and which hours of the day he should practice singing, the answer is that three hours are not too much and that two hours are not too little. One hour in the morning and one or two in the afternoon, although not right after one another and at least a few hours after the meal, should be set aside and only be omitted if one does not feel well. However, there is also another method of studying: by practicing in one’s head or merely by putting one’s hand on the keyboard; this can be just as beneficial to the singer as when he practices aloud for hours at a time. It is a necessary aid for the singer to play the piano. If the study of another language, for example Italian, is added, then everyone will realize that idleness does not make a good singer. 9

Ibid., Lesson 6, §16, pp. 100–103.

 To the most illustrious Princess and Lady, Lady Anna Amalia1 Born Princess of Brunswick, widowed Duchess of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach. Most illustrious Duchess, Most gracious Princess and Lady, The attention and respect with which Your Serene Highness has, at all times, honored music are among the great privileges of which this estimable art may be proud, for the good reason that Your Serene Highness does not acquiesce in a merely idle pleasure, but has achieved a high level of performance and has deeply penetrated into its theoretical secrets. I may consider myself fortunate to have received Your Serene Highness’s acknowledgment in the most benevolent and gracious manner for the little which I have contributed to music in various ways, as far as my circumstances permitted. I hereby acknowledge it before the world with the deepest and most sincere gratitude. Such crucial acclaim was and always will be of the greatest encouragement to me. 1 Anna Amalia [Amalie], Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, was born in Wolfenbüttel in 1739, and died in Weimar in 1807. The daughter of Duke Karl I of Brunswick and a niece of Frederick the Great, she received a fine musical education in her youth. Anna Amalia married Duke Ernst August Konstantin of Saxe-Weimar in 1755. After his early death only two years later, she conducted the regency until 1775 when her son ascended to the throne. She continued her studies in composition and keyboard playing with Ernst Wilhelm Wolf, the leading Weimar musician (and future court Kapellmeister). A key figure in bringing together promiment poets and scholars of the time (Goethe, Herder, Wieland), she created what has been called the “court of the muses.” A great supporter of music, particularly Singspiel, Anna Amalia had Hiller’s most successful Singspiel, Die Jagd (the score of which is dedicated to her), performed in Weimar in 1770. She also sponsored the first performance of Wieland/Schweitzer’s Alceste, the first German opera. Her own compositions include a Singspiel based on Goethe’s Erwin und Elmire (1776). Above all, her significance as a musical figure lies in the exceptional role she played in cultivating and inspiring the intellectual life and music of “Weimar Classicism.” (New Grove, vol. I, pp. 439 f.)

I was also fortunate enough to be able to present Your Serene Highness with the results of my efforts concerning the study of singing. For this work the most gracious recognition of such an eminent and discerning connoisseur has also strengthened my courage and inspired me not to abandon this useful project, be it as limited as it still is at this time. May this work, which I venture to present most directly to Your Serene Highness, be so fortunate as to be considered by such enlightened eyes with leniency and benevolence. I devote myself with a most thankful and respectful heart. Most illustrious Duchess Most gracious Princess and Lady Your Serene Highness Leipzig

Your most Humble and faithfully Obedient Servant

October 12, 1779 Johann Adam Hiller

 On the qualities of the human voice and its improvement

§1 In the Introduction to the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange the good and bad qualities, preservation, and improvement of the human voice were discussed at great length. That is why there is little left for me to elaborate on, except to add a few more random remarks. §2 A beautiful voice is a glorious gift of our gracious Creator, and it would show little gratitude were we not to attempt to use it in the best possible way to praise Him and, at the same time, to bring joy to others. Those who never had the opportunity to receive proper instruction in music, particularly in the art of singing, are to be pitied but not reproached. This does not hold true for those who have wasted the opportunity out of carelessness, laziness, or disdain. §3 It is no less than a sin against God if the voice, this blessed gift (of our Lord), is not preserved with the care it deserves. What is more, those who wish to base their future career upon singing work in their own interest if they pay full attention to preserving the beauty of their voices and try to avoid everything that could ruin it. It is a fact proven by experience that a singer, although in possession of artistry, dexterity, and musical interest, will please very little because of his poor voice, whereas a singer with a brilliant voice but less artistry will be admired. In the aforementioned Introduction, the necessary remarks about preserving and ruining the voice were presented in paragraphs 18–21. §4 Pure Intonation* is probably one of the most eminent characteristics of a good voice, contrasted by the horrid defect of singing out of tune (Distonieren). “There is nothing worse,” says Mancini, “than a singer who sings out of tune; it would * The reader should not immediately regard the repetition of certain items which I have presented in Part I [Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange] as superfluous. Even if I should not present new ideas, musical terms will be made more familiar.

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be better if he were to sing from his throat or from his nose.” * Mancini seeks to give a natural and accidental reason for this flaw: the natural reason is that a young person lacks a good ear. “It is impossible,” he says, “for such a person to have any success in singing. His ear cannot be re-built like an organ pipe which can be expanded or narrowed until it produces a pure tone.”1 Aside from the fact that the comparison between the human ear and the organ pipe is somewhat far-fetched if not entirely invalid because the ear is only a receptive organ and does not produce the tone, the aforementioned impossibility of correcting a bad ear may not be valid after all. A person is certainly not gifted for singing if he believes he is producing the correct tone when a note is sung or whistled to him for hours and he always responds to it with another note which often does not have the slightest harmonic relationship to the given tone. If, however, he is able to produce something close to the given pitch, three or four notes of passable purity, then chances are favorable that, with effort and diligence, singing in tune can be attained in time. Singers who generally sing in tune can, at times, have difficulty with pitch due to accidental causes. For the most part, it is a small physical disturbance or weakness, distraction, fear, sluggishness, or an extreme strain which is at fault. As soon as the cause is eliminated, the disturbance disappears by itself. The teacher is at fault if he gets annoyed at the student in such a case, especially if physical weakness is involved. The student, however, is also at fault if he does not prevent himself from making such errors or does not seek to abolish their causes as much as he can. §5 I have had the opportunity to make still another observation. Some voices go out of tune only within a certain range and are otherwise completely in tune. A few notes, for example g⬙ and a⬙, are always sung sharp. Little can be accomplished by practicing scales, as it is especially here that the defect becomes most apparent. It would be better to put these two troublesome notes at the extreme end of a descending line – a self-resolving dissonance, such as the false fifth [diminished fifth] or the minor seventh. The thirds which fall in between must not be considered independently, but rather have to be explained by the ratio they bear to one another, and the fact that one is always smaller than the other:2 cs⬙, e⬙, g⬙; ds⬙, * Pensieri e Riflessioni sopra il canto figurato. Art V. p. 49. [In Edward Foreman’s translation of the Mancini treatise “Practical Reflections on Figured Singing” this passage reads: “There is nothing more insufferable and more inexcusable in a singer than bad intonation, and one will tolerate throaty or nasal singing more often than bad intonation.” Original published in Vienna, 1774; trans. in Masterworks on Singing, vol. VII (Champaign, Ill.: Pro Musica Press, 1967), article V, p. 22.] 1

2

In Foreman’s translation of the Mancini treatise, Practical Reflections on Figured Singing, article V, p. 22, this passage reads: “Such a youth cannot have success in singing; for no one can succeed in changing a poorly formed organization of the body, in the manner that one can in an organ, where the pipes may be pushed in or drawn out, until the proper voicing is found.” Hiller means the ratio of the major third to the minor third.

On the qualities of the human voice

53

fs⬙, a⬙; or, as a seventh: a⬘, cs⬙, e⬙, g⬙; b⬘, ds⬙, fs⬙, a⬙. A–cs, b–ds are major thirds in a ratio of 4 :5; cs–e and ds–fs are minor thirds in the ratio of 5 : 6; e–g and fs–a are likewise minor thirds [that is, they sound harmonically the same, even though they are mathematically different intervals]. In this combination, however, their ratio is no greater than 27:32, and as a result they are larger than the thirds cs–e and ds–fs by the syntonic comma 80:81.3 The student should practice these thirds diligently and use the two obstinate tones sometimes as false fifths to cs and ds and sometimes as sevenths to a and b. If one sings them together with the notes of the two scales, a and b, they will finally adjust to being in tune.4 §6 Because of the accidental signs, the sharp (s) and the flat (b), a singer must become aware that the sharp should always be sung slightly sharp and the flat somewhat flat if they are to be noticed, which is what the signs are intended for. They are frequently the indication of a modulation into another key and must, therefore, clearly and unmistakably show this process. This applies to the natural sign as well; however, as it has a double meaning, its function needs to be clear. The natural sign raises, if it follows a flat, but it lowers if it comes after a sharp. In the first case, the interval down is a whole step, and the interval up is a half step. In the second case, it is reversed unless another accidental intervenes. §7 The mistake of singing out of tune can occur when shifting from the chest register to the head or falsetto register. The singer must proceed in the way just described if this defect is to be corrected. There is not very much that can be determined with certainty above the register break. Mancini says that it is between c⬙ and d⬙ for the soprano voice. “If one has a soprano sing the four tones of the scale g⬘ a⬘ b⬘ and c⬙, one will find that he produces them clearly and strongly without any effort because they come from the chest. If, afterwards, he wishes to sing d⬙, it will give him trouble if his chest is not strong enough or if there is something else wrong with his throat. It is here that the voice register changes.”5 What has to be done to connect the two registers has already been stated in §15 of the Introduction to Part I.6 Since the highest tones of the chest register will always be somewhat more shrill than the neighboring tones of the falsetto register, the point is to make some of the former tones milder and the latter ones stronger, which can be achieved through diligence and practice. 3 4

5 6

Hiller makes an error here, claiming that 27:32 is smaller than 5:6; it is larger. Hiller suggests his system of interval practice to help the student achieve good intonation and pureness of tone according to mean-tone not equally tempered tuning. Likewise, Koch is of Kirnberger’s opinion that unequal temperament (ungleichschwebende Temperatur) is preferable to equally tempered tuning, because it preserves the individual character of the scales. Heinrich Christoph Koch, Musikalisches Lexikon (Frankfurt, 1802; facsimile edn., Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964), col. 1501. Mancini/Foreman, Practical Reflections on Figured Singing, article IV, p. 20. Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, §15, p. 11.

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§8 By uniting both registers, the voice can be expanded to cover a considerable range. Contrary to Mancini’s belief, female voices have, most often, different limits for both registers. For the most part, their voices are chest or head voices; with the former it is possible to go lower, and with the latter to go higher. It is therefore not unusual to find female voices which reach up to f ⵮ or g⵮. I do not thereby wish to imply that this is an enviable advantage worthy of the emulation and imitation of all others, particularly because these female singers have, out of ignorance or carelessness, failed to use their chest voice to strengthen and augment their lower register. Young students of singing, both male and female, especially those with a wide chest range, cannot be cautioned enough against the dangerous practice of trying to force their highest tones, as they will not only lose their voices but do harm to their bodies and health as well. One good tone in the low register is worth more than two in the high register when they sound like a piping bird. The admiration which is paid to those who do sing very high should be ignored. Moving and pleasing is a more noble goal than arousing admiration. I have witnessed the reverence for a virtuoso who gave concerts on the comb and also on a violin without strings. It is even advisable for a singer who has to perform very high passaggi in an aria to sing them a fourth or fifth lower when he is practicing, so as not to strain and tire his voice in the upper register. §9 Altogether, teachers and students cannot be advised strongly enough against forcing nature while learning to sing. Rather, it is wise to accomplish everything gradually by considerate and continuous diligence. It is possible to sing in tune and to extend the range of the voice as was explained before; however, this should not be done all at once, that is to say in one day, but rather little by little. In the beginning, the singer should use only a small range of the voice, which allows him to produce the tones with ease, lightness, and in tune, even if only eight or ten notes are employed at a time. It is advisable to add one note in the higher register and one in the lower register from week to week, or, preferably, from month to month. Be assured that within half a year, one will have mastered eighteen to twenty notes, which is almost more than needed. It is easy to recognize that the bright vowels a, e, or o provide the best method for practicing the singing of the scale. Begin, for example, with a scale from f ⬘ to f ⬙; the following month add e⬘ to g⬙;7 then in the third month the range can be increased to d⬘ and a⬙ – etc. Thus, in the sixth month a and d⵮ will have been reached; and then consider whether in the seventh month one wishes to attempt g and e⵮. Nothing will be lost if this final step is omitted or unsuccessful. Even a weak voice can eventually be made stronger through intelligent practice. This exercise must be undertaken with sustained notes rather than with fast runs and passaggi. It can be combined well with the previous exercise if the singer, 7

Hiller has g⬘ by mistake.

On the qualities of the human voice

55

as I have said before, does not rush through the scales, but rather proceeds slowly by using whole and half notes. In addition, chorale melodies can be used profitably for this purpose. Mancini even considers it possible to improve poor voices through diligence and practice and gives, as proof, the example of the great and famous singer Bernacchi, whom the reader will remember from the Introduction to this work.8 I can say nothing more about this case, however, since a voice can be bad in several respects, and Mancini does not specifiy the particular deficiency of this singer’s voice nor does he indicate through what method of studies he [Bernacchi] improved himself. The seventh article of his book contains some pertinent information, but it does not differ from what I have said before. In short, diligence, practice, and patience can improve all natural flaws which hinder the development of a good voice, except for the complete absence of a musical ear, as described in §4. §10 Aside from the deficiencies in the voice, defects in pronunciation can also sometimes occur. Some of them result from irregularities of the speech instrument: at times the tongue is too long or too thick, causing stuttering; the nose is either too open or too stuffed and one talks through the nose; the consonants r, l, or s cannot be sufficiently clearly or distinctly produced, in addition to other symptoms as well. It is difficult to improve these defects, although I do not consider it impossible. It is a shame if they appear in connection with a good voice; they are unpleasant and, if they cannot be improved, they impair the voice so that one cannot depend upon it. Often, however, these flaws are due to negligence and habit, which naturally did not originate in the nursery, but ought to have been corrected in school. Since this is unfortunately not the case, the singing teacher must be prepared to instruct the pupil not only in the art of singing, but in speaking as well. In order to improve the aforementioned defects, the teacher must arm himself with patience and not allow himself to be dismayed if his goal has not been totally achieved at the end. Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurrit.9 Other flaws, such as bad habits or negligence of pronunciation, are of lesser importance. It is not the most difficult task to produce pure vowels and diphthongs or to make a distinction between hard and soft consonants. In order to accomplish this goal, the reader may consult Part I, where the necessary advice is supplied.10 Graun’s syllables Da, me, ni, po, tu, la, and be may still be used with great profit. 8 9

10

Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. xviii. See preface, p. 43 above. Hiller misspells the words expellas and recurrit. They should read expelles and recurret. Thus, the quote reads: “You may cast out nature with a pitchfork, but she will soon find her way back.” Apparently a very popular statement to be found in the works of Cicero and Catullus, this exact quote stems from Horace, Epistles, Book 1, Poem 10, Line 24. Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Introduction, §§22ff.

 On good performance and how to use the voice

§1 The singer who has a good voice, who has mastered any defects and has no trouble with rhythm and intonation must also know how to make good use of these skills; that is, he must know how to perform well. The Italians call good use of the voice portamento di voce, or simply portamento. By this term they understand nothing more than a connection of tones* which progresses either by stepwise motion or by leaps. In German this has been literally translated as carrying of the voice (Tragen der Stimme). This translation can be accepted as long as one is aware of what actually is to be understood by this term. §2 The essential feature of the so-called portamento or carrying of the voice lies in the fact that while progressing from one tone to the next without a gap or break, no unpleasant slur or pull through smaller intervals should be detected. In the first case one says: the singer pushes; in the latter, he howls. In the first case the fault lies in the fact that the singer attacks the tones too strongly and also pushes them forward as his chest is too weak to sustain the tones evenly; in the second case semitones can be heard which do not have a harmonic relationship to either one of the other tones. In the beginning the singer should practice with only two slow notes, subsequently three, and then four, and pay particular attention not only that the preceding note gets its full value, but that it is correctly sustained, always with some intensification. The Italians call it consumar la nota, that is, bringing a note to its end. The next note must then follow so lightly and securely that neither a pause, nor a break, nor a false semitone can be heard. This holds true not only for a * For this portamento it is a question of nothing but a passing, connecting the voice from one note to the next with perfect proportion and unity in ascending and descending motion alike. “Per questo portamento non s’intende altro, che un passare, legando la voce, da una nota all’altra con perfetta proporzione ed unione, tanto nel salire, che nel discendere.” Mancini, 1. c. art. VIII. By this portamento of the voice is meant nothing but a passing, tying the voice, from one note to the next with perfect proportion and union, as much in ascending as descending. [Mancini/Foreman, Article VIII, p. 40.]

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On good performance and how to use the voice

57

single syllable or vowel, but for several as well; not only for stepwise progression, but also for upward and downward leaps. For example:

A good performance of the appoggiatura is based simply upon this smooth connection of two notes. The preceding example, which is to be counted in 4/4 time, shows the given meter. The tempo should be rather slow. §3 This connection of notes is contrasted with another kind of performance called piquer (Piquiren) or staccato (Abstossen). It does not require any great effort to learn this, as every beginner possesses this ability from nature and will, in general, soon be able to sing them staccato before he learns how to connect them. The extent to which the singer makes good use of staccato in performing passaggi deserves full attention and demands, in addition to a good chest, a great deal of practice. At a slow tempo, however, staccato sounds bad if it is not supported by a second voice or accompanied by a well-set instrumental part. Therefore the singer is advised not to make use of staccato in cases where this kind of support is lacking, e.g., cadenzas. Who would be able to listen to a cadenza of this kind without laughing? If, occasionally, such parts occur in an aria, they

might pass because the composer has chosen them either to give greater variety or to contrast them with other passaggi. The composer, however, will not extend them too far without sufficient instrumental support. Virtuosi who sing high

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notes reach them by means of the staccato, notes which they otherwise could not attain by portamento or by a fast run. So they sing, for example:

but would do better if they sang:

or refrained from doing so altogether. §4 It also impairs good performance very much if the singer does not know or feel where he can breathe comfortably. In Part I various remarks concerning this problem were made here and there.1 As this occurred whenever the occasion arose* and consequently very sporadically, it will do no harm if the important aspects are briefly recalled here. A singer must learn a lesson from the following error: either he sings without understanding if he takes breaths at the wrong time and at the improper place, or he exaggerates if he wants to force too much into one breath and, thereby, harms his lungs and his health. §5 There are two techniques which a singer has to master so that they become a part of his nature: he must (1) be able, in an unnoticeable moment, to fill his lungs full of air, and (2) very sparingly, and yet with complete control, be able to let the air out again. Everyone can imagine how miserable singing would be if the singer always omitted three or four notes habitually in order to take a breath for the sake of comfort. Whoever cannot sing a scale at a moderately fast tempo

like this:

so that he pauses briefly on every fourth note and takes a breath at the same time without disturbing the tempo, must learn it, or had better not devote himself to * See Lesson 4, Paragraphs 12ff., pp. 74–76 [of the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange]. 1

Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange.


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singing. In order to let the breath out sparingly, a special exercise is required which can best be practiced with long sustained notes on one tone which are simultaneously increased or also by an extended row of notes. §6 In performing a piece, then, which cannot be sung in one breath, it is permissible to take a fresh breath: (1) (2)

where, in the music, there is a rest, be it long or short. where the words permit a small pause, at a punctuation mark, for example,

or in poetry where a line comes to an end. However, it may not be of the following kind: Und / naht sich / der ihr: / warlich, / so Geht / stracks ihr / herz ver/lohren.2

On the other hand, there are pauses here in the middle of the line according to punctuation. The singer can even make a cut with every metric foot as long as it does not split a word or a group of words which may not be separated, as, for example: an article, a pronoun, or an adjective which are connected to a noun. Taking the given lines into consideration from this point of view, the singer could, in case of an emergency, make use of all the metric pauses of the first line, but only the first foot of the last line. (3) If the singer finds himself in a situation where the words do not give any indication of places to pause or breathe as, for example, in elongated syllables or, more often, in measures of continuous passaggi, he must look carefully for such spots where he can take a breath without disturbing the continuity. There are singers who have such good lungs and chests that they can sing more than six measures of sixteenth notes in a fast allegro. He who wishes to imitate, but does not have the strength in his lungs, must know how to help himself without harming the music. I would like to explain further about this aid in the case of emergency below; for now, however, let us study the opportunities for breathing, further. (4) Every note which precedes a syncopated note can be separated if does not interfere with its length or the speed of the tempo. For example:

2

And / if he / approaches her: / then, / indeed She / immediately loses / her heart. This is an example of enjambment.

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(5) Even dotted or “three-part” notes can be handled in this manner, although the entire third part thereof should not be lost; rather, only half of it may be used in order to take a breath.

It can also be written like this:

With pauses it would look like this:

In order to make this clearer, an appoggiatura can be given to the dotted note in the first example or the first tied note of the second example can be changed into a suspension:3

Obviously no singer will thereby lose his breath. Even more inexcusable, however, would be the error of singing it like this:

This results in the rule that a singer should not take a breath between an appoggiatura and the following note as well as between two notes which are bound together by a tie. (6) Finally, the rule given by some music teachers that every first note in the beginning or the middle of a measure permits a pause applies if considered within its proper limits. By this rule, at least, beginners can be broken of the habit of pausing before the barline on the last note of the preceding measure. We will soon see in exactly what case this is permitted. §7 Now let me discuss those aids which a singer may employ in case of an emergency in order to take a breath. These aids entail the following: 3

The character of the melodic line is obviously changed when a singer alters its ornamentation. This version elaborates the melody, making it more pathetic, while indicating the enormous amount of freedom left up to the discretion of the singer.


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(1) A long note is divided into two equal parts of which the first is attacked quickly and held only half its value in order to be able to take a breath in the other half. The second half of the note is determined by its full value and in accordance with the relationship that it has to the following note. For example:

should be dealt with in the following form:

In other meters it is possible, in the same manner, to divide a quarter note into two eighths and use a sixteenth from the first one for breathing. Another type of special aid is: (2) The alteration of one or another figure or the omission of certain dispensable small notes. An example will make the matter clear.

This passage as shown here will not be easy for a singer to perform in one breath; he must make it easier for himself by alteration and omission in the following way:

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or also like this:

This does not imply that it is essential to pause and breathe as often as it is indicated in both examples here. The all-too-frequent pauses would, in the end, be offensive, especially if they were all to come at the same spot, which is the case with the first example. The second has, thereby, an advantage and, if the singer can omit the rest in the fourth measure, there can be no complaint and the passage can be sung as indicated. (3) If the pause occurs immediately before the barline, something which was condemned as an error above, an emergency remedy can be permitted under certain circumstances, when (a) a sustained note or (b) a passaggio occurs which requires a longer breath. In this case the singer should not feel guilty if (c) the pause occurs in the middle of a word or between two notes which may not be separated for harmonic reasons. After a sustained note, even if it should only extend for one or two measures, the singer can pause again where the composer has added a (d) fermata which the singer should ornament at free will; also (e) such a fermata alone requires a fresh breath even if no sustained note precedes it. See the following examples:


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In the last example it is better and more appropriate for good declamation to pause and take a breath, not on the last note, but before the last note before the barline. §84 Considering the remarks about breathing thus far, one will come to understand the meaning of the observation in paragraph five which stated that the singer has to breathe at an unnoticeable moment and which indicated how much time is left for him in which to do it. No complete beat,5 that is, no half measure in alla breve, no full quarter in 4/4 or 3/4, and no full eighth in 2/4 or 3/8 may be taken up with breathing.6 Only half of such a note, a so-called Tactglied, is at the singer’s disposal and more often, as we have seen, he has to be satisfied with half of a Tactglied. The compound meter* divisions follow, in this respect, the two- or three-part meters to which they belong. They would deserve their own investigation if I did not fear to digress. I also would like to leave the teacher and the student something to examine on their own. * If this terminology is unfamiliar, please refer to Part I [Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange] §§13 and 14 in the 6th Lesson [pp. 98–99]. 4

6

The printer has erroneously designated this paragraph as §7. It should, however, read §8. All following par5 agraphs of this chapter will be in the corrected sequence. See Chapter 4, footnote 5, p. 73 below. In this context, 2/4 is to be understood as a four-pulse measure, as in an Allegretto.

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§9 From the previous remarks about the carrying of the voice (portamento di voce) it is obvious that a note which is sustained for some time should always be heard a little bit stronger at the end than at the beginning. This does not mean that the difference should be as great as piano and forte; there are, between the two of them, so many shadings that we do not have enough names to identify them all. A good singer has to be in control of all of them, through which he will achieve not only a good portamento di voce, but also another beautiful quality – a gradual crescendo and diminuendo of the sound – the so-called messa di voce. This can be performed from pianissimo up to fortissimo and then be brought back down again. A further description can be found in the fourth lesson of Part I, §14, and an example for practice in the twelfth lesson, §9. §10 There is still another method of increasing and decreasing the tone which the singer who wishes to perform well must not ignore. All of the beautiful arts demand variety of taste and none more than music. This requirement covers the various grades of crescendo and decrescendo of which the voice is capable. Neither the messa di voce, as there is not always an opportunity for it, nor the single note which can and must be increased, completely meet this demand. Both are splendid in themselves and form the basis for other beautiful qualities. However, insofar as they consist of the shadings of the voice, they have their own principles which no logic can easily put into rules. And why? Because everything that is beautiful in music, especially in singing, must be related to passion. Everything that can be said about it would be empty talk; the singer who is sensitive and who can bring out a line with emphasis here and allow another, in contrast, to recede or, so to say, place it in the background; who, here, dares a chromatic note, a distant leap with boldness violently projected, as it were; who, on the other hand touches upon another with ease and lightness – such a singer, I say, is better instructed through nature and feeling than he could ever be by great books that might be written about this topic. Do not think, young artists, that everything you have to learn in order to become great and admirable in your art can be learned from books. In other sciences, books have been written in all formats to the point of superfluity; in music, however, we encounter depths we cannot fathom. We have, as yet, not completed an alphabet to explain its impact, to describe the means by which music touches and pleases, and to define it by rules.7 7

Hiller appeals to the singer to develop his/her aesthetic sensibility. He pleads with him to believe in the possibility of his own growth and understanding; to go beyond what books can teach, and to touch upon the essence of great art: the passion, sensitivity, and beauty of music which only attention to the subtleties of art can express. This is precisely in tune with the aesthetic theory of the time. The concept of beauty and the natural feeling for it are two of the most significant attributes of aesthetics. In the eighteenth century, the awareness of these aspects, along with critical ability, became an important part of musical consciousness in Germany. H. C. Koch, in his Musikalisches Lexikon, mentions Sulzer’s explanation of aesthetics from his Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste, 2 vols. (Leipzig: M. G. Weidemanns Erben und Reich, 1771–74):


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§11 Here is approximately all that can be said about the varying degrees of loudness and softness for the benefit of the beginning singer: from the start one should diligently become acquainted with dynamics and master them through practice as much as possible. To this end, the student should sing a given piece in different ways. Because of the mixture of varying degrees of loudness and softness, and lightness and darkness in the performance of a piece, the singer should rely upon his feelings and be aware that the product does not come out too harshly and that the shadings are not too harsh. The most extreme loudness and the most extreme softness are seldom effective one after another; the singer should make use of the in-between degrees whose limits lie closer together. Loud, less loud, averagely loud, not very loud, and soft are gradations which every good instrumentalist is familiar with and knows how to distinguish. Is the singer not to know how to use them? And yet, these are not all of the degrees; the fortissimo represents one limit as the pianissimo forms the other. The singer will also have to employ this at times. A passionate outcry of pain or rage will require the first; extreme sadness or discouragement will require the latter. It is self-evident that no piece, as a whole, can be performed in either of these degrees because both of them demand a certain strain and tire the singer. They would also not be advantageous for good performance insofar as no further increase or decrease could take place. Therefore, in this piece, everything depends upon the singer’s sensitivity. And everything I have remarked about this matter should only serve as a means to attract the beginner’s attention and to furnish him with the ability to make a number of useful observations when he has the opportunity to hear a good singer. Much has been accomplished if one has drawn one’s student’s attention to certain subtleties of the arts which cannot be expressed in rules, and if he has been given the ability to recognize good models from the right point of view as well as to evaluate them correctly. “Aesthetics is the philosophy of the fine arts, or the science which derives its general theory as well as its rules from the nature of good taste.” To this Koch adds: “Aesthetic is the characteristic given to that which makes it possible to touch and interest emotions and to effect good taste” (Koch, Musikalisches Lexikon, cols. 90–92: “Aesthetisch nennet man diejenige Eigenschaft einer Sache, wodurch sie geschickt wird, das Gefühl zu rühren und zu interessiren, und auf den Geschmack zu wirken”).

 On good performance, with regard to text and music

§1 Singers often treat text with such indifference and carelessness that it is well worth the effort to devote an entire chapter to this matter. The saying “correct speech is half the road to good singing” should be written on all four walls of every singing school so that teachers and students alike might always have it before their eyes.1 Speech is a very comprehensive subject, but I wish to express myself about it as briefly as possible. Permit me, then, to make a few observations about speech in general before I discuss the relationship between language and singing. §2 I assume that a singer who has mastered the clear execution of vowels, diphthongs, and consonants – the most important remarks on which were made in the Introduction to Part I2 – and who has also partially or completely overcome defects of the tongue (if he had any such problems in the first place) must still devote himself to an additional task which is not as easy as some might think. It is the art of reading with understanding and emphasis, or simply the art of declamation, to which I am referring. §3 To be sure, a singer who cannot read his text with understanding will also not be able to sing it with understanding. Therefore the singer is urged to read a text through before singing it, in fact so thoroughly that he catches sight of everything that a good speaker would observe in reading the text aloud. On this point, ignorance or carelessness is no excuse. Musical notation cannot represent all the fine points of expression which the affect demands; the art of declamation must make up for this deficiency. §4 The easiest rule [of good declamation] is probably that of punctuation, for without it a text cannot have proper sense and meaning, not to mention stress and impact. 1 2

Hiller writes: “Gut gesprochen, ist halb gesungen” (“Well spoken is half sung”). Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Introduction, pp. 15ff.

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On good performance, with regard to text and music

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It is easy to see that a comma or semi-colon does not really end a proposition in speech; rather, something must follow in order to form what we call a period, which is generally indicated by a dot. The speaker’s voice usually drops as it approaches a period, and a cadence in music indicates the presence of a period. A question mark causes the speaker to raise his voice; likewise in music, it causes the singer’s voice to rise. The exclamation mark demands a raised and at the same time strengthened tone from the speaker as well as from the singer. §5 Long and short syllables present just as little difficulty if one knows and understands the language. However, they must be observed by speakers and singers alike. Although long and short syllables are inherent in every language, they are often arbitrarily distributed. Hence, prosody requires quite an effort to establish rules for these irregularities and to put them into a certain order. It happens often, especially in Latin, that the quantity of syllables, as prescribed by prosody, deviates from common speech. Here, the singer should rely upon the composer as to which side he should choose, and only if the composer commits a glaring error out of ignorance or carelessness should the singer improve upon it as best he can. If, for example, in the Te Deum laudamus, a composer, in setting the words “Sanctum quoque Paracletum Spiritum,” makes the second syllable of “Paracletum” long and the third short, it is necessary for the singer to lengthen the third syllable instead of the second, so that it is not confused with paraclytum, which has a very negative meaning.3 §6 When long and short syllables are combined, the result is the so-called metrical or syllabic foot; likewise a certain number and combination of feet form the meter or the Reimzeile [a line of verse ending in a rhyme], as it is called in German. As more singing today is done in verse than in prose, a singer must be acquainted with meter. Mattheson’s Vollkommener Capellmeister in the sixth chapter of Part II, and Marpurg’s Anweisung zur Sing-Composition in the third chapter, are two books among others where someone who so wishes can acquaint himself with the technical names of poetic meters and their characteristics. I have already stated in Part I of this Anweisung that all our modern rhythms can be reduced to three: iambic, trochaic, and dactylic meter; and that iambic is really nothing more than an inverted trochee, or, in musical terms, a rhythm which begins with an upbeat.4 §7 Accent must be considered on its own in terms of its effect on declamation and singing. In his Dictionnaire de Musique Rousseau distinguishes three kinds of accents which are the same as those in Sulzer’s Theorie der schönen Künste. According to Sulzer, accent is the modification of the voice whereby some tones stand out above others, in speech or singing, and from which arise the alternation and 3 4

Paracletum, in Latin, means someone who helps, whereas paraclytum is someone who disregards or disobeys. Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 14, §8, pp. 195–196.

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diversity of the voice in speaking. The means by which the musician and speaker accentuate consists of either lingering on the syllable to be stressed or raising and emphasizing the tone. In different cases, one of the above means to accentuate will be employed more than the other. The Grammatical accent, which differentiates between long and short syllables, lingers somewhat on the long syllable, or, in musical terms, is satisfied by a note which takes up the long (strong) part of the beat or falls on the downbeat.5 The Oratorical or, as Rousseau calls it, the Logical accent is concerned with the meaning of speech and attempts to stress the impact of certain terms. Thus, it comes close to the Pathetic* accent, which, by the various fluctuations of tone, the raising or lowering of pitch, and the change in tempo (of speaking), expresses those emotions which animate the speaker who then communicates them to his audience. Accordingly, emotion is the source for this accent (Pathetic) whereas the Logical or Oratorical accents are involved with the intellect. In spite of the fact that this accent is primarily the responsibility of the composer, the singer must also have an understanding of it, not only in order to grasp the intention of the composer but also to make up for any imperfections by emphatic swellings and mutings of his voice, which the composer could not indicate. Sulzer† sees this as one of the principal reasons for the superiority of music over poetry. He says, “Music, far more than spoken language, has the means to vary and modify words and phrases in different ways; that is, it boasts a richness of Oratorical and Pathetic accents of which speech has but few.” §8 This is the minimum understanding of language demanded of a singer. But also the things which he must utter require knowledge in other fields of learning. Sacred and secular texts, ancient and modern history, and occasionally, mythology and legend comprise the material used for poems set to music. Even if a poem merely stems from the fantasy of its author, he often alludes to history and mythology, and it is necessary for the singer to be familiar with this material if he wishes to do justice to the text and interpret it well. This is especially true for the singer who chooses a stage career, since the subject matter of opera is taken primarily from world history or mythology. There are two main points a singer must be aware of: he has to understand the character of the role he plays and secondly, he must see what he can contribute to a lively performance in connection with the other characters. The chamber singer can actually benefit from this knowledge even if he does not make so much use of it. For the performer of church music, as well, an understanding of the character he portrays in oratorios is indispensable. * Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Dictionnaire de musique [Paris: Chez la Veuve Duchesne, Libraire, rue S. Jacques, au Temple du Goût, 1768]. Art. Accent. † Johann Georg Sulzer, Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste [2 vols., Leipzig: M. G. Weidemanns Erben und Reich, 1771–74]. Art. Accent. 5

See Chapter 4, footnote 5, p. 73 below.


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§9 Every singer prefers his mother tongue; the Germans German, the Italians Italian, and so forth. In addition, because of the church, each singer must be acquainted with Latin. A German singer who wishes to be well known should be seriously encouraged to acquire a knowledge of the Italian language. The great revolution in which German would supplant Italian as the language of singing is perhaps not impossible in Germany; however, it is also not quite so imminent that a singer might hope to cause a sensation with the German language alone. It is also not so difficult to learn Italian. With some knowledge of French and Latin, one is already halfway to mastering Italian. §10 There is still something else which must be said about the connection between words and music, be they German, Latin, or Italian. Syllabic singing offers the least difficulties: here each note receives a syllable and the singer must not lose sight of the consumar la nota, that is, the firm and temporally correct sustaining of a note on the syllable, or rather the corresponding vowel. Our chorales are extremely useful as exercises in syllabic execution and should one want new material of this sort one can look at the first part of the Münterische Lieder6 which contains melodies by various composers, including a few very good chorale melodies. When several notes are sung to one syllable, the performance is called melismatic singing. Thus, every long or short extension of a syllable which contains more than one note is called a melisma. Here, in performance, the singer should not always connect the notes as he finds the syllables underneath them. He may separate some notes or figures and connect others if the convenience of pronunciation or emphasis of a Grammatical or Oratorical accent seem to allow or even to require it. Some examples will clarify this matter. When a singer reads the following passages under A) he may sing them as under B); as a result they will acquire greater declamatory emphasis.

6

Balthasar Münter (1735–93) wrote over one hundred hymns which were highly esteemed by his contemporaries. In 1773 the first fifty were collected and republished in Leipzig, set to melodies composed for them by the most famous musicians of the day. The second fifty were republished in Leipzig in 1774, set to melodies composed for them by J. C. F. Bach of Bückeburg. John Julian D.D., ed., A Dictionary of Hymnology (New York: Dover Publications, 1957), p. 777.

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§11 Even in works by the best composers, the singer runs into text settings and repetitions which require improvement and can easily be corrected. The well-trained singer is at liberty to make such changes and the modest composer will be grateful to him. The line: “Freuden, Schönste, folgen dir,” followed by the repetition “Schönste, folgen dir,” is not as good by far as “Freuden folgen dir.” A famous composer of the past had Artaserse say, “Come un’ amico, oh Dio! posse punir non sò, nò, posse punir non sò”; come punir non sò would have been better.7 In a setting of a Miserere, “et holocausta” is repeated five times in succession. Since it fits twice very well with what immediately precedes it, it would have been better to replace it by “oblationes,” which has the same number and quantity of syllables. A composer should not take offense at a singer who, by his insight, makes on-the-spot improvements of these and similar things, even though they often involve mere details. 7

Artaserse seems to have been an extremely popular libretto, set so many times in the eighteenth century that it is impossible to discern who “a famous composer of the past” actually is.

 On good performance, with regard to ornaments

§1 In considering what was said about accents in the previous chapter, it becomes apparent that all musical ornaments1 are essentially accents and actually should be used to emphasize certain notes and syllables. If one pays attention to their application, nature, and characteristics from the point after a note to the longest melismatic extension, then one will be convinced of the above statement. In the past, appoggiaturas were already called accents, which is still the practice in France. Mattheson also refers to them by that name in Der Vollkommene Capellmeister.2 Nevertheless, aside from accentuation, additional reasons for appoggiaturas can be given. Agricola* lists four reasons: (1) to give the melody greater connection; (2) to fill in apparent gaps in the movement of the melodic line; (3) to make the harmony richer and more diverse; and finally, (4) to add vividness and brilliance to the melody. Whenever a note or syllable in need of an accent is ornamented, one or another of these uses will occur. §2 Whatever reason there might be for their use, ornaments are not essential to the melody but are rather arbitrary embellishments which, for our taste, have become a necessity. In the past they were left completely to the discretion of the singer and no one took the trouble to indicate or write them out. Therefore, Tosi† expresses indignation at those composers who, by indicating appoggiaturas, deprived the singers of the privilege to ornament and show their ingenuity. However, no composer should be reproached for indicating the ornaments for as * Tosi [/Agricola,] Anleitung zur Singkunst [Berlin: George Ludewig Winter, 1757], p. 59. [See also Agricola, Introduction to the Art of Singing, trans. and ed. Julianne G. Baird (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 92.] † [Tosi/Agricola,] Anleitung zur Singkunst, p. 57. [Baird, Introduction, p. 91.] 1

2

Ornaments is the term used here for Hiller’s Manieren. Whereas Agricola divides this material into two chapters, “On Appoggiaturas” and “On Trills,” Hiller follows C. P. E. Bach’s format, subsuming all these ornaments under the heading of Manieren. Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Capellmeister, facsimile edn., Part II, Chapter 3, p. 112; Harriss translation, pp. 267f.

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On good performance, with regard to ornaments

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long as all singers do not have the same ability and knowledge. Whether or not they are written out or left to the discretion of the singer, there must be rules which are based upon musical and declamatory principles in accordance with good taste at all times.3 Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to establish a list of these rules. Their raison d’être will only be discussed occasionally, as the reader can easily manage to judge for himself. §3 The simplest of the arbitrary additions and embellishments which make the melody more lively and emphatic is the dot after a note.4 That it lengthens a note by half its duration is known. Thus it emphasizes the accent of the declamation and, in this respect, can only follow notes which are set to long syllables or form the long (strong) part of the beat (langer Tacttheil ).5 In performance this dotted note, if stressed properly, must be sustained so that it seems to overlap with the shorter note which follows, or to put it another way, that the shorter note appears to slip under the preceding one. One can see how example B gains in expression by means of an added dot, when compared to example A.

3

4

5

Tosi, Agricola, and Hiller are all of the opinion that ornaments have become essential, as listeners have gotten used to hearing them and good taste requires their appearance. However, they do not agree on how to indicate them: see p. 22 above. Neither Tosi nor Agricola mentions the dot after a note as an ornament. Although the idea is very simple, it fits precisely into Hiller’s philosophy of ornamentation: nothing should obscure the inherent quality of the melody, and just as music follows speech, so should the flow of the text and natural accent of the words themselves determine where and what type of ornaments ought to be used. Thus, Hiller sees the dot after a note as a way to support the declamatory accent. In the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 2, paragraph 14, Hiller discusses quantitas intrinsica (innerliche Quantität). He rejects the use of the terms guter Tacttheil (good part of the beat) and schlimmer Tacttheil (bad part of the beat), which represent the translation of the Italian nota buona and nota cattiva. Referring to the Greek concept of arsis and thesis, as the upward and downward motion of the hand, he questions the validity of the qualifications “good” and “bad.” Rather, he prefers quantitative terminology here, i.e. langer Tacttheil for the long part of the beat and kurzer Tacttheil for the short part of the beat. In this translation, the equivalent of Hiller’s terms, i.e. long and short, will be used with the customary designations, i.e. strong and weak, given in parentheses. Innerliche Quantität is Hiller’s term for quantitas intrinsica – a concept of measure organization defined as a relationship in which certain notes are placed in a specific relation to the bar line. The notes, to all outward appearance, look the same, but owing to their position are given different values.

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In the first example, to be sure, all notes which occur on the long (strong) part of the beat of the first or third measures could receive a dot. However, it would be better not to add it to all of them because otherwise the melody would have a somewhat limping effect. In the second example we see that for the purpose of variation, notes over short syllables as well as short notes can tolerate a dot. Altogether, in regard to free ornamentation, the singer, when adding ornaments to beautify a melodic line, must take care not to rely on only one type of ornament and must aim for variety. However, when one cannot produce changes in the ornaments themselves, then the manner in which they are employed should be varied. In this respect, example B above is certainly better than the following two:

Moreover, there is something in the third measure of the second example which no normal ear can easily tolerate. The offensiveness lies not in the lengthened short syllable, but rather in the upward leap. In a case like this, a downward leap


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beguiles the ear so that it perceives nothing that runs contrary to the declamation. Compare the following two examples with one another; the verdict is obvious.

§4 The form and character of appoggiaturas, their division into changeable (long) and unchangeable (short) ornaments, and also their manner of execution were discussed at length in Paragraph 12 of the seventh lesson and Paragraph 3 of the twelfth lesson of Part I.6 Hence, we need to review only those aspects of their use and misuse, which determine where to place them properly and from which category they are derived. §5 Since this subject matter is so extensive and complicated, it is necessary to understand the rationale which lies behind the need for appoggiaturas. It is not only a question of determining where they belong, but mainly to what categories they belong. Anyone familiar with appoggiaturas will soon realize that they either repeat the previous note or strike a new one. Appoggiaturas which repeat the preceding note ascend and descend stepwise, whereas those which strike a new note can descend from above and are therefore always a tone from the preceding harmony. As stated in Part I,7 a note and its appoggiaturas must fall on the same syllable. §6 Appoggiaturas are used to bind the melodic line when it progresses by thirds. As a rule, after two or three short (unchangeable) appoggiaturas, the third or fourth ones are preferably long (changeable); just as before a dotted note, the appoggiatura divides the note by taking away 2/3 of its value.

6

See Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 7, §12, p. 112 and Lesson 12, §3, pp. 165f. The basic aspects of long and short appoggiaturas were presented in this first treatise, because Hiller found it important enough for the singer to become acquainted with and to begin practicing appoggiaturas as early in his 7 See ibid., Lesson 7, §13, p. 114. studies as possible.

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The composer does not always take the trouble to add these appoggiaturas, especially the short or unchangeable one; rather, he leaves it discreetly up to the singer.8 Quite often, however, appoggiaturas are placed before dotted notes which the singer, because of the underlying harmonic accompaniment, cannot perform in accordance with the rules without creating an unbearable discord. In this case, it would be better to write the melody out in large notes. Consider the following example:

In this case the singer will certainly give the note the greater value, leaving the smaller value to the appoggiatura. To avoid ambiguity it is advisable to write out the entire melody in large notes instead of indicating appoggiaturas.9

8

9

Hiller is referring to Tosi’s insistence that the composer should not use signs to indicate appoggiaturas. According to Tosi this would not only insult the well-trained singer but would also affect the feeling of improvisation (Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, pp. 38–39). Hiller distinctly mentions “large” notes here because he wants to make certain that the singer will perform correctly what the composer has indicated. Agricola, unlike Tosi, does accept written-out ornaments but prefers “small” notes. Hiller is compelled by his awareness that too many performers are lacking in the skill to ornament precisely.


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Here, the singer can also add a short descending appoggiatura. In this case it is perfectly acceptable as a short note previously heard as an arsis and repeated as a thesis. This contributes greatly to the lustre of the performance. But wouldn’t this mean adding ornaments to ornaments? By no means. Whenever an appoggiatura is written out (angeschlagende Note), another appoggiatura will not interfere. Besides, among all the ornaments, appoggiaturas may be heard most frequently without becoming tiresome. §7 Now a few additional remarks about appoggiaturas: they can be introduced before dissonances as well as consonances. In the first case they must be consonant (before dissonances), whereas before consonances they themselves can be either dissonant or consonant. While dissonant appoggiaturas can be introduced without preparation, their resolution must occur on the following note.

Long and changeable appoggiaturas may only be introduced before long notes and notes which fall on the long part of the beat (langer Tacttheil ).10 Although short, unchangeable appoggiaturas actually belong only to a short (weak) part of the beat (kurzer Tacttheil ), they are used in a mixed way. According to present-day vocal style, they can also be placed before notes which would otherwise lose too much of their emphasis from a long appoggiatura. 10

See footnote 5 above.

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The appoggiatura may also approach the main note from a half step below even though it then becomes somewhat foreign to the key. Some have criticized this practice, and I am not going to justify it. Certainly our new virtuosi believe that in this way they can make performances particularly brilliant. One should use these appoggiaturas which are strange to the key carefully and sparingly; otherwise the singing can easily become bizarre and offensive instead of being striking and piquant, as in modern use. At times one can achieve, through their use, something very expressive:

In such cases, one must give special consideration to the harmonic accompaniment and avoid those appoggiaturas which are raised by accidentals whenever the same note, unraised, occurs in any of the other voices. §8 Furthermore, appoggiaturas serve to prevent the melodic line from sounding empty and stiff. In this case they are usually considered changeable (long) and are shared with the following note.


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§9 The two final reasons for the use of appoggiaturas are partially contained in the last two examples. Changeable or long appoggiaturas always serve to make the harmony richer and more diverse, as the short or unchangeable ones generally make the melody more vivid and add lustre. To illustrate this point a few additional examples will be cited which clearly demonstrate that appoggiaturas are applied for vividness and lustre only.

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A short appoggiatura, as can be seen from the preceding examples, can always be placed before two or three fast notes which descend stepwise simply to make the melody more lively and brilliant. The same is true for triplets, although it is essential not to destroy their triplet quality. The appoggiatura fits entirely into the time of the first note, so that the second and third are left untouched. However, appoggiaturas preceding the following types of notes and figures are rightly considered objectionable ornaments although nowadays they are still to be found quite frequently.


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§10 Like the appoggiatura, Nachschläge are short notes which share the time of the main note, but are struck after it. They are still quite common with French composers. The Germans and Italians, however, either generally write out the main note and Nachschläge as one figure or leave it up to the singer’s taste to add freely.11 There are two kinds of Nachschläge: the simple with one note and the double with two notes. Simple Nachschläge either belong to the harmony of the note to which they are attached or are derived from the closest lying second.

Simple leaping Nachschläge can be made into double ones in the following manner:

One must handle simple Nachschläge, which are derived from the second, with certain care so as not to have too many in succession. Moreover, in a slow tempo they tend to have a somewhat lame quality. In a fast tempo they fit well in descending scales and comprise a considerable number of passaggi. It is not necessary to discuss them in more detail as composers usually write out this type of Nachschläge in large notes. A curious example of the Nachschlag derived from the second can be found below. When singing in the Cathedral of Hamburg, the once famous singer, Madame Kayser (NB a woman in the church), sang the word beugen12 so expressively that, as Mattheson* stated, it almost became visible, and the eyes became all ears. * Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Capellmeister, p. 113. 11

The Germans and Italians write out the main note and Nachschlag as one figure in large notes, unlike the 12 French, who indicate Nachschläge in small notes. To bend.

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§11 Another double Nachschlag needs to be considered. It is very similar to the twonote Schleifer, and different only insofar as it takes up time not from the following note but rather from the preceding note. Like the Schleifer, it serves to connect two large notes, adding life and lustre. Between two ascending notes an ascending figure is used, between descending notes, a descending figure.

This Nachschlag fits very well, alternating with short appoggiaturas, between two notes that gradually ascend stepwise. However, one must remember that it takes its time from the preceding note, which must be taken into account when placing the syllables. In the following example, an additional Schleifer appears at the end.

These Nachschläge must take as little time as possible away from the large note and therefore should be very short so that they are firmly connected to the following note. Nevertheless, a Nachschlag that is attached to a long trill may be held longer. Both types of double Nachschläge can also be attached to changeable appoggiaturas, for example:


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§12 The Italian cercar della nota, quite misunderstood by some, occurs whenever the simple Nachschlag briefly anticipates the following note, by step or by leap, consonance or dissonance, an anticipation which takes place in the time of the preceding note and its underlying syllable. It is possible to add one before practically every note; the singer who would want to use it so frequently would be a fool. Only in the case of an ascending passage of seconds can they be used consecutively until the seventh is reached.

Before certain long notes the cercar della nota can take the place of short appoggiaturas, especially when boldness and strength of expression are required. It can even be used before those notes which normally will not permit the short appoggiatura.

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The first example shows short appoggiaturas; the first measure of the second illustrates how the cercar may, at times, be written out in large notes by the composer; and in the third example there are even anticipations of changeable appoggiaturas. From the following examples one can see that the cercar has as good an effect as, if not better than, the short appoggiatura.

§13 Between the minor and augmented second, where the appoggiatura is not permitted, the cercar della nota must be used. Altogether, it is more useful than appoggiaturas before almost all dissonances approached by leap, as one can see from the following examples which demonstrate both instances.


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Likewise, it is easy and useful to employ the cercar in descending intervals. §14 Another type of cercar della nota, which is also called messa di voce crescente, takes place on ascending and descending minor seconds when the tempo is moderate and not too fast. It doesn’t lend itself to notation. It consists of an imperceptible gentle moving up or down of the voice through as many subdivisions or commas of a half tone ([minor] second) as can be performed from one step of a half step to the next. It is most difficult to accomplish at the tempo which is best for it, for either the continuity of the beat is disturbed by overaccenting which gives the impression of forcing the tempo, or the singer falls into danger of losing the tempo altogether. Usually, mediocre singers do not bother with it unless it is used at a fermata where they are sure not to disturb the beat. §15 The double appoggiatura (Doppelvorschlag), called Anschlag by some, combines the two short appoggiaturas which can be added to a note from above and below. Its purpose, likewise, is nothing other than to make the melody livelier and to stress the accentuation of certain syllables and tones. Therefore, it occurs only before long syllables or before notes which take up a long (strong) part of the beat (Tacttheil). According to this description, the double appoggiatura always consists of two short little notes forming the interval of a major or minor third which must be produced quickly before the tone to which they are attached. In general they should be executed more softly than the main note. In slow movements the first note of such an Anschlag can last longer and be more accented than the second, for the sake of expression if the duration of the main note permits. In this case, a dot is usually added to the first little note, and the tempo, length, and meter of the note which is preceding this dotted Anschlag guide the performer. The more tender the affect he should express, the longer he will hold the first note of this Anschlag.

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In the third measure of this example, one should take note of the opportunity to introduce the double Nachschlag between disjunct notes for a more firm connection. Although the dotted and undotted Anschlag can, at times, share the time of the main note according to the rule of the changeable appoggiatura, there are also cases, especially in slow movements, where this is not allowed. The longer the main note, the truer it is.

To be sure, the first double appoggiatura of this example could take away 2/8 of the value of the note; however, for several reasons it is better to give it only the value of an eighth. For the other two there is no choice but to make them short and quick before the long main note. §16 However, there are also Anschläge with an interval greater than a third, if the first note of two disjunct notes is repeated again by means of the Anschlag. The interval of the Anschlag is always a step greater than the interval of the two main notes.


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The last four measures show what their value is before the dotted note and in what time they need to be performed. §17 When an Anschlag which consists of a third is filled in with the note in between, one gets the so-called three-fold or three-note Schleifer.* Like the Anschlag, it can only be introduced before a somewhat long note on a long part of the measure or before a short note in a slow tempo. It can be performed fast and slow, though, in the latter case, it may not take away more than half of the main note. Then, however, one has to take care that it doesn’t become sluggish and dragging since its performance is supposed to be somewhat faint (feeble) and weak (soft, or unaccented). It is best placed before a note which is preceded by another note on the same pitch; or it marks the first note of a melodic phrase. As mentioned in §7, main (large) notes should preferably be approached by appoggiaturas from a half step below; the same is true for the Anschlag and Schleifer. There is less danger of bringing discord to the melody because they are performed in a short and unaccented (weak) manner, as opposed to the long and strongly accented (executed) appoggiaturas.

§18 The two-note Schleifer, whose similarity to the double Nachschlag was discussed in §11 of this chapter, is one of the easiest ornaments if it consists of two short notes of equal value which approach the following main note quickly and with emphasis. Nowadays, composers have the habit of combining it with the main note into * I do not want to be reproached for innovations in theory, otherwise I would rather consider this Schleifer amongst the Anschläge, since it is of the same nature. One may call it whatever one wants as long as one knows what to do with it.

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one figure [in large notes], and they write it as in example C. It is most appropriate and easy to add this Schleifer to ascending fourths.

§19 This Schleifer also occurs in a dotted form and presents some difficulty because of its division into the following note. In his annotations to Tosi’s Observations,13 Agricola dealt with this matter very comprehensively and thoroughly. For lack of anything better to say about it, I will make use of his text and examples. The dotted Schleifer should be preferably placed between two disjunct notes in slow movements; however, at times it can be found between ascending stepwise notes. The first or dotted note is always accented while the other note next to the main note is always left unaccented. The value of the first note is more changeable than in any other ornament. For the most part the affect determines its value with consideration for the bass and the harmony. Thus, the main note of the melody either receives half its value as in example (a), or is sung with only the second note of the Schleifer at the very end of the time allotted to it, as in example (b), or at times it is absorbed into the time of the main note which it follows, as in example (c).

* This note appears three times in [Tosi/] Agricola [Anleitung zur Singkunst, p. 89; Baird, Introduction, p. 121], and rather than believing that Agricola wrote a B instead of a Gs or even that the composer made the error, should the prescribed Schleifer stem from his hand, I would nonetheless assume that it is a misprint. Be that as it may, I do not wish to do injustice either to the composer or to my honorable deceased friend. Rather, I would like to give the singer a hint that he be watchful not to violate the purity of the composition with his ornaments. For the introduction of the dotted Schleifer, a Gs is needed in the bass. Above the note B, D may be ornamented with an Anschlag or a three-note Schleifer. 13

See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 88ff; Baird, Introduction, pp. 120ff. In his extensive annotations to Tosi’s chapter on appoggiaturas, Agricola did not find most singers educated enough to allow composers to dispense with writing out or, at least, indicating essential ornaments.


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If the main note preceded by the Schleifer is dotted, it takes either the value of the dot, as in (e) [sic: no (d)]; or it enters at the very end of the second note of the Schleifer, as in (f); or, if, after the dot yet another note is tied to it, it is heard even later, as in (g).

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In the case of a dotted main note, or whenever the meter allows for it, the main note is separated from what follows it by a brief rest which, in triple meter, always appears as in (h), whereas in duple meter it proceeds as in (i), provided that the note following the dot remains on the same pitch.

If the tempo is very slow, a Doppelschlag can be introduced between the dotted Schleifer.

§20 So much for Agricola’s explanations. Granted, as carefully thought out as all of this is, it is difficult to comprehend what duple or triple meter have to do with separating the main note [from the following note] after a dotted Schleifer or why in one case the same tone must be repeated and in the other case not. And, isn’t 6/8 a duple meter? As the note that follows has as little importance as the meter, it can be repeated or can have in its place a descending note, a descending leap, or even an ascending note or an ascending leap. It would lead us astray to indicate such examples here. The singer who is interested in this matter can easily find out for himself. Rather, I would like to use only one example to show in how many different ways a single note may be performed employing appoggiaturas, Anschläge and Schleifer. As I suggested before, in slower tempi the short two-note Schleifer not only may be doubled where it appears too weak (lame, dragging) but under similar circumstances can be added to the dotted Schleifer. In this case it takes the place of the turn (Doppelschlag) which, according to Agricola, can be introduced between the dotted Schleifer. The small notes of the ornaments must


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be performed according to their indicated value and must take time away from the main note.

Much more could be said here, but then there is never an end to explanations. I do not flatter myself with having listed all possible variations which a good singer is in a position to invent, and yet I must once again interject a quotation from Agricola:

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Isn’t it astounding how many variations two or three little notes which comprise appoggiaturas, Anschläge, and Schleifer can produce if introduced at the right time, with good taste, and in an alternating or even connecting manner? What disgust, however, can be aroused in the listener if these ornaments are incorrectly performed, put in the wrong place, or used too often!

§21 Trills and their concluding notes also belong to the essential ornaments through which the melody is given life and lustre. This subject has been dealt with at the end of the first and twelfth lesson of the first part.14 Further remarks about their correct application are in order here. The different types which must be taken into consideration are: the whole and half-inverted mordent (Pralltriller), the mordent, the turn (Doppelschlag), and vibrato (Bebung). In general, they merit close attention and much practice on the part of the singer, because without them the melody becomes stiff; and a singer who does not know them at all cuts no better figure than a dancer who has not learned how to move his arms. A trill performed so fast that the second tone can either hardly be heard, or cannot be heard at all, is usually called tremolo or Bockstriller [goat’s trill].15 This occurs when the throat or rather the upper part of the windpipe does not yet have enough flexibility to allow two tones, which alternate distinctly and quickly, to be heard at the same time. It is the long trembling motion of this upper part of the windpipe, which one can feel from the outside with the finger, that brings forth a good trill. It is made all the more beautiful and perfect, pure and smooth, the more sustained the attack. There were singers who at times caused a sensation with their extraordinarily long trills, by increasing and decreasing the volume in the manner of messa di voce. Even though these trills might be considered oldfashioned nowadays, they nevertheless deserve to be practiced because one does not have complete command over something unless one has the ability to do everything that is pertinent to it. §22 Although composers are generally diligent about designating the notes which require or permit a trill with the usual symbol tr, it is not a disadvantage to teach singers where to fill in what either the composer or copyist might have forgotten to notate. The trill, which may appear indiscriminately on any beat of the measure, has an advantage over appoggiaturas which are permitted only on the long parts of the measure; on the other hand, the trill may not be used as 14

15

Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 1, §12, pp. 38–39, and Lesson 12, §7, pp. 167–168. Hiller, in presenting this material in his final treatise, wants students to learn how to perform and practice trills early on. Tosi, however, limits his instructions to the placement of trills at cadences and feels that further material ought to be saved for more experienced singers. Whereas Hiller proceeds to describe the production of the Bockstriller without any particular bias, Tosi (Observations, trans. and ed. John Ernest Galliard [London: J. Wilcox, 1743], p. 48; Baird, Introduction, pp. 120ff.) observes that this shake “like the quivering of a goat makes one laugh,” while Quantz (On Playing the Flute, trans. and ed. Edward R. Reilly [New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975], pp. 101–102) altogether considers the Bockstriller a “defect.”


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frequently as appoggiaturas because it easily creates boredom when heard too often. Some composers, at times, call for it on the longer initial notes [of a composition], but even there it seems to be in better taste to omit them. In the beginning of the following aria, it certainly is more appealing to perform the two half notes without trills and only with a pair of double appoggiaturas.

Furthermore, trills appear not only on notes that progress stepwise but also on notes approached by a leap.

In this case one can make use of the short anticipation of the trilled note or the so-called cercar della nota.

In cadenzas and at fermatas, the trill is the most essential and most necessary ornament. Since an entire chapter is allotted to this subject matter, no further explanations are needed here. Also when a note is held for a long time, some singers are accustomed to resolving the messa di voce with a trill, which is not so bad; however, to change the entire long note into a trill is not the best example of the singer’s good taste. Occasionally a short appoggiatura from above may precede a note which already has a trill indicated: such an appoggiatura is nothing more than the first note with which the trill begins and can be performed more distinctly and held longer than is customary with the first note of a trill. §23 What has been discussed here is actually only valid for the whole trill, inasmuch as it is connected to a Nachschlag. Both the trill and the Nachschlag may consist of a whole or a half step. When to use a whole or half step is ascertained from the specific key and from the place which the trilled note occupies between the other degrees of the scale. Among keyboard players, the so-called double trill (Doppeltriller) is still fashionable, although it is of no consequence to singers. However, singers, as well as some instrumentalists, have introduced another kind of double trill which is worthy of all respect when its performance is pure, well-connected, and gradually increased in volume. It consists of performing another trill starting on the second below, before the entrance of the designated trill, which begins on the second above, and connecting the two so closely that

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the transition is hardly noticeable. It is even customary to follow the major second below with a minor second in order to steal unnoticed into the actual trill.

One could call the previously modified trill inverted. Basically, it is nothing more than an extended mordent. In respect to the harmony, it clearly belongs more to the first note, and there is much more that can be said about this. However, we must be satisfied with becoming acquainted with it and as the opportunity arises, make skillful use of it in cadenzas, where it really belongs. This double trill can be performed in still another manner; namely, not beginning the first trill too rapidly, but rather progressing from slow to fast until the two are united. In this case it has some similarity to the cercar della nota, and one could call it cercar del trillo. Call it whatever you wish; its shape looks approximately like this:

Also, fashion has established certain excessive embellishments concerning the trill followed by a Nachschlag, which should only be left to those singers who attempt to make everything as colorful as possible and have no feeling for noble simplicity. Here are some of these ornaments:

The first and the second are, at times, tolerable; however, the third is poor and tasteless in every way. A slight hesitation before introducing the Nachschlag is permitted, although it must be clearly and distinctly performed because the final note follows, which cues the entrance of the instruments and which, therefore, does not tolerate a suspension or appoggiatura. Hence, a slight delay of the final note can be excused. §24 The half trill, so called because it lacks the Nachschlag, is called an inverted mordent (Pralltriller) whenever it rebounds quickly from a long or a short note. The first (a) comes in certain descending figures which sometimes follow one another closely; the second (b) takes place only on a note which permits a break


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in the phrase (Absatz) and which is preceded by long suspension (Vorhalt) from above, be it either an appoggiatura or written out note. Also, in certain figures consisting of four notes, it is customary to add the inverted mordent to the third note (c). Its sign is .

§25 The mordent, indicated by a sign , and written out by few composers, is placed on a note which is preceded by a suspension or a long appoggiatura from below (a). This suspension, which may form a half or whole step, is the auxiliary tone (Hülfsnote)16 with which the mordent is made. A mordent can even be introduced on some appoggiaturas which leap upwards (b). In this case it is preferable to use a half step instead of a whole step as the neighboring tone if, of course, the key permits.

These short ornaments, the mordent and the inverted mordent, must be brought out with the greatest possible speed and clarity. At times, some singers replace the inverted mordent (b) with the mordent (a) after a long suspension or appoggiatura. Nothing is spoiled by this; as a matter of fact, it seems to come out more clearly.

In this and in similar cases, the lengthening or doubling of the mordent is more for instrumentalists than for singers.

16

Hiller uses the word Hülfsnote, which is the old form of Hilfsnote or auxiliary tone.

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§26 Too many spices spoil the taste of the meal, and too many trills harm the noble simplicity of the melodic line. Good singers avoid them, at times, out of wisdom. Bad singers, however, who cannot yet trill, have to avoid them. Both are eager to accomplish this and there are several ways to avoid the trill. A few words of explanation will be sufficient here: (1) a simple appoggiatura (a) may be placed on a note which should or could have a trill; or (2) the trilled note may be transformed into a figuration (b) which is made by adding notes which belong to the harmony; or (3) a turn (c) may be introduced in the same place which is indicated by the sign over the note.

§27 In other cases the turn takes the place of the trill with the happiest results; as a matter of fact composers of vocal music always include it as a possible interpretation of the tr sign. In the so-called chain of trills* (catena de’ trilli ) turns are just as effective as real trills whenever they should be executed with considerable speed. This is indicated in the following examples.

* Please see §10 in the twelfth lesson of Part I [Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange]. I only wish to repeat that the ascending scale is better and more suitable for this than the descending scale; at best the latter can only have chains of inverted mordents; and in the latter one should understand that it would be better if the Nachschlag were omitted.


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Some composers take the trouble to write out these turns. For example:

This gives an opportunity to note that in fast tempi the turn consists of four equal notes; on the other hand, in slow tempi, the first and second notes are taken faster than the third and the fourth. In addition, the turn is found on various notes, (a) steps as well as (b) leaps; and (c) also if a note is repeated several times, a turn can be introduced on each one. When three notes ascend one after another, it is customary to place a turn on the middle note to enliven it (d).

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Hasse, at the beginning of an enchanting short Ariette from the opera L’Afilo d’Amore,17 uses the following indications, and it becomes quickly evident that he had nothing other than such turns in mind.

Also, a turn can be introduced between two notes which form an ascending interval if the tempo is somewhat slow. It can even be found between dotted notes written out by the composers.

The last example may become a bit tiresome to many singers, like the trilled turn (prallender Doppelschlag), as Bach called it.18 In any event, the singer can be satisfied with the turns explained up to this point, and leave these trilled turns to 17 18

Premiered in Naples, Summer, 1742. In §27 of his chapter on embellishments, C. P. E. Bach explains the trilled turn as follows: “The turn allies itself with the short trill when its first two notes are alternated with extreme rapidity by means of a snap. The effect of the combined ornaments can be most easily realized by thinking of a short trill with a suffix” (Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, trans. and ed. William J. Mitchell [New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1949], p. 121).


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the keyboard player, whose only unusual feature is that the first two notes are repeated twice with the greatest speed and clarity. §28 Now a word about vibrato (Bebung), which arises when one does not permit a long sustained tone to sound firmly, but rather allows it to fluctuate without changing the pitch. On string instruments it is done most easily by the rocking back and forth of the finger which is placed on the string. It is more difficult for the singer if he simply wants to bring it out with his throat; some make this easier for themselves by moving their lower jaw. Carestini did this often and always with success.19 §29 The ornaments which have been explained up to this point are an essential part of good performance. They are all the more worthy of a singer’s attention, since he may be certain to make an impression with his singing if he uses them with understanding and knows how to perform them with ease. It is impossible to say everything or to describe with words or musical examples where good taste and feeling can lead a singer. From listening to a good singer one can learn much and understand more clearly what may appear obscure in a book. Even hearing a good instrumentalist can be worth while, although they cannot be considered as models for singers with regard to their use of ornaments. Instruments, by nature, require much that a singer does not need. The latter can hold a tone as long as he wants and can allow it to grow or decrease in volume, which is not so easy to accomplish on all instruments and is completely impossible on some. One attempts to remedy this deficiency by means of the frequent uses of various ornaments.20 And were this not the case, then it is still certain that the tone that flows out of a living human breast with spirit and feeling has far more irresistible power than the tone of the most perfect instrument. If words are added with which the singer can give his tones definite meaning, then there can be no further doubt that the human voice deserves preference over all instruments. Therefore, the singer does not have to make his melody as lustrous as is necessary for the instrumentalists. Simplicity, which does not degenerate into stiffness and awkwardness, should be the chief characteristic of his performance. He should attempt more to be understood and felt than to be admired and viewed with astonishment. Above all, he should earnestly attempt to gain control of the sound and the volume of his voice. In this way, as Agricola* points out, he will be spared the * Tosi [/Agricola,] Anleitung zur Singkunst, p. 122. [Baird, Introduction, p. 150.] 19

20

See Preface, p. 44 above, in which Hiller discusses Carestini while giving an account of the most famous castrati. Obviously, Hiller is particularly concerned with keyboard instruments here, and although by the time he was writing this treatise fortepianos were in vogue, he is clearly more interested in harpsichords and their specific limitations.

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many notes which instrumentalists must use to make up not only for the lack of words, but also in part for the limited control over the duration or volume of their sound.21 21

Expounding upon one of his favorite themes, Hiller highlights the importance of simplicity as the most significant aspect of good performance. He refers to Agricola’s final remark in the chapter on trills that singers, because of using a text, have an expressive advantage which instrumentalists must satisfy by using more embellishment.

 On good performance, with regard to passaggi

§1 The German term Passagie1 comes from the Italian passaggio, which means passage. In application to music it signifies nothing more than two or three notes which are included in the transition under the control, as it were, of one harmonic tone. It can also be translated by the word Übergang (transition). Altogether this might have been the way in which passaggi originated (as the term itself suggests): by filling in the notes that form a leap in a stepwise fashion, instead of performing a mere jump. Thus, two or three notes which replace a single one already constitute a passaggio, although one generally applies this term to continuous figures which often consist of chains of many measures, with two- , threeand four-note figures. The word figure, then, is the most convenient term by which to label the individual part of such a passaggio. Some music teachers employ the Greek word melisma to designate both a single figure and passaggio, although the latter is sometimes referred to as a melismatic extension, as well. §2 While many singers, both male and female, have caused a sensation (and still continue to do so) with their use of passaggi, they have been met both with great admiration and with disdain. This, however, is not the place to put this matter on trial and pass a verdict. But the following can be said without bias: people on either side go too far if, on the one hand, they only appreciate singing using ascending and descending passages at a galloping tempo, or if, on the other hand, they always require singing that proceeds tone by tone, syllable by syllable in a clumsy manner. Passaggi are, however, not essential to the beauty of singing. Singing can be beautiful without passaggi; but the kind of singing which consists entirely of irregular figures would hardly please anyone. Likewise, 1

Hiller uses the German word Passagie, which, as he states, comes from the Italian passaggio. There is an entire list of terms that could be applied here (see Robert Donington, The Interpretation of Early Music [New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974], p. 160, Table IV for Terms for Embellishment). Galliard, in translating Tosi’s passaggio, uses the word diminution; Agricola, translating Tosi, uses the German word Passagie. In English writings on the subject the word passages is also used frequently.

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passaggi contribute little to moving the heart; they are really nothing more than the means by which a singer shows off the particular skillfulness and dexterity of his voice. Favoring them has become so fashionable and popular that it could have a damaging effect upon good singing if the art of performing passaggi should take the upper hand and, finally, replace that admirable talent – singing beautifully without their use. The misuse which currently prevails is very great, not only in the Italian, but unfortunately in the German theater as well. The most intolerable misuse occurs in the church, and annoying examples are not lacking when one examines the sacred cantatas of some church composers. Although one cannot oppose these misuses strongly enough, it would be unjust and exaggerated to ban the use of passaggi from vocal music altogether. Music demands variety and change; passaggi serve as a good means to this end if they are combined with other, more simple and declamatory passages. They do not have to comprise the greatest part of a piece, but to grant them no place at all would be too drastic except in those places where it is obviously contrary to expression and passion. The dexterity of a singer has to be taken into account with each performance and one should not deprive him of the opportunity of showing, in any particular piece, how much is possible for the human voice to accomplish through diligence and practice. However, he should not attempt to be brilliant at the expense of passion and to replace by passaggi what he neglects in sensitive delivery. §3 As passaggi can always, with the proper qualifications, be considered something beautiful in singing, they deserve to be studied and practiced with much diligence. In the thirteenth lesson of Part I of this treatise, ample opportunity for this exercise was given.2 In addition, the most common figures which comprise the larger passaggi were introduced with their names and their structural features. The reader is advised to make himself familiar with this matter if he has not already done so, as he will better understand the further remarks about passaggi, and he will learn to create his own passaggi in arbitrary variations and cadenzas. Good performance of passaggi demands not only a very dexterous and fluent voice but also a strong and firm chest; since all singers were not granted the same gifts by nature, it follows that not every singer may achieve that which he has noticed and admired in others. Nevertheless, the desire to sing passaggi has been going to singers’ heads for some time already, and nothing can quite stop them except another, even more meaningless desire, to sing up to f ⵮ and g⵮. Regardless of the piece, a singer will not reach his goal and the appropriate degree of perfection if nature has not laid the foundation with a fortunate talent. In the meantime, it is still better to have achieved something through diligence and practice. Should this path not lead to any progress, one should choose another, since there 2

The matter of passaggi is so important to Hiller that an entire lesson is devoted to it.

On good performance, with regard to passaggi

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are, as Mancini says,* many paths in the art of singing and many a way to acquire the coveted reputation of a good and splendid virtuoso. §4 The entire beauty of passaggi lies, as Tosi says,† in their being performed on pitch, staccato, roundly and clearly, evenly, with articulation, and fast. He only had to say clear and pure, as everything beautiful in music must be reduced to these two main features. Before speaking about them further, we must take a look at the figures from which passaggi are formed. They are, according to the meter, divided up into either two or three parts; with respect to their form, they may be runs, leaps, mixed, or syncopated. At times, short appoggiaturas are added. Their performance is either legato or staccato; in addition, dynamics have to be considered.3 §5 The so-called triplet is considered to be a three-part figure; the rest are two-part. Running figures are those which proceed in [major and minor] seconds, and from this it will become evident what is meant by leaping and mixed figures. In addition, some examples might serve as explanations.

All of these figurations can appear in other meters as well as in larger or smaller notes. The given tempo determines whether they should be performed quickly or slowly. §6 There are two ways in which these figurations and the passaggi made up of them can be performed: one is legato, the other is staccato. The former is primarily found in slow, tender and sad pieces, whereas the latter is more often used in fast and fiery passages. In the legato performances, the vowel, which is pronounced with the first note, will be held, without repeating it, for an entire breath just as a violinist plays a number of notes with a single bow. The tone, however, must not become unclear, but must, rather, be firmly on pitch. In fast movements, legato * In questa professione le vie sono molte, varj sono i generi ed i caratteri, per giungere al desiderato onore d’essere un ottimo, un egregio virtuoso. † [Agricola,] Anleitung zur Singkunst, p. 133. [Baird, Introduction, p. 158.] 3

Hiller says that their performance is either “geschleift oder gestossen,” which has been translated as legato or staccato. He also says “Stärke und Schwäche,” which has been translated here as dynamics.

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performance includes only a few notes which, in addition, should be descending rather than ascending. The following figurations sound good when they are performed legato:

When the pattern of the triplet is reversed, that is, when the second note is a step lower than the first and third, they must be performed in a more staccato rather than a legato manner. §7 When passaggi proceed in a chromatic fashion, one finds legato the only means of performance. Should one wish to call it by another name, the term drawing out or dragging (Ziehen) can be used.

The following kind of passaggi should also be performed legato, although a few separated notes can be included.


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§8 In passaggi, staccato is indicated by a short line above the note which the violinist performs by a repetition of the bow stroke. Wind instrumentalists achieve it by means of tonguing.4 A singer can produce a staccato neither by bowing nor by using his tongue; as a matter of fact, he must keep his tongue completely quiet in his mouth. For him it depends upon gently repeating the vowel with which the passaggio is sung, so that each note can be heard separately. He must, for example, pronounce as many a’s as there are notes in the passaggi. However, he must beware that he does not say ha or ga, instead of a. Only chickens may sing passaggi like this, which is why the Italians call it clucking (scagateata). Maintaining a pure and uniform vowel sound is so necessary and important that it is an offensive error for singers to permit all five vowels to be heard one after the other during a passaggio. The reader will already know how to handle double vowels from the Introduction of Part I: They are pronounced separately, so that all the notes of the passaggio are sung on the first vowel, and the second is taken with the last note.5 Since this manner of singing passaggi demands much practice and a good chest, certain inconveniences arise if the singer is deficient in either one or the other. Either tones are left out or they are not performed purely enough in pitch. With other singers, who have to force it, the air in their mouth goes the wrong way because it either pushes against their palate or passes through their nose. The singer who thinks of nothing other than being able to perform passaggi very quickly will never be safe from these errors. He who first attempts passaggi slowly, observing all that belongs to these good performances, and then speeds them up little by little until he has achieved the level of speed he wished to attain, is more secure. It is certain that not all singers will achieve the same level of skillfulness, as nature has not endowed everyone with the same talent. At times, some singers have such inflexible voices and perform in such a dragging manner that the listener becomes uneasy when the singer starts torturing himself to execute passaggi. Others start fresh, but tire in such a short time that their passaggi become dull; perhaps their chests are not strong enough, or they are not cautious enough to see where the chest could be more protected, and more breath could be saved. In another place [Chap. 2] enough was said of the necessity of furnishing oneself with breath without letting any opportunities go by.6 If, however, some singers behave as anxiously as those with narrow chests and every moment breathe with such great effort that it fills the audience itself with fear, it is as bad as the case when others hold their breath so long that they turn red and brown in the face. 4

5 6

Hiller is expressing a most common observation on articulation, and his comments here resemble those of Quantz in his sixth chapter, “Of the Use of the Tongue in Blowing Upon the Flute.” Quantz states: “The tongue is the means by which we give animation to the execution of the notes upon the flute. It is indispensable for musical articulation, and serves the same purpose as the bow-stroke upon the violin” (Quantz, On Playing the Flute, Ch. 6, §1, p. 70). Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Introduction, §§23, 24, 25, and 29. See Chapter 2, §§4–8, pp. 58–63 above.

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Those who need time to take a breath, thereby missing a handful of notes or getting out of rhythm, are the worst of all. §9 We do not wish to dwell too long on the subject of those passaggi which have to be executed staccato. In the thirteenth lesson of Part I, enough material pertaining to this matter was supplied.7 It is generally accepted that the singer may, at times, in order to perform with greater ease, connect some tones with legato instead of singing each note with the same sharp staccato. This method is also practiced by instrumentalists of some orchestras. Such a mixed manner of performing passaggi gives the violinist a variety of bowings with which a singer can acquaint himself to his advantage. The effect is very different according to which notes are made legato or staccato. One should start with the following triplet in order to see for oneself:

We have already become acquainted with some four-note legato figures. Nothing will be spoiled if the third and fourth notes of the given case are made more staccato than legato; or, the other way around, if the first two notes are performed legato where they were to be staccato. Thereupon, however, one must be careful that the first note is always completely in tune, for certainly the following ones will not be, if the first one is not. Further, this note must enter exactly in the time of the beat on which it is indicated, as otherwise one comes into danger of losing the tempo either through rushing or dragging. It is therefore always necessary to give the first note a little emphasis, permitting the others to follow a little bit weaker:

If, however, a passaggio contains more than four notes, be they ascending or descending, then every note must be performed staccato:

7

Hiller is referring to Lesson 13, §7.


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Other passaggi, containing leaps, must be dotted and at the same time legato:

This example is written out as it is to be performed. One must imagine, however, that it appears without dots or slurs, as that is the way it is generally indicated on paper. There is yet another type of passaggio which I wish to note which actually must be performed legato although the first note of four always is staccato:

§10 A short appoggiatura or mordent, as it is called by the Italian singers, can only be applied before the third of four notes, of which at least three must be in descending motion if the tempo is not too fast:

In other cases, before triplets, and so forth, the composer normally writes them in himself. How this should be handled was explained in the section on appoggiaturas in this book.8 §11 Syncopated passaggi, be they anticipations of the following notes or prolongations of the preceding, must be performed in such a manner that the note which comes between the beats will always be somewhat more stressed rather than held longer. Nevertheless, the note must be maintained in such a way that the listener does not hear two notes for one.

8

See Chapter 4, §6, pp. 75–77 above.

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Tempo rubato, as the Italians call it, is nothing more than such an anticipation or prolongation of a tone from one beat to the other. One steals, as it were, some time from one note, in order to give it to the other. This serves as a means not only for varying the execution, but also for greater stress, and it occurs in passaggi and the pronunciation of words as well. But the singer must exactly observe the rhythm when he makes use of it, so that he does not end too soon or too late.

§12 The singer who prefers to sing with expression (Empfindung) does not profit from long and colorful passaggi. An aria can be beautiful, and there are plenty of those without any passaggi. If it is possible to perform passaggi without misusing them, they should by no means be rejected. They not only serve the singer so that he can show off his dexterity, but, in addition, add more vivacity and lustre to a song, not to mention the fact that thereby a piece can easily be extended with greater variety and contrast. In regard to passion they have comparatively little significance, and a reasonable composer will generally refrain from employing them in arias that show a great deal of sadness, rage, and so forth. They can most often be found in tender, gay, and pithy arias. In his performance, then, the singer is obligated to observe the main characteristics of a piece so that on the one hand, he executes passaggi with tender sentiment in a pleasing and moderate tone, and on the other hand uses stress and emphasis for gay and pithy words. Small diminuendos from loud to soft do, indeed, take place. But this is more a question of the sensitivity and taste of the singer than a matter of definite rules. In order to have good control of the voice at all times, it is necessary, when practicing passaggi, to learn how to produce them in different degrees of loudness and softness. Most of all, one should beware of the most common mistakes, namely those of dragging or rushing, as well as the impure pronunciation of those vowels upon which the passaggi are sung. There are singers who, when singing an a, let the listener


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hear all five vowels at the same time, an error of carelessness which is not to be excused. §13 Owing to the habit of singing passaggi, which is so popular nowadays, a singer often encounters those which are unsuitable for his throat. The best advice is for him to practice them until he is in control of them. Should he, however, not be wholly successful, so that he does not dare to embarrass himself, he ought to replace one figure by another which is equal to it, and more suitable to his voice. I wish to indicate some figures here from which the singer may feel free to choose, unless the accompaniment in the instruments does not allow for such a replacement. This is precisely the case when the instruments play the passaggi note for note with the singer. This, in turn, encourages the singer to dare his luck, as he is sufficiently supported (by the instruments).

 On good performance, with regard to the various genres of vocal forms and in consideration of performing in various places §1 The reader should not expect that all genres of vocal pieces both large and small will be listed here. It is not necessary to give them the same amount of attention, as they are not all equally important. A song or an Ariette, performed at the piano amongst good friends, does not require the kind of attention which must be devoted to the performance of a grand aria sung in public. It is our aim here to discuss only those vocal pieces with which a singer, at certain times and in different places, performs as a true artist. §2 There are occasions when a singer has to sightread. In this case, the same precision and subtlety which is expected of a singer who has had the time to prepare cannot be taken for granted. The unrehearsed singer achieves enough if, in addition to singing in pitch and at the right tempo, he does not completely deprive the audience of the essential beauty of the music. Our German virtuosi have an advantage over the Italians in sightsinging. The reason for this may be that they take the trouble to learn some instrument in addition to singing. Moreover, in most of our schools, the so-called choir singers have to sing so much that there is not always enough time left for adequate preparation. Those who are more skillful pull the weaker ones along with them; and although they do not become the greatest singers this way, it helps them to the extent that they are not frightened by a sheet of music which they see for the first time. To be sure, good solid choir singers are produced this way, and this is what the education of our schools achieves. But this training does little for the education of good soloists. §3 The church, the chamber, and the theater are the places where a singer appears.1 Each place requires special consideration from the singer. The size as 1

Hiller mentions one of the most basic divisions of eighteenth-century musical style, determined by the location. A discussion of these categories can be found in Meinrad Spiess, Tractatus Musicus Compositorio-practicus (Augsburg, 1746): “De Stylo Ecclesiastico,” “De Stylo Cammerali [sic],” and “De Stylo Theatrali.” See Leonard Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), p. 7. Hiller

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Various vocal forms; performing in various places

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well as the dignity of the location require or prohibit a particular behavior which at another place might not only be permissible, but even appropriate. In all respects the church demands a noble sincerity which is in keeping with its holiness. Here, a singer may not show off the vain dexterity of his voice, rich and colorful ornaments, or mocking and affected ideas. He must sing with feeling and perform with true devotion. All artful ornamentation must be rejected if it is injurious to the enhancement of feeling or contributes nothing toward this end. As Tosi says, this art is learned best from the faith and conviction that one is speaking to God.2 §4 Of all the good intentions a singer might have, none would be fulfilled if his words are not understood. Therefore, if clear and distinct pronunciation in which nothing interferes with good singing be one of the most important obligations of the performer, then the larger and grander the place in which he sings, the more attention he must pay to this duty. It is not by stronger attack and exaggeration that the singer can be heard and understood in such a location; rather, he will achieve this goal sooner with a pure, steady, and firm voice as long as he pronounces distinctly, even if his voice is somewhat weak. The quieter the audience then, the more it helps the singer. I do not intend, by the way, to support lazy singers who are so concerned about their lungs that they would rather have others take a breath for them. §5 Although sincerity and sensitivity are the prevailing characteristics of church singing, both occur, nonetheless, to a certain extent in the theater and chamber as well. However, in both places the singer encounters situations in which he must know how to be expressive in still another manner. In the theater the singer makes his appearance in the character of a certain role which he acts out not only through speech and dialogue, but through movements and gestures as well. No extensive discussion of the art of acting can be expected here, for it cannot only be taught by rules. For those who are called to the stage, the best teacher in this respect would be a certain natural talent to grasp and depict the characteristics of all the passions and affections, as well as the faithful observation of good models. Although the singer can, in general, indulge in more brilliant ornamentation than the church singer, his improvisation is still somewhat bound by the character of the part and the affect which it requires. With regard to the presentday state and practice of music, the chamber singer who performs in the so-called academies in Italy and the concerts at the court and in the cities has the

2

himself, in the Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange in §§8 and 9 of the Appendix, gives a brief discussion of these categories and refers the reader to Johann Gottfried Walther, Musikalisches Lexicon, oder musikalische Bibliothek (Leipzig: W. Peer, 1732), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Dictionnaire de musique (Paris: Chez la Veuve Duchesne, Libraire, rue S. Jacques, au Temple du Goût, 1768). Hiller is referring to Tosi’s remarks in Chapter 5, “Of Recitative,” Tosi/Galliard, Observations, p. 66. Baird, Introduction, p. 171.

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greatest freedom. Formerly, he would probably have placed more emphasis on the expression of the affect, since it was still fashionable at that time to write cantatas and duets specifically for the chamber.* Nowadays, however, the singer is primarily concerned with showing his skill in performing technical difficulties, which certainly do not stir the heart, but invite all the more admiration. Although vocal virtuosity is not of high merit in itself, it would be unjust if there were not at least one place where a singer could exhibit his ability without feeling guilty. Thus, singing should be most brilliant in the concert hall, somewhat less in the theater where it would be detrimental to the expression of the passion, and least in the church where it is against the dignity and the natural simplicity with which we should speak to God.3 §6 Here follow some brief remarks on vocal pieces most commonly performed by the singer in the three above-mentioned locations. They are written either for one voice or several voices: the aria, the Ariette, which is frequently associated with the rondo in our time, and the recitative belong to the first category; and the duet, trio, quartet, and chorus belong to the second. All these pieces differ from one another not only in regard to their form, but also with respect to their performance in that they require more or less skill than others. §7 The form of the aria has slightly changed in our day although, as in former times, it consists of two main sections, following the division of the text. Composers nowadays treat the form somewhat differently than twenty years ago, and yet this older form has not completely gone out of fashion. In the past, it was customary to set the text of the first section of the aria twice, so that by virtue of ending in another key and inserting a short ritornello in the middle, two parts were created out of one. Then, in a traditional but rather doubtful fashion, the second part of the text was treated very briefly, whereupon all or half of the first part was repeated. This form of the aria was very advantageous to learned singers. As it was their duty to first perform the aria as the composer had written it, they felt obliged, on the repeat, to add as much of their own invention as possible to the written notes in appropriate places. Thus, the listener was not bored by hearing the same music twice, but rather, felt admiration and respect for the singer who did not allow the listener’s attention to waver and knew how to kindle it anew. At present, the customary form of the aria, if it is not an adagio or cantabile, gives the singer less incentive to show his own inventiveness because each phrase of * Many of these cantatas and duets are written for little or even no [obbligato] instrumental accompaniment, so that they are actually only meant for the chambers of noblemen and are not to be sung before large audiences. Nowadays, so-called concerts have become fashionable in the courts and cities, in which, most often, arias and duets from operas are sung. These concerts, then, will have to be listed under the category of the chamber and chamber music. 3

Hiller says “concert” here. He is referring to both the academies and the concerts (like the Concerts Spirituels) and, of course, to the music performed in the larger concert halls.


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the melody is heard only once. This prevents the listener from knowing whether it was the creation of the composer or the singer. It is the practice nowadays to go through the entire first part of the text and then have it followed by the second half, either in exactly the same or a changed tempo, with a somewhat contrasting accompaniment. When, finally, the first section resembling the beginning in every way with a somewhat different modulation is heard again, it brings the aria to its conclusion. This form of the aria seems to have an advantage over the older one because it is quite satisfactory to listen to the most important part of the text twice (not counting small, incidental repetitions) whereas in the other form, it was repeated at least four times.4 The melismatic extensions which the composer previously only outlined, leaving the development to the singer, are nowadays mainly written down in such detail and variety of phrases, that there is seldom more left to do than to sing the written notes, unless the singer, for the sake of convenience, cares to exchange one figure for another. §8 The different categories of the aria were discussed in Paragraph 10 of the Appendix in Part I of this treatise.5 The rondo, however, which has become very popular and fashionable nowadays, was not mentioned. It normally consists of a short theme which recurs three or four times in the same key, only to be interlaced by new lines of the text set to a different melody in a related key. A good German example can be found in Benda’s Walde in the song “Selbst die glücklichste der Ehen.”6 Sacchini, Naumann, Bach, Paisiello, and others have written some charming rondos in Italian. They belong to the category of tender aria, the tempo of which should always be taken slow rather than fast. In performance, refinement of taste is more desirable than the skill of inventing new variations. 4

5

6

The two forms of the aria, past and present, might be represented in the following manner: da capo: A B A PART II PART I PART II PART I Past: A r A⬘ / B A r A⬘ Present: A / B ⫹A I VI I X I I I I I V X I r⫽ritornello The X section, whose function is to begin the return to the final confirmation of the tonic in Part II, can go through a number of keys before returning to the tonic. This analysis is based upon Leonard Ratner’s concept of the key-area form. See Leonard Ratner, Music: The Listener’s Art (New York: McGraw Hill, 1966), pp. 217ff; and also Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), Part III, “Form,” pp. 209ff. Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, pp. 213–214. Hiller uses the Italian designation for the aria categories: 1. Aria di bravura: an aria with much bravura and many difficult passaggi. 2. Aria di strepito: an aria in which the musical accompaniment is agitated and rushing and the voice declaims more than sings. 3. Aria d’espressione: an aria containing many changes and contrasts of passion. 4. Aria cantabile: an aria in a slow tempo (mostly Adagio) and containing less movement. Georg Benda (1722–95). The opera Walde appeared in 1776. Hiller observes correctly that the rondo has gained in status through its popularity. It is favored not only by the Italians, but by German composers as well. It follows from Hiller’s wish to support German music that he illustrates the formal qualities of the rondo by selecting Benda’s Walde as a model, the same model also chosen by H. C. Koch in his Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (Leipzig, 1793). See Ratner, Classic Music, p. 250.

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§9 For the singer who wishes to establish his reputation, everything depends upon good execution of arias. Therefore, they are the main object in the study of singing in which too much attention and diligence can never be applied. Arias alone make a deep, lasting impression on the listener who remembers, long afterwards, the pleasure he felt from hearing this music. Only if the singer displays his ability to ornament and vary an aria, a knowledge which cannot be possessed without a close familiarity with music theory, will he gain the reputation of a learned man with insight. An entire chapter dedicated to ornamentation and variation of the aria will follow at the end of this book. However, the discussion of the aria here will include nothing more than the essential ornaments7 which were explained in the previous chapters. In addition, some finer points will be raised concerning the discreet introduction of ornaments according to the character of the place and circumstance of performance. §10 The division of church, chamber, and theater style is quite old, and not only the composer but the singer has to conform to these distinctions. In the theater singing must be lively and brilliant, in the chamber, more refined and learned, and in the church, however, serious and full of affect. The singer should remember this advice well. Then he should study the aria, having first acquainted himself with the text, its affect, and its grammatical and oratorical accents. He should introduce, with discretion, as many ornaments as appropriate to the place where he sings, to the affect in which he sings, and to good taste. The singer ought to seek not only the desirable volume of the voice required by the location of the performance, but he should also make the attempt to suit the tone of his voice to the affect so that he moves the heart the same way the words speak to the mind. What a great and demanding challenge for the singer. Yes, dear friends, it is indeed not a small chore to be a perfect singer! As my beloved teacher, the late , used to say: “It is easier to find ten good — than one single skillful —.” And I say: “It is easier to find ten good — than one single skillful —.” If it weren’t for those damned dashes! — — §11 In church music, such as the mass, the Te Deum, the Magnificat, and some psalms, movements often occur sung by a solo voice which are, in all respects, similar to the aria and the ariette. Therefore they must, if they are to be well performed in the church, be executed in the same manner as an aria or ariette. Even rondos have begun to be introduced in the church: 7

In speaking about essential ornaments here, Hiller uses the word Verschönerungen, meaning beautifications, which has a meaning similar to Auszierung, Verzierung, Zierath, and Manieren. He uses both the noun Verschönerung as well as the verb verschönern (see §12) to express the aesthetic effect of ornamentation.


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ne quid in ausum Aut intentatum — — fuisset.8

It would be foolish to be fanatically opposed to this practice. The form of the rondo disturbs the affect in singing no more than the form of the aria. It depends on the composer’s treatment and the singer’s performance as to whether the category of arioso singing is established, or banned from the church forever. We do not wish to elaborate any further, but if ever the notion to incorporate a rondo into an oratorio can be called a splendid idea, then Kapellmeister Naumann9 has truly written one of the most beautiful ever heard when he presented Tanete’s aria in Giuseppe riconosciuto in the form of a rondo: Se a ciascun l’interno affanno Si leggesse in fronte scritto, Quanto mai, che invidia fanno, Ci farebbero pietà! etc. 10

§12 Among the pieces for solo voice, the recitative deserves consideration of its own. It is sung in the church as well as in the theater and chamber and is divided into two types: simple and accompanied. Several points already made in the fourteenth Lesson of Part I of this treatise should be remembered here.11 In the theater, recitative is sung most rapidly because there it replaces common speech. When chamber cantatas were in style, chamber recitative, on the other hand, received a special art of execution. It was not through extravagant ornaments and embellishments that the singer ornamented (Verschönern)12 the chamber recitative, but by exercising the most intense participation in words which generally expressed the emotions of the heart most strongly, that a manner of performance was created in which the singer seemed to feel all that he said. Even now, church recitative maintains this quality. It requires noble sincerity throughout and, in addition to a generally slow tempo, calls, at times, for a longer sustaining of certain notes as well as powerful appoggiaturas in other cases. It is well known that recitative is sung without consideration of the meter.* In accompanied recitative, however, there are sometimes passages which are in a given meter and are indicated by an A tempo because of the accompaniment. The singer must beware * The reason that some choral conductors nevertheless beat time in recitative, even if they themselves sing, probably lies in the fact that it has become their habit. 18

19

10

11

The Latin itself is somewhat unclear. The passage was taken out of context and contains an error: the word inausum should appear as one and not two separate words, as Hiller has indicated. As a result the translation might read: Lest something should have been undared or untried. Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) was Kapellmeister in Dresden and composed many works, including operas, oratorios, masses, and cantatas. If anyone’s internal anguish written on his forehead were read, how much more would we pity those whom we envy. 12 Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 14, §14, pp. 201–206. See footnote 7 above.

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that he does not perform stiffly or like a beginner, but rather he must attempt to disguise the enslaving regularity of the meter as best he can. §13 Mordents and inverted mordents are not used very often in recitative, full trills not at all. The use of appoggiaturas, on the other hand, is more important. In the theater it is better to proceed more sparingly with these ornaments than in the church and chamber so as not to disturb the speech-like character of the recitative. Only those scenes in which a pathetic recitative always precedes a sentimental aria allow exceptions. Let me make more comments about the use of mordents, inverted mordents, appoggiaturas, and double appoggiaturas in recitative and illustrate them with examples. Composers are in the habit of writing the two-syllable caesura or cadence in two ways:

Traditionally it is always sung as in b. Even in a one-syllable caesura, the upper fourth is heard as an appoggiatura on the last syllable.

If these cases occur often, the singer must consider variation in order to avoid boredom caused by offensive monotony. For this purpose the appoggiatura of the second is very useful. Both of the previous examples, therefore, can be sung in the following way:


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§14 Let us not repeat here what was said about the use of appoggiaturas and double appoggiaturas, as the designated place in Part I gives the necessary detail.13 I shall, however, still add one more instance. To accent in recitative, not only appoggiaturas are used, but every so often a note is raised a whole tone. The following example may serve as an illustration.

Mancini gives an example of this case, when many notes on the same pitch come after one another. In this case, however, a long appoggiatura would probably be better than the raised note. The reader may see and judge for himself.14

§15 The inverted mordent (Pralltriller) occurs only occasionally in recitative on a note which has an appoggiatura on it. It is most appropriate if a word ends with the note because it can be performed in a clipped manner which is in accordance with its true nature.

I know of no more appropriate place to allot to the mordent than the two-syllable cadence when it is done by means of a leap of a fourth on the first note of the cadence. 13 14

Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 7, §§12 and 13 and Lesson 12, §§3–5. Although Hiller is not quite clear here, he seems to imply that a longer dissonant note, that is, a quarter rather than an eighth, is more appropriate in this case.

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This example demonstrates that the messa di voce can and should be used in recitative, at times. At places rich in affect, the singer may make use of a ritardando with improvised ornaments. Those ornaments, however, must not be extensive and extravagant but rather should consist of only a few notes as the affect demands. Hasse has, on occasion, provided the opportunity for such ornamentation in the recitatives of his oratorios, indicating them with the usual sign, the fermata , as for example:

§16 Of the remaining vocal compositions we must still consider pieces for two, three, and more voices. The duet, or piece for two voices, binds the singer more to the notation than the aria. Either one part follows the other or it accompanies it in two-part harmony, step by step in the same phrases and figures. In both cases it is not good to hear something in one voice that is not also in the other. If two singers have the time and opportunity to plan the execution of their duet and the use of ornaments and variations, then they can take the same freedom which the solo aria provides. If, however, there is no opportunity for discussion, the singers should refrain from introducing them or should choose those ornaments which the other singer can easily comprehend and imitate. In such cases it is foolish vanity if the singer is so selfish and eager to draw attention to himself by means of all kinds of colorful ornaments that he shows little due respect toward his colleague. However, if they want to make a joke with one another on the spur of the moment, as happens at times in the theater, it is easy to make a fool of oneself, which may well be intended on occasion. Tosi relates an episode in this vein: “I remember,” he says, “or did I only dream, that I heard a famous duet sung by two great singers who were incited by such jealousy that they imitated each other again and again with something new, answering one another in


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return, until the duet was so chopped up into bits and pieces, that at the end nothing was left but the sheer contest to see who could produce the greatest foolery.”15 More will be said about cadenzas and fermatas that occur in a duet in the seventh chapter. §17 The more voices there are in a piece, the more each singer is bound to what is written, especially when all the voices perform at the same time. A trio and a quartet, therefore, are more restrictive than a duet. However, with regard to simple, that is, unornamented singing, not everything need be as plainly and lifelessly performed as notated. But it is unwise to be wasteful with ornaments or add variations where they do not belong. In addition, the singer is obliged to show consideration for the volume of the other voices so that no one is drowned out. To have a loud voice is not always a singer’s greatest virtue; and to use it inappropriately to the disadvantage of one’s fellow singers deserves reproach. This mistake is most frequently made by choral singers. The performer who sings so loudly that he can hear little or nothing at all of the other voices has sung badly and therefore harmed the general performance. The smaller the place of performance, the greater the damage. §18 A few more remarks will be made here concerning choral singing. If it is ever essential to observe meter strictly, it is in choral singing. As soon as the tempo is increased or decreased in one voice, the entire chorus is in danger of becoming disorganized. Choral singing must have a steady and definite pace. It is a mistake to add any improvised ornaments or variations. An occasional short appoggiatura, small inverted mordent or mordent is all that a singer can permit himself. The large trill with the Nachschlag should only be used in two-voiced cadences, namely in the soprano and tenor cadence.* At times, the alto borrows one of these ways of cadencing which in turn allows for the introduction of the trill; the bass voice, however, is not permitted to do so at all in its own cadence, which always consists of a descending fifth or an ascending fourth. The flaw of overpowering the other voices was discussed in the previous paragraph. Altogether, choruses need not make use of the most extreme degree of volume, so that, at times, certain words and notes can be emphasized by increasing the voice. In fugues, the entrances of the dux are usually sung somewhat louder so that they stand out from the comes. Piano and forte occur quite frequently in choral works and must be properly observed. The magnificent effect of the increasing of the volume or messa di voce for an entire chorus can be experienced in a good performance of the splendid double chorus of our famous Bach right in the first * Refer to Paragraph 9 of the tenth lesson of Part I [Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange]. 15

Tosi,“Observations for a singer.” Tosi/Galliard, Observations, p. 150; Baird, Introduction, p. 219.

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entrance of the word Heilig in the chorus of the angels.16 Undoubtedly good pitch should be a pre-requisite for a choral singer, since no music can be worthwhile unless it is purely intoned, to say the least. This purity and confidence of intonation is more difficult to achieve in the two middle voices, the alto and tenor, than it is in the two outer voices. All the more reason to commend the merit of those singers who do not fail in this respect. There are also choruses made up of five, six, seven, and more voices. As in all multi-voiced pieces, they require accuracy in the execution of each part in order to contribute their fair share to the whole. Since they do not pose a problem of their own, we do not wish to dwell on it any further. 16

Hiller refers to C. P. E. Bach’s Heilig mit zwey Chören und einer Arietta zur Einleitung, Wotquenne No. 217.

 On cadenzas

§1 So far, the singer has been viewed only as a performer of a given piece; that is, nothing more was expected of him than to sing exactly, with security of intonation and steady tempo, what the composer has written down. In that case, only small ornaments are permitted for better connection of the melody or to give it more liveliness and lustre. Now, we still wish to acquaint the singer with those opportunities where he is called upon to make free use of his own inventiveness and taste. In this chapter the so-called fermata, where the accompanying instruments make a small pause in order to allow the singer time to introduce something of his own, will be discussed in detail. The arbitrary variations, which extend throughout an entire aria with continuous accompaniment, give the singer another opportunity to show inventiveness and judgment. This will be dealt with in the following and final chapter. §2 Cadenzas are also included in the category of the fermata. In the tenth lesson of Part I of the instruction, the essential meaning of cadences has already been discussed.1 Each of the four voice parts has its own way of forming cadences and introducing a trill on the penultimate note. Here the word cadenza [Cadenz] has a somewhat different meaning and implies the improvised ornamentation which the singer introduces according to his own discretion when the accompaniment pauses.2 Many years ago it was the custom to introduce improvised ornaments without a pause in the accompaniment, as can be seen from the examples in Musica Moderna practica* by Johann Andreas Herbst, the * This little work was printed in German in Quarto on eleven sheets [of paper] in Frankfurt in 1658. The German title reads: “A Short Introduction as to how Boys and Others Who Have a Special Desire and Love to Sing in the Italian Manner Can be Taught Quite Thoroughly and with Little Effort. Everything is Conveyed with Great Diligence, from the Outstanding Authorities, also Ornamented with many clausulae [cadences] and Variations: especially for the Use of Instrumentalists who Play the Violin and the Cornetto, Augmented with all Kinds of Cadences and Re-issued for the Third Time in Print.” From this small work one can gain a fair understanding of the art of singing in the previous century. 1 2

Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 10, §8, pp.143–144. In German the word Cadenz, or Kadenz, can refer either to cadence or cadenza. In this chapter, Hiller is concerned with cadenzas and the improvisations a singer can invent when he/she sees a fermata.

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former Kapellmeister from Frankfurt-am-Main. To accommodate the singer and also because the audience enjoyed his inventions, it became customary after a while to have the instruments stop in order to give the singer time to display his ideas. §3 This concession toward the singer had several disadvantageous consequences. Singers who lacked neither presence of mind nor ideas and technique misused the opportunity since they did not set any limits either in mixing various figures or in the time which is allowed for the duration of such improvised additions. Tosi, who is absolutely no friend of cadenzas, makes fun of this: “The contemporary singer,” he said, “is inclined to make fireworks of improvised passages at the end of the first part [of the da capo aria] and the orchestra has to wait. At the end of the second part, he doubles the load in his throat causing the orchestra to become bored. When the halt finally comes at the third cadence, the whole mine of divisions loaded with so much effort is blown up, and the orchestra feels ready to curse out of impatience.”3 Now, if, to top it off, an ignorant audience admired and applauded these little extravaganzas of the singer, as they are in the habit of doing, then it would be easy to imagine how a singer could get the idea into his head that the invention of a long and colorful cadenza should be emphasized more than a good performance. To a certain extent this error is excusable since it is not infrequent that the best, most masterly performed arias are not applauded, whereas the cadenzas of the most mediocre singers draw the loudest applause. Thus, the singer has good reason, at least at the end of the aria, to solicit applause from the audience, even if he has to force the occasion.4 In Der Vollkommene Capellmeister Mattheson calls this cadenza a farewell bow which the singer offers his listeners.5 Thus, it is quite appropriate that they thank him and wish him luck on his journey. Although this type of singer deserves to be recognized to some extent, there are others, however, who would like to imitate them but cannot. Their heads are either so dry that they do not know how to bring out anything like a new idea of their own, and tire the listener with everyday trifles and unvarying monotony, or 3

4

5

In Tosi/Galliard, Observations, pp. 128f (see also Baird, Introduction, pp. 205f.), Tosi chides the virtuosi of his time who have used cadenzas for primarily nonmusical reasons, i.e. fame, wealth, and vanity. While he shows some understanding for the economic motivations of his colleagues, he rigorously defends the aesthetics of music against such excesses. Tosi therefore restricts the use of extensive ornamentation and allows only small elaborations. He is of the opinion that there should be absolutely no cadenzas that interrupt the time of the bass at any of the section endings of the da capo aria. Thus, the singer should be permitted nothing more than a small elaboration at the three main cadences of the aria. Hiller shows understanding for the singer’s need to gain acknowledgment for his art, furthering the argument that Agricola presented in his refutation of Tosi’s restrictive instructions. Agricola defends the singer’s need to show inventiveness, to highlight the affect of an aria, and to employ the element of surprise. He favors a cadenza on the final cadence of the da capo aria and gives detailed rules that are designed to prevent abusive ornamentation. In this context he refers to Quantz and his instructions outlined in Chapter 15. See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 203–206 (Baird, Introduction, pp. 210–213) and Quantz, On Playing the Flute, pp. 179–181. Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Capellmeister, Part II, Chapter 3, §39, p. 116; Harriss translation, p. 273.

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their throats are so stiff and their intonation so insecure that the listener suffers with them through the troubles they took to make their cadenzas. If one takes everything into consideration it does not seem to be quite definite whether the use of these improvised cadenzas is to be praised rather than criticized and whether they are to be permitted or forbidden. No matter how much applause they receive from most of the listeners, there have always been men of taste and insight who declared themselves against cadenzas. Nevertheless, since music requires variety throughout, since everything that pleasantly surprises the listener adds to the effect of the whole, since no opportunity should be taken away from the singer to show his skill, the increased use of cadenzas might be justified and therefore is worth a closer investigation. §4 No matter how many ideas the singer has, he should not leave anything to chance. Therefore he should pay attention to the following rules:6 1. Cadenzas must not appear too frequently and must also not be too long. Actually, no breath should be taken in between; thus, as a result of this rule, it is not permitted to last longer than the singer’s breath allows. This rule cannot be kept without exception, simply because the very different strengths and weaknesses of the chest and other random circumstances allow sometimes more, sometimes less, and at times all too little expansion. And yet an idea that is supposed to be complete and of some importance needs such expansion. Thus, if the singer has to breathe it can only be done with speed and on those notes which do not disrupt the continuity. 2. At all times, the cadenza must be based upon the pervading character and the chief affect of the aria. A cadenza consisting of numerous slurred notes would be just as much out of place in a fiery aria as one put together of wild runs would be in a slow aria. In order to make a cadenza suit the aria, a few beautiful places from the aria itself should be utilized, and, if possible, inserted with skill into the cadenza. 3. Identical figures should not be repeated too often. Rather, different figures must be combined and interchanged so that they appear more similar to a skillful combination of single independent phrases than to a regular arioso melody. For this reason, one is not permitted to follow the meter strictly although one takes the tempo of the aria somewhat as a measure and must not sing a cadenza allegro in an adagio and vice versa – not sing an adagio cadenza in an allegro movement. 4. The more unexpected material that can be introduced in a cadenza, the more beautiful it is. All kinds of figures, runs, leaps, triplets, and so on may be used there. We shall soon investigate more closely how they are introduced and what they are based upon. 6

For the following rules, Hiller relies mainly upon Agricola’s instructions. See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 203f.; Baird, Introduction, pp. 210f.

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§5 The entrance of the cadenza is always on the first of the three melodic notes with which it is customary to form cadences in the upper voices. The harmonic accompaniment is constructed so that the bass remains on the fifth [V] of the key for the first [I 64] and second note, and afterwards returns to the tonic [I] with the final note. The harmony that belongs to the first note is nothing other than the tonic triad, major or minor, as the nature of the aria indicates. In the case described above, since the bass has moved to the fifth of the key, this triad forms a 64 chord, which is customarily followed by a 53 chord, because the trill which appears at the end of the cadenza immediately before the final note is always introduced on this chord. Everything the singer wants to perform from his imagination must belong to the scale or the harmony of the tonic note. This then would be one type of cadenza. Another type arises when one chooses the harmony of the fifth instead of the harmony of the tonic, and only incidentally touches upon the tonic. Finally, the third type occurs if one makes use of small turns and modulations to distant keys. However, one must be aware of all too foreign notes and must always make certain that all dissonances against the bass receive a proper resolution. §6 If the singer is guided by the demands of a cadenza, he must become familiar with the various types of figures which form passaggi, insofar as cadenzas are made up of runs. In this way, all kinds of ornaments, appoggiaturas, and trills can also be put to use. In fact, the triad and the scale are the most secure foundations upon which good cadenzas can be built. If one knows how to vary by means of all kinds of figures and to enliven and beautify with various well-chosen and well-performed ornaments, one has sufficient means at hand to invent cadenzas. Since words are not specific enough to describe these things, examples may say more about it:

    (1) Upward

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(2) Downward

These are not nearly all the variations which can be undertaken with a scale. An intelligent singer will have the ability to invent many more variations like these, and even if he cannot make a complete cadenza out of them, he at least has a good beginning there. Let us imagine that the cadenza is in F; thus, it is possible to form a fairly complete cadenza with a small addition from the closely related harmony of the fifth. The relationship of certain figures also leads to that point.

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Cadenzas which for the most part belong to the harmony of the dominant would look approximately like this:

The triad also permits some variations that are useful in cadenzas. For example:

§7 Often singers introduce this manner of ornamenting cadenzas where instruments cannot stop, but rather must continue. In an Adagio something may be undertaken even if only a quarter of the measure is available; to be sure, half a measure is better. In an Allegro at least half a measure is required; a whole measure is better. I will write down the examples in only one way, because one can easily arrange it according to the other way by augmenting the meter.

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§8 These examples do not imply that all cadenzas must always be put together from colorful, running figures. No! A few well-sustained tones, some skillfully applied and correctly resolved dissonances can often, without adding fast runs, bring about a good effective cadenza. In Adagios one makes more use of the latter than of the former. However, it is not necessary to do the same thing throughout and either to drag a cadenza along in slow notes or to toss it away in fast runs. Because one intends to surprise the listeners in this way, the best results will be by means of a skillful mixture of fast and slow, the fiery and the tender, and the strong and the weak. Some mixed-in dissonances or chromatic tones added at random contribute to this result in the same manner.

The introduction of dissonances is the means of modulating to foreign keys. However, the singer should not dare to go too far or remain there too long, because of the danger of losing the tonic key and not being able to find the way home again.

§9 Unexpected entrances of strange or remote intervals add an element of surprise. Some singers carry this to extremes. The entrance of the cadence note in the

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augmented fourth (a) is one of the most useful, because this fourth is the leading tone of the fifth of the tonic and therefore is not at all foreign even though it takes this form. Something can also be done with the augmented fifth (b) as the leading tone to the sixth. Other dissonant entrances cause more havoc than good. Therefore, it is better if they are not used too often. The resolution of the augmented fourth can also be delayed for a while (c).

Intervals whose range is larger than that of an octave should not take place at the beginning, but rather more in the middle. Some time ago, the descending thirteenth and twelfth were very popular and can at times be used if the singer is certain that they are in tune and secure.

All these unusual entrances and wide leaps must be undertaken with somewhat long notes in order to arouse the attention of the listener and to make them comprehensible to him. Therefore, they demand steadiness and strength in performance. The singer who favors such leaps can also attempt to make these and others in an ascending pattern. It would be too extensive to represent everything in examples. One may attempt it oneself and be satisfied with an example of the intervals of the tenth and eleventh.

§10 The text on which the cadenza occurs requires a light vowel or a diphthong which the singer must sustain purely and distinctly. I and u are of no use in cadenzas and if, in spite of that, one is demanded, the singer must look for a syllable in the vicinity which will be comfortable and useful. He should, however, take

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care, that if it is the next to the last syllable, that he does not come out with it again at the end, and instead of saying “Ga-ben,” for example, pronouncing it “Ga-Gaben” – or instead of “Le-ben,” “Le-Leben”; or, that if he found the required syllable further on, not to leave out the following one. It would be ridiculous if with “lasciami dubitar” after the cadenza on “ta,” the singer added “tar” or “bitar.” In this case, a cadenza must be arranged so that a number of the syllables are incorporated in it and the trill would fall on the third syllable from the end, and the Nachschlag and the final note bring in the last two syllables, approximately in the following manner:

§11 At times, holds occur in the middle of pieces which are not really cadenzas, but rather caesuras; one calls them fermatas, and they are indicated with the usual sign of the hold (). They appear above (a) harmonic and (b) dissonant tones. In the latter, the last note must contain the resolution. Here, too, as in cadenzas, the singer introduces a small improvised ornamentation. If, however, it is not to his liking, he can replace this ornament by a mere trill without a Nachschlag or an extended crescendo if the fermata is placed on the last note [at the end of the piece].7 This last type of ornamentation is best if a second note, leaping down an octave, follows the note marked with the . In this case, a long double mordent can be attached to the note that is swelled. Generally, one handles the other improvised ornaments in the following manner:

7

It is intriguing that Hiller, while describing how to handle fermatas in the middle of a piece, digresses here to discuss final fermatas.

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At other fermatas, the singer should concern himself not only with arbitrary ornamentation, but much more with an appropriate (a) transition to the following melody; on the other hand, others again demand (b) both at the same time.8

8

Here Hiller uses the word künstlich as a synonym for willkürlich.

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In the rondos which are very fashionable nowadays, there are frequently opportunities for these transitions, and they give the singer the chance to show invention and taste. At times, even arias begin with a fermata, as the famous Parto from the opera Ciro riconosciuto by Hasse, which Salimbeni sang so masterfully.9 The singer should know how to handle this from the examples already given. §12 The usual caesuras which are not fermatas also require, at times, a little ornamentation, especially in slow movements, if they are not supposed to come out stiff and dragging. An appoggiatura added to the penultimate note can help to relieve the dullness and dragging quality of this situation. Therefore, the singer must help himself with certain small figures put together partly from Doppelvorschläge and Nachschläge in order to achieve his purpose better.

§13 A word must now be said about the double cadenza, because there is, at times, an opportunity for this in duets and concert arias. Although there have been occasional attempts with triple cadenzas, they do not deserve consideration on their own, but rather they are bound to the rules of the double cadenzas.10 These demand (1) that both voices follow each other and may not do anything that the other cannot support or imitate; (2) that both voices do not always progress in thirds and sixths, but rather have ties and resolutions against one another; they must also contain short imitations which may be at the same pitch or at different ones; (3) that, to be sure, no definite meter is necessary, although it is important that the tempo is strictly observed, especially in imitative places, 19 10

Ciro riconosciuto by Hasse (1699–1783), libretto by Metastasio, first performed in Dresden, January 20, 1757. Hiller follows Agricola’s recommendations for the proper execution of double cadenzas. See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 204f.; Baird, Introduction, pp. 211f.

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so that both voices are in step with one another; (4) that passages which are intended for imitation must be constructed so that the other could also imitate comfortably with his voice as well as his instrument, as far as his skill and range are concerned. Therefore, it is necessary that one singer should conform to the other and that an instrumentalist should not perform what a vocalist cannot, if the singer is supposed to imitate. Under these circumstances a double cadenza is at times so long that it cannot easily be sung in one breath. Taking breaths is therefore permitted in this type of cadenza and can happen so comfortably, while the other continues to sing, that it is hardly noticeable. It is easy to understand that such cadenzas should be written down; and if, at times, singers undertake this on the spur of the moment, they can have no other purpose than to throw sand into the eyes of the listeners, or to ridicule each other. The following two examples do not conform completely to the prescribed rules since it is not necessary that all rules be observed closely. Thirds and sixths, ties (suspensions) and resolutions, imitations in various forms and in different figures appear to be too much for one and the same cadenza if it is not to be excessively long. Thus, the singer should choose what serves his purpose best and save the rest for another occasion. Yet another useful observation in the following two cadenzas: one and the same idea, by means of inversion, can be used twice.

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§14 What has been said about cadenzas and fermatas up to this point can, nevertheless, give fruit for further thought as not everything that can be said about this material has been given here. There is nothing as difficult to discuss with determination and thoroughness as what the performer’s taste adds to the embellishment of music. Language is not rich enough to express in words what often is alive in feeling. Notation is even less capable of representing, to the eye, all the fine details of ornamentation: the gradual decrease from loud to soft and vice versa, the joyful, joking, tender, lamenting tone of the affect. It is not possible to give any other instruction about this except to listen to good singers and, sometimes, good instrumentalists. Nevertheless, cadenzas should not be overestimated simply because there are those who look down upon them. A poorly performed aria cannot be elevated by means of a cadenza. Hence, the main work should not be neglected by the attention and care devoted to secondary matters. However, if the singer cannot perform any well-chosen and extensive cadenzas, he should compensate for the loss by performing the aria carefully, and by allowing a few tones, well grounded in the harmony and followed by a trill, to take the place of the cadenza. In general, it is seldom an error if the cadenza is too short; however, very frequently it is too long. Only the double cadenza may be made

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somewhat longer. Also, the same type of idea is allowed to occur twice, as we have seen. However, in the simple cadenza this would be offensive and a mistake. To what extent the double trill is appropriate here has already been discussed in the fourth chapter of this book. Thus, it would be superfluous to repeat it.11 11

See Chapter 4, §23, pp. 93f. above.

 On arbitrary variation of the aria

§1 Even if the arbitrary variations which a singer improvises in an aria may not be, as Tosi thinks, the most beautiful that he can invent and the most pleasing that a connoisseur can hear, they nevertheless deserve full attention from both the singer and the connoisseur.1 Moreover, arbitrary variations require patience and diligence on the part of the singer because they, more than anything else, bear witness to his acquired knowledge and capabilities. Thus, if this chapter is even moderately successful, I need not be afraid that it will be considered superfluous. §2 Variations can be made in three ways: first, when more notes are added to a few; second, when one changes more notes into fewer; and finally, when a certain number of notes is exchanged with an equal number of different notes. In addition to this last manner, it is possible to execute tempo rubato, a simple displacement of the tempo, utilizing the original notes.2 §3 Another means of variation, aside from the essential ornaments, i.e. appoggiaturas and trills, includes those figures from which passaggi are constructed. Detached staccato (Abstossen), slurs (Schleifen), drawing out (Ziehen), and everything which is related to the carrying of the voice can also furnish a means of variation if it is introduced with consideration and taste. It is often the case that more is accomplished with this than if one embellishes every note with two or three others thereby making everything so colorful that all sense and expression are lost. §4 What, then, should actually be varied? Should this freedom be applied throughout the entire aria, or should it be limited to specific places? There have been 1 2

Tosi/Galliard, Observations, p. 174; Baird, Introduction, p. 232. See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 234f.; Baird, Introduction, p. 235.

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singers who, in their mania for variation, were driven so far that they tortured the melody from beginning to end, leaving no note which they did not either add something to or misplace completely in defiance of what declamation and expression actually called for. In any case, these singers overdid it so drastically that they earned little applause from the listeners. To be sure, the freedom to vary can be applied most easily to those places that are suited for it, namely such places where more vitality and brilliance are enhancing as well as those places where a repeat of identical notes would not offer any enticement. The passaggi and short melismatic extensions which occur not right at the beginning but rather more toward the middle of an aria belong to this category. The singer who favors variation, therefore, must add much more to the subordinate ideas than to the main ideas of the aria. Moreover, variations are found not only in Adagios, but in Allegros as well. §5 It has been said repeatedly that it is only necessary and worth the trouble to introduce variations into those arias which are either completely or partially repeated.3 It is reasonable that such an aria should first be performed as the composer has written it. However, the singer should not be forbidden the addition of small ornaments. As a matter of fact, it would indeed be terrible if the singer were to vary the aria immediately because, in order not to perform the same thing twice, he would have to prepare two variations. At the end, the listener would not know whether both originated from the singer or whether, indeed, one was the work of the composer. §6 The strictest observation of the tempo is an unbreakable law both in the performance of music in general and in the performance of improvised variations. A singer must always adhere to this rule in the study of passaggi where he wishes to vary the melody. It is advisable for him to test all his ideas exactly according to the tempo, in order not to have too much here and too little there. It is unpleasant if the singer consistently falls behind and chases after the accompaniment. It is even worse if he gallops ahead of the accompaniment. But should he ever lose the beat with his ideas and ornamental curlicues (Verkräuselungen), he surely deserves to be hissed out of the room.4 In all these cases a correct, pure, and expressive performance of the melody as written by the composer is better than an extravagant and far-fetched variation. §7 This notwithstanding, even a singer who is endowed with a talent for invention must still possess a sufficient knowledge of harmony, judgment, and taste if he 3 4

Chapter 6, §7, pp. 112f. above. Verkräuselungen, curly and confused things (derogatory), has been translated here as curlicues.

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seeks acclaim for his gift of variation. If he is lacking these characteristics, he will throw the suitable and unsuitable, the antiquated and the modern into disorder. He will render absurd and distasteful the joyful passages through mournful and drawn-out ornaments, as well as ruining the sad passages with joyful leaps and runs. In any event, even if the invention of his variations were good and suitable, nevertheless he might often present them in a completely false light by means of a bad performance. §8 Knowledge of harmony is required because the singer may not perform anything that does not agree with the accompaniment of the instruments. From the vocal part alone, he cannot always understand everything that he may be permitted to undertake. He must at least have a correct realization of the figured bass in mind. And yet, the limitations imposed on his invention, partly through the motion of the music and partly through the melodic progression of the accompanying instruments, renders the figured bass a very uncertain guide. Consequently, it is good if he understands how to read the score and keeps this diligently in mind. If the singer were able, as he studied, to support himself harmonically on a keyboard instrument, he would be in a position to test the value of his ideas with his own ears. The study of figured bass is therefore most advisable for the singer. He has already had a head start if he is familiar with what has been said about intervals and their relationships in Part I of this work.5 A keyboard teacher must compensate for any further deficiencies. §9 Now I would like to add a few random remarks from Tosi’s Observations, and then attempt to clarify what has been explained so far by means of a practical example. Whoever seeks more practice in this area may refer to the Sechs italiänische Arien mit Veränderungen which I had published two years ago by the publisher of the present work.6 Concerning this subject, the following should also be noted: 1. An improvised variation must appear to be easy, so that it may be pleasing to everyone. Nevertheless, it must be basically difficult, so that the insight of the singer and his skill in performance may be perceived. Very much depends upon this last fact. A singer who forces out difficult passages with great effort will seldom be heard with pleasure. Fortunate is he, and the greatest master, who performs everything with such ease as though it cost him no effort. 2. Everything which belongs to good performance must be observed; above 5 6

Lesson 6, §§1–9, pp. 90ff. The Six Arias with Variations to which Hiller refers here contains arias by: Pasquale Anfossi (1727–97); Antonio Maria Sacchini (1730–86); Carl Heinrich Graun (1704–59); Gian Francesco di Majo (1732–70); and Johann Adolf Hasse (1699–1783). In addition, it contains some comments on how to pronounce Italian for those who are not familiar with the Italian language.

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all, the singer must not neglect the declamation of the words and the specific expression of the affect. 3. Legato and drawn-out variations are most suitable in slow and pathetic arias just as detached ones belong to the Allegro arias. 4. Loudness and softness have to alternate according to taste and affect. In Adagio[s] this mixture serves to strengthen the expression, just as it gives light and shade in Allegro[s]. 5. Variations which are made up of a small number of conjunct notes are preferable to those which get entangled in far-fetched and extravagant notes. Small chromatic fill-ins have a good effect in pathetic arias; one should not use too much consecutive chromatic movement, because the melody will easily degenerate into lamentation. 6. Only where the tempo and harmony permit should the singer place several different figures together and form the so-called passaggi from them. The best opportunities for this are always the melismatic extensions over a conspicuous syllable, of which there are several in every aria. If a singer does not want to be viewed as a mere student, he must never sing these twice in the same way. 7. The same kinds of ornaments must not occur too often or too close to one another because they easily become distasteful and can betray poverty of invention. 8. If these variations are supposed to move the listener they must emphasize the inventiveness rather than the technique of the singer. However, if the singer is satisfied with merely being admired, then he should show as much accomplishment of technical facility as he wants or until he and his listeners have had enough. 9. He should not undertake too much on uncomfortable vowels because even with all his art he will not be able to make an i or a u sound as pleasing as an a. 10. Above all, a singer has to see to it that his variations do not blur the ideas of the composer but rather make them more beautiful; not more unclear, but clearer. In reference to these points, there are still all kinds of remarks that could be made. However, the singer must accustom himself eventually to search and think for himself. Then he will make new discoveries and invent variations from which, with much consideration, he will select the best. Eventually the most concealed treasures of art will become so obvious and known to him that if his pride does not blind him, if his studies do not become burdensome, and his memory does not fail him, he will succeed in developing his own manner of ornamentation and, at the same time, his own taste.


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 Biographical information on musicians mentioned by Hiller

Aguillar, Antonia Girelli “presently [1790] one of our most famous Italian singers”: G. Mancini, Pensieri. (Gerber, vol. I, p. 19)1 Agujari, Lucrezia Born 1743; died in Parma, 1783. Lucrezia Agujari, called La Bastardella or La Bastardina, was an Italian soprano, celebrated for her high notes. She first appeared at Florence in 1764. She married Colla, an esteemed composer, and sang in London for some years at the Pantheon, where she was at one time engaged at the enormous salary of 100 lira per night for singing only two songs. Agujari was a truly wonderful performer. She had two octaves of fair natural voice, from a to a⬙, and in early youth she had more than another octave higher. Sacchini said he had heard her go up to Bb in altissimo. (Blom, p. 311; Heriot, p. 50; Sainsbury, vol. I, p. 10) Amadori, Giovanni Tedeschi [Tedeschi Giovanni, called Amadori] Singer; born in Bologna c. 1720, where he studied in the class of the renowned Bernacchi. He was in the service of the Capella Reale of Naples and for a few years participated in important opera theaters in Italy (Florence, [Teatro] Pergola; Naples, San Carlo, 1748; Genoa, Falcone, 1750–51; Milan, Ducale, 1751, 1753–54). In 1754–55 he was employed at the Royal Theater in Berlin, where he was among the first performers in Graun’s Semiramide and sang in many other operas. Upon returning to Italy, he settled in Rome where he founded an excellent school of singing, living there until c. 1780. (Schmidl, vol. II, p. 584) Amicis, Anna Lucia de [De Amicis (De Amicis–Buonsollazzi), Anna Lucia] Born in Naples, c. 1733; died in Naples, 1816. Italian soprano. Taught by her father, she began performing comic operas with her family in 1754. In 1762 at the King’s Theatre, London, “she acted and sang for the whole family” (Burney). Making her début there as a serious singer in J. C. Bach’s Orione in 1763, she left comic opera. As prima donna in Milan (1764–65), Venice (1764), Innsbruck 1

Works cited in the Appendix are listed in full in the Bibliography, pp. 185–189 below.

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Appendix

(August 1765) and Naples (1766), De Amicis became involved in theatrical disputes and wished to retire. However, after her 1768 marriage to the Florentine physician Francesco Buonsollazzi, she resumed her career, singing in seven productions in Venice (1768–69, 1770–71) and eight in Naples (1769–70, 1771–72). Mozart, who heard her in both cities, praised her highly. In 1769, she threatened to walk out on a performance in Naples if Pacchierotti sang; he was replaced by Guadagni. In Milan she ensured the success of Mozart’s Lucio Silla (December 26, 1772). Engagements in Naples (nine productions, 1773–76), Turin (four operas, 1776–79), and the Italian première of Gluck’s Alceste (Bologna, May 9, 1778) concluded her brilliant career. She sang for at least ten years more in private Neapolitan productions. De Amicis amazed listeners with her vocal agility. Burney described her as the first to sing staccato divisions and the first to “go up to Eb in altissimo, with true, clear, and powerful real voice.” She was equally impressive as an actress: Metastasio himself wrote that “among the dramatic heroines . . . there was absolutely no one but the signora De Amicis suited to portray the character . . . with the fire, the boldness, the frankness and the expression necessary.” (Heriot, p. 164; New Grove, vol. V, p. 288) Amorevoli, Angelo (Maria) Born in Venice, September 16, 1716; died in Dresden, November 15, 1798. Italian tenor. After establishing his reputation in Porpora’s operas Mitridate and Siface (Rome, January–February 1730) and in Hasse’s Dalisa (Venice, May 1730), he sang in Milan from 1731 until 1735. Between 1736 and 1740 he appeared in ten Neapolitan productions, including Leo’s Achille in Sciro, which inaugurated the Teatro San Carlo (November 4, 1737). Horace Mann heard him in Giuseppe Scarlatti’s Arminio (Florence, June 1741) and recommended him to Horace Walpole, who reported that Alexander in Persia, a pasticcio given its première in London on October 31, 1741, was unsuccessful until Amorevoli joined the cast in mid-November. He sang in ten other operas and several concerts at the King’s Theatre before the end of the 1742–43 season. In 1744–45 he was in Milan. Except for visits to Vienna (where Metastasio praised his singing in 1748) and Italy (Milan, 1748–49 and 1760–61), he made Dresden his home from 1745 in order to sing Hasse’s music. After retiring from the stage in 1764 he remained at that court as a chamber and church singer. Burney wrote of him: “Amorevoli was an admirable tenor, I have heard better voices of his pitch; but never, on the stage, more taste and expression.” (Baker’s, p. 49; New Grove, vol. I, p. 332) Annibali, Domenico [Dominichino] Born in Macerata, c. 1705; died in ?Rome, 1779 or later. Italian alto castrato. His first known appearance was in Porpora’s Germanico at Rome in 1725. He sang in one opera at Venice in 1727 and in two in 1729, when he was engaged for the Saxon court at Dresden at a salary of 729 thaler. His principal fame was at the court of Dresden, where he remained from 1729 to 1764. He sang in almost all of the numerous operas of Hasse, as well as those of other composers, but was

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often given leave to take outside engagements: at Rome in 1730, 1732, and 1739, at Vienna in 1731, when his performance in Caldara’s Demetrio won the approval of Metastasio, and from October 1736 to June 1737 as a member of Handel’s company in London. He sang at a concert a few days after his arrival in London and made his stage début at Covent Garden in a revival of Poro on December 8, when he introduced two arias by Ristori and one by Vinci – one of only two occasions on which Handel is known to have allowed this practice in one of his own operas. Annibali was in the first performances of Handel’s Arminio, Giustino, and Berenice, and revivals of other works. While Annibali was in London, the Saxon envoy offered him an increased salary, and he returned to Dresden. He left in 1764 with a pension of 1,200 thaler and the title of Kammermusikus. He was living in his native town in 1776 and three years later moved to Rome. According to Burney “his abilities during his stay in England seem to have made no deep impression, as I never remember him to have been mentioned by those who constantly attended the operas of those times, and were rapturists in speaking of the pleasure they had received from singers of the first class.” His main strength seems to have been his coloratura, and his voice was an exceptionally high one, attaining F in altissimo. Mrs. Pendarves wrote, soon after Annibali’s arrival in London, that he had “the best part of Senesino’s voice and Caristini’s, with a prodigious fine taste and good action.” The parts Handel composed for him, Arminio, Giustino, and Demetrio in Berenice, confirm this with regard to range (a to g⬙). Other accounts emphasize his brilliant and flexible coloratura, though some found his acting wooden. The aria “Fatto scorta” in Arminio, with its many changes of register and clef, gives some indication of his powers. Hasse made similar use of them, employing a slightly wider compass (g to g⬙), but in Demofoonte (1748) this had shrunk to a to f ⬙. (Heriot, pp. 84–85; New Grove, vol. I, p. 440) Appiani, Giuseppe, detto Appianino Born in Milan, 1712; died in Cesena or Bologna, 1742. He studied with Porpora and made his début at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice in 1731 in Prediere’s Scipione il Giovane. He sang in various Italian cities until 1738, when he was invited to Vienna. He was apparently very successful; when he returned to Italy in 1742 and sang at Bologna in Eumene, he was paid the huge sum of 3,400 lire bolognese. According to Quadro, he died “leaving the cities of Ferrara and Venice where he was headed and awaited, with the regret of seeing themselves prevented for ever from hearing so admired a singer.” (Heriot, pp. 85–86) Aprile, Giuseppe [Scirolino, Sciroletto] Born in Martina Franca, Taranto, October 28, 1732; died in Martina Franca, January 11, 1813. Italian male contralto and composer. He began music studies with his father Fortunato, who had him castrated at the age of eleven. On April 28, 1751 he began to study singing in Naples at the private school of Gregorio Sciroli (hence his nicknames); on September 23, 1752 he was engaged as soprano in the royal chapel of Naples. He made his opera début the following season in

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a secondary role in Jommelli’s Ifigenia in Aulide. After further operatic performances in Rome and Parma he gave up his place in the royal chapel and began a brilliant career, singing in the most important theaters of Italy. In 1756 he went to the court of Württemberg in Stuttgart, where Jommelli was Kapellmeister; there he performed in many of Jommelli’s works and toured often in Italy and elsewhere. Schubart, who heard him in Württemberg, wrote: “In him the art and nature were marvellously combined . . . he sang with the purity of a bell up to E above the treble stave [recte soprano clef], and had a profound knowledge of vocal technique, as well as a warm and sympathetic personality.” In the season 1765–66 he sang in Naples and Palermo, then returned to Stuttgart, at an annual salary of 6,000 gulden, with his brother Raffaele, a violinist. He left the Württemberg court in 1769 with considerable debts against the treasury. In 1770 Burney heard him perform in Naples, and Mozart heard him there and in Milan and Bologna. He performed throughout Italy until 1783, when he succeeded Caffarelli as first soprano in the royal chapel in Naples. Having retired from public performance in 1785, he became a successful singing teacher; among his pupils were Domenico Cimarosa and Lady Catherine Hamilton, and the exercises of his highly appreciated vocal method (The Modern Italian Method of Singing, with 36 Solfeggi, published by Broderip in London in 1791) were frequently reprinted throughout France, Germany, and Italy. He was pensioned by the royal chapel on July 12, 1798 and spent his remaining years in his native town. Aprile was considered one of the greatest singers of his time, as much for his acting as for the quality of his voice and the diversity of expression he brought even to bravura passages. (Baker’s, p. 68; Heriot, pp. 86–87; New Grove, vol. I, pp. 510–511) Archiopata [recte Lelia Archiapati] Wife of Italian composer Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728–1804). During his five years in London, from 1767, Pietro wrote several operas, including Ezio ( January 13, 1770), in which his wife sang. They returned to Italy in 1772. (Baker’s, p. 907) Astrua, Giovanna Born in ?Turin, 1725; died in 1758. Prima donna, active around 1748. She was an excellent singer, at first in the service of the Sardinian and subsequently of the Prussian court. (Heriot, p. 145; Sainsbury, vol. I, p. 40) Babbi, Gregorio [Lorenzo] Born in Cesena, November 16, 1708; died in Cesena, January 2, 1768. Italian tenor and father of Cristoforo Babbi. His first post was that of a virtuoso to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone de’ Medici. He made his début in Florence in 1730 and for the next twenty years sang in the leading theaters of Italy. He became a member of the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica on January 5, 1741 and shortly thereafter entered the service of Charles III, King of Naples.


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In 1748 both Babbi and his wife, Giovanna Guaetta [Guaetti], were engaged at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples. He remained there until 1755, when he went to Lisbon to perform Mazzoni’s Antigono. By spring 1756 he had returned to Italy and sang in Naples until 1759, when he received a pension and returned to Cesena. Babbi may have sung in London, Vienna, and Madrid. Being a tenor, he sang only secondary parts for much of his career, but because of his reputation as one of the best exponents of the expressive style, he commanded salaries comparable with those of the leading castrati. De Brosses, who heard him in his prime in 1741, described him as the “loveliest high tenor [haut-taille]” and a good actor and compared him with the French tenor Jélyotte. Burney called him a “dignified, splendid and powerful performer,” with the “sweetest, most flexible, and most powerful voice of its kind, that his country could boast at the time.” Acccording to Lalande his range was two octaves, c to c⬙, in full voice and even higher in falsetto, a fifth higher than most Italian tenors of the time and equal to Jélyotte’s and Amorevoli’s ranges. Babbi is not known to have composed; the pieces attributed to him by Schmidl are by his grandson, Gregorio Babbi. (Baker’s, p. 101; New Grove, vol. I, p. 764) Bernacchi, Antonio Born in Bologna (baptized June 23), 1685; died in Bologna, March 13, 1756. Celebrated Italian castrato. He studied voice with Pistocchi and G. A. Ricieri. In 1700 he was a soprano at the church of San Petronio in Bologna. He made his operatic début in Genoa in 1703. Between 1709 and 1735 he had a number of engagements in Venice and between 1712 and 1731 made several appearances in Bologna. He also sang in London (1716–17) and in Munich (1720–27). In 1729 he was engaged by Handel as a substitute for Senesino for the London season of the Italian Opera. Failing to please the British operagoers, he returned to Bologna, where he opened a singing school. In his singing he cultivated vocal embellishments in the manner of the French roulades. His marvellous technique was praised by some and condemned by others, who reproached him in particular for introducing instrumental and other unsuitable idioms into his cadenzas, imitating flutes and oboes and also bird songs. He also composed some worthwhile pieces. (Baker’s, p. 240; Heriot, pp. 87–89) Bernardi, Francesco, detto Senesino: see Senesino Bernasconi [Wagele], Antonia Born in Stuttgart, c. 1741; died in ?Vienna, ?1803. German soprano. She was the daughter of a valet of the Duke of Württemberg. By her widowed mother’s second marriage in 1743, she became the stepdaughter of Andrea Bernasconi, who instructed her in singing. Her successful début followed on January 21, 1762 as Aspasia in Bernasconi’s Temistocle in Munich. In Vienna from about 1765–66, she first performed in opere buffe by Piccinni and Sacchini and in 1767 was highly successful as Alceste in the première of Gluck’s opera. J. A. Hiller gave a detailed

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account of her in the Wöchentliche Nachrichten of October 24, 1768. In December 1770 she sang Aspasia in the première of Mozart’s Mitridate; it is also possible that the part of Ninette in his La finta semplice was composed for her. In 1771–72 she sang at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, in 1772–73 and 1774–75 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. From November 1778 to May 1780 she was a member of the Italian opera company at the King’s Theatre, London, and in the summer of 1781, supposedly at Gluck’s request, she returned to the Vienna Burgtheater. Mozart’s letters are severely critical of her intonation and German declamation, although he said he would have trusted her with a part in the German performance of Idomeneo that he was planning. She is supposed to have married, under the name of Rieler. (New Grove, vol. II, p. 621) Bertoni, Ferdinando Gioseffo [Ferdinando Giuseppe] Born on the island of Salò, near Venice, on August 15, 1725; died in Desenzano, December 1, 1813. An Italian organist and composer, particularly of operas, fifty in all, he also set the same libretto that Gluck used in Orfeo. A pupil of Padre Martini, he was twenty-two years old when his first opera was produced by his teacher. In 1752 he was appointed first organist of San Marco in Venice and served as choirmaster at the Conservatorio de’ Mendicanti from 1757 to 1797. Several of his operas were performed in London, which he visited twice. In 1785 he succeeded Galuppi as maestro di cappella at San Marco. (Baker’s, p. 248) Bontempi, Giovanni Andrea [Angelini, Angelini-Bontempi] Born in Perugia, c. 1624; died in Brufa, Torgiano, near Perugia, July 1, 1705. Italian composer, castrato, writer on music, historian, and architect. From December 12, 1635 he was educated by Sozio Sozi, father superior of the Oratorio dei Filippini at Perugia. Born Angelini, he took his name from his early patron Cesare Bontempi. The latter placed him in the care of Cardinal Francesco Barberini in Rome, where, as a castrato, he studied singing with Virgilio Mazzocchi. In 1641 he was taken to Florence for an apparently fruitless audition, but from 1643 to 1650 he was a singer at St. Mark’s, Venice, under Monteverdi, Rovetta, and Cavalli. In 1650 he entered the service of the Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony at Dresden. Schütz unsuccessfully nominated him as his deputy in 1651. After the elector’s death he was appointed joint Kapellmeister along with Schütz and Vincenzo Albrici. The favor that Albrici enjoyed with Johann Georg II and the arrival in 1667 of Carlo Pallavicino were given by Bontempi, in the preface to his Historia della ribellione d’Ungheria (Dresden, 1672), as reasons why he turned his attention away from music; but he had already been appointed stage designer and master of the machines at the court theater in 1664 (and was later inspector of the comedy house), and his first nonmusical publication, a (lost) discourse on civil architecture, appeared before his Historien des durchlauchtigsten Hauses Sachsen (Dresden, 1666). From 1666 to 1670 he was in Italy, but by 1671 he was back in Dresden. After the death of Johann


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Georg II in 1680, he returned for good to his villa near Perugia. He sang at the Collegiata di San Maria at Spello, near Foligno, in 1682 and was maestro di cappella there from January to July 1686, but he devoted most of his time to study and writing. Apart from his history of music, he published an Historia dell’origine dei Sassoni (Perugia, 1697) and in the same year was elected to the Accademia degli Insensati of Perugia. Bontempi is remembered for his two surviving operas (Il Paride, 1662, and Dafne, 1671) and his Historia musica (1695), which was the first history of music in Italian. (Baker’s, p. 301; New Grove, vol. III, pp. 37–38) Bordoni, Faustina Born in Venice, 1700; died in Venice, November 4, 1781. Famous Italian mezzosoprano, wife of Johann Adolf Hasse. She came of a patrician family and was brought up under the protection of Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello; her singing teacher was M. Gasparini. She made her début in 1716 in C. F. Pollarolo’s Ariodante and was so successful that she was soon called the “new Siren.” She was then, and remained for many years, in the service of the Elector Palatine. When she sang in Florence in 1722, a special medal was issued in her honor; she was equally successful in Naples. She sang regularly at Venice until 1725. In 1718–19 she made several appearances with her future rival Cuzzoni. She performed in Reggio Emilia (1719), Modena (1720), Bologna (1721–22), Naples (1721–23), and Rome (1722) and made her German début at Munich in October 1723. Enjoying great success, she returned to Munich in 1724, 1728, and 1729, and was still more successful in Vienna, where she sang from August 1725 to March 1726 at a salary of 12,500 florins. Her first visit to London was in spring 1726, when she made her début as Rossane in Handel’s Alessandro; she returned in the two following seasons. Her professional and personal rivalry with Cuzzoni was notorious; encouraged by the partisans of both singers, it culminated in an exchange of blows on stage at a performance of Bononcini’s Astianatte on June 6, 1727. Despite the scandal they were engaged for the following season and sang together at a St. Cecilia’s Day concert at the Crown and Anchor Inn. Faustina’s illness brought the last Royal Academy season to a premature end in June 1728. She sang at Florence in winter 1728–29, Parma in 1729 and 1730, Turin in 1729 and 1731, Milan in 1730, Rome in 1731, and frequently at Venice in 1729–32. She married Hasse in May or June 1730. From that time she was chiefly associated with his music, devoting her life to his success without abandoning her own career. From 1731 to 1763 they lived in Dresden, then in Vienna until 1773, when they settled in Venice. They had two daughters who were both trained as singers. Faustina was universally ranked among the greatest singers of her age. Quantz described her voice as a mezzo-soprano, “less clear than penetrating,” with a compass of bb to g⬙, which was later extended downwards. She was a very dramatic singer, endowed with equal power and flexibility, and a fine actress, at her best in heroic parts. Arteaga spoke of “a matchless facility and rapidity in her execution; dexterity in her breath, exquisite shake, new and bril-

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liant passages of embellishment, and a thousand other qualities.” Tosi contrasted her eminence in lively arias with Cuzzoni’s gift for the pathetic and considered the virtues of the two singers as complementary. Burney emphasized Faustina’s perfect intonation and exceptional breath control, which gave her “the art of sustaining a note longer, in the opinion of the public, than any other singer.” (Baker’s, p. 961; New Grove, vol. II, pp. 46–47) Boroni, Antonio Born in Rome, 1738; died in Rome, December 21, 1792. Italian composer. He studied under Martini in Bologna and continued his tutelage at the Pietà dei Turchini Conservatory, Naples, under Girolamo Abos and Lorenzo Fago. Upon his return to Rome in 1758, he gave music lessons to Muzio Clementi, to whom he was related. In the following years, he traveled from Venice (where his first comic opera was performed) to Prague and Dresden, where other works of his were produced. In May of 1770, he came to Stuttgart, where he succeeded Jommelli as Kapellmeister. He held this position until 1777, when he returned to Rome. His last opera was staged during Carnival in 1778, and on March 21 he was named maestro di cappella at St. Peter’s. In 1782, he was also named maestro di cappella at San Luigi de’ Francesi. His career as an opera composer was relatively short, but his comic operas were, in general, very successful, especially L’amore in musica, which was widely performed. (New Grove, vol. III, p. 63) Brivio, Carlo Francesco An Italian singing-master and composer of vocal music at Milan, active during the first half of the eighteenth century. (Sainsbury, vol. I, p. 115) Caffarelli, s. Majorano (real name, Gaetano Majorano) [Cafariello, Cafarellino, Gaffarello] Born in Bitonto, April 12, 1710; died in Naples, January 31, 1783. Italian mezzosoprano castrato. He was a poor peasant boy endowed with a beautiful voice. He was taught by Domenico Caffarelli, who discovered him and later sent him to Porpora in Naples, where he studied for five years. In gratitude to his patron, he assumed the name Caffarelli. As Caffarelli he became a master of pathetic song and excelled as well in coloratura. He read the most difficult music at sight and was an accomplished harpsichord player. After several years’ study under Porpora at Naples, he made his début at Rome in 1726, taking a female part in Sarro’s Valdemaro. His success was rapid. He sang in Venice in 1728, then in Milan and probably Florence before returning to Rome in 1730 as a chamber virtuoso to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1734 he received a post in the royal chapel at Naples and soon became a favorite of the king. In the next twenty years Caffarelli was heard constantly in the San Bartolomeo and San Carlo theaters and in the royal palace. His Naples appointment did not prevent him from appearing elsewhere. Following his last public operatic appearances, he was engaged for the Lisbon court opera at a salary of 72,000 pesetas. In March 1756


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he was in Madrid, and after returning to Naples he retired from the stage. In 1763 he refused an invitation to manage the San Carlo theatre. Having amassed a substantial fortune, he bought himself a dukedom, an estate at San Donato in Calabria, and a palace in Naples. He continued to sing occasionally in churches and at court. Caffarelli’s voice was a high mezzo-soprano. By many judges he was ranked second only to Farinelli, and by some above him. Caffarelli was notorious for overbearing arrogance both to fellow artists and to the public, combining the boorish obstinacy of the peasant with the vanity of a pampered virtuoso. He was at times placed under house arrest for assaulting his colleagues, occasionally wounding them. He is said to have mellowed in old age and to have given large sums to charity. (Baker’s, p. 397; New Grove, vol. III, pp. 595–596) Campeggi, Francesco One of the most famous organists of his time, Campeggi was born in Bologna at the turn of the seventeenth century. He succeeded Floriano Arresti as organist at San Petronio and was also an excellent voice teacher. He was initiated into the Accademia Filarmonica in 1719 and was elected “principal” in 1731 and 1736. He composed church music and sonatas for keyboard. His “Laudate Dominum” for eight voices in full chorus survives in a 1719 manuscript at the Library of the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. (Schmidl, p. 283) Carestini, Giovanni, detto Cusanino Born in Filottrano, near Ancona, c. 1705; died in ?Filottrano, c. 1760. Italian alto castrato. He was trained at Milan from the age of twelve under the protection of the Cusani family and was occasionally billed as Cusanino. He made his début in 1721 at Rome in a female part in Alessandro Scarlatti’s Griselda and sang there the following year in Porpora’s Flavio Anicio Olibrio and in March 1723 in an oratorio by Caldara. The following month he was engaged by the imperial court at Vienna at a salary of 1,440 florins. He remained there until 1 October 1725. He was engaged in 1726 at Parma and Genoa, in 1727–30 at Rome, in 1728–29 at Naples (where he quarrelled with Bernacchi, who tried to veto his further employment), and in 1729 for two operas at Venice. He sang frequently at Milan between 1727 and 1732, and in 1731 once more at Venice. During this period he was described as chamber virtuoso to the Duke of Parma. In 1731 he entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria, and he was still nominally employed by the elector as late as 1741, but often sang elsewhere. Carestini made his London début on October 30, 1733 and was at once acclaimed (in Lady Bristol’s words) as “an extream good singer.” He sang in London for three seasons (1733–35, 1739–40); he sang mainly in Italy until he transferred his activities to Germany in 1747. There he entered the service of the Elector of Saxony at Dresden. He sang in Venice and Milan in 1749 and was then summoned to Frederick the Great’s court at Berlin, where he spent four years (1750–54). Because of ill health and Frederick’s lukewarm attitude, Carestini moved to St. Petersburg in June 1754. The Empress Elizabeth presented him with 1,200 roubles on his depar-

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ture in 1756. In addition to being the most traveled of the castrati, he was also one of the greatest. Burney wrote: “His voice was at first a powerful and clear soprano, which afterwards changed unto the fullest, finest, and deepest countertenor that has perhaps ever been heard.” Burney credited him with rendering “every thing he sung interesting by good taste, energy, and judicious embellishments.” He had great agility in executing difficult passages. According to Burney, “It was the opinion of Hasse, as well as of many other eminent professors, that whoever had not heard Carestini was unacquainted with the most perfect style of singing.” (New Grove, vol. III, pp. 778–779) Cicognani, Giuseppe Born in Bologna. Italian alto. He is known to have sung exceptionally well in 1770 at the church in Bologna. (Gerber, 1977, vol. I, p. 282) Concialini, Carlo [Hiller (p. 46 above) identifies him as Conciolini] Born in Siena, 1744; died in 1812, Berlin (?Moscow). Castrato singer, alto. After his début in Venice, he sang at the Bavarian Court in 1763 and then joined the court of Frederick II of Prussia in Berlin where he was much admired for the beauty of his voice and his great agility in singing trills and stylish cadenzas. (Gerber, pp. 294f.; Schmidl, p. 362) Conti, Gioacchino, detto Gizziello Born in Arpino, February 28, 1714; died in Rome, October 25, 1761. Italian soprano castrato. He derived his nickname from Domenico Gizzi, who taught him singing at Naples from the age of eight; it was sometimes corrupted into Egizziello. His début at Rome on February 4, 1730, in Vinci’s Artaserse, was a spectacular success. He sang in Naples in 1732–33, in Vienna in March 1734, in Genoa and Venice in 1735, and in other Italian cities before being engaged by Handel for London in April 1736. He made his Covent Garden début on May 5 in a revival of Ariodante; having insufficient time to learn the title role, he substituted arias from his Italian repertory. A week later he created the role of Meleager in Atalanta on the occasion of the marriage of the Prince of Wales. The press reported that he “met with uncommon Reception”; the poet Gray admired him “excessively” in every respect except the shape of his mouth, which “when open, made an exact square.” Handel also admired him, and Conti remained in England until June 1737, appearing in several of Handel’s works. In Esther he sang the role of an Israelite in Italian, with several new arias adapted or specially composed for him. He sang at Rome in 1738 and at other Italian cities. In 1742 he became so seriously ill that all hope for him was abandoned; upon recovery he was compelled to sacrifice da capos in order to save his strength. He went to Lisbon in 1743, then to Naples in 1746 and 1747. He was often heard in Venice and also sang in operas at Lucca and Padua. From 1752 to 1755 he was employed by the Lisbon court theater, where he sang in


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many operas. At an unspecified date, Farinelli invited him to Madrid, where he maintained his success in court circles. Burney claims that Conti narrowly escaped with his life from the Lisbon earthquake in November 1755 and “was impressed with such a religious turn by that tremendous calamity, that he retreated to a monastery, where he ended his days,” but not before he is said to have imparted much wisdom to Guadagni. Conti’s retirement, which certainly occurred at this time, may have been hastened by poor health. There is evidence that he was both pious and superstitious. One of the greatest of eighteenthcentury singers, Conti had an exceptionally high soprano voice with a range of at least two octaves (c⬘ to c⵮; he may have sung as low as a). He is the only castrato for whom Handel wrote a top C. The four parts Handel composed for him (Meleager in Atalanta, Sigismondo in Arminio, Anastasio in Giustino, and Alessandro in Berenice) indicate that he commanded great brilliance and flexibility as well as unusual powers of pathetic and graceful expression. (New Grove, vol. IV, pp. 682–683) Cuzzoni, Francesca Born in Parma, c. 1698; died in Bologna, 1770. Italian soprano. She was a pupil of Lanzi. Her first known appearance was in an anonymous Dafne at Parma in 1716. She sang in Genoa and Bologna in 1717 and made her Venice début in 1718, where she sang with Faustina Bordoni. The future rivals appeared there again in two operas the following year. Cuzzoni sang in Turin in 1720 and Venice in 1721–22. There was talk of her engagement for London in 1720, but she did not arrive until the last week of December 1722, having married the composer and harpsichordist Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni on the way. Her reputation as an extraordinary singer preceded her and was repeatedly mentioned in the press. Her King’s Theatre début on January 12, 1723 as Teofane in Handel’s Ottone was one of the most sensational in London’s theatrical history. Half-guinea tickets for the second night exchanged hands at two and three guineas. At her benefit on March 25, with three new bravura arias, “some of the Nobility gave her 50 Guineas a Ticket.” This was in addition to her salary of £2,000 a season. She remained a member of the company until the Royal Academy closed in June 1728, and sang a leading part in every opera. The rivalry between Faustina Bordoni and Cuzzoni, the two greatest sopranos of the age, was notorious. It became a public scandal when ovations, whistles, and catcalls in turn led to a scuffle between the artists on stage during a performance of Astianatte on June 6, 1727 in the presence of the Princess of Wales. Cuzzoni visited Paris in summer 1724 and made a sensation at Fontainebleau in church music by Bononcini. She spent the winter of 1728–29 in Vienna at the invitation of Count Kinsky, the imperial ambassador in London. She made a great impression in court circles but was not engaged for the opera because she demanded the exorbitant salary of 24,000 florins. By 1742 she and Sandoni had separated. Cuzzoni continued

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to sing in various locations in Italy, Germany, and Amsterdam and was engaged as a chamber singer to the court in Stuttgart on December 28, 1745 at a salary of 1,500 gulden. She remained there for three years, then absconded to Bologna in autumn 1748, leaving many debts. In 1750 she revisited London and gave a benefit concert at Hickford’s Room on May 18. Cuzzoni was arrested for debts of £30 and was bailed out by the Prince of Wales. Cuzzoni sang twice more, giving a pathetic farewell. She went to the Netherlands, where she was again imprisoned for debt. The prison governor allowed her to discharge it by releasing her under guard for occasional concerts. She spent her last years in Bologna, supporting herself by making buttons. Cuzzoni died in obscurity and extreme poverty. She was neither a great actress nor a beautiful woman. In her prime, however, she was, by universal consent a superb artist, excelling equally in slow and rapid airs. (New Grove, vol. IV, pp. 109–110) Elisi, Filippo A castrato; he sang in the famous gala performance of Perez’ Alessandro nell’Indie in Lisbon, for the opening of the new Opera House, in April 1755. (Heriot, pp. 135–136, 151) Faenza, Bartolino da One of the most famous Italian singers at the beginning of the eighteenth century and a student of Pistocchi. (Gerber, p. 396) Feo, Francesco Celebrated Italian composer (1691–1761). Ferri, Baldassare [Baldassarre] Born in Perugia, December 9, 1610; died in Perugia, November 18, 1680. Italian castrato singer. In 1622 he was a choirboy in the service of Cardinal Crescenzio, Archbishop of Orvieto, who took him to Rome and entrusted him to Vincenzo Ugolini, then maestro at the Cappella Giulia. He also studied in Naples. In 1625 he was heard by Prince Wladislaw (later King Wladislaw IV) of Poland, whose service he entered, and he remained at the Warsaw court, apart from several concert tours, until 1655. He then went to the court of the Emperor Ferdinand III at Vienna and remained there under Leopold I, who honored him greatly and gave him a pension for life. He was celebrated throughout Europe; his concert tours took him as far afield as Stockholm (1654) and London (in 1669 or the early 1670s) and brought him much financial success. In 1680 (perhaps as early as 1675) he returned to Italy. Ferri was reputed to be of fine appearance and bearing and was one of the most renowned singers of his day. Bontempi, from whom most of the information on his singing comes, devoted a section of his Historia musica (1695) to Ferri. Bontempi notes particularly Ferri’s range, breath control, and ability to trill, giving details of reports made by many of his contemporaries of his great technical skill – particularly his reputed ability to trill up and down two chromatic octaves in one breath. (New Grove, vol.VI, pp. 497–498)


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Fontana, Agostino Born in Piedmont, Italy. Italian alto. Known as an outstanding singer in the service of the King of Sardinia. (Gerber, 1977, vol. I, p. 424) Furlanetto, Bonaventura Born in Venice, May 27, 1738; died in Venice, April 6, 1817. Italian composer. Born of poor parents, he spent his childhood in the parish of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, a part of Venice known for its fishermen and artisans, and where he is buried. A self-taught musician, he did have some instruction from his uncle, Nicolò Formenti. In 1768, he was appointed maestro at Santa Maria della Visitazione (commonly called the Pietà), a position he held for nearly fifty years. In August of 1770, Burney heard him direct at the Pietà and was not overly impressed, although Furlanetto’s music is said to have vastly improved between the 1770s and 1780s. He attracted exceptionally gifted singers and wrote out elaborate cadenzas for them. By the early 1800s, Furlanetto had become known throughout northern Italy as the most important composer of sacred music. (New Grove, vol. VII, pp. 33–34) Gabrielli, Caterina Born in Rome, November 12, 1730; died in Rome, February 16 or April 16, 1796. Italian soprano. She was the daughter of a cook in the service of Prince Gabrielli, who paid for her training as a singer and whose name she later assumed. It has been stated that her first teacher was F. S. Garcia, but this is unlikely since he was a year her junior. Between 1744 and 1747 she was probably a pupil of Porpora in Venice. Already famous in Italy, she made her highly successful Vienna début in a concert at the Burgtheater on February 16, 1755 and was given a contract effective until 1758–59. There Metastasio became her protector and instructed her in the declamatory style, and she was soon appearing in dramatic works by Gluck. She became friends with the castrato Gaetano Guadagni, who was one of her most important teachers. With Guadagni at Padua in summer 1758 she was involved in one of her frequent theater scandals and had to leave the city before the end of her engagement. The following autumn she sang at Lucca. In 1759 she sang at Parma, in 1760 in Vienna, and returned to Italy in spring 1761. In summer 1765 she passed up several tempting offers from theaters to withdraw into private life with a young nobleman, but in 1766–67 she again sang at Naples. She then had a three-year engagement at Palermo. In autumn 1771 she was at Milan, where Mozart met her. In 1772 she was engaged for three years at St. Petersburg. After a season in London, she returned to Italy, singing until 1780 in Naples, Venice, Lucca, and Milan. Her last appearance is said to have been in Venice in 1782 on a visit by the heirs to the Russian throne. She retired to her Rome palazzo with a considerable fortune. Gabrielli was known as one of the most eminent and perfect singers of her time. Burney called her “the most intelligent and best-bred virtuosa” with whom he had ever conversed. Her immense technical powers and knowledge seem to have

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joined with personal charms, and she had the greatest possible effect on the masculine part of her audience. (New Grove, vol. VII, p. 66) Galuppi, Baldassare, detto Buranello Italian composer (1706–85). Gasparini, Michelangelo Born in Lucca, 1685; died in Venice, 1732 (or 1752). A well-known contralto and opera composer, Gasparini, a student of Lotti, dedicated himself to the instruction of singers, establishing a Venetian singing school out of which came many worthy (or talented) artists, among whom was the celebrated Faustina Bordoni, who later became the wife of the noted Hasse. He wrote some operas, among which are Arsace, Il Lamano, and Il Principe Selvaggio. (Schmidl, p. 600) Goti, Antonio A celebrated Italian singer who was engaged at the opera at Stuttgart, when under the direction of Jommelli, in the year 1663. In 1774 he was still living in Italy (Sainsbury, vol. I, p. 289) Grassi, Antonio A famous tenor from Rome. He came to the Royal Opera House in Berlin in 1768 and was still active there in 1786. (Gerber, p. 533) Grossi, Giovanni Francesco [“Siface”]: see Siface, Giovanni Francesco. Guadagni, Gaetano Born in Lodi, near Milan, c. 1725; died in ?Padua, 1792. His first appearance was at Parma in 1747; he went to England the following year, where he attracted attention by his handsome appearance and potentially fine contralto voice. Handel gave him parts in some of his oratorios, and Garrick gave him lessons in acting. Burney says that during his first residence in England he was noticed more for his singing in English than in Italian. After leaving England, Guadagni appeared at various places in Italy, particularly in Parma, where, in 1760, he was heard in Traetta’s festival opera-ballet La Festa d’Imeneo, in honor of the marriage of the future Emperor Joseph and Isabel of Parma. In 1762 he sang the part of Orpheus at the first performance of Gluck’s famous opera. He returned to England in 1769 as first singer at the serious opera. Burney states, “But though his manner of singing was perfectly delicate, polished, and refined, his voice seemed at first to disappoint every hearer. Those who remembered it when he was in England before, found it comparatively thin and feeble.” Guadagni had almost doubled his range, from a contralto to a soprano, but in so doing had lost much of the power and richness of his voice. Burney, amazed by the simplicity of the music which Guadagni sang, analyzed its pleasurable effect on the audience and “found that it chiefly arose from his artful manner of diminishing the tones of his voice like the dying notes of an Aeolian harp. Most other singers cultivate a swell or messa di voce; but Guadagni, after beginning a note or passage with all the force he could safely exert, fined it off to a thread, and gave it all the


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effect of extreme distance.” He made many enemies by his eccentric and unpredictable temperament and by such actions as refusing to take curtain-calls (a direct insult to the audience). He left England in 1771, was heard in Verona the following year, then accompanied the dowager Electress of Saxony to Munich, where she lived and where he remained until 1776. During that year he appeared for the last time on stage, at Venice, then retired to Padua. He had been attached to the church of San Antonio there for some years and had built himself a magnificent house. While Guadagni was very wealthy, he apparently carried charity to a point beyond his means. Around 1785 he found his riches depleted, and he lived in the greatest poverty until his death. (Heriot, pp. 135–139) Guarducci, Tommaso, detto Toscano [Garducci] Born in Montefiascone, c. 1720; died after 1770. Italian male soprano. He studied singing with Antonio Bernacchi in Bologna from about 1736 and began his theatrical career in Italy about 1745. In 1750 he was engaged by Farinelli for the Spanish court, where he sang for the rest of his career, with lengthy interruptions for appearances elsewhere. From 1752 he was in the service of the Viennese court and in 1755 sang there with Caterina Gabrielli in the première of Gluck’s L’innocenza giustificata. He also sang in Portugal (Lisbon), in Italy, and for two seasons (1766–68) at the King’s Theatre, London. Among his last engagements was a highly successful appearance at Rome in Piccinni’s Didone abbandonata in 1770, the year of his retirement. According to Burney, Guarducci “was tall and awkward in figure, inanimate as an actor, and in countenance ill-favoured and morbid,” but he had a highly polished and correct use of his voice, which was “clear, sweet, and flexible.” (New Grove, vol. VII, p. 770) Guglielmi, detta Archiopata: see Archiopata Herbst, Johann Andreas ?American Moravian minister and composer. Born in Kempten, Swabia, 1735; died in North Carolina, 1812. Höpfner, Georg Christoph Born in Germany, 1744; died in Sondershausen, December 20, 1827. Pastor. He published a treatise, Anweisung zum Singen, in 1774. (Eitner, 1959, vol. V–VI, p. 167) Kayser, Margareta Susanna [Margarethe Susanna] German singer who was the first woman to sing as a soloist in a church choir in Hamburg (1716). She was later recognized as an excellent singer of operas and oratorios. (Diccionario Biográfico de la Música, p. 538) Lanzi, Francesco Flourished 1696–1712. Italian organist, instrumentalist, singing teacher, and composer. A member of the clergy, he was from 1696 at the latest organist of Santa Maria della Steccata, Parma, and from 1706 until at least 1712 organist of Parma Cathedral, where he also played the horn. His only known composition

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consists of adjustments made to the opera Il Pertinace (originally given at Venice in 1689 with music by Paolo Biego) for a performance at the Teatro Ducale, Parma, in 1699; only the published libretto survives. Lanzi was the teacher of Francesca Cuzzoni. (New Grove, vol. X, p. 460) Leo, Leonardo Important Italian composer (1694–1744). (Baker’s, p. 1340) Majo, Gian Francesco di Italian composer (1732–70). (Baker’s, p. 1431) Majorano, Gaetano, detto Caffarelli: see Caffarelli Mancini, Giambattista [Giovanni Battista] Born in Ascoli, near Piacenza, January 1, 1714; died in Vienna, January 4, 1800. Italian castrato and singing teacher. He went to Naples when he was fourteen and studied singing for two years with Leo; in Bologna he studied singing with Bernacchi, counterpoint and composition with Martini and became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica. He was active in Italy and Germany as a singer from at least 1736 but became best known as a singing teacher. In 1757 Maria Theresia invited him to Vienna as court singing teacher. He received the title of Kammermusikus on March 1, 1758. Mancini’s Pensieri, e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato (Vienna, 1774), the most important eighteenth-century book on Italian singing after Tosi’s Opinioni (1723), is a valuable source of information on historical performance practice. Like Tosi, he was a conservative who considered the art of singing and music in general to be in decline, with the old methods disregarded, bad taste rampant, and most singing teachers incompetent. His opinions involved him in several controversies, most notably with Vincenzo Manfredini on several aspects of the technique of teaching singing, to whom he replied rather intemperately in his Lettera. Mancini apparently composed Endimione, a favola pastorale performed at Bologna in August 1729. (New Grove, vol. XI, p. 603) Manzuoli, Giovanni Born in Florence, c. 1720; died in Florence, 1782. Italian castrato singer. After appearances in operas in Florence (1731) and Verona (1735) he settled in Naples until late 1748, occasionally performing also at Rome and Venice. By the mid1740s he was singing leading parts at San Carlo. After Carnival 1749 at Milan he was called by Farinelli to Madrid where he performed in ten productions between 1749 and 1752. There he exhibited an arrogant temperament, and after leaving abruptly in 1753 he sang in Parma during Carnival 1754. He was at Lisbon for the opening of the Teatro de los Paços Ribeira (March 31, 1755). Enticed back to Madrid in September, he left four months later, loaded with presents from the monarchs. He remained in Italy until 1764 except for one trip to Vienna, where his performance in Hasse’s Alcide al bivio (October 13, 1760) made him “the idol” of the city, according to Metastasio. At rehearsals in Bologna for Gluck’s Il trionfo di Clelia (1763) his behavior was censured. From November 1764


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until June 1765 Manzuoli, whose voice was “the most powerful and voluminous soprano that had been heard . . . since the time of Farinelli,” according to Burney, drew “a universal thunder” of applause at the King’s Theatre in London. There he met the Mozart family, and in 1770 Wolfgang met him again in Florence, where Manzuoli had retired and become chamber singer to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1768. He twice came out of retirement: in January 1770 he unwillingly sang in Rome for the first time since his youth; and with a display of arrogance “like a true castrato” (Mozart); in October 1771 he closed his public career in Milan with Hasse’s Ruggiero and Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba, K. 111. Never a singer whose voice permitted feats of virtuosity, Manzuoli, by then a contralto, retained most of his “native strength and sweetness” (Burney) and fine acting ability. (New Grove, vol. XI, p. 638) Maria Elisabeth, Erzherzogin von Österreich Born August 13, 1743; died September 22, 1808. Abbess of convent at Innsbruck. (Knappich) Martini, Padre Giovanni Battista Born in Bologna, April 24, 1706; died in Bologna, August 3, 1784. Italian writer on music, teacher and composer, historian and theorist. Referred to at his death as “Dio della musica de nostri tempi,” he is one of the most famous figures in eighteenth-century music. Amongst numerous teachers on various instruments and composition, he studied singing with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi. He returned to Bologna and, in 1725, became the maestro di cappella of San Francesco, ordained as a priest four years later. Although he was offered numerous positions (including the Vatican), he chose to remain primarily in Bologna, where he devoted himself to composing, writing, and teaching. Burney was extremely fond of Martini and felt almost as close to him as a “brother” after a very short amount of time. Mozart, who studied counterpoint with Martini, remained forever indebted to him. In addition, Martini’s list of famous pupils includes J. C. Bach, Bertoni, Grétry, Jommelli, and Naumann, all of whom studied primarily the learned style with him. (New Grove, vol. XI, pp. 723–725) Matteucci, Matteo [Matteo (Matteuccio) Sassani] Born in Naples, 1649 [possibly San Severo near Foggia in 1667]; died in ?Naples, after 1735. He first appears in 1693, as a highly successful first soprano at the Naples opera. In 1695 he was invited to Vienna to sing in the Empress’s chapel at a salary equivalent to 3,000 scudi. “He not only sang so beautifully that ‘cantare come Matteuccio’ became a proverbial phrase, but was dashing and handsome and a great womanizer.” On his return from Vienna, his popularity increased even more, and he became unbearably arrogant. He insulted some dukes, treated the Viceroy’s servants with contempt, and refused to comply with his orders. The Viceroy wished to send Matteuccio to the galleys but was dissuaded by his wife. Matteuccio got off with a severe warning and was sent in 1698 to Madrid to entertain the Viceroy’s master, the half-imbecile King Charles II. He was apparently

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a success there. After his return from Spain, Matteuccio continued to appear on the stage until 1708, after which time he seems to have devoted himself to the Royal Chapel in Naples, where he directed the singing and sang himself. “He was in the habit,” says Mancini, “out of pure devotion, of singing in the church every Saturday; and though he was more than eighty years old, his voice was so fresh and clear, and he sang with so much flexibility and lightness, that those who heard him without seeing him believed him a young man in the prime of life.” He was still alive in 1735, when Caffarelli applied for and got his position, as Matteuccio was considered to be too old to be of use. (Heriot, pp. 183–184) Mazzanti, Ferdinando A celebrated composer, violinist, and singer, who resided, in 1770, at Rome. Dr. Burney speaks highly of his talent. He composed dramatic, sacred, and violin music. (Sainsbury, vol. II, p. 139) Millico, (Vito) Giuseppe Born in Terlizzi, near Bari, January 19, 1737; died in Naples, October 2, 1802. Italian soprano castrato, composer, and singing teacher. He was active as an opera singer in all the principal European musical centers, from St. Petersburg and Berlin to London, and in the south from Vienna to Parma and Naples. After being at the Russian court from 1758 to 1765 he returned to Italy; at Parma in 1769 he sang Orpheus in Le feste d’Apollo by Gluck, who befriended him and took him to Vienna where Millico taught Gluck’s niece and created the role of Paris in Gluck’s Paride ed Elena (November 3, 1770). Two years later he went to London, and in 1773 again appeared as Orpheus. In autumn 1774 he was with Gluck in Paris and went with him to Zweibrücken and Mannheim. He was in Berlin before his final return to Italy in 1780, when he was appointed “virtuoso di camera e della Regia Cappella” in Naples; while there he composed the operas Le cinesi and L’isola disabitata for the Bourbon princesses Teresa and Luisa. The score of his opera La pietà d’amore was published in Naples in 1782. In addition to at least half a dozen operas, Millico composed several cantatas and numerous arias, canzonettas and duets, often with harp accompaniment. Many of these works were published individually and in collections, and there was an extraordinarily wide circulation in manuscript of smaller vocal and instrumental compositions which were thought to be late works by Millico, testifying to their popularity and to his reputation as a singer, composer, and teacher. (New Grove, vol. XII, p. 324) Mingotti, Caterina Regina, née Valentin Born in Naples, February 16, 1722; died in Neuburg an der Donau, October 1, 1808. Austrian opera singer. The daughter of an Austrian officer, she was taken by him to Graz in 1722 and educated in a convent there after his death. In 1743 she joined the Mingotti opera troupe, then in Graz, made her début in Hamburg, and in 1746 married Pietro Mingotti. In 1747 she had great success when the


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troupe performed at Dresden. She was engaged at the court opera there and became a pupil of Porpora at royal expense. She later sang in Naples, Prague (1750) and Madrid (1751–53) and then went to Paris and London, where she made her very successful début at the King’s Theatre in November 1754. In the 1756–57 season, after the previous manager had gone bankrupt, partly because of disagreements with her, she became co-manager of the theatre with Giardini, the orchestra director. The season not proving a great success financially, the pair gave up the management at its end. Mingotti, according to Burney “in the decline of her favour” and of her voice, next sang at the King’s Theatre in the 1763–64 season, when she was again manager as well. She also sang in Italy before retiring to Dresden. In 1772 she was living in Munich, where Burney met her and reported that her voice was in better condition than on her last London appearance. Burney described Mingotti as “a perfect mistress of her art” and her style of singing as “always grand.” Martinelli believed that she owed to her study with Porpora “that propriety, delicacy and expression” in rendering the passions that characterized the Porpora school and contrasted it with the more ornate and artificial style of singing that came into vogue about the middle of the century. Yet the cantabile, pathetic style was not her forte, and early in her career, Hasse, whose wife Faustina had been made intensely jealous by Mingotti’s success in Dresden, composed for her a setting of the pathetic aria “Se tutti i miei” in his Demofoonte (Dresden, 1748), intended to demonstrate her inadequacy in this regard. Mingotti determinedly overcame the challenge and triumphed in the aria, which she later sang in London with equal success. Burney wrote that “her greatest admirers allowed that her voice and manner would have been still more irresistible, if she had had a little more female grace and softness.” Highly admired as an actress, she occasionally turned her lack of grace and softness to advantage by appearing to great effect in male parts. (New Grove, vol. XII, pp. 333–334) Monticelli, Angelo Maria Born in Milan, 1710–15; died in Dresden, 1764. Italian castrato soprano. After his stage début in Rome about 1730 Monticello appeared in Venice, Milan, and Florence. He was the first man in the opera company at the King’s Theatre in London from 1741 to 1744 when, according to Horace Walpole, he was “infinitely admired.” He sang there again in 1746, in a season that included two works by Gluck. He returned to the Continent and sang in various opera houses, although his voice was apparently declining. In the mid-1750s he settled at Dresden, where he worked under Hasse. Burney praised his acting, his clear and sweet voice, and his good taste. (New Grove, vol. XII, p. 538) Münter, Balthasar Born in Lübeck, Germany, March 24, 1735; died in Copenhagen, October 5, 1793. German poet. Wrote the text for the sacred songs composed by Johann

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Christoph Friedrich Bach and others. He was a preacher in the German Petrikirche in Copenhagen. (Eitner, vol. VII–VIII, pp. 114–115) Nicolini, Carlo [Grimaldi, Nicolo] Born in Naples, baptized April 5, 1673; died in Naples January 1, 1732. Italian alto castrato. He studied under Provenzale, in a revival of whose opera La Stellidaura vendicata he made his début as a page in 1685. In 1690 he was appointed to the Cappella del Tesoro di Gennaro at the cathedral and the following year to the royal chapel. His voice at this time was soprano. He sang in opera, usually at the San Bartolomeo theater but at times in the royal palace, periodically between 1697 and 1724. He sang at Rome and Bologna in 1699 and 1700 and for the first time in Venice in 1700. Late in 1708 Nicolini went to London, where he made his début at the Queen’s Theatre on December 14, in Haym’s arrangement of A. Scarlatti’s Pirro e Demetrio, sung in a mixture of Italian and English. He enjoyed great personal triumph and was largely responsible for the increasing popularity of Italian opera in London, receiving unstinting praise even from critics who were contemptuous of the genre. In May 1709 Nicolini signed a three-year contract with the manager of the Queen’s Theatre, and he seems to have assisted Swiney with the management of the opera and remodeled it on the lines of the Venetian theater. On February 24, 1711 Nicolini sang the title role in the first performance of Handel’s Rinaldo. The expiry of his contract moved the critic Addison to complain in the Spectator ( June 14, 1712) that “we are likely to lose the greatest performer in dramatic Music that is now living, or that perhaps ever appeared on a stage.” Nicolini continued to return to London periodically through 1717. He was the leading male singer of his age, an outstanding all-round artist, and a man of exemplary character. Burney’s summary – “this great singer, and still greater actor” – was echoed by many contemporaries. In Galliard’s opinion (1742) none of his successors equaled his combination of vocal and histrionic talent. Nicolini never retired from the stage. In 1731 he was engaged for Pergolesi’s first opera, at Naples, became ill during rehearsals and died soon after. (New Grove, vol. XIII, pp. 217–218) Orsini, Gaetano An eminent male contralto; teacher of Filippo Balatri, who said that “He sings by a method such as had never been conceived. He succeeds in making me imitate him a little . . .” (Heriot, pp. 210–211) Pacchiarotti, Gasparo [Pacchierotti] [Gaspare] Born in Fabriano, near Ancona, baptized May 21, 1740; died in Padua, October 28, 1821. Italian soprano castrato. He was trained either at St. Mark’s, Venice (according to his adopted son Giuseppe Cecchini Pacchiarotti) or at Forlì Cathedral (Fétis) and signed a contract as principal soloist at St. Mark’s for three years from February 28, 1765. He remained in Venice until 1770, when he left for an appointment as primo uomo at Palermo. Captain Brydone heard him there and enthusiastically described his ability to move not merely the audience


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but even the prima donna, the renowned Caterina Gabrielli. Beginning on May 30, 1771, Pacchiarotti sang for six years at Naples as the partner of Anna de Amicis. In spring 1776 Pacchiarotti left Naples permanently and traveled north, passing through Rome, where he performed privately, Florence, and then Forlì, where his singing in Bertoni’s Artaserse provoked the famous incident reported by Stendhal – the orchestra members were unable to continue for the tears in their eyes. He was engaged by several theaters in Italy; after his performances in the inaugural opera at La Scala (August and September 1778) he and Bertoni traveled together to London. For two years he sang regularly at the King’s Theatre, where Bertoni was resident composer. In July 1780 he left for Italy, but at the urging of William Beckford, one of Pacchiarotti’s most important patrons, Pacchiarotti returned to London in September 1781. He sang at the King’s Theatre each season through May 1784. Until 1791 he remained in Italy, as primo uomo nearly every season at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice. During his last London visit (1791) he sang at many concerts and operas as well. Haydn first heard him on February 7, and a little more than a week later had him perform his cantata Arianna a Nasso. Pacchiarotti returned to Venice in July 1792, where the inauguration and first Carnival season of the Teatro La Fenice (1792–93) were his last operatic appearances. He retired to Padua a wealthy man. He spent the last twenty-eight years of his life studying Italian and English literature and concentrating his musical interests particularly on Marcello’s psalms. He sang in public at least twice: in 1796 in Padua before Napoleon (unwillingly) and on June 28, 1814 at St. Mark’s for Bertoni’s funeral. Pacchiarotti was by all accounts the greatest of the late eighteenth-century castrati and the last in line of the finest male sopranos. Lord Mount-Edgcumbe deemed him “the most perfect singer it ever fell to my lot to hear,” and both he and Burney devoted more space to describing his genius than they accorded any other performer of the era. He was able to sing with facility not only up to c⵮, but as low as Bb, thereby “uniting into one the delicate Soprano to . . . the most accomplished Contralto” (Public Advertiser, November 14, 1782). He was able to improvise and execute embellishments which, according to Burney, were wholly original. He had a wide repertory and a command of many different styles, including (unlike most performers) that of the past. His acting ability was considerable, but his greatest genius lay in moving even casual listeners by his rendition of pathetic airs. (New Grove, vol. XIV, pp. 42–43) Pasi, Antonio Born in Bologna, c. 1710; died? A celebrated soprano. A pupil of Pistocchi, he was an excellent singer of an Adagio, according to the testimony of Quantz, who heard him at Parma in 1726. (Sainsbury, vol. II, p. 269) Peli, Francesco Born ?; died ? An Italian singer who, about the year 1720, established a singing school at Modena, which afterwards became very celebrated. He brought out,

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at Munich in 1737, an opera entitled La Constanza in Trionfo. (Sainsbury, vol. II, p. 274) Peruzzi, Anna Maria [La Parrucchierina] Born ?; died ? Italian singer who sang in Hasse’s Siroe at the Formagliari theater in Bologna (1735), for which she was paid 1,200 lire bolognesi. (Heriot, p. 68) Pistocchi, Francesco Antonio Mamiliano [“Il Pistocchino”] Born in Palermo, 1659; died in Bologna, May 13, 1726. Italian composer and singer. He was a child prodigy, singing in public at the age of three and publishing his first work, Capricci puerili, at the age of eight. In May 1670 he was employed occasionally as a singer in the cappella musicale at San Petronio, Bologna, where his father was a violinist. In 1674 he was given a regular position there as a soprano. Because of frequent absences, he and his father were dismissed in May 1675. Within ten years, Pistocchi had embarked on a brilliant career as a contralto, performing on various Italian and German stages. From May 1, 1686 to February 15, 1695 he was in the service of the court at Parma. In 1696 he became Kapellmeister at Ansbach to the Margrave of Brandenburg, and in May 1697 he went with Giuseppe Torelli to Berlin at the request of the Electress Sophia Charlotte. He returned to Ansbach early in 1698. At the end of 1699 he and Torelli moved to Vienna and in the autumn of 1700 he performed in several churches in Bologna. Between 1701 and 1708 he occasionally sang at San Petronio, Bologna. In 1702 he was named virtuoso di camera e di cappella to Prince Ferdinando of Tuscany. Although Pistocchi’s operatic career ended about 1705, he continued to sing for several years at functions in various Bolognese churches. He also taught singing, and included among his pupils Antonio Bernacchi, Annibale Pio Fabri, and G. B. Martini. In 1708 and 1710 he served as principe of the Accademia Filarmonica. In 1709 he took holy orders and in 1714 was named honorary chaplain to the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm. In 1715 he became a member of the Congregation of the Oratory at Forlì. Pistocchi enjoyed considerable fame as both singer and teacher. Tosi thought him the best singer of all time, with impeccable taste and the ability to teach the beauties of the art of singing without departing from the established tempo. As a composer, Pistocchi is notable for melodic elegance and colorful harmony, especially in his treatment of chromaticism. His letters to Perti also reveal him as an astute critic of music. (New Grove, vol. XIV, pp. 776–777) Porpora, Niccolò Antonio Born in Naples, August 17, 1686; died in Naples, March 3, 1768. A famous Italian composer and singing teacher, Porpora was the son of a bookseller. He entered the Conservatorio dei Poveri at Naples at the age of ten and studied with Gaetano Greco, Matteo Giordano, and Ottavio Campanile. He gained a great reputation as a singing teacher, numbering among his pupils the famous castrati Farinelli, Caffarelli, and Salimbeni, as well as Metastasio, who wrote librettos for several of Porpora’s operas. (Baker’s, p. 1801)


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Potenza, Pasquale Nominally principal singer in London. He was eclipsed in 1758 by Giusto Ferdinando (Senesino) Tenducci in Cocchi’s Ciro riconosciuto. (Heriot, p. 185) Raaff, Anton [Raaf, Raf, Raff] Born in 1714; died in 1797. German tenor, who studied and sang in Italy, returned to Germany in 1742, but continued to travel. He was one of the great singers of the age. Mozart wrote the title role in Idomeneo for him when Raaff was sixty-seven years old. He is said to have sung in the famous gala performance of Perez’ Alessandro nell’Indie in Lisbon for the opening of the new Opera House in April 1755. Raaff was a friend of Farinelli, under whom he sang in Madrid from 1755 to 1759. He is said to have made such an impression on the Princess Belmonte-Pignatelli by his singing in Naples in 1759 as to cure her of a deep melancholy into which her husband’s death had thrown her. He entered the service of the Elector Palatine at Mannheim in 1770. (Blom, p. 316; Heriot, p. 31, pp. 135–136, 151; Turner, p. 201) Rauzzini, Venanzio Born in Camerino, near Rome, baptized December 19, 1746; died in Bath, April 8, 1810. Italian male soprano, composer, and harpsichordist. After early studies in Rome and possibly also in Naples with Porpora, he made his début at the Teatro della Valle in Rome in Piccinni’s Il finto astrologo in 1765. His first major role was in Guglielmi’s Sesostri at Venice during Ascension Fair 1766; during this year he entered the service of the Elector Maximilian Joseph III at Munich, where he remained until 1722. In 1767 he was given leave to perform at Venice and at Vienna, where Mozart and his father heard him. Burney, visiting Rauzzini in August 1772, praised his virtuosity and the quality of his voice but was most impressed by his abilities as a composer and harpsichordist. His last known operatic performance in Munich was in Bernasconi’s Demetrio (Carnival 1772). He performed two more years in Italy before moving permanently to England. From November 1774 to July 1777 Rauzzini sang regularly at the King’s Theatre in London, making his simultaneous début as singer and composer in the pasticcio Armida. Both Burney and Lord Mount-Edgcumbe deemed his voice sweet but too feeble, a defect Burney ascribed to Rauzzini’s devoting too much time to composition. His publications over the next thirty years included string quartets and other chamber music, keyboard sonatas, four-hand duets, and Italian and English songs. Rauzzini’s singing gradually won over the London audiences. In autumn 1777 he took up residence in Bath, joining with the violinist Lamotte to manage concerts at the New Assembly Rooms, where many renowned performers freely volunteered their services and Rauzzini sang and played his own works. Although Rauzzini had become sole manager at Bath by 1781, he intermittently returned to London to sing and to stage some of his operas. After the London première of his unsuccessful opera La vestale (May 1, 1787) he remained permanently at Bath in his handsome town house and sumptuous country villa in

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Perrymead. Near the end of his life, Rauzzini published a set of twelve vocal exercises with an introduction summing up his ideas on the art of singing and reflecting his own tasteful style. (New Grove, vol. XV, pp. 607–608) Redi, Francesco Born ? died ? A celebrated Italian singer, who flourished at the end of the seventeenth century. In 1706, he established a singing school at Florence, which afterwards became very celebrated. Among the eminent pupils of this school was Vittoria Tesi. (Sainsbury, vol. II, p. 341) Reginelli, Niccolò Born c. 1696. He went to London in 1746, and Burney wrote of him: “Reginelli, an old but great singer, whose voice, as well as his person, was in ruin, first appeared on our stage in a pasticcio called Annibale in Capua. This person was now turned fifty; his voice was a soprano but cracked, and in total decay.” One instance of his temperament is described by Heriot: On the morning of June 8, 1739, Reginelli became involved in a fight with Caffarelli, another castrato, at the church of Donna Romita. Restrained and separated by onlookers, both singers were accused of sacrilege by an ecclesiastical court, but the charges were lifted by royal intervention, although Caffarelli was reprimanded. (Heriot, pp. 42, 144). Reuther, Theresia [Reuter] Born in Vienna in 1706, Reuter was the sister of Georg von Reuter (1705–70), Kapellmeister and music director at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. She was Kammersängerin at the Imperial Court in Vienna and considered by many to be among the best singers of her time. (Gerber, p. 274) Sacchini, Antonio [Maria Gasparo Gioacchino] Born 1730; died 1786. Italian opera composer. Salimbeni, Felice Born in Milan, 1712; died in Laibach (now Ljubljana in Slovenia), 1751. A famous pupil of Porpora, Salimbeni made his début at Rome in 1731 in Hasse’s Cajo Fabricio. He entered the service of Emperor Charles VI at Vienna in 1733, remaining there until 1739, in which year he was heard in Genoa in Farnace and Venceslao. In 1743–50 he was at the court of Frederick the Great, but in 1750 he signed a contract for the Royal Theater at Dresden. His voice is said to have been powerful and clear, with a wide range, and of rare beauty; he earned particular admiration by his “rendering of adagios with discreet but effective ornamentation, and for his amazing swell from pianissimo to “an almost unbelievable degree of sonority.” He was also handsome: “The charming part of Megacles in the ‘Olimpiade,’” said Vernon Lee, “. . . was suggested by a beautiful young pupil of Porpora, with fair curls and femininely soft eyes, Felice Salimbeni.” Salimbeni died in Laibach while on his way from Dresden to Naples on a leave of absence, to take a holiday and recover from a recent illness. (Heriot, pp. 181–183)


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Sandoni, Pietro Giuseppe A composer and harpsichordist, husband of Francesca Cuzzoni. They were married c. 1720–22 and separated by 1742. (New Grove, vol. IV, pp. 109–110) Santarelli, Giuseppe Born ?, died ? Signor Santarelli was a chaplain of the Knights of Malta and conductor of the Papal Chapel in Rome. This worthy gentleman, who Gerber stated must have gotten quite old “by now [1792],” if he was still alive at all, was famous not only for his great skill and expertise in the practical aspects of music and singing in particular but also for his profound knowledge in theory and the history of his art. As a Knight of Malta, he wore a small iron cross with an ivory star on his chest. In 1764 the first volume of his treatise on church music from the beginning to the present, called Della Musica del Santuario e della disciplina de suoi Cantori and complemented throughout with documents from the history of the church, left the presses but was never distributed for lack of financial support. The manuscript for the second volume was ready for print in 1770. However, it is not known whether it was actually published. In the second volume of Gerber’s Geschichte der Kirchen-Musik, on pages 354 and 533, some of his letters concerning church composers and church music of the time can be found. (Gerber, 383) Scalzi, Carlo [Cichion] Born in Voghera, Lombardy, ?; died ? Flourished 1719–38. Italian soprano castrato. He was first heard of in 1719–21 at Venice, where he sang in five operas by A. Pollarolo, G. Porta and Orlandini. He appeared at Reggio Emilia and Modena in 1720, Genoa in 1722–33, Venice again in 1724–25, Parma in 1725, Naples in 1726–27, and 1730 (when he created the title role in Hasse’s Ezio), and Rome in 1728–29 and 1731–32. Metastasio heard him there in 1731 and classified him with Farinelli as “incomparable.” Scalzi sang again at Genoa in 1733, and Handel engaged him for the London season of 1733–34. His voice had dropped so much in pitch between 1729 and 1733 that Handel had to transpose his arias in Semiramide down by a tone or even a third. He seems to have made little impression in London, but was placed in the front rank on the Continent. He sang in four more operas at Venice in 1737–38. On retiring from the stage he entered the Congregazione dell’Oratorio at Genoa. (New Grove, vol. XVI, pp. 546–547) Schindler, Catharina [Schindlerinn] A soprano (c. 1755–88) who Hiller (p. 46 above) and Gerber (p. 430) believed to be the grandmother of Marianne Schindler (see below) and wife of J. B. Bergobzoomer. (Gerber, p. 143). Schindler, Marianne [Schindlerinn; Maria Antonia Schindler-Lange] Marianne Schindler(inn) (see Hiller, p. 46 above; Gerber, p. 430) is possibly Maria Antonia Schindler; born in Vienna, 1757; died in Vienna, March 14,

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1779. A soprano, considered one of the best in Vienna in 1774, Maria Antonia came from a well-known Viennese family. Her father, Philipp Ernst Schindler (1723–93), a painter, was the director of the Viennese porcelain factory, while Catharina Schindler (-Bergobzoomer) was a distant relative. In 1770, as a child, she began her stage career in Vienna and between 1775 and 1777 became a much celebrated prima donna singing mainly Italian repertory in Venice and London. Having married the famous actor Joseph Lange (1751–1831) in 1775, Maria Antonia returned to Vienna in 1788 and died in childbirth the following year at the age of twenty-two. Joseph Lange then married the famous singer Aloysia Weber (1759–1830), Mozart’s sister-in-law. (Mozart, Briefe, vol. V, p. 475; vol. VI, p. 91; Kutsch, vol. II, cols. 2629f.) Senesino, Bernardi [Bernardi, Francesco] Born in Siena; died in ?Siena, by January 27, 1759. Italian alto castrato. His nickname was derived from his birthplace. He sang at Venice in five operas in 1707–08. In May 1709 he appeared in Caldara’s L’inimico generoso at Bologna; in 1709 and again in 1712 and 1720 at Genoa, in 1713–14 at Venice, and in 1715–16 at Naples. He was engaged for Dresden beginning September 1, 1717 at the huge salary of 7,000 thaler with the use of a carriage. He was dismissed early in 1720 for insubordination at the rehearsals of Heinichen’s Flavio Crispo, when he refused to sing one of his arias and tore up Berselli’s part. Handel, who had been instructed to engage him for London, opened negotiations; Senesino joined the company for its second season in September 1720, for the sum of 3,000 guineas. He made his début at the King’s Theatre on November 19 in Bononcini’s Astarto and remained a member of the company until June 1728. Senesino’s success was spectacular from the start, and he was constantly eulogized in newspapers and private letters in such terms as “beyond all criticism.” After the breakup of the Academy in 1728, Senesino apparently invested his London profits in a fine house in Siena. He sang in two operas at Venice in 1729, and was re-engaged in August 1730 by Handel and Heidegger for the second Academy. He arrived in October as a replacement for Bernacchi. In the next three years he sang in four new Handel operas and many revivals. His popularity was almost as great as before, but his increasing antipathy to Handel came into the open in January 1733, when a movement to set up a rival company was inspired by Senesino, Rolli, and their partisans among the aristocracy. This became the so-called Opera of the Nobility, where Senesino sang for several seasons. In 1737–39 Senesino sang several operas at Florence and privately in a duet with the future Empress Maria Theresia. In the summer of 1739 he refused an invitation to Madrid on the grounds of age but was engaged for the winter season in Naples. Although de Brosses was enchanted by his singing and acting, the public condemned his style as old-fashioned. His last known performances were in Porpora’s Il trionfo di Camilla at San Carlo in 1740. Senesino’s range was narrow (g to e⬙ at its widest, but many alto parts do not go above d⬙ and g appears


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rarely), yet he was equally renowned for brilliant and taxing coloratura in heroic arias and expressive mezza voce in slow pieces. His private character was marred by touchiness, insolence, and an excess of professional vanity. (New Grove, vol. XVII, pp. 129–131) Siface, Giovanni Francesco [Grossi, Giovanni Francesco] Born in Chiesina Uzzanese, near Pescia, February 12, 1653; died May 29, 1697. Italian singer. He achieved early fame as a soprano castrato, and his performance of the part of Siface in Cavalli’s Scipione affricano in Rome in 1671 earned him the nickname which remained with him for the rest of his life. In April 1675 he was admitted to the papal chapel. Four years later he entered the service of Francesco II d’Este, Duke of Modena, and remained with him for the rest of his life, though he traveled extensively. In the Venetian Carnival of 1679 he sang in Pallavicino’s Nerone, and his singing attracted the attention of Queen Christina of Sweden. With his success, Grossi [Siface] began to display the arrogant behavior that marked the rest of his career. In 1687 he was sent to England to entertain Francesco’s sister, Maria Beatrice d’Este, now James II’s queen. He broke his journey in Paris, but was ignored by Louis XIV, so he pressed on to London where he arrived on January 16, 1687. Grossi brought a standard and quality of singing to England that was remarkable at the time and as much a revelation as the violin playing of his fellow countryman Nicola Matteis. But he would sing only when he was in the right humor and complained that the climate affected his voice adversely. He left again for Modena on June 19, 1687. Between 1688 and his death Grossi sang in Modena, Naples, Parma, and Bologna. Illness appears to have interrupted his career about 1690, though he did appear later at Modena (1692), Milan (1692), and Reggio Emilia (1696). An indiscreet affair with a member of the Marsili family, about which he foolishly boasted, brought about his death at the hands of assassins hired by the family when Grossi was traveling between Ferrara and Bologna, where he was engaged to sing. His death was much lamented. The murder created a great scandal at the time, and the Duke of Modena relentlessly pursued those responsible for it. (New Grove, vol. VII, pp. 743–744, under Grossi) Sirmen, Maddalena Laura, née Lombardini Born in Venice, December 9, 1745; died in Venice, May 18, 1818. Italian composer, violinist, and singer. At age seven she was one of four chosen by the governors of the Mendicanti from thirty candidates to study an orchestral instrument, singing, and solfeggio at the music school (coro) of the ospedale. By the age of fourteen she was promoted to violin teacher. The governors of the Mendicanti sponsored her study in Padua with Tartini and others in 1760, 1761, and 1764. She spent the next ten years touring various European cities as a violinist. In 1774, Maddalena appeared in Turin as a violinist and singer and as a singer at the Opéra in Paris. She sang in Parma in 1776 and in Naples and later in Dresden in 1777. In the spring of 1783, she was appointed first woman singer at

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the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg where she remained until her final concerts in Paris in May 1785. Maddalena was recalled to Venice from her post in Naples in 1789. Her contemporaries, one of whom was Leopold Mozart, regarded her highly as a composer. Sources for thirty-five of her instrumental compositions have been located, with violin concertos representing the core of her known works. (Sadie and Samuel, pp. 287–288) Sulzer, Johann Georg A noted theorist and author of Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste, 2 vols. (Leipzig: M. G. Weidemanns Erben und Reich, 1771–74). Tartaglini, Rosa (married name Tibaldi) The wife of the famous tenor Tibaldi. She had one of the most beautiful and flexible voices among the Italian singers. However, she left the theater as early as 1768. (Gerber, p. 617) Tesi-Tramontini, Vittoria [“La Moretta”] Born in Florence, February 13, 1700; died in Vienna, May 9, 1775. Italian contralto. She received her first instruction from Francesco Redi in Florence and from Campeggi in Bologna. She first appeared as an opera singer in 1716, in Parma and Bologna. In the 1718–19 season she was in Venice as virtuosa da camera to Prince Antonio of Parma. By 1719 she was in Dresden, where she sang in Lotti’s Giove in Argo for the opening of the new opera house on September 3 and ten days later appeared as Matilda in his Teofano as one of the most prominent performers in the musical festivities surrounding the marriage of the Saxon electoral prince to the Archduchess Maria Josepha. In Carnival 1721 she sang in Florence and from there traveled until 1747, visiting all the great theaters of Italy between Naples, Venice, and Milan, with a guest appearance in Madrid (1739–40). Her career reached a peak at the opening of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples (1737) and another peak ten years later when she appeared there with Caffarelli, Gizziello, Manzuoli, and others in Calzabigi’s serenata Il sogno d’Olimpia with music by Majo. In 1748 she appeared in Vienna in the title role of Gluck’s setting of Metastasio’s Semiramide riconosciuta. Following further successful stage appearances in Vienna, she retired from the stage in the early 1750s. She was not engaged for the 1751–52 season in Naples because of her age but was “costume director” for the Vienna court theater in autumn 1751. After retiring from the stage, Tesi devoted herself to the education of younger talent with considerable success. Among her pupils were Catterina Gabrielli, Anna Lucia de Amicis, and Elisabeth Teyber. In Vienna she enjoyed the special patronage of Maria Theresia and Prince Joseph Friedrich of Hildburghausen, in whose palace she resided. Toward the end of her life she was given the honorary title virtuosa della corte imperiale and her husband was made an honorary consigliere del commercio. Many of her contemporaries, including Quantz, Mancini, Metastasio, Dittersdorf, and Burney, found her incomparable in expression and stage


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bearing, and to Gerber (1792) she was one of the greatest singers of the century. (New Grove, vol. XVIII, pp. 702–703) Teyber (Teuber), Elisabeth Born in Vienna, baptized September 16, 1744; died in Vienna, May 9, 1816. Soprano, daughter of Matthäus Teyber, who was a violinist and from 1757 court musician in Vienna. After study with Hasse and Tesi-Tramontini, she made her career mainly in Italy, following a series of Vienna performances in the 1760s. Mozart was not particularly impressed by her. She sang with great success in Italy, appearing at Naples, Bologna, Milan, and Turin. She married a Marchese Venier but was early widowed. She is said to have sung in Russia in the 1770s but to have been obliged for health reasons to return to Italy and was not able to resume singing until 1784. She is sometimes apparently confused with Maria Anna (or Marianne) Tauber (or Taube), and it is by no means certain that she appeared again in Vienna in 1788. (New Grove, vol. XVIII, p. 709) Tibaldi, Giuseppe Born in Bologna, January 22, 1729; died c. 1790. Italian tenor and composer, the husband of Rosa Tartaglini. He studied singing with Domenico Zanardi and composition with Martini. In 1747 he was admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica as a singer and in 1750 as a composer. In 1751 he succeeded Giuseppe Alberti as maestro di cappella at San Giovanni in Monte of Bologna, but after a few years decided to devote himself entirely to a career as an operatic tenor, becoming one of the few leading opera singers who had a disciplined training in counterpoint. He sang in the most important European opera houses, taking leading roles in the premieres of Gluck’s Alceste and Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba. (New Grove, vol. XVIII, p. 798) Toschi, Giovanni A “present-day [1792]” Italian singer, particularly deserving for his contribution to music in the field of singing instruction. (Gerber, 1977, p. 666) Tosi, Pier Francesco [Pietro Francesco] Born in Cesena, c. 1653; died in Faenza, 1732. Italian writer on music, singer (greatly celebrated in his time), teacher, composer, and diplomat, son of Giuseppe Felice Tosi. He was taught music by his father, who recognized his potential as a singer and took the necessary steps to preserve and develop his treble voice. As a castrato he was much in demand in Italy and later at Dresden and other European courts. In 1692 he went to London, where he gave weekly concerts from April 6, 1693 on and established himself as a singing teacher. Between 1705 and 1711 he was employed as a composer at the Viennese court and at the same time served as emissary to Count Johann Wilhelm of the Palatine. He seems to have been in Dresden in 1719 and in Bologna four years later, but shortly thereafter he returned to London where he remained until at

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least 1727. He spent the last years of his life in Italy. Tosi took holy orders in Bologna in 1730 and later lived at Modena and Faenza. Tosi was among the most admired castrati of his day. He was, it seems, not only a very fine singer but also a composer. Galliard relates that after his voice had left him, he composed several cantatas of exquisite taste, especially in the recitatives, in which he says the author excels, in the pathetic and expression, all others. He is remembered mainly for his Opinioni de Cantori antichi e moderni, o sieno Osservazioni sopra il Canto Figurato di Pier Francesco Tosi, Academico Filarmonico (1723), dedicated to the Earl of Peterborough, an important treatise on singing that reflects the practice of the late seventeenth century and the first two decades of the eighteenth. This treatise contains numerous particulars respecting the management of the voice and the method of singing with grace and elegance. Moreover, it contains short memoirs and references to the celebrated singers, both male and female, of the time. (New Grove, vol. XIX, p. 89; Sainsbury, vol. II, p. 485) Visconti, Caterina [Caterina Visconti detta la Viscontina] A famous singer and student of Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio in Milan. She sang in scenes at the ducal theater in Milan from 1738 to 1751, as prima donna in the major operas of the time. (Schmidl, vol. II, 669)

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Index

Abos, Girolamo, 162 accent, 20, 21, 67–68 grammatical, 21, 68, 69 oratorical/logical, 21, 68, 69 ornamentation and, 23, 72, 73 pathetic, 21, 68 accompaniment and cadenzas, 122 doubling singer, 109 need for when singing staccato, 57 in preparing arbitrary variations, 137 acting, 45, 111 Addison, Joseph, 174 aesthetics, 64–65 Affektenlehre, 20 Agricola, Johann Friedrich, 99–100, 101 and arbitrary variations, 26, 27, 29 and cadenzas, 122, 131 and declamation, 20 Hiller and, 1–2, 3, 17, 19, 24, 29, 123 and ornamentation, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 72, 73, 76 quoted by Hiller, 88–90, 91–92 Aguillar, Antonia Girelli, 46, 155 Agujari, Lucrezia, 46, 155 Alberti, Giuseppe, 183 Albrici, Vincenzo, 160 Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 15 Amadori, Giovanni Tedeschi, 42, 43, 155 Amicis, Anna Lucia de, 46, 155–156, 174, 182 Amorevoli, Angelo, 46, 156, 159 Anfossi, Pasquale, 26, 137 Angelini, see Bontempi, Giovanni Andrea

190

Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, dedication to, 49 Annibali, Domenico, 46, 156–157 Anschlag (double appoggiatura), 85–87, 90–92 as essential, 21 in recitative, 116, 117 Appiani, Giuseppe, 46, 157 appoggiaturas, 23, 57, 75–81, 83–84, 90–91, 131 as accents, 72 in arbitrary variations, 135 breathing and, 60 double, see Anschlag as essential, 21 and mordents, 95 notating, 22, 72, 72–73, 76, 76–77 notation to prevent, 22 in passaggi, 103, 107 reasons for using, 72, 79 in recitative, 116–117 and trills, 24, 92–93, 94, 96 Aprile, Fortunato, 157 Aprile, Giuseppe, 46, 157–158 Aprile, Raffaele, 158 arbitrary variations, 24, 25–27, 135–154 Archiopata (Lelia Archiapati), 39, 158 arias, 112–114, 131 forms, 29, 112–113 see also arbitrary variations and da capo arias arpeggio, 21 Arresti, Floriano, 163 arsis and thesis, 73, 77 articulation, 105, 106 see also staccato Astrua, Giovanna, 46, 158

Index Babbi, Cristoforo, 158 Babbi, Gregorio, 46, 158–159, 159 Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, 3, 8, 113, 119–120 and ornamentation, 21, 22, 72, 98 Bach, Johann Christian Friedrich, 69, 155, 171, 173 Bach, Johann Sebastian, 8–9 Baird, Julianne C., 2, 22, 92 balance, 119 Balatri, Filippo, 174 Balet, Leo, 14 Barberini, Francesco, 160 Baselt, Bernd, 30 Bastardella/Bastardina, La, see Agujari, Lucrezia beat, long/short part of, 73, 77, 85 beauty, 64 Bebung, see vibrato Beckford, William, 175 Beethoven, Ludwig van, 15 Benda, Georg, 8, 113 Bergobzoomer, J. B., 179 Berlin, 4 Bernacchi, Antonio, 43, 44, 55, 159, 163, 169, 170, 176, 180 Bernardi, Francesco, see Senesino, Bernardi Bernasconi, Andrea, 159, 177 Bernasconi, Antonia, 46, 159–160 Berselli, Matteo, 180 Bertoni, Ferdinando Giuseppe (?), 39, 160, 171, 174–175 Biego, Paolo, 169 Bockstriller, 92 Bologna, 42 Bononcini, Giovanni, 161, 180 Bontempi, Cesare, 160 Bontempi, Giovanni Andrea, 160–161, 166 Bordoni, Faustina, 45, 161–162, 165, 168, 173 Boroni, Antonio, 40, 162 bourgeoisie, see middle class break between vocal registers, 53–54 breathing, 58–63, 105–106 Breitkopf & Härtel, 8, 11 Bristol, Lady, 163 Brivio, Carlo Francesco, 42, 162 Brivio, Giuseppe Ferdinando, 184 Broderip, 158 Broschi, Carlo, see Farinelli

191 Brosses, Charles de, 159 Brühl, Heinrich von, 7 Brühl, Heinrich Adolph von, 7, 8 Brydone, Captain, 174 Buonsollazzi, Francesco, 156 Buranello, see Galuppi, Baldassare Bürde, Elisabeth Wilhelmine, 14 Burney, Charles, 37, 158, 173, 177 Hiller and, 3, 30, 37 and Mancini, 38 on music in Italy, 39, 40, 41 as source of information on musicians, 43, 46, 156, 157, 162, 165, 167–175 passim, 177, 178, 182 Butt, John, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 30, 31 cadences, 24, 28 in recitative, 116–118 in speech, 67 cadenzas, 27–28, 121–129, 133, 134 double, 28, 131–132, 133–134 staccato in, 57 trills and, 24, 93, 94 triple, 28, 131 vowels suitable for, 128–129 see also fermatas caesuras, 28, 129, 131 see also cadences and fermatas Caffarelli, Domenico, 162 Caffarelli, Gaetano Majorano, 46, 158, 162–163, 172, 176, 178, 182 Caldara, Antonio, 157, 163, 180 Calzabigi, Raniero, 182 Campanile, Ottavio, 176 Campeggi, Francesco, 44, 163, 182 cantatas, 112, 115 Carestini, Giovanni (Cusanino), 44, 99, 157, 163–164 Cassiodorus, 45 castrati, 14, 15, 41 Catullus, 55 Cavalli, Francesco, 160, 181 cercar del trillo, 94 cercar della nota, 83–85, 93, 94 chest voice, 53, 54 choral singing, 119–120

192

Index

chorales and chorale melodies, 11, 55, 69 chromaticism, 127–128, 138 church music, 3, 5, 11, 12–13, 16, 36, 38, 40–41 concert performances, 42 ornamentation in, 28–29, 102, 111 requirements for singing, 68, 114–115 women in, 40–41 see also chorales Cicero, 55 Cicognani, Giuseppe, 46, 164 Cimarosa, Domenico, 158 class issues, 12 see also middle class Clementi, Muzio, 162 Colla, Giuseppe, 155 Collegium musicum, see Leipzig concerts and concert societies, 8–9, 10, 41–42, 111–112 Concerts Spirituels, 9, 112 Conciolini [recte Concialini], Carlo, 46, 184 conservatories Hiller’s, 9, 14–15 see also Ospedali consonants, 55 Consorti, 46 consumar la nota, see sustaining notes Conti, Gioacchino (Gizziello), 46, 164–165, 182 courts and court music, 2, 4 crescendo, 64 Cusanino (Giovanni Carestini), 44, 99, 157, 163–164 Cuzzoni, Francesca, 45–46, 161, 162, 165–166, 170, 179 da capo arias, 27, 29, 112, 122 ornamentation and arbitrary variations, 136 written out repeats, 29 David, 38 de Amicis, Anna Lucia, see Amicis, Anna Lucia de declamation, 19–21, 66–68 breathing and, 63 ornamentation and, 23, 73 and word-setting, 21, 69–71

decrescendo/diminuendo, 64, 108 diction, see declamation and speech dissonance, 127–128 Dittersdorf, Karl Ditters von, 182 Doppelschlag, see turn Doppeltriller, see double trill Doppelvorschlag, see turn dotted rhythms breathing in, 60 as ornamentation, 23, 73–75 double appoggiatura, see Anschlag double cadenzas, 28, 131–132, 133–134 double trills, 93–94, 134 dragging/drawing out, 104, 135 Dresden, 4, 7, 8 duets, 28, 118–119, 131–132, 133–134 dynamics, 64, 65, 103, 108, 138 in choral singing, 119–120 ear, 52 Elisi, Filippo, 46, 166 embellishment, see ornamentation emotion(s), 64, 65, 102 and accent, 68 and passaggi, 108 emphasis, 68 ornamentation and, 23, 72, 73 see also accent enjambment, 59 Enlightenment, the, 2, 3, 14 Hiller and, 22, 30 and ornamentation, 22 ensembles, 28, 118–119 exercises, see practice expression, 29, 108, 135, 138 see also emotion Fabri, Annibale Pio, 176 Faenza, Bartolino da, 43, 44, 166 Faenza, Bartolomeo di [recte Bartolino da], 43 Fago, Lorenzo, 162 Farinelli (Carlo Broschi), 163, 165, 169, 171, 176, 177, 179 Faustina, see Bordoni, Faustina feelings, see emotions and expression Feo, Francesco, 42, 166

Index fermatas, 28, 62–63, 121, 129–131, 133 trills and, 24, 93 see also cadenzas and caesuras Ferri, Baldassare, 42, 166 figured bass, 137 Fischer, Rector, 13 Florence, 42 Fontana, Agostino, 46, 167 Formenti, Nicolò, 167 Frederick the Great, 7, 163, 184 French language, 69 French style, 29, 30, 81 Friedrich August II, 7 Furlanetto, Bonaventura, 39, 167 Gabrielli, Caterina, 46, 167, 169, 174, 182 Gaffarello, see Caffarelli, Gaetano Majorano Galliard, John Ernest, 101, 174, 184 Galuppi, Baldassare, 39, 160, 168 Garcia, Francisco Saverio, 167 Garducci, see Guarducci, Tommaso Garrick, David, 168 Gasparini, Michelangelo, 161, 168 Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott, 7, 8, 16 genres, 110 Gerber, Ernst Ludwig, 179, 182 Gerhard, E., 14 German language, 19, 20, 69 German style, 19, 30 Hiller’s concern for, 3, 30 Germany conditions for music in, 38, 40, 41 Enlightenment projects, 3 school system, 3, 13, 36 training and opportunities for singers in, 3, 4, 20, 22, 36–37, 40 Gewandhaus Conzerte, see Leipzig Giardini, Felice de, 172–173 Giordano, Matteo, 176 Gizzi, Domenico, 164 Gizziello (Gioacchino Conti), 46, 164–165, 182 Gluck, Christoph Willibald, 160, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173, 182 Alceste, 156, 159, 183 Orfeo ed Euridice, 168

193 goat’s trill, 92 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 3, 6, 15, 49 Goti, Antonio, 46, 168 Gottsched, Johann Christoph, 7 Grassi, Antonio, 46, 168 Graun, Carl Heinrich, 3, 16, 25, 26, 55, 137, 155 Greco, Gaetano, 176 Grétry, André-Ernest-Modeste, 171 Grimaldi, Nicolò, see Nicolini, Carlo Grosses Conzert, see Leipzig Grossi, Giovanni Francesco, see Siface, Giovanni Francesco Guadagni, Gaetano, 46, 156, 165, 167, 168–169 Guaetta, Giovanna, 159 Guarducci, Tommaso, 43, 169 Guglielmi, Pietro Alessandro, 158, 177 Guglielmi, Signora, see Archiopata Hamburg, 4 Hamilton, Catherine, 158 Handel, George Frideric, 44, 157, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 168, 174, 179, 180 Hiller and, 3, 16 harmony appoggiaturas and, 77, 78, 79, 84 and arbitrary variations, 137 cadenzas and, 125, 126, 127–128 Hasse, Johann Adolf, 39, 156, 157, 161, 164, 170, 171, 173, 176, 178, 179, 183 Hiller and, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15 Hiller’s publications of and use of examples by, 25, 26, 98, 118, 131, 137 Hauskonzerte, 10 Hausmusik, 10–11 Hawkins, John, 44 Haydn, Joseph, 175 Haym, Nicola Francesco, 174 head voice, 53, 54 Heidegger, Johann Jakob, 180 Heinichen, Johann David, 180 Herbst, Johann Andreas, 121–122, 169 Hiller, Elisabeth Wilhelmine, 14 Hiller, Johann Adam, 1, 2–4, 5–17, 29–31 Abhandlung von der Nachahmung in der Musik, 7 acknowledgment of predecessors, 24

194

Index

Hiller, Johann Adam (cont.) Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch für Kirchen und Schulen, 11 Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, 1, 11, 13, 17–18, 24, 25, 73, 111 criticisms of, 47 Hiller’s references to in Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, 35–36, 47, 48, 51, 53, 55, 58, 63, 64, 66, 67, 75, 92, 96, 102, 105, 106, 113, 115, 119, 121, 137 Preface, 13, 17–18 translation into Danish, 35–36 Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, 1–2, 11, 13, 17, 18–29, 30–31 criticisms of, 18 dedication, 49 Preface, 14, 15 autobiography, 7 background, 2 as composer, 5–6, 8, 12 as concert director, 8, 9–10, 29–30 as critic, 14, 160 50 Geistliche Lieder für Kinder, 12 and German culture, 3–4 and Hausmusik, 11 headaches, 8 hypochondria, 8, 16 and Lied, 11–12, 29 publications, 8, 13, 14, 26, 137 as singer, 7 singing schools and conservatory, 9, 14–15 and Singspiel, 2, 4, 5–6, 8, 11–12 as teacher, 1, 2, 9, 11, 12–15, 16–17 translations, 16 and women/girls, 14–15 Hoffmann, E. T. A., 15 Hoffmann, Melchior, 8 Höpfner, Georg Christoph, 35–36, 169 Horace, 55 Hume, David, 16 Hypocritik, 45 imitation, 131, 132 improvisation, see arbitrary variations and cadenzas instrumental music articulation in, 105, 106

cadenzas, 132 ornamentation in, 93, 95, 98–99 singing compared to, 99, 99–100 training in, 9, 39–40 international style, 30 interval practice, 53 intervals, 137 intonation, 51–53, 105, 106, 120 Italian language, 69 pronunciation, 137 recommendation for singers to learn, 19, 48, 69 Italian style, 19, 30 Italy conditions for music in, 38, 40–41 opera houses, 38 training for singers in, 3, 36, 38–40, 42 Jélyotte, Pierre de, 159 Jommelli, Niccolò, 158, 162, 168, 171 journals, 8, 14, 15 Kayser, Margareta Susanna, 81, 169 Keiser, Reinhard, 4 keyboard instruments ornamentation on, 93, 98–99 singers playing, 48, 137 Kirnberger, Johann Philipp, 53 Koch, Gottlieb Heinrich, 5 Koch, Heinrich Christoph, 53, 64–65, 113 Krause, Christian Gottfried, 19 Lalande, Michel-Richard de, 159 Lange, Joseph, 180 Lange, Maria Antonia, see Schindler, Marianne language, see speech and words languages, 19, 20, 21, 48, 69 Lanzi, Francesco, 45, 169–170 Latin, 69 leaps, 74–75, 107, 128 legato, 103–104, 106, 107, 138 see also portamento Leipzig, 2, 4–5, 6, 7, 8–11, 13 Collegium musicum, 8–9 Grosses Conzert/Gewandhaus Conzerte, 8, 9–10 Leo, Leonardo, 42, 156, 170

Index Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 3, 15 Lied, 5, 11–12, 29 Lombardini Sirmen, Maddalena, 39, 181–182 Lotti, Antonio, 168, 182 loudness, see dynamics Luther, Martin, 38 Majo, Gian Francesco di, 26, 98, 137, 170, 182 Majorano, Gaetano, see Caffarelli, Gaetano Majorano Mancini, Giambattista, 37–38, 43, 103, 170, 171–172, 182 Hiller and, 3, 30 Hiller’s expansion of material on singers, 42–46 on improving voices, 55 on intonation, 51–52 on ornamentation in recitative, 117 on portamento, 56 on vocal registers, 53, 54 Manfredini, Vincenzo, 170 Mann, Horace, 156 Manzuoli, Giovanni, 46, 170–171, 182 Mara, Gertrud (Gertrud Schmehling), 15 Marcello, Alessandro, 161 Marcello, Benedetto, 22, 161 Maria Elisabeth, Erzherzogin von Österreich, 38, 171 Marpurg, Friedrich Wilhelm, 7, 44, 67 Hiller and, 3, 7, 17, 20, 24–25, 30 and ornamentation, 21, 24–25 Martini, Giovanni Battista, 39, 160, 162, 170, 171, 176, 183 Matteucci, Matteo, 42–43, 171–172 Mattheson, Johann, 45, 67, 81 and cadenzas, 122 Hiller and, 17, 20, 30 and ornamentation, 72 Mazzanti, Ferdinando, 46, 172 Mazzocchi, Virgilio, 160 Mazzoni, Antonio Maria, 159 melismas and melismatic singing, 69, 101, 138 messa di voce, 64, 92 in choral singing, 119–120 in recitative, 118 trills and, 93

195 messa di voce crescente, 85 Metastasio, Pietro, 131, 156, 157, 167, 170, 176, 179, 182 meter, 20, 67, 73 in recitative, 115–116 middle class, 2, 4, 10–11, 14, 17 and women, 15 Milan, 42 Millico, Vito Giuseppe, 46, 172 mime, 45 Minelli, Giambattista, 43, 44 Mingotti, Caterina Regina, 46, 172–173 Mingotti, Pietro, 172 Modena, 42 Monteverdi, Claudio, 160 Monticelli, Angelo Maria, 46, 173 morality, music and, 37, 51 mordents, 21, 92, 94, 94–95, 129 chains of, 96 in recitative, 116 as term for appoggiaturas, 107 Moretta, La, see Tesi-Tramontini, Vittoria Mount-Edgcumbe, Lord, 175, 177 Mozart, Constanze, 16 Mozart, Leopold, 1, 182 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 15, 156, 160, 167, 171, 177, 180, 183 Goethe and, 6 Hiller and, 3, 16 Müller, Karl Wilhelm, 8, 9 Münter, Balthasar, 69, 173 music, morality and, 37, 51 Musikalischer Zeitvertreib, 8 Nachschlag, 21, 81–85, 131 in cadenzas, 129 double, 82, 86, 87 trills and, 93, 94 Naples, 39–40, 42, 98 nature, 64 Naumann, Johann Gottlieb, 113, 115, 171 Neefe, Christian Gottlieb, 16 Nicolini, Carlo, 46, 173–174 nose, 55 notation deficiencies of, 66 see also under ornamentation

196

Index

notes changing or omitting to facilitate breathing, 60–63 joining, see portamento sustaining, 56, 64, 69 odes, 12 opera, 3, 4, 29 requirements for singing, 68 see also Singspiel oratorios, 68 Orlandini, Giuseppe Maria, 179 ornamentation, 21–24, 72–100 as accent, 72 arbitrary, 21 in ensembles, 28, 118–120 essential, 21, 23–24, 114, 135 harmony and, 47 notating, 22, 23, 72–73, 92 notation to prevent, 22 place of performance and, 29–30 in recitative, 116–118 relationship to text, 20, 23 see also arbitrary variations, passaggi, and individual ornaments Orsini, Gaetano, 43, 174 Ospedali, 3, 39–40, 42 Pacchiarotti, Gasparo, 46, 156, 174–175 Paisiello, Giovanni, 40, 113 Pallavicino, Carlo, 160, 181 pantomime, 45 Parma, Princess of, 38 Pasi, Antonio, 43–44, 175 passaggi, 24–26, 101–109 in arbitrary variations, 27, 135, 136, 138 and breathing, 59, 62 in cadenzas, 124–125 Nachschläge in, 81 staccato in, 57–58 passion, see emotion pauses, 60, 62 see also fermatas Peiser, Karl, 6, 16 Peli, Francesco, 42, 175–176 Pendarves, Mrs., 157

Perez, David, 166, 177 Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 174 periodicals, 8, 14, 15 Perti, Giacomo Antonio, 176 Peruzzi, Anna Maria, 46, 176 phrasing, speech phrases and, 20 piano, see keyboard instruments Piccinni, Niccolò, 40, 159, 169, 177 Piquiren, see staccato Pistocchi, Francesco Antonio Mamiliano, 42, 43, 159, 166, 171, 176 pitching, 51–53, 105, 106, 120 place of performance, 28–29, 110–111 placement, 20 Pollarolo, Antonio, 179 Pollarolo, Carlo Francesco, 161 Porpora, Niccolò Antonio, 42, 156, 157, 162, 163, 167, 173, 176, 177, 178, 180 Porta, Giovanni, 179 portamento, 56–57, 64 see also messa di voce crescente Potenza, Pasquale, 46, 177 practice for breath control, 59 for dynamics, 65 for intonation, 53–54 for joining tones, 56–57 length suggested, 48 for strengthening voice, 54–55 prallender Doppelschlag, 98–99 Pralltriller, 92, 94–95, 117–118 Predieri, Luca Antonio, 157 Preußner, Eberhard, 10 pronunciation, 20, 47, 48, 55, 67, 137 prosody, 21, 67 Provenzale, Francesco, 173 punctuation, 20, 66–67 Quantz, Johann Joachim, 23, 30, 105, 161, 175, 182 Agricola and, 26 and arbitrary variations, 26, 27 and cadenzas, 28, 122 Hiller and, 8, 28, 30 and ornamentation, 21, 22, 23, 92 quoted by Hiller, 44–46

Index Raaff/Raff, Anton, 43, 177 range, 54, 57–58, 102 Ratner, Leonard, 20, 110, 113 Rauzzini, Venanzio, 46, 177–178 Rebling, Eberhard, 4, 12 recitative, 115–118 Redi, Francesco, 42, 44, 178, 182 Reginelli, Niccolò, 46, 178 registers, vocal, 53–54 Reichardt, Johann Friedrich, 18 Rellstab, Johann Carl Friedrich, 20 Reuter, Georg von, 178 Reuther, Theresia, 46, 178 rhythm, meter and, 67 Ricieri, Giovanni Antonio, 159 Rieler, Antonia, see Bernasconi, Antonia Ristori, Giovanni Alberto, 157 Rochlitz, Johann Friedrich, 1, 15, 16 Rolli, Paolo Antonio, 180 Rome, 42 rondos, 113, 114–115, 131 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 21, 67, 68, 111 Rovetta, Giovanni, 160 rubato, 108, 135 Sacchini, Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino, 26, 39, 113, 137, 155, 159, 178 Salimbeni, Felice, 46, 131, 176, 178 Sandoni, Pietro Giuseppe, 45, 165, 179 Santarelli, Giuseppe, 46, 179 Sarro, Domenico Natale, 162 Sassani, Matteo, see Matteucci, Matteo scales, 48 breathing in, 58–59 chains of trills, 96–97 character of in unequal temperament, 53 and intonation, 52, 53 practicing, 54–55 variations on, 124–125 Scalzi, Carlo, 46, 179 Scarlatti, Alessandro, 163, 174 Scarlatti, Giuseppe, 156 Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich, 3, 15 Schindler, Catharina, 46, 179–180 Schindler, Marianne, 46, 179–180 Schindler, Philipp Ernst, 180

197 Schleifer, 82, 87–92 Schmehling, Gertrud (Gertrud Mara), 15 Scholze, Johann Sigismund (Sperontes), 12 Schöttgen, Christian, 114 Schubart, Christian Friedrich Daniel, 158 Schubert, Franz, 15 Schütz, Heinrich, 160 Sciroli, Gregorio, 157 Scirolino/Sciroletto, see Aprile, Giuseppe Senesino, Bernardi (Francesco Bernardi), 44, 157, 159, 180 sensitivity, 64, 65, 108 see also taste Seven Years War, 7, 8 Siface, Giovanni Francesco, 42, 181 sightsinging, 110 simplicity, 99 singers behavior, 22, 37 need for models, 65, 99 recommended general education, 21, 68 recommended to improve compositions, 21, 69–71 recommended to learn languages, 19, 21, 48, 69 recommended to play keyboard instruments, 48, 137 recommended to study figured bass, 137 satire on, 22 training available for, 3, 4, 20, 22, 36–37, 39–40, 42 singing choral, 119–120 compared to instrumental music, 99, 99–100 practice material, see practice requirements for study of, 47–48 social, 10–11 Singspiel, 5–6, 12, 19–20, 29 see also opera and under Hiller Sirmen, Maddalena Lombardini, 39, 181–182 slurs, 135 Smiles, Joan, 23 social class, see class softness, see dynamics solmization, 47–48, 55 Solomon, 38

198

Index

Sozi, Sozio, 160 speech, 20 cadence in, 67 need for singers to practice, 55, 66 see also declamation and words speech defects, 55, 66 Sperontes (Johann Sigismund Scholze), 12 Spiess, Meinrad, 110 staccato, 57–58, 103, 104, 105–107, 135, 138 notating, 105 tempo and, 57 Standfuss, J. C., 5 Stendhal, 174 Sterne, Laurence, Tristram Shandy, quoted by Hiller, 13 street musicians, 41 stuttering, 55 style church/chamber/theater, 110–112, 114 French, 29, 30, 81 German, 3, 19, 30 international, 30 Italian, 19, 30 Sulzer, Johann Georg, 182 on accent, 67–68 on aesthetics, 64–65 Hiller and, 16, 21, 25 and ornamentation, 25 suspensions, 95 sustaining notes, 56, 64, 69 syllabic singing, 69 syllables long and short, 67, 73 suitable for cadenzas, 128–129 for use in singing training, 48, 55 syncopation, 107 Tartaglini, Rosa, 46, 182 Tartini, Giuseppe, 181 taste, 20, 22, 64–65, 73, 108, 135, 138 Tauber, Maria Anna (Marianne), 183 Tedeschi, Giovanni, see Amadori, Giovanni Tedeschi Telemann, Georg Philipp, 4, 8 temperament, 53 tempo, staccato and, 57 tempo rubato, 108, 135

Tenducci, Giusto Ferdinando, 46, 177 Tesi-Tramontini, Vittoria, 44–45, 178, 183 Teuberinn, Elisabeth, see Teyber, Elisabeth text, see words Teyber, Matthäus, 183 Teyber (Teuberinn), Elisabeth, 46, 183 theater, 110, 111, 114 see also opera Thirty Years War, 4 Tibaldi, Giuseppe, 46, 182, 183 Tibaldi, Rosa, see Tartaglini, Rosa time, 108, 135 tones, see notes tongue, 55 Torelli, Giuseppe, 176 Toscano, see Guarducci, Tommaso Toschi, Giovanni, 46, 183 Tosi, Giuseppe Felice, 183 Tosi, Pier Francesco, 3, 18, 101, 162, 170, 176, 183–184 on acting and singing, 45 and arbitrary variations, 26, 27, 29, 135, 137–138 and cadenzas, 27–28, 118–119, 122 on church music, 111 and declamation, 20 Hiller and, 2, 3, 17, 19, 24, 27–28, 29, 30 and ornamentation, 20, 21, 22, 23, 72, 73, 76, 92 on passaggi, 103 Traetta, Tommaso, 25, 168 transcriptions, 11 transitions, 28, 130–131 translations, 16 tremolo, 92 trills, 24, 92–97, 121 alternatives to, 24, 92–93, 96–97 in arbitrary variations, 135 in cadenzas, 129 chains of, 96–97 in choral singing, 119 double, 93–94, 134 as essential, 21 messa di voce and, 93 on turns, 98–99 types, 24, 92, 93 trios and triple cadenzas, 28, 119, 131

Index triplets, 103, 104, 106, 107 tuning, 51–53, 105, 106, 120 Türk, Daniel Gottlob, 22, 30 turn/Doppelschlag/Doppelvorschlag, 90, 92, 96–99, 131 as essential, 21 notating, 97, 98 trilled, 98–99 Valentin, Caterina Regina, see Mingotti, Caterina Regina variations, arbitrary, see arbitrary variations variety, need for, 23, 24 Venice, 38, 39, 41 verse, 67 see also meter and words vibrato, 21, 92, 99 Vienna, 4, 41 Vinci, Leonardo, 157, 164 violin, 105, 106 Visconti, Catarina, 46, 184 voice(s), 51 balance in ensembles and choral singing, 119 carrying of, see portamento flaws in, 55 forcing, 54 good use of, 56, 99–100 improving/strengthening, 54–55 and passaggi, 102–103 range, 54, 102 registers, 53–54

199 Volkmann, D., 38 vowels production of, 55, 105, 108–109 recommended for practicing scales, 54 repetition in staccato, 105 suitable for cadenzas and arbitrary variations, 128–129, 138 Wagele, Antonia, see Bernasconi, Antonia Walpole, Horace, 156, 173 Walther, Johann Gottfried, 42, 111 Weber, Aloysia, 180 Weisse, Christian Felix, 5, 12 wind instruments, 105 Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend, 14 Wolf, Georg Friedrich, 18 women in church music, 40–41 Hiller and, 14–15 as instrumental musicians, 9 words and breathing, 59, 62, 63 in learning singing, 47, 48, 55 ornamentation and, 20, 138 singers recommended to improve setting of, 21, 69–71 suitable for cadenzas, 128–129 understanding when sung, 19, 66, 67, 111 see also declamation and speech Zanardi, Domenico, 183

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Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation by Johann Adam Hiller (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs)

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Summa Musice: A Thirteenth-Century Manual for Singers (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs)

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The Musical Dilettante: A Treatise on Composition by J. F. Daube (Cambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis)

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