NORTH CAROLINA THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF. ENDOWED BY THE DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES Vault Folio MT830,C6. v.

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2 THE LBRARY OF THE UNVERSTY OF NORTH CAROLNA ENDOWED BY THE DALECTC AND PHLANTHROPC SOCETES Vault Folo MT830,C6 v.l MUSC LBRARY THE LBRARY OF THE UNVERSTY OF NORTH CAROLNA ENDOWED BY THE DALECTC AND PHLANTHROPC SOCETES

3 Ths book must not be taken from the Lbrary buldng.

4 Dgtzed by the nternet Archve n 202 wth fundng from Unversty of North Carolna at Chapel Hll

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7 ) THE SXGERS PRECEPTOR, TO l/ffd&jc YVY yyyy/c fc/hj/c THS TREATSE S EXPRES SLT CALCULATED TO : teach the -Aut rf ^matrta A> D CONSSTS OP ESTABLSHNG PROPER RCLES,( THE RESCLTQP F FT V TEARS EXP K B [ B X C E AC ( OMMOBATED T THE CAPACTY OP ETERT STCDEXT WHETHER.AMATEUR OR PROPE 5 S OR,THEATRCAL OR CHORAL ALSO TO ASSST THOSE "WHO SLTG BTEAR OXLX, AOT> SO ARRANGED AS TO ENABLE THE PPPL TO MPROVE BT THE EXERCSE OF THESE RLLES, LN THE ABSEXCE DP A MASTER, \)VA)[\ vjn-w Kl? ; ;l? Cl TH.: \ X Ths Work s Conprzed n Two Volumes. (fntntte..memor.-- of the Authors frofefsona] Lfe. (; /./: Ve Nature n.// am /hfttnts atvoeal Muse. Olvemlans en the Ob.ttnr/es am mpedments n t/,e attanment of the.n,>/ >t,/nr/ Jten e Hrpressot m, Utles n he alsen-et far t., attanment /realse E-rtant n leheh flnt Qn/mt s luueed./ A SET OF SOLFEGG. AXlkXT.l.XJ: MODERN. Ths etn/ /e anlv Vol. 2"J. Select CoUfftot of F.nalsh. Steh am talan,>am/s Duet., Tre; embellshed ff Outers tadenzes v. e.eemplmna H- fenoe Kale.. tormna de flm Velum, </ Corns Work. \;. The whole of fls Worb s arranged wtl an Acronpajnm-nl for tl<- Panoforte. - Frst r<>l s. second s: or together t/ Lflndon Publshed bythppcll ".< Musc Sellers./:,.Seno l Street. GUERMONPREZ. H.-L-F. PRATTEN LEGACY. 889.

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9 ADDRESS TO THE PUBLC. n enterng; on the followng Work, was to pursue my journey along the well-known hackned road, mght expect to arrve easly at ts termnaton ; but as the path mean to take devates n part from the usual route, have reason to apprehend, notwthstandng the ncentve of my undertakng, and zeal for the art, that shall not pass unattacked : custom, that formdable dol, wll, probably, send forth aganst me the arrows of ll-nature, gnorance, and concet, a malgnant bandtt that generally annoy the eccentrc adventurer ; but good ntenton must prove my sheld of defence. Men of talents, and lberal mnds, before they decde on what has the appearance of nnovaton, always nvestgate and consder ts mert and worth, and wll be ever ready to encourage every attempt n whch they may dscover even a slght degree of mprovement but n my professon how few are there of ths class A professon whch, of all others, affords the greatest lattude for mposton, the qualfcatons of a school-master a dancng-master, and a drawng master, most people can fully ascertan, but the musc-masters how few parents are capable of apprecatng, or can judge whether he plays or sngs n tune or n tme, n good style, &c. &c. and even wth ths, hs knowledge may be merely superfcal and nadequate to nstruct a pupl n the prncples and theory of the scence. Possessed, perhaps, of a good address, and furnshed wth a few vocal and nstrumental peces, he exhbts hs pretensons wth the utmost assurance, stops at nothng, dashes through, rght or wrong confdent hs hearers wll not dscover hs errors ; should they be n some degree perceved, cvlty, and good-nature, pass over what appears doubtful, and thus gnorance trumphs ; and t frequently happens, that a shop-boy of a musc-seller, exchangng the broom for the tunng-hammer, and obtanng half a dozen lessons from a professor, sets up for a master. To prevent such shameful mpostons, whch are not only njurous to the art, but to the publc at large, n a country where musc s so generally cultvated, t would be, n my opnon, a regulaton of great utlty, f, as n other professons, there was a publc ordeal of strct examnaton, whch all who teach musc must frst pass through. Beng well avyare that ones own judgment may not always be correct and mpartal, where favourte deas are the subject, consulted several professors on the noveltes ntended to ntroduce nto the rules of sngng; ther approbaton and favourable opnon gave me confdence to proceed, and thus to venture ths Treatse before the publc, to whose candd and lberal judgment submt my work. My frends also suggested the dea, that a sketch of my professonal lfe mght not too far encroach on the tme of the reader whch dea adopted, from a desre of provng have possessed those advantages of study, and that experence whch qualfes me for the Work here undertake ; my knowledge of the art havng been derved from preceptors of the hghest abltes, and the opportuntes of hearng the frst talents Europe has produced wthn the last ffty years; also from havng been n the constant practce of publc and prvate teachng, fur almost as long a perod up to the present moment. Thus apologsng for the ntroducton of the followng pages, submt a short sketch of The Lfe of Domenco Corr. b 6487 v.

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11 ADVERTSEMENT, The Author, wth the vew of gvng to hs nstructons the most convenent and famlar form, and of mpressng more forcbly on the mnd of the Learner the prncpal requstes for attanng excellence as a Vocal Performer, has thought t expedent to convey hs Drectons and Observatons n the shape of a Dalogue, supposed to pass between Master and Scholar, whch le las endeavoured to assmlate, as nearly as possble, to the method whch he pursues wth hs Pupls. DALOGUE. ntroductory REQUSTES FOR VOCAL MUSC- Scholar. wsh to receve some nstructon n the art of sngng. Master. n what lne or style do you mean to practce, as professor or amateur? Scholar. What dfference can my ntentons n ths respect make? What s the dstncton between these styles? Master. The dstncton between them s not n the prncples of the art, but n the applcaton of them, or rather, n the extent to whch the applcaton should be carred : to acqure the art of sngng n a superor degree, there must be a gft of nature, and much assduous practce. There exsts a false noton of ts easy attanment, for t may be observed, that n all parts of Europe, where ths art s very generally cultvated, we seldom can name ten (what may be called) frst-rate sngers, whose abltes and excellence consttute them standards of the art. Scholar. You dshearten me. Master. Be not dscouraged, wll explan to you: Sngng may be compared to pantng, whch art has varous styles, hstorcal, landscape, portrat, mnature, scenery, &c. &c. and each of those styles may be fnshed wth more or less accuracy ; but the effect of each s produced from desgn, proporton, lght, and shadow; so the vocal art affords varous characters, de sacred, the serous, the comc, anacreontc, cantable, bravura, &c. &c. and though each style requres dfferent gfts and cultvaton, yet true ntonaton, the swellng and dyng wth complete artculaton of words, are essental to all. of the voce, Thus, whatever style you may wsh to attan, and possess the natural qualfcatons for, the ground- work, the foundaton, must be subject to the same prncples. Scholar. What are the requstes, or gfts, necessary for a good snger. Master. Frst, A snger ought to have a good ear, whch s a most mportant and ndspensable requste ; a gft, wthout whch no perfecton can le obtaned. The perfecton of the ear s derved from two causes, frst, the constructon of the aurcular nerves ; secondly, an early opportunty of hearng good musc; from whch crcumstance t may be observed, that chldren of muscal parents often excel n the professon; the ntervals of sounds thus early habtuated, are, lke ther oral language, learned wthout study. Secondly, The voce, ths s capable of great mprovement, and, lke metal or stone, may be polshed to a hgh degree of perfecton; t s not the extent or compass, nor the body of voce, whch alone wll consttute a good snger, but ts proper and sklful management; good qualty, or sweetness of voce, however, s a very desrable possesson. Thrdly, The swellng and dyng of the voce; [the crescendo and dmnuendo] wthout ths mportant requste no other can aval. Fourthly, Dstnct artculaton of words and sounds; by whch only, meanng and sentment can be expressed. Ffthly, Quck percepton ; to gve to every word ts proper energy or pathos. Sxthly, The physcal requstes; spacous lungs, muscular larynx, wde mouth, wth regular teeth: and, f added to these, an expressve countenance, t wll greatly contrbute to the perfecton of a snger. n addton to the foregong requstes, some knowledge of musc, and of the rules of composton, are of great advantage, wthout whch, no ornaments of cadenzes, graces, shakes, &c. &c. can be adapted, conformably to the laws of harmony and modulaton. Scholar. have always understood that the voce was the prncpal requste for a snger. Muster. allow that a good voce s one of the prncpal requstes, and does not requre so much labour n the culture, for voce alone wll, n general, mpose wth great effect; yet a correct ear, a gradual swellng and dyng of the voce, dstnct artculaton, (whch creates expresson) wth a moderate compass of voce, wll certanly produce B

12 Dalogue "B between Master and Scholar. more real effect on the heart, than voce only can possbly do: Paccharott, Guadagn, Tenducc, Rau2zn, and many others are strkng examples of ths truth. song? Scholar. Ths account encourages me; shall venture to gve you a specmen of my qualfcatons? Wll you hear a Master. would rather declne t at present ; t s a msfortune attendng our art, that songs are learned and sung before the rudments are acqured, whle n other professons there are certan establshed rules, to whch every one submts: n order to attan any degree of perfecton, a snger should be nstructed at a very early perod n lfe, and the practce ought to be gradual ; for, n the frst nstance, the organs of voce are ncapable of much exerton; they acqure strength and flexblty only by degrees, after much patent and attentve exercse; and t too frequently happens that a snger by attemptng dffcultes, before he s accustomed to the performance of progressve passages, gets a habt of sngng out of tune; occasoned chefly by the relaxaton of the wnd-ppe, and the other organs not havng attaned suffcent strength and tone: Knowledge and practce should " grow wth the growth, and strengthen wth the strength ;" on the contrary, not one n a thousand ever thnks of applyng to a master untl they have learned, and sung, most of the popular songs ; can t, therefore, be reasonably expected, that, after consderng themselves as nearly perfect, they wll submt to the drudgery of the art, and the acquston of the fundamental and elementary rules? Scholar. fear that you wll apply these observatons to me ; know many songs, and several of those sung by the most emnent performers. Master. Then shall fnd more trouble, n unteachng you what you have learned, than n teachng you what you ought to know. Scholar. Master. And yet my frends have expressed themselves much pleased wth my performance. f you wsh really to excel, you must study to please, not only your frends who may be prejudced n your favour, but lkewse all your audtors ; and not only to please but to delght and charm, whch s the ntent and power of musc. Let us proceed. WORDS THE ORGN OF MUSC. Master. wll begn by gvng you an dea of the nature of vocal musc ; pray whch do you consder as most nte* restng, words, or muscal sounds? Scholar. Words, should magne.. Master. Why? Scholar. Because they gve meanng to all thngs, and express every passon of the mnd. Master. Words probably frst gave rse to musc, and do you not thnk that f those words were asssted by muscal sounds, they would express stll more forcbly. Scholar. Certanly ; and have often regretted that could not understand the words of the song by many publc performers, from ther ndstnct artculaton. Master. Ths s a great defect, and what every one ought most sedulously to correct words are the prme object: when language was frst framed, manknd endeavoured to gve to the sound of ther words some resemblance to the deas whch they were ntended to represent ; ths s manfest from many words such as rough, smooth, hard, soft, roar, murmur, whsper, sound, hum, hss, loud, hgh, low, crush, and a multtude of others; nstances of whch mght be gven n all languages, both ancent and modern; n the utterance of such words wth emphass, more especally when several of them are strung together n a sentence, there s a knd of vocal musc; n process of tme ths emphass advanced nto muscal sounds hence the orgn of melody, whch, doubtless, at frst, was rude and unpolshed, but, at length, beng reduced to rule, became an art; but as n all other human nventons, both mprovements have been ntroduced, and errors have crept n. Scholar. What are the mprovements and errors to whch you allude? NTRODUCTON OF GRACES. Master. wll endeavour to explan : n the nfancy of the art, t s probable that one sound, or note, was allotted to each syllable; at subsequent perods, sngers ntroduced occasonally, an addtonal note to that already allotted to the syllable, whch was expressed by nflexon of the voce, and denomnated a grace; ths embellshment, whch added great charm to vocal musc, was soon multpled nto varous forms, producng the shake, turn, dvsons, varatons, cadences, &c. &c. and n course of tme gave rse to bravura sngng ; ths new style of sngng these captvatng ornaments, when executed wth neatness and precson, had great nfluence on the ear, but not on the heart : hence arose a knd of contest amongst professors n the vocal art, and those who could quaver most thought themselves the best sngers. The publc taste beng seduced by ths decorated style, expresson, the true perfecton of musc, was destroyed by the excessve and mproper ntroducton of ornaments, ncompatble wth energy

13 Dalogue between Master and Scholar* 3 or pathos. Ornaments should ever be n subordnaton to the characterand desgn of the composton, and ntroduced only on words whch wll admt of decoraton, wthout destroyng the sentment; nor, ndeed, should they ever be ntroduced, but by sngers capable of executng them wth precson andertect; when used properly, and wth moderaton, they are no doubt brllant concomtants to the vocal art; but, at present, no one thnks of sngng a song wthout flourshng on every note, as s now the general practce and manner of our frst performers, whereas, would they content themselves wth sngng accordng to ther ablty, observng the character and meanng of the composton, to gve to each ts true expresson, though ther performance he not ornamented, they may be enttled to as much admraton, as sometmes s excted by a dsplay of supefluous decoraton. Scholar. have often observed ornaments ntroduced not only on every word, but n the mdst of a syllable. Master. Ths s very common, for nstance, t s the fashon to begn landers celebrated song " Angels ever Brght and Far" by a shake on the frst syllable " An-" and after the shake run a dvson of a thousand notes, torturng the audence wth suspence what word t s, tll at length, wth exhausted breath, comes forth " gels." Also n the song " Comfort ye my people" the same lberty s taken wth the sense of the words, and the patence of the audence. " Com" a shake or cadence-" fort" the same mproprety s too often apparent n the words of many other ars. The snger ought to observe, that the repetton of words by the composer was no doubt ntended for the purpose of gvng the snger an opportunty for that dsplay of ornament, whch on ther frst utterance even common sense forbds, and t was from ths consderaton, that the Da-C.po n as was frst ntroduced, whch allows the snger every lattude of ornament consstent wth the rules of harmony, and the character of the composton. Scholar. Could not composers prevent ths mproprety n vocal performers? -REMARKS ON VOCAL PERFORM ERS.- Masler. The evl fear wll not be easly eradcated, for the scarcty of frst-rate performers, renders the generalty of that descrpton so opnonated, that they become not only dctators n ths lcentousness of ornament, but drectos of the author and composer, and also of the manager: the poet, unfortunately, n our modern operas, thus controlled by the snger, s oblged to wrte, cut, and carve, accordng to hs, or her wll and pleasure. The composer, lkewse, s placed n a smlar stuaton, he must compose a bravura, rondo, pollaca, &c. &c. for any stuaton the snger may select, whch frequently destroys the desgn of the pece ; and, even after ths accommodaton, every note of the songs shall be so ornamented and twsted, as to alter entrely the composers ognal deas: n former tmes, the composer had the arrangement of the whole opera, and of course contrved to.place the performers n stuatons adapted to ther abltes; bravura, rondo, polacca, &c. were ntroduced n proper progresson, the uhole formng as t were, an hstorcal pantng, where every part of the composton was n true keepng and just proporton. An opera now s frequently composed by dfferent composers the frst orgn of ths was called Centone, whch s a complaton from dfferent authors, but always under the management of one master, and by that means produce a good effect; whereas, n the modern mode of several composers beng employed n the same opera, and workng separately, and consultng only hs own favorte deas, the whole may be compared to a concert of detached peces, and the orgnal unty of the poets desgn s entrely lost. do not mean to say, that sngers sklled n composton may not be equally capable, as composers, n the arrangement of a pece, but as self-partalty wll n geueral predomnate, t s to be feaed that they may sometmes sacrfce all other consderatons, to the dsplay of ther own talents an nstance of whch occurs to my recollecton n the Opera of Artaxerxes the celebrated Madam Mara always ntroduced the song " Hope told a flatterng tale," n the place of " Monster away," an absurdty whch t s wonderful that any snger could be gulty of, and, stll more so, that any manager would have permtted. Scholar. Are these abuses of recent date? Master. Only of recent date ; wthn my memory, those famous sngers Farnell Cafarello, Gezello, Pacharott, Mlco, Aprl, Davd, Raff, and others of the frst emnence, sung compostons wth lttle ornament, exertng ther talents, on the parts apponted to them; nor were they permtted to ntroduce, at random, -any graces, ornaments, &c. as caprce drected ; but n such places only as the composer had allotted. Scholar. What was the partcular excellence of these sngers? Master. Ther mert conssted n the Portamento <l voce Scholar. What s the meanng of ths talan term? PORTAMENTO D VOCE. Master. Portamento d voce s the perfecton of vocal musc ; t conssts n the swell and dyng of the voce, the sldng and blendng oue note nto another wth delcacy and expresson and expresson comprehends every charm s 2

14 4.. Dalogue between Master and Scholar. a whch musc can produce; the Portamento d voce may justly be compared to the hghest degree of refnement n elegant pronuncaton n speakng. Endeavour to attan ths hgh qualfcaton of the Portamento, and must agan repeat, delver your words wth energy and emphass, artculate them dstnctly, let the countenance be adapted to the subject, and fear not your success. EFFECT OF COUNTENANCE. Scholar. never conceved any attenton to the varaton of countenance necessary, unless were a professonal snger. Master. You are much mstaken, for words ether n speakng or sngng have most effect on the heart, when accompaned wth sutable expresson of countenance, as descrbed n these elegant lnes of the lt. lon. t. B. Sherdan; Sherdans Monody on GarrcKs Death. " The Grace of Acton the adapted Men Fathful as Nature to the vared scene ; Th expressve Glance whose subtle comment draw! Entrancd attenton, and a mute applause Gesture that marks, wth force and feelng fraught, A sense n slence, and a wjll n thought." but some dfference must be allomed n the manner of performance by a professor or an amateur ; the professor s the hstorcal, the amateur the mnature panter. Scholar. But can expresson of countenance be acqured r from whence s t derved? Master. From great sensblty, whch pourtrays n the countenance every passon and feelng that affects or nterests the heart. n the subjects am now about to enter upon, the opnons advance may probably, by many contemporary nstructors, be deemed heresy aganst the muscal system ; but as they have not been nconsderately formed, and are n my judgment founded on truth, wll, trust, be suffcent sancton for my thus offerng them to the publc. earnestly recommend you to partcularly attend to the subsequent observatons, as t s of the utmost mportance that you should clearly comprehend ther sprt and ntenton. NTONATON, The present mode of teachng- the frst exercces of vocal musc s by establshng the ntonaton of the greater dstances before the smaller ; and n these nstructons usng only the major gamut. From Do to Re, (a tone dstance) Re to M, (do.) M to Fa, (a semtone) Fa to Sol, (a tone) Sol to La, (do.) La to S (do.) S to Do (a semtone) By ths method, we establsh the dstant ntervals of the frst two tones before proceedng to the semtone, (and as n all exercses mechancal or mental, become more famlar than the semtones, the mnor gamut; whereas an equal faclty n both s necessary, the faculty most employed, may best obtan perfecton) consequently the tones wll and also the ntervals belongng to the major gamut, n preference to those of each beng alternately n Use. t s, therefore, n my opnon, best to begn wth the smaller dstances, ncreasng n regular gradatons to the farther degrees of ntervals; " for a man must walk before he learns to dance," and t must be admtted, that a chld, when frst attemptng to clmb up stars, would fnd more dffculty n takng two steps at once than a sngle one, and would be stll more perplexed, f drected to take sometmes one and sometmes two ; therefore, as the arrangement of the gamut n the dfferent keys occasons the stuaton of semtones and tones to vary, t s necessary to be equally acquanted wth both ther ntervals. Vde Example (page ].) The late celebrated Dr. Arnold, very sensbly observed, that the anatomy of the voce would, perhaps, never be clearly explaned tll some physcan should study the subject who was also a good muscan. hope hs predcton wll be verfed n the followng observatons, whch have been favoured wth by my respected pupl and frend, Dr. Ktchner. " The prncpal organ of the voce s the larynx, whch s an assemblage of cartlages, joned nto a hollow machne, or ppe, whch receves the ar from the fauces, and transmts t nto the wndppe. To produce an acute and shrll voce, the larynx s drawn up more powerfully as the voce s requred to be sharper, nsomuch, that an nclnaton of the head forwards, s sometmes called n to assst, by whch the powers of the muscles elevatng the larynx are rendered more effectual, so that to rase the voce an octave, you may perceve t to rse nearly half an nch, and when we sng an octave below, the larynx wll be depressed about half an nch thus, by exercsng the organ of the voce, we are enabled to ncrease ts compass, and sometmes gan a note or two above, and as much below our orgnal scale : the strength of voce s proportonable to the quantty of ar blown through the glotts, and

15 Dalogue between Master and Scholar. "5 therefore a large par of lungs, easly dlatable, wth an ample larynx and wndppe, joned wth a powerful expraton on the mechancal powers, wll produce ths effect." t s a curous anatomcal fact, that n dssectng the organs of the voce n twenty dfferent subjects, we hardly fnd any varety n the appearance of them thus t seems far to suppose, that the superor qualty and power of some voces arse more from sngers usng ther organs n a pecular manner, than from any pecularty of structure of the parts : ths s, perhaps, proved by the uncommon powers some possess of mtatng the tone and style of varous sngers. You may observe, that the dfferent tones of the voce are produced by the dfferent postons whch the larynx assumes n ts rsng and fallng; therefore, f only accustomed to one set of postons or exertons, t becomes extremely dffcult to render t flexble to any other; from hence may be derved mperfect ntonaton ; for a farther explanaton of whch refer to page 2. Brydone n hs Tour through Scly, speakng of Gabrell, thus remarks : " That wonderful flexblty of voce, that runs wth such rapdty and neatness through the most mnute dvsons, " and produces almost nstantaneously so great a varety of modulaton, must surely depend on the very ncest tone of " the fbres; and f these are, n the smallest degree, relaxed, or ther elastcty dmnshed, how s t possble ther " contractons and expansons can so readly obey the wll, and produce these effects? The openng of the glotts, whch " forms the voce, s extremely small, and n every varety of tone, ts dameter must suffer a sensble change; for the " same dameter must ever produce the same tone; so wonderfully mnute are ts contractons and dlatatons, that Dr. " Kel, thnk, computes that, n some voces, ts openng, not more than the tenth of an nch, s dvded nto " upwards of 200 parts, the dfferent sound of every one of whch s perceptble to an exact ear. Now, what a nce " tenson of fbres must ths requre! should magne every the most mnute change n the ar, must cause a sensble " dfference, and that n our foggy clmate the fbres would be n danger of losng ths wonderful sensblty ; or, at least, " that they would very often be. put out of tune. t s not the same wth an ordnary voce, where the varety of dv- " sous run through, and the volublty wth whch they are executed, bear no proporton to those of Gabrell." Nature, n the system of sounds, seems to have apponted certan bounds and effects, whch, n the arrangement of the notes of the scale, n course of tme, Art dscovered, and from those fxed nherent measures arranged a gamut; from thence we may be convnced, nature, but lke a number of consonants wthout a vowel. t s that a successon, entrely of semtones or tones, would not be accordng to the truth of the happy combnaton of the varyng sounds whch form the gamut, that has afforded manknd the means of so dvne an enjoyment as that conveyed by the heavenly language of musc; why, then, t, by presumng to arrange sounds as nature never drected? should we endeavour to destroy The executon of runnng up and down an octave of semtones wth great rapdty, as practsed by some sngers, to the wonder of many, appears no very extraordnary effort for my part, should be more surprsed to hear them run up and down an octave of all tones, and one would be as mproper and unnatural as the other, but n pont of dffculty, mght excte more surprse. Snce expresson s essental to the producng of effect, may not an unmeanng successon of sounds, whch convey nether mage nor sensaton to the bran, be deemed an mperfecton n vocal musc? can such sounds form any part of Superor sngers " The song thats to the soul so sweet? " El cantar che nellanmo s sente? are fond of ndulgng every extravaganza that dsplays the flexblty and commandng powers of ther voce ; yet they should recollect, that sdch flghts, even when executed wth exquste perfecton, do not effect the desgn of musc ; for though they may amuse the ear, they cannot reach the heart musc h for nobler purposes, to convey sentment and passon, to touch the heart wth sorrow, to enlven t wth joy, nspre heroc ardour, to refne and elevate the soul to Heaven. The nfluence of musc pervades all nature, desgned for our solace and delght, even from the earlest years of nfancy to lfes last closng scene ; ts soft sounds soothe the nfant to repose, ts tender tones, expressve of the lovers pan, steal ts martal accents rouse the solders ardour, to the heart, nor vanly plead hs cause: and lead hm proudly forward to the feld of glory; The salor, amdst the terrors of tempestuous seas, releves the gloom wth some remembered dtty; and the peasants heavest tol becomes less wearsome, cheered by the charms of melody! Throughout socety the convval banquet, the gay dance, the feast of Hymen, relgons holy rtes, and every event of nterest or mportance, are ever graced and accompaned by musc : Could these effects be produced n any degree by the dsplay of runnng dvsons of semtones? Scholar. Ths unversal nfluence of musc, renders me anxously desrous to obtan that knowledge of the art whch may enable me to produce ts pleasng effects. c

16 Mr. 6 Dalogue between Master and Scholar. Master. Towards accomplshng that end, you are already nformed, that many qualtes and acqurements must combne ; we wll proceed to the menton of others, whch are also of great mportance. RHYTHM OF TME. t s an old adage " Hours (that s, a rgd observance of tme,) were made for slaves. Ths s no less true n the muscal than n the moral prncple. f we are to credt the wonderful effects produced by musc amongst the ancents, as related by hstorans, we shall fnd no reason to presume they knew any thng of lme. The rhythm of tme appears, therefore, to be an nventon of modern date, and from hence t has arsen, that melody beng shackled and restraned wthn ts strct lmts, the energy or pathos of sngng, and the accent of words, have become as t were cramped and fettered. Scholar. have always heard, that the acquston of perfect tme s a most essental requste n muscans of every denomnaton. Master. must agan request you wll not msapprehend me, but attend to the sprt of the maxm. Tme s ndspensably necessary n musc where many parts are combned, and consequently to be executed by many performers: We are, therefore, under great oblgaton to ths nventon; but to melorate the rgour of ts laws n melody emnent sngers have assumed a lcence, of devatng from the strct tme, by ntroducng the Tempo Kubato. Scholar. What s ths talan Term? TEMPO RUBATO Master. s a detracton of part of the tme from one note, and restorng t by ncreasng the length of another or vce versa ; so that, whlst a snger s, n some measure, sngng ad lbtum, the orchestra, whch accompanes hm, keeps the tme frmly and regularly. Composers seem to have arranged ther works n such a manner as to admt of ths lberty, wthout offendng the la,ws of harmony: one cauton, however, becomes hghly necessarynamely, that ths grace, or lcence, s to be used wth moderaton and dscreton, n order to avod confuson for too frequent a use of Tempo Rubato, may produce Tempo ndavolalo. Scholar. Although should not be able to attan the perfecton of the Tempo Rubato, hope f sng n perfect tme shall not offend refned ears. Master. You gve me a gentle crtque on my own remarks ; n every professon, or art, the refnement or fnsh, s the most dffcult to attan ; there s a certan progress n every study, whch human ngenuty may soon reach ; but there are many hard steps to surmount, before t can arrve at perfecton ; observe that, before you begn the practce of the Tempo Rubato, you ought to be a profcent n the knowledge of perfect tme. Ths talan lcence of Tempo Rubato, may be used n any speces of musc where there s a leadng or predomnant melody, and the management of t must be left to the skll and prudence of the performer, on account of the varous characters and meanng pecular to dfferent compostons, whch the performer must carefully dscrmnate n order to know where ths alteraton of the tme wll produce happy effect ; and n usng ths lcence, he should artfully manage the lengthenng and shortenng of notes, to restore to the next what he has stolen from the precedng, by whch means the laws of harmony may be preserved. QUCKENNG OR RETARDNG OF TME. Another mprovement, by devaton from strct tme, s to be made by the snger delverng some phrases or passages n qucker or slower tme than he began wth, n order to gve emphass, energy, br pathos, to partcular words ; and cannot llustrate what would nculcate on ths head more forcbly, than by rectng an nstance of the effect produced by ths knd of expresson, by my much esteemed frend, Braham, n my song of ", Vctory," n the Opera of the Travellers. When composed thssong, n arrangng the musc to the frst Stanza " He was famd for deeds of Arms; "\ T.,. -,.,,, f" Battle now wth fury glows, could not magne that the same melody would be s * She a mad of enved charms. \? * J "Hostle blood n torrents flows.". sutable to the words of the second Verse. &c j j &c &c and accordngly vared the musc. At the frst rehearsal, the melody of the frst verse havng produced some effect, Mr. Braham advsed me not to change t, but repeat the same melody to the second verse,, to whch reluctantly agreed, fearng to be crtcsed by the connosseurs on two ponts; frst, for havng expressed two passons so contrary to each other wth the same melody ; and, secondly, as that melody had not any change of modula- ton, consequently mght seem monotonous; however, Mr. Braham thought that acceleratng the tme at the second verse, and addng a fuller accompanyment, would produce the change n pont of sense and expresson, the effect fully justfed hs advce and opnon, and to Mr. Brahams emnent talents feel ndebted for the popularty o ths song. Scholar. The more hear from you, the more am alarmed, lest my abltes wll not be adequate to the attanment of so dffcult an art. Master. Remember that n musc, as n all other arts, when you have passed through the gradaton of the necessary rules, your mnd, assmlatng the varous parts of ths acqured knowledge, creates, as t were, a new percepton, that renders all your farther progress easy and pleasant. Our next subject n order s the PHRASE. Scholar. What s meant by a phrase n musc?

17 Dalogue o betueen Master and Scholar. Master. A Phrase n musc s a short porton of an ar, or other composton, consstng of one or more notes, and forms, wthout nterrupton, a sense more or less complete, and whch s termnated by a decrease of the voce formng a cadence more or less perfect; n melody, the Phrase s consttuted by the ar, but n harmony, t s a regular seres of concords, unted together by dssonances expressed or understood. The observance of the muscal Phrase s necessary to regulate the takng breath, and to make the sense and meanng of a composton understood n whch there are varous styles of musc. r STYLES N MUSC. Style n musc denotes a pecular manner of composton, n whch there s a dstncton n respect of the dfferent genus of countres and natons as the talan, the German, the French, the Spansh, &c. &c. the partcular style of a natonal musc s deduced from melody alone, the peculartes of whch melody orgnated from the dfference of gamuts. Scholar. thought the same gamut was used n all natons where musc s cultvated. Master. The muscal gamut has, lke language, undergone many revolutons. The gamut now establshed almost throughout Europe, s the mnor and major scales of Gudo Aretho, whch s not so properly termed hs nventon, as an mprovement made by hm on the dagram or scale of the ancents, the gamut s also called the harmoncal hand, because Gudo frst made use of the fgure of a hand to arrange hs notes on. Fndng the Greek dagram of too small an extent, he added fve more chords or notes to t, one below the gravest notes of the ancents, and four above theacutcst the frst, he denoted by the Greek letter gamma, and from thence the whole scale derved ts name of gamut. Scholar. Do the lavs of harmony vary n dfferent natons? Master. The prncples of harmony are nherent n nature, and must therefore be radcally the same n all natons; art dscovered, and from thence deduced, the system of harmony, establshng those mmutable laws whch gude ts practce. Harmony regulates the tones, confrms ther proprety, and renders modulaton more dstnct t adds force to the expresson, and grace to the ar; but from melody alone proceeds that nvncble power of pathetc accents over the soul; a dfference of style s also produced by the nature of the varous subjects ntended to be expressed, and here the talan school affords a rch varety. Scholar, low are those dfferent styles dstngushed? Master. For a partcular explanaton must refer you to the treatse; the term style, s also appled to the cast and manner of performance; a snger, lke an orator, wll form to hmself a pecular dstngushng manner, but the command of a good style can only result from taste, aded by judgment and experence, whch wll teach you to ntroduce embellshments wth proprety. Scholar. What are the embellshments of sngng. Master. perceve that you, lke all other begnners, are mpatent for the ornaments and graces, and are more nclned to drect your attenton to the superfcal than the sold, but the substance should be well formed before you thnk of adornng t; and recollect, that the frmest bodes take the fnest polsh. One of the prncpal embellshments s the shake. SHAKE. On the. perfecton of the ntonaton of the Gamut that of the Shake wll depend. The Shake s the quck alternate repetton of two notes, not exceedng the dstance of a semtone or tone, and s effected by the flexle moton of the larynx ; ts power of artculatng the Shake s chefly derved from the natural constructon, whch s more or less plable n dfferent persons. Unless the shake be cultvated wth great ncety, t s apt to have a number of defects ; they who have t almost naturally, execute t wth mperfecton, for scholars, from ths faclty, wll not always attend strctly to the rules for ts proper cultvaton ; therefore, so confuse and blend the notes, that whether semtones or tones, cannot be dstngushed ; and should they be able to utter some notes wth flexblty, thnk they have obtaned t; but the acqurement of the true and perfect shake, s, wth many, extremely tedous; and scholars, fndng ther progress towards t so slow, despar of accomplshng ther am, and abandon the attempt, frequently mputng ther falure to ther master, nstead of ther own nablty or nattenton ; havng supposed, perhaps, that the master could as t were, by magc, endow them wth ths accomplshment, whereas he can only mpart the method and necessary rules for ts acqurement after whch, success must entrely depend on the scholar, who ought ever to hold n mnd ths maxm, that steady, perseverng practce wll conquer the greatest dffcultes : a more partcular explanaton, you wll fnd n the ensung treatse. (P. 20.) Ths elegant and mportant ornament of the vocal art, wthout whch melody would often langush, lke all other embellshments, when too profusely and njudcously used, loses ts beauty and effect ; for sngers who possess t, wll seldom or never forbear ntroducng t, though thereby they destroy both sense and expresson. n

18 . 8 Dalogue betocen Master and Scholar o The other ornaments of sngng, such as Turns, Appogaturas, Graces, Dvsons, &c. are explaned and exemplfed n the treatse to whch now refer you. /; Scholar. You have not yet mentoned apart of the study of vocal musc whch have always heard s hghly mportant, the Solfeggo. Master. SOLFEGGO. Many devote years to ths practce alone, (n taly very frequently sx years are thus employed,) thnkng t mpossble to be profcents n vocal musc wthout such length of practce whle others but slghtly regard the use of solfeggo; and here may quote my Preceptor, Porpora, whose decded opnon t was, that solfegg were not properly understood; the mprovement, of the voce he mantaned s best acqured by soundng the letter A the poston utterng ths letter beng most favorable to produce a free and clear tone. of the mouth n The system of solfang contnued to be rgdly observed whle musc was chefly cultvated n the Closter, and ts attanment was a complcated task of great labour and dffculty ; the syllables appled to each note were changed as the modulaton vared, Do was always placed to the frst note of the key, Re to the second, and so on ; therefore the same note by change of key mght alternately be expressed by each of the seven syllables; ths system has been gradually modfed, and at length mostly abandoned, the gamut beng now reduced to the unvaryng appropraton of, Do to C, Re to D, M to E, Fa to F, Sol to G, La to A, S to B. > for every modulaton of key, whch has removed much dffculty ; a farther explanaton you wll fnd n the ensung treatse, (page 34.) HNTS TO PARENTS, Observaton and experence have evnced that there are many whose souls are susceptble to the charms of musc, yet, _ notwthstandng, are ncapable of acqurng the art; few can be persuaded of ths, and a master were he honestly to tell such a pupl " yon do not possess the talents and requste gfts for musc" would, most probably, gve great offence. can say, from experence, have never been able to convnce a parent, nor have ever lost a scholar from a far representaton of a chlds nablty : for so prevalent s the rage for muscal educaton, that persons totally unqualfed, waste n - ths unavalng pursut that porton of ther tme, whch, employed n studes suted to ther genus, mght reward them wth success. What credt and advantage to themselves, or pleasure to others, can such muscans create? f ntended for professors, they never can arrve at perfecton ; f amateurs most partcularly the lades, who frequently devote perhaps sx hours a day for years to ths study, no sooner are they marred, or free from parental controul, pano forte s locked up, and good morrow to t than the Scholar. can nether afford sx hours a day, nor spend a fortune n the pursut of musc, but once attaned, shall never wllngly abandon t. Master. To Scholars of genus there too often exsts an nconvenence detrmental to ther progress : a master s desred to gve nstructon wthout acquantng hm how much tme s ntended to be devoted to the stud}; whch nformaton, f obtaned, would enable hm. to arrange hs method n a manner most benefcal to hs pupl: also the partcular style best suted to the scholars abltes should be frst consdered. Scholar. My ambton s to sng well, n whatever style you may thnk am most lkely to succeed. Master. wll thenfrst drect my attenton, to determne whch wll be most sutable to your natural endowments, the cantable, bravura, characterstc, comc; and thereby be better enabled to render you servce : but must repeat, whatever style we may fx on, n order to sng wth meanng and expresson, the followng mportant requstes are ndspensable. Frst, ntonaton. Secondly, Crescendo and Dmnuendo. Thrdly, Artculaton. Fourthly, Gvng the proper character to the words and the dfferent styles of musc, leavng extravaganzas and stage trcks to professors. shall conclude my Preface wth some extracts from the well-known publcaton of my countryman Tos, a book whch had never met wth tll ths Work was nearly completed : wth hm may say, that these " my remarks and exhortatons, proceedng from my zeal, may clam some regard, as whoever possesses the faculty of thnkng, may once, at least, n sxty years be supposed to thnk rght." Although our opnons on some ponts dffer, n the observatons here annexed we entrely agree. " f the generalty of sngers," says Tos, " dd not persuade themselves that they have studed suffcently, there would not be such a scarcty of the best, nor such a swarm of tre worst; the best snger n the world contnues " to study, and perssts n t as much to mantan hs reputaton, as he dd to acqure t; to arrve at that glorous end,

19 Dalogue between Master and Scholar. 9 every body knows that there s no other means than study; but that does not suffce; t s also necessary to know n "what manner, and wth whose assstance, those studes should be (jursued. " There are now-a-days as many Masters as there are Professors of Musc n any knd ; every one teaches ; do not mean the frst rudments only, that would be an affront to them; am now speakng of those who take upon them the part of a legslator n the most fnshed part of sngng. So mschevous a pretenson prevals not only among those who can barely be sad to sn;*, but among the meanest nstrumental performers ; who, though they never sung, nor knew how to sng, pretend not only to teach, but to perfect, and fnd some who are weak enough to be mposed on. But what s more, the nstrumental performers of some ablty magne, that the beautful graces and flourshes wth ther nmble fngers, wll have the same effect when executed wth the voce; but t wll not do t s a very great error for the voce (whch ought to be the standard of mutaton by nstruments) to copy all the trcks practsed on the several nstruments, to ts very great detrment. should be the frst to condemn the magsteral lberty take, were t meant to gve offence to. such sngers, and nstrumental performers of worth, who know how to sng, perform, and nstruct; but my correcton ams no farther than to the petulancy of those who have no capacty. " t may seem to many, that every perfect snger must also be a perfect nstructor; but t s not so, for hs qualfcatons (though ever so great) are nsuffcent t he cannot communcate hs sentments wth ease, and n a method adapted to the ablty of the scholar; f he has not some noton of composton, and a manner of nstructng, whch may seem rather an entertanment than a lesson; wth the happy talent to shew the ablty of the snger to advantage, and to conceal hs mperfectons. " A master possessed of the above mentoned qualfcatons, s capable of teachng; wth those he wll rase a desre to study, and wll correct errors wth reason. " le knows that a defcency of ornament dspleases as much as the too great abundance of them ; that a snger makes one mgud end dull wth too lttle, and cloys one wth too much; but of the two, he wll dslke the former most, though t gves less offence, the latter beng easer to be amended; he wll tell you that a snger should not copy ; even the most admred graces of a professor ought not to be mcated and coped; a bad mtaton s a contagous evl, to whch those who study are not lable. " f sngers would be pleased to consder, that by copyng servlely even a good one, they may become very bad ones, they would not appear so rdculous on the stage, for ther affectaton n presumng to sng the ars of the person they copy wth the same graces : copyng comes from lazness, and none copy ll but out of gnorance. Let t be remembered also, that arrogance, though t can assume the appearance of ablty, upon a nearer vew, t s gnorance n masquerade, and wll benfallbly dscovered.. Arrogance sometmes serves as a poltc artfce to hde falngs; for example, certan sngers would be concerned, under the shame of not beng able to sng a few bars at sght, f wth shrugs, scornful glances, and malcous shakng of ther heads, he dd not gve the audtors to understand, that ther gross errors are owng to hm who accompanes, or to the orchestra. He s stll more to be blamed who, when sngng n two, three, or four parts, does so rase hs voce as to drown hs companons; for f t s not gnorance, t s somethng worse. " He also s equally absurd, who never sngs n an Opera wthout thrustng n one ar whch he always carres n hs pocket; he who brbes the composer to gve hm an ar that was ntended for another, and who objects to sng n company wth such a man, or wthout such a woman. " To sum up all no one can be called a snger of mert, but he who s correct, and who executes wth a varety of graces of hs own, whch hs skll nspres hm wth unpremedtatedly : knowng f he would, contnually repeat an ar wth the self-same passages and graces." that a professor of emnence cannot, AVe wll now proceed to the practcal part of the art of sngng concludng our present dscusson by the followng observaton. Explanatons of length are usually thought, bv parents, of lttle use, and that tme s lost unless the master sngs; the scholar also, mpatent to begn sngng, lstens wth careless and superfcal attenton but be assured that teachng the at of sngng wthout the prelmnary knowledge, s nomore than teachng a parrot to speak. trust, from our present preparatory dalogue, you are fully aware of the necessty of enterng on your studes v th a steady attenton and perseverng assduty, wthout whch no advantage can be obtaned; and remember, that should you arrve at the hghest procency of what s generally termed executon, vz. a faclty of voce n runnng rapd dvsons and other dffcult passages, should you possess n perfecton the» portamento d voce, dvde the phrases wth accuracy, and embellsh wth all the ornaments of the art, yet, unless you can anmate ths combnaton of excellences, they are stll unnterestng, unntellgent, and unfnshed : The Promethean fre of eloquent expresson, as the soul to the body ntutvely gudes and drects the whole, whle the latter, the mere agent of ts wll, when thus nspred, conveys wth grace and truth every sentment and every passon. D

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21 > j COBRAS SW&ERS PKBCEPTOK Progressh e rules for daly practce proportoned to the age and ablty of Pupls. The ntenton of ths Exorcse s to acqure the art of takng breath and how to retan t, by whch s effected the swellng and dyng of the Voce; the most mportant qualfcaton n the vocal art, and may be learned n a few days by moderate, regular, and frequent practce. Begn by half an hour at a tme, ncreasng more and more n proporton to the age and strength of the consttuton on an average from two to three hours each day, untll t s acqured, after whch you may relax the exerton, but must never abandon t totally as long as you wsh to mprove and preserve your Voce. The best tme for practce s consdered to be after break fast, the Lungs then beng n the hap _ pest state to bear the exerton; durng ths progress you must abstan from any other Sngng, because, for ths apponted Exercse, all your power should be reserved. s. Place yourself near a Pano Forte and before a Lookng Gla-ss, standng, you wll thus poss - ess more strength. 2 - Keep the Head and Body uprght whch gves free passage to the Voce. 3? Open the Mouth n an oblong form, as smlng, so that the lower Lp may not rse above the Teeth, whch otherwse wll damp and weaken the tone of the Voce. 4-*." Take as much breath as you can, draw t wth a moderate quckness, wth suspraton, as f sghng, use t wth economy, and at the same nstant sound the letter A as pronounced by the talan or Scotch, thus, ah..j. Take any Note of LesSsON, page 3, the most easy and powerful wthn the natural compass of the Voce, whch n general does not exceed twenty Semtones (see page 66 NLJ.Too much exerton above or below the natural compass would be detrmental to the Voce, and t ho not felt n youth, ts njurous effects wll soon be dscovered when the consttuton of the Voce begns to relax. A Cauton to the Scholar. After the exerton on any sngle Note, whch f practsed wth proper energy wll exhaust the breath leavng a palptaton of the Lungs; forbear to proceed to the next Note, untll ths selsto ; -eh - :