(Johann Adam Hiller) Treatise On Vocal Performance (BookFi) PDF

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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, par-
ticularly ornamentation, in a manner that his peers, the middle class, could
emulate.
This present edition, translated with an introduction and extensive commen-
tary 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.
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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
  

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© 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 page ix
Translator’s introduction and commentary 1

Note on the text and musical examples 32
      33

Preface 35
Dedication 49
1 On the qualities of the human voice and its improvement 51
2 On good performance and how to use the voice 56
3 On good performance, with regard to text and music 66
4 On good performance, with regard to ornaments 72
5 On good performance, with regard to passaggi 101
6 On good performance, with regard to the various genres of vocal
forms and in consideration of performing in various places 110
7 On cadenzas 121
8 On arbitrary variation of the aria 135
Appendix: Biographical information on musicians mentioned
by Hiller 155
Bibliography 185
Index 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 insight-
ful 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 numer-
ous details; and Julie and Sascha for their patience.
ix
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 mas-
terly educator, Hiller initiated much improvement in the state of singing in
Germany through his teaching and diverse activities as critic, composer, conduc-
tor, and music director in Leipzig. With this treatise and the earlier, more elemen-
tary 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 achieve-
ments 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.
2 Translator’s introduction and commentary
work of Tosi–Agricola, from the viewpoint of a new “enlightened” musical sen-

sibility 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 dis-
tinction from that of the court music sponsored by the aristocracy in the eight-
eenth century. Although he was occasionally employed by aristocratic sponsors,
Hiller was a musician who exemplified many of the virtues of his social back-
ground: honesty, diligence, versatility, adaptability, and innovation. The histori-
cal 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 assim-
ilate the accomplishments of foreign musical cultures. Hiller was an important
figure in the endeavor to shape a musical idiom which gave expression to the feel-
ings 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
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 orna-
ments 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.”
3
This summarizing view in Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 5th edn. (New
4
York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), p. 443. Butt, Music Education, p. 177.
5
Ibid., p. 179.
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 dedica-
tion 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 train-
ing 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 discourag-
ing 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 move-
ment 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
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.”
7
See “Preface,” p. 38 below.
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 train-
ing 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, cultu-
rally 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 con-
tributed 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
Karl Peiser, Johann Adam Hiller: Ein Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Leipzig: Gebrüder Hug &
Co., 1894), p. 41.
9
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.
10
Arnold Schering, Musikgeschichte Leipzigs in drei Bänden, Vol. II, Von 1650 bis 1723 (Leipzig: Fr. Kistner &
C. F. W. Siegel, 1926), p. 6.
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 per-
formance of the second part of Der stolze Bauer, however, met with a cool recep-
tion; 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 per-
formed 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 ordi-
nary 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
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).
12
Donald Jay Grout with Hermine Weigel Williams, A Short History of Opera, 3rd edn. (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1988), p. 295.
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 con-
ventions 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 endear-
ingly 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
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, Philipps-
Universität, Marburg an der Lahn, 1969.
14
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.
15
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).
16
“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.
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 suc-
cessful 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 train-
ing and in scholarship. While he lacked the financial means to afford a proper
musical education himself, he managed to achieve a sufficient level of perfor-
mance 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 auto-
biography, 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 pre-
occupation with the human voice. Like so many of his contemporaries, he con-
sidered 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 environ-
ment 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
Einstein (ed.), Lebensläufe, vol. I, p. 14. Despite this claim, Hiller seemed to have some confidence in his abil-
ities 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” indi-
cates Hiller’s general teaching interests and his experience as a self-trained player as well.
18
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 com-
piled a catalogue of German plays from 1450, including those with music.
19
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.
20
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 min-
ister’s residence in Dresden, among them several of Hasse’s operas. The minister is notorious for the enor-
mous 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.
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 instru-
mental in providing a new facility for Hiller’s Gewandhaus Conzerte in 1781, a mile-
stone 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 melo-
dies 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 22
Einstein (ed.), Lebensläufe, vol. I, p. 18. Ibid., p. 14.
23
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.
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 direc-
tor. 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 par-
ticular the music of Hasse.26 In addition to heading the Grosses Conzert and includ-
ing 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 com-
munity 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 perform-
ances were thought of as rehearsals, but in order to give the group the oppor-
tunity 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
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
Tor.’” Creuzburg, Die Gewandhaus-Konzerte zu Leipzig, p. 12.
26
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.
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 tradi-
tion 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 sym-
phony 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 perform-
ing, enjoying each other’s company in the process. Soon they were giving con-
certs 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 bur-
27
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.
28
Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), p. 53.
29
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.”
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 adap-
tation 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 sup-
plements 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 publica-
tion. 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 Choral-
Melodienbuch 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 educa-
tional 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 31 32
Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos, pp. 53–54. Ibid., pp. 153–154. See the works listed in fn. 40.
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 appar-
ently 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 entertain-
ments 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 fifty-
33
Rebling, Die soziologischen Grundlagen, p. 58.
34
David C. Taylor and Hiram Kelly Moderwell, The Voice and Vocal Music. The Art of Music, vol. V (New York:
35 36
The National Society of Music, 1915), p. 176. Ibid. Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos, p. 55.
37
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.’”
38
Ibid., p. 73. “Das mußte aber bereits in frühester Jugend beginnen, und zu diesem Zweck diente ihm das
kleine Lied.”
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 experi-
ence 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 hon-
orable 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 comfort-
able drawing of breath, of a pure and clear pronunciation, however essential these ele-
ments 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
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.
40
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 komi-
schen 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 con-
strictions 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 inter-
esting “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.).
41
This passage from Hiller’s 1774 “Vorrede” is quoted in Butt’s translation from his Music Education, pp. 167f.
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 con-
certs, 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 tradi-
tion of treatise writing, Hiller compiled information, review articles, and evalu-
ations 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 con-
sistency. 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 impor-
tance 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 43
Butt, Music Education, p. 168. Peiser, Hiller, p. 14.
44
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.
45
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.”
46
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 accom-
plished 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.
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 per-
sistence in improving untenable situations and obsolete conditions which prohib-
ited 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 cas-
trati 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 acquain-
tances 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 person-
ally (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 neces-
sity 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 compo-
sitions than by the works of other composers. Although Hiller favored Hasse and
Recognizing Hiller’s championing of women, Butt observes: “His departure from the norms of the conser-
vative 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).
47
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.
48
[ 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.
49
[Rochlitz], “Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,” p. 845.
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 trans-
late the Latin text of the Requiem Mass in order to make it accessible to his pre-
dominantly 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 ingeni-
ous 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 sug-
gestions 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 assess-
ment 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 51
Peiser, Hiller, p. 94. [Rochlitz], “Zum Andenken Johann Adam Hillers,” p. 857.
52
Peiser, Hiller, pp. 63–64.
53
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.
notable figure in German music education during the latter half of the eight-
eenth 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 practi-
cal 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 elemen-
tary 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 perfor-
mance 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 55
Butt, Music Education, p. 167. Ibid.
level of singing in their country. Although Hiller speaks with unmistakable frus-
tration about the state of things in vocal music, his treatise displays a positive atti-
tude 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 elemen-
tary aspects and offers a sophisticated and comprehensive method of perfor-
mance 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 arbi-
trary 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 well-
chosen 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 sensibil-
ity 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 accor-
dance 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.”
the direction of Tosi and Agricola and, to a great extent, preserving the Baroque
concept and tradition of performance practice and ornamentation, Hiller’s trea-
tises 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 pre-
serve 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 invalu-
able 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 intri-
cate 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
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.
58
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 con-
cerning “good voice production, clean and clear pronunciation, smooth breathing,” which “is nowhere
thought of, though everything depends on it.”
words were more prominent. It is in this context that Hiller devotes an entire
chapter to declamation and its impact upon both unembellished and orna-
mented 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 ornamen-
tation 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 respec-
tively 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 princi-
ples 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 lan-
guage, stressing the notion that musical phraseology should reflect and enhance
these structuring principles.60 Hiller, like Rellstab, emphasizes that it is the com-
poser’s task to be observant of the patterning principles of language in his com-
positions. 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
Johann Karl Friedrich Rellstab, Versuch über die Bereinigung der musikalishcen und oratorischen Deklamation (Berlin:
Im Verlag der Musikhandlung und Musikdruckerey des Verfassers, 1786).
60
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.
61
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 ver-
treten können”) (Rellstab, Versuch, p. 15).
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, orator-
ical, 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 gram-
matical 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 lan-
guage, Hiller feels that the singer must go further than the composer in express-
ing, 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 imper-
fections of the compositions, or even to correct obvious mistakes by the com-
poser.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 per-
former. 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 func-
tions. Although he affirms the need for ornamentation, Hiller realizes that orna-
ments 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
Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. 27; p. 67 below.
63
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.)
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 incor-
porated 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 lim-
iting 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 orna-
ment 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 per-
formance 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 espe-
cially 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
Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, pp. 34f; p. 72 below.
65
66
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).
67
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.
For Hiller, the notation of ornaments is not a mere provision against a poten-
tial 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 perform-
ance practice. In addition, Hiller stresses that ornamentation is a means of
emphasis and accentuation in the music–text relationship. In linking ornamen-
tation to declamation, Hiller makes the point that “all musical ornaments are
essentially accents, and should be used to emphasize certain notes and syl-
lables.”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 princi-
ples 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 dis-
cussions 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 orna-
ments 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 princi-
ples 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
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 embel-
lishments 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.
68
69
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 orna-
mental methods of the early Baroque.”
70
71
72
Joan Smiles, “Improvised Ornamentation in Late Eighteenth-Century Music: An Examination of
Contemporary Evidence,” Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1975, p. 284.
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 neces-
sary 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 over-
abundance 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 musikalisch-
richtigen 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
Robert Donington, The Interpretation of Early Music (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974), p. 241.
74
“weil er leicht Überdruß erregt, wenn er zu oft gehört wird.” Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen
Gesange, p. 66; p. 93 below.
75
Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, p. 38. See footnote 63 above.
76
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 com-
binations of these given figures. Realizing that it is difficult to describe the
musical possibilities that such combinations can unfold, Hiller includes numer-
ous 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 musikalisch-
zierlichen 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 subser-
vient 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 essen-
tial ornaments, Hiller, like other theorists such as Marpurg and Sulzer, wanted
to provide the singer with the necessary knowledge and expertise to add orna-
ments 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 intro-
duce them properly.
Then, there was another reason to train singers in the art of passaggi and arbi-
trary variations: theorists saw the importance of teaching the singer to prepare
77 78
Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 13, pp. 175ff. Ibid., Lesson 13, pp. 180–183.
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 con-
stitute passaggi or the extended divisions which make up longer variations, his cri-
teria 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 culmina-
tion 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 appre-
ciate 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, elab-
orates 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 varia-
tions 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
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 con-
tains 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.
80
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.
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 varia-
tions, Hiller selects ten salient rules from Tosi’s tutor, instructing the singer to:
1. make the difficult appear effortless;
2. avoid violating declamation;
3. place legato variations in slow arias and detached ones in allegro arias;
4. balance dynamics and affect;
5. favor conjunct variations, especially chromaticism in pathetic arias;
6. use passaggi in melismatic extensions;
7. avoid the repetitious use of ornaments;
8. emphasize inventiveness rather than technique;
9. avoid variations on unpleasant vowels;
10. enhance the composer’s original intent.
As is evident, the rules for applying arbitrary variations had remained, in prin-
ciple, 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 indi-
vidual 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 ornamenta-
tion written out by the composer, it is quite logical that he should perceive caden-
zas 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 vir-
tuosi 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
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. Cadenzas must not appear too often and should not be too long. They
ought to be sung in one breath.
2. Cadenzas should be based upon the chief affect and main character of
the aria and may make use of passages from the aria itself.
3. The singer observes the main tempo marking of the aria but does not
follow the meter strictly.
4. 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 caden-
zas increases dramatically over the solo ones. Specifically, he prescribes that imi-
tations 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 per-
formed aria.
Vocal forms and performing in different places

Like the theorists to whom he is indebted, Hiller devotes himself to the impor-
tant aspect of setting for a musical performance, namely proper vocal perfor-
mance 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
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 replace-
ment of the simple repeat with a more elaborate written out section, effectively
curtailing the singer’s opportunity to improvise. Hiller, aware of this develop-
ment, 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 dem-
onstrate how to place appoggiaturas, mordents, inverted mordents, and Schleifer
in recitative.
Finally, Hiller addresses ornamentation by more than one singer. When per-
forming 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 orna-
ments 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 evi-
dence of the dominating influence that Italian vocal art had upon Hiller’s
attempts to establish a German singing culture. Apart from the section on essen-
tial ornaments, French influence in this treatise is not really manifest. In consid-
ering 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
followed fashions that had been influenced by the format and conventions of con-
certs 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 prac-
tical interests and pedagogical goals. The use of the international style, envi-
sioned 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 unap-
pealing 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
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 aner-
kannte Autoritäten der gewählten Materie zu beziehen, heißt für ihn [Hiller] keineswegs, sich nahezu skla-
visch an die von Mancini oder Tosi–Agricola gelehrte Methode zu halten.”
82 83
Butt, Music Education, p. 176. Ibid., p. 177.
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 char-
acterized 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 accomplish-
ments.
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 num-
bered 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 musikalisch-
zierlichen 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 abun-
dant material which, more often than not, is only derived from minute observa-
tions 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 musikalisch-
richtigen 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 trans-
lated 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 musikalisch-
richtigen 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.
36 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 encour-
agement 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 strength-
ening 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 37
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 dil-
igence! And when you have reached the summit from which you sweep every-
one 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
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 musika-
lischen 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, cor-
rected” (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 per-
formance 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 trans-
lation 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.
3
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).
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 exam-
ples 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 divi-
sions.”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 5
Ibid., p. 1. Burney, Musical Tours, vol. II, p. 115.
Preface 39
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 estab-
lished 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 thou-
sand 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 con-
servatory 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 teach-
ers 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 accompani-
ment, 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 conservato-
ries 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
in the third. They receive instruction in singing, various instruments, and com-
position. 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 com-
posers 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 occasion-
ally 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 well-
trained 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 expe-
rience 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 super-
ior 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.”
Preface 41
prejudice. If God primarily endowed humans with the splendid talent of pro-
ducing 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 any-
thing 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 actu-
ally 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 dis-
cernment” 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).]
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 con-
nected 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 per-
sonal 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 melo-
dious 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.
Preface 43
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 young-
ster 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, some-
thing 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 instruc-
tions, 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 mas-
terly 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 refer-
ring 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).]
complete evenness of voice, he made certain ornaments his own, such as Schleifer, mor-
dents, 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 com-
bined 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, achiev-
ing 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 perfect-
ing 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 cap-
pella 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 incli-
nation 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.
Preface 45
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, espe-
cially 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 direc-
tion 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 prac-
ticed 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 pan-
tomime 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).
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 admi-
ration of all the experts within a short amount of time. Thereafter, he sang in many the-
aters 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).
Preface 47
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, every-
thing 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 imperfec-
tions. 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 nec-
essary 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.
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 permit-
ted. 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 encour-
agement 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 suc-
cessful 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 compo-
sitions 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 gra-
cious 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 atten-
tion 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 posses-
sion 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 pre-
serving 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.
51
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 weak-
ness, 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 weak-
ness 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 appar-
ent. 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 consid-
ered 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
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.”
2
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 reg-
ister 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
Hiller makes an error here, claiming that 27:32 is smaller than 5:6; it is larger.
4
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 pre-
serves the individual character of the scales. Heinrich Christoph Koch, Musikalisches Lexikon (Frankfurt, 1802;
facsimile edn., Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964), col. 1501.
5
Mancini/Foreman, Practical Reflections on Figured Singing, article IV, p. 20.
6
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, §15, p. 11.
§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 recog-
nize 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 prac-
tice. 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 partic-
ular 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 con-
tains 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 some-
times 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 impos-
sible. 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 speak-
ing 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 diph-
thongs 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
Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, p. xviii. See preface, p. 43 above.
9
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.
10
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, subse-
quently three, and then four, and pay particular attention not only that the pre-
ceding 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 ascend-
ing as descending. [Mancini/Foreman, Article VIII, p. 40.]
56
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
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.
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 permis-
sible to take a fresh breath:
(1) where, in the music, there is a rest, be it long or short.
(2) 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 follow-
ing 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.
(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 appog-
giatura 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 emer-
gency 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.
(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 dispens-
able 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 fol-
lowing way:
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:
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 investiga-
tion 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
The printer has erroneously designated this paragraph as §7. It should, however, read §8. All following par-
5
agraphs of this chapter will be in the corrected sequence. See Chapter 4, footnote 5, p. 73 below.
6
In this context, 2/4 is to be understood as a four-pulse measure, as in an Allegretto.
§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 princi-
ples 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 pos-
sibility 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):
§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 dil-
igently 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 instru-
mentalist 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 repre-
sents 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 atten-
tion 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 observa-
tions 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, diph-
thongs, 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 dec-
lamation, 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, ignor-
ance 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
Hiller writes: “Gut gesprochen, ist halb gesungen” (“Well spoken is half sung”).
2
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Introduction, pp. 15ff.
66
On good performance, with regard to text and music 67
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 under-
stands 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, devi-
ates 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 tech-
nical 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
Paracletum, in Latin, means someone who helps, whereas paraclytum is someone who disregards or disobeys.
4
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 14, §8, pp. 195–196.
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 syl-
lable, 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 lan-
guage, 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, mythol-
ogy 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 pri-
marily 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 knowl-
edge 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 indis-
pensable.
* 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.
§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 melis-
matic 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 pronun-
ciation 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 fol-
lowing 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 contempo-
raries. 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.
§11
Even in works by the best composers, the singer runs into text settings and rep-
etitions 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 viv-
idness 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
Ornaments is the term used here for Hiller’s Manieren. Whereas Agricola divides this material into two chap-
ters, “On Appoggiaturas” and “On Trills,” Hiller follows C. P. E. Bach’s format, subsuming all these orna-
ments under the heading of Manieren.
2
Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Capellmeister, facsimile edn., Part II, Chapter 3, p. 112; Harriss translation, pp.
267f.
72
On good performance, with regard to ornaments 73
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
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.
4
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 them-
selves 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.
5
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.
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 orna-
ment 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
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 cat-
egory they are derived.
§5
Since this subject matter is so extensive and complicated, it is necessary to under-
stand 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 preced-
ing 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 appoggia-
tura 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 impor-
tant enough for the singer to become acquainted with and to begin practicing appoggiaturas as early in his
7
studies as possible. See ibid., Lesson 7, §13, p. 114.
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
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).
9
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.
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 appog-
giatura 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 conso-
nant (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.
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; other-
wise the singing can easily become bizarre and offensive instead of being strik-
ing 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 accompani-
ment 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.
§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 addi-
tional examples will be cited which clearly demonstrate that appoggiaturas are
applied for vividness and lustre only.
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 con-
sidered objectionable ornaments although nowadays they are still to be found
quite frequently.
§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 com-
posers. 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 nec-
essary 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 expres-
sively 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.
§11
Another double Nachschlag needs to be considered. It is very similar to the two-
note 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 fol-
lowing 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 appoggia-
turas, for example:
§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, conso-
nance or dissonance, an anticipation which takes place in the time of the pre-
ceding 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 consecu-
tively until the seventh is reached.
Before certain long notes the cercar della nota can take the place of short appog-
giaturas, 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.
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 com-
poser; 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 per-
mitted, the cercar della nota must be used. Altogether, it is more useful than appog-
giaturas before almost all dissonances approached by leap, as one can see from
the following examples which demonstrate both instances.
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.
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 con-
nection.
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 inter-
val of the Anschlag is always a step greater than the interval of the two main notes.
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 empha-
sis. 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.
one figure [in large notes], and they write it as in example C. It is most appro-
priate 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 move-
ments; 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 allot-
ted 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 dis-
pense with writing out or, at least, indicating essential ornaments.
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).
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 indi-
cate 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
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:
Isn’t it astounding how many variations two or three little notes which comprise appog-
giaturas, 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 per-
formed 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 old-
fashioned 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
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.
15
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) alto-
gether considers the Bockstriller a “defect.”
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 com-
position], but even there it seems to be in better taste to omit them. In the begin-
ning 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
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 begin-
ning 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 per-
mitted, 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
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.
§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 trans-
formed 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 interpre-
tation 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.
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).
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
Premiered in Naples, Summer, 1742.
18
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).
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 them-
selves 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 orna-
ments.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 instru-
mentalists. 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
See Preface, p. 44 above, in which Hiller discusses Carestini while giving an account of the most famous
castrati.
20
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.
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 har-
monic 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 sug-
gests): by filling in the notes that form a leap in a stepwise fashion, instead of per-
forming a mere jump. Thus, two or three notes which replace a single one
already constitute a passaggio, although one generally applies this term to contin-
uous figures which often consist of chains of many measures, with two- , three-
and 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 syl-
lable 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 writ-
ings on the subject the word passages is also used frequently.
101
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 dili-
gence. 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 per-
fection if nature has not laid the foundation with a fortunate talent. In the mean-
time, 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 103
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 per-
formance is either legato or staccato; in addition, dynamics have to be consid-
ered.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 vio-
linist 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.
performance includes only a few notes which, in addition, should be descending

rather than ascending. The following figurations sound good when they are per-
formed 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.
§8
In passaggi, staccato is indicated by a short line above the note which the violin-
ist 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 pas-
saggi 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 lis-
tener 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
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 indispens-
able 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).
5
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Introduction, §§23, 24, 25, and 29.
6
See Chapter 2, §§4–8, pp. 58–63 above.
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 pertain-
ing 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 per-
forming 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 per-
formed 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 nec-
essary 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.
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 appog-
giaturas 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.
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 dimin-
uendos 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 drag-
ging 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
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 replace-
ment. 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 preci-
sion 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 addi-
tion 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 fright-
ened 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 loca-
tion. 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
110
Various vocal forms; performing in various places 111
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 holi-
ness. Here, a singer may not show off the vain dexterity of his voice, rich and col-
orful 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 obliga-
tions 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 exag-
geration 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 audi-
ence 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 character-
istics 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 ornamen-
tation 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 present-
day 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
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).
2
Hiller is referring to Tosi’s remarks in Chapter 5, “Of Recitative,” Tosi/Galliard, Observations, p. 66. Baird,
Introduction, p. 171.
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 can-
tatas 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 perfor-
mance 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 audi-
ences. 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.
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 contrast-
ing 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 pre-
viously 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 inter-
laced 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 glück-
lichste 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
The two forms of the aria, past and present, might be represented in the following manner:
da capo: A B A
PART I PART II PART I PART II
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.
5
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, pp. 213–214. Hiller uses the Italian designation for the aria catego-
ries:
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.
6
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.
§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 after-
wards, 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 char-
acter 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 remem-
ber 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 per-
formed 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.
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 cat-
egory 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 four-
teenth 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 rec-
itative, 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 rec-
itative, 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
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.
19
Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) was Kapellmeister in Dresden and composed many works, includ-
ing operas, oratorios, masses, and cantatas.
10
If anyone’s internal anguish
written on his forehead were read,
how much more would we pity those whom we envy.
11 12
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 14, §14, pp. 201–206. See footnote 7 above.
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 rec-
itative. Only those scenes in which a pathetic recitative always precedes a senti-
mental aria allow exceptions. Let me make more comments about the use of
mordents, inverted mordents, appoggiaturas, and double appoggiaturas in reci-
tative 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:
§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 fol-
lowing 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 prob-
ably 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-syl-
lable cadence when it is done by means of a leap of a fourth on the first note of
the cadence.
13
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 7, §§12 and 13 and Lesson 12, §§3–5.
14
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.
This example demonstrates that the messa di voce can and should be used in rec-
itative, 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 ornamen-
tation 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
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 life-
lessly 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 per-
formance, 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 appoggia-
tura, 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 over-
powering 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 perfor-
mance 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.
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 worth-
while 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 intona-
tion 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 instru-
ments make a small pause in order to allow the singer time to introduce some-
thing 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 orna-
mentation 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
Hiller, Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, Lesson 10, §8, pp.143–144.
2
In German the word Cadenz, or Kadenz, can refer either to cadence or cadenza. In this chapter, Hiller is con-
cerned with cadenzas and the improvisations a singer can invent when he/she sees a fermata.
121
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 contem-
porary 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 orches-
tra 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 empha-
sized 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
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.
4
Hiller shows understanding for the singer’s need to gain acknowledgment for his art, furthering the argu-
ment 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.
5
Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Capellmeister, Part II, Chapter 3, §39, p. 116; Harriss translation, p. 273.
On cadenzas 123
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 lis-
tener 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 weak-
nesses 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 sup-
posed 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 beauti-
ful 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 skill-
ful 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.
§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 imag-
ination 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 foun-
dations 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
On cadenzas 125
(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.
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 instru-
ments 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.
On cadenzas 127
§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 con-
tribute 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
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 aug-
mented 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 com-
prehensible to him. Therefore, they demand steadiness and strength in perfor-
mance.
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 caden-
zas 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
On cadenzas 129
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 ridic-
ulous 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 syl-
lables 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, approx-
imately 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.
At other fermatas, the singer should concern himself not only with arbitrary
ornamentation, but much more with an appropriate (a) transition to the follow-
ing 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.
On cadenzas 131
In the rondos which are very fashionable nowadays, there are frequently oppor-
tunities for these transitions, and they give the singer the chance to show inven-
tion 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 ornamen-
tation, 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
Ciro riconosciuto by Hasse (1699–1783), libretto by Metastasio, first performed in Dresden, January 20, 1757.
10
Hiller follows Agricola’s recommendations for the proper execution of double cadenzas. See Tosi/Agricola,
Anleitung, pp. 204f.; Baird, Introduction, pp. 211f.
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 under-
stand 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 fol-
lowing 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 (sus-
pensions) 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 exces-
sively long. Thus, the singer should choose what serves his purpose best and
save the rest for another occasion. Yet another useful observation in the follow-
ing two cadenzas: one and the same idea, by means of inversion, can be used
twice.
On cadenzas 133
§14
What has been said about cadenzas and fermatas up to this point can, neverthe-
less, 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 deter-
mination and thoroughness as what the performer’s taste adds to the embellish-
ment 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, some-
times, 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 allow-
ing 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
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 addi-
tion to this last manner, it is possible to execute tempo rubato, a simple displace-
ment of the tempo, utilizing the original notes.2
§3
Another means of variation, aside from the essential ornaments, i.e. appoggia-
turas 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 varia-
tion 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 through-
out the entire aria, or should it be limited to specific places? There have been
1
Tosi/Galliard, Observations, p. 174; Baird, Introduction, p. 232.
2
See Tosi/Agricola, Anleitung, pp. 234f.; Baird, Introduction, p. 235.
135
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 intro-
duce 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 com-
poser 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 perfor-
mance 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 unpleas-
ant 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
Chapter 6, §7, pp. 112f. above.
4
Verkräuselungen, curly and confused things (derogatory), has been translated here as curlicues.
On arbitrary variation of the aria 137
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 any-
thing that does not agree with the accompaniment of the instruments. From the
vocal part alone, he cannot always understand everything that he may be per-
mitted 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 har-
monically 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 advis-
able 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 key-
board 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 itali-
änische Arien mit Veränderungen which I had published two years ago by the pub-
lisher 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 per-
forms everything with such ease as though it cost him no effort.
2. Everything which belongs to good performance must be observed; above
5
Lesson 6, §§1–9, pp. 90ff.
6
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.
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 pref-
erable 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 degen-
erate 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 inven-
tion.
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 accomplish-
ment 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.

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.
155
156 Appendix
(August 1765) and Naples (1766), De Amicis became involved in theatrical dis-
putes and wished to retire. However, after her 1768 marriage to the Florentine
physician Francesco Buonsollazzi, she resumed her career, singing in seven pro-
ductions 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 dra-
matic 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
Biographical information on musicians mentioned by Hiller 157
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 occa-
sions 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 con-
stantly 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
158 Appendix
a secondary role in Jommelli’s Ifigenia in Aulide. After further operatic perfor-

mances 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 exer-
cises 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.
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 reputa-
tion 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 partic-
ular for introducing instrumental and other unsuitable idioms into his cadenzas,
imitating flutes and oboes and also bird songs. He also composed some worth-
while 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
160 Appendix
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 non-
musical 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
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 cap-
pella 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 mezzo-
soprano, 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 culmi-
nated 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 aban-
doning 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 pene-
trating,” 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-
162 Appendix
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 sus-
taining 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 rela-
tively 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 mezzo-
soprano 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
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 noto-
rious for overbearing arrogance both to fellow artists and to the public, combin-
ing 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, occasion-
ally 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 organ-
ist 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 ora-
torio 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-
164 Appendix
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 counter-
tenor that has perhaps ever been heard.” Burney credited him with rendering
“every thing he sung interesting by good taste, energy, and judicious embellish-
ments.” 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 aban-
doned; 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
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 eighteenth-
century 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 cas-
trato 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
166 Appendix
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 releas-
ing 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)
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 prob-
ably 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 appear-
ing 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 tempt-
ing 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
168 Appendix
joined with personal charms, and she had the greatest possible effect on the mas-
culine 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 instruc-
tion 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 audi-
ence 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 cul-
tivate 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
effect of extreme distance.” He made many enemies by his eccentric and unpre-
dictable 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 interrup-
tions 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
170 Appendix
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 histor-
ical 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 disre-
garded, 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 mid-
1740s 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 pre-
sents 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
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 Inns-
bruck. (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 numer-
ous 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 enter-
tain the Viceroy’s master, the half-imbecile King Charles II. He was apparently
172 Appendix
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 extraor-
dinarily wide circulation in manuscript of smaller vocal and instrumental com-
positions 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
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
174 Appendix
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 arrange-
ment 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 increas-
ing 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 peri-
odically through 1717. He was the leading male singer of his age, an outstand-
ing all-round artist, and a man of exemplary character. Burney’s summary –
“this great singer, and still greater actor” – was echoed by many contemporar-
ies. 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
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 perfor-
mances 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 impor-
tant 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 cas-
trati 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 con-
siderable, but his greatest genius lay in moving even casual listeners by his rendi-
tion 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,
176 Appendix
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 publish-
ing 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 dis-
missed 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 beau-
ties of the art of singing without departing from the established tempo. As a com-
poser, 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)
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 mel-
ancholy 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 oper-
atic 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 perform-
ers 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 perma-
nently at Bath in his handsome town house and sumptuous country villa in
178 Appendix
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 seven-
teenth century. In 1706, he established a singing school at Florence, which after-
wards 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 ornamenta-
tion, 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)
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 con-
ductor 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 cas-
trato. 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 trans-
pose 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,
180 Appendix
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 nick-
name 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 eulo-
gized 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 popular-
ity 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
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 com-
poser, 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 instru-
ment, 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
182 Appendix
the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg where she remained until her final con-
certs 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 con-
tralto. 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 con-
siderable 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
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
184 Appendix
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 trea-
tise 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 Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar,

accent, 20, 21, 67–68 dedication to, 49
grammatical, 21, 68, 69 Annibali, Domenico, 46, 156–157
oratorical/logical, 21, 68, 69 Anschlag (double appoggiatura), 85–87, 90–92
ornamentation and, 23, 72, 73 as essential, 21
pathetic, 21, 68 in recitative, 116, 117
accompaniment Appiani, Giuseppe, 46, 157
and cadenzas, 122 appoggiaturas, 23, 57, 75–81, 83–84, 90–91, 131
doubling singer, 109 as accents, 72
need for when singing staccato, 57 in arbitrary variations, 135
in preparing arbitrary variations, 137 breathing and, 60
acting, 45, 111 double, see Anschlag
Addison, Joseph, 174 as essential, 21
aesthetics, 64–65 and mordents, 95
Affektenlehre, 20 notating, 22, 72, 72–73, 76, 76–77
Agricola, Johann Friedrich, 99–100, 101 notation to prevent, 22
and arbitrary variations, 26, 27, 29 in passaggi, 103, 107
and cadenzas, 122, 131 reasons for using, 72, 79
and declamation, 20 in recitative, 116–117
Hiller and, 1–2, 3, 17, 19, 24, 29, 123 and trills, 24, 92–93, 94, 96
and ornamentation, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 72, 73, Aprile, Fortunato, 157
76 Aprile, Giuseppe, 46, 157–158
quoted by Hiller, 88–90, 91–92 Aprile, Raffaele, 158
Aguillar, Antonia Girelli, 46, 155 arbitrary variations, 24, 25–27, 135–154
Agujari, Lucrezia, 46, 155 Archiopata (Lelia Archiapati), 39, 158
Alberti, Giuseppe, 183 arias, 112–114, 131
Albrici, Vincenzo, 160 forms, 29, 112–113
Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 15 see also arbitrary variations and da capo arias
Amadori, Giovanni Tedeschi, 42, 43, 155 arpeggio, 21
Amicis, Anna Lucia de, 46, 155–156, 174, Arresti, Floriano, 163
182 arsis and thesis, 73, 77
Amorevoli, Angelo, 46, 156, 159 articulation, 105, 106
Anfossi, Pasquale, 26, 137 see also staccato
Angelini, see Bontempi, Giovanni Andrea Astrua, Giovanna, 46, 158
190
Index 191
Babbi, Cristoforo, 158 Brosses, Charles de, 159

Babbi, Gregorio, 46, 158–159, 159 Brühl, Heinrich von, 7
Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, 3, 8, 113, 119–120 Brühl, Heinrich Adolph von, 7, 8
and ornamentation, 21, 22, 72, 98 Brydone, Captain, 174
Bach, Johann Christian Friedrich, 69, 155, 171, Buonsollazzi, Francesco, 156
173 Buranello, see Galuppi, Baldassare
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 8–9 Bürde, Elisabeth Wilhelmine, 14
Baird, Julianne C., 2, 22, 92 Burney, Charles, 37, 158, 173, 177
balance, 119 Hiller and, 3, 30, 37
Balatri, Filippo, 174 and Mancini, 38
Balet, Leo, 14 on music in Italy, 39, 40, 41
Barberini, Francesco, 160 as source of information on musicians, 43, 46,
Baselt, Bernd, 30 156, 157, 162, 165, 167–175 passim, 177,
Bastardella/Bastardina, La, see Agujari, Lucrezia 178, 182
beat, long/short part of, 73, 77, 85 Butt, John, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 30,
beauty, 64 31
Bebung, see vibrato
Beckford, William, 175 cadences, 24, 28
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 15 in recitative, 116–118
Benda, Georg, 8, 113 in speech, 67
Bergobzoomer, J. B., 179 cadenzas, 27–28, 121–129, 133, 134
Berlin, 4 double, 28, 131–132, 133–134
Bernacchi, Antonio, 43, 44, 55, 159, 163, 169, staccato in, 57
170, 176, 180 trills and, 24, 93, 94
Bernardi, Francesco, see Senesino, Bernardi triple, 28, 131
Bernasconi, Andrea, 159, 177 vowels suitable for, 128–129
Bernasconi, Antonia, 46, 159–160 see also fermatas
Berselli, Matteo, 180 caesuras, 28, 129, 131
Bertoni, Ferdinando Giuseppe (?), 39, 160, 171, see also cadences and fermatas
174–175 Caffarelli, Domenico, 162
Biego, Paolo, 169 Caffarelli, Gaetano Majorano, 46, 158, 162–163,
Bockstriller, 92 172, 176, 178, 182
Bologna, 42 Caldara, Antonio, 157, 163, 180
Bononcini, Giovanni, 161, 180 Calzabigi, Raniero, 182
Bontempi, Cesare, 160 Campanile, Ottavio, 176
Bontempi, Giovanni Andrea, 160–161, 166 Campeggi, Francesco, 44, 163, 182
Bordoni, Faustina, 45, 161–162, 165, 168, 173 cantatas, 112, 115
Boroni, Antonio, 40, 162 Carestini, Giovanni (Cusanino), 44, 99, 157,
bourgeoisie, see middle class 163–164
break between vocal registers, 53–54 Cassiodorus, 45
breathing, 58–63, 105–106 castrati, 14, 15, 41
Breitkopf & Härtel, 8, 11 Catullus, 55
Bristol, Lady, 163 Cavalli, Francesco, 160, 181
Brivio, Carlo Francesco, 42, 162 cercar del trillo, 94
Brivio, Giuseppe Ferdinando, 184 cercar della nota, 83–85, 93, 94
Broderip, 158 chest voice, 53, 54
Broschi, Carlo, see Farinelli choral singing, 119–120
192 Index
chorales and chorale melodies, 11, 55, 69 decrescendo/diminuendo, 64, 108

chromaticism, 127–128, 138 diction, see declamation and speech
church music, 3, 5, 11, 12–13, 16, 36, 38, dissonance, 127–128
40–41 Dittersdorf, Karl Ditters von, 182
concert performances, 42 Doppelschlag, see turn
ornamentation in, 28–29, 102, 111 Doppeltriller, see double trill
requirements for singing, 68, 114–115 Doppelvorschlag, see turn
women in, 40–41 dotted rhythms
see also chorales breathing in, 60
Cicero, 55 as ornamentation, 23, 73–75
Cicognani, Giuseppe, 46, 164 double appoggiatura, see Anschlag
Cimarosa, Domenico, 158 double cadenzas, 28, 131–132, 133–134
class issues, 12 double trills, 93–94, 134
see also middle class dragging/drawing out, 104, 135
Clementi, Muzio, 162 Dresden, 4, 7, 8
Colla, Giuseppe, 155 duets, 28, 118–119, 131–132, 133–134
Collegium musicum, see Leipzig dynamics, 64, 65, 103, 108, 138
concerts and concert societies, 8–9, 10, 41–42, in choral singing, 119–120
111–112
Concerts Spirituels, 9, 112 ear, 52
Conciolini [recte Concialini], Carlo, 46, 184 Elisi, Filippo, 46, 166
conservatories embellishment, see ornamentation
Hiller’s, 9, 14–15 emotion(s), 64, 65, 102
see also Ospedali and accent, 68
consonants, 55 and passaggi, 108
Consorti, 46 emphasis, 68
consumar la nota, see sustaining notes ornamentation and, 23, 72, 73
Conti, Gioacchino (Gizziello), 46, 164–165, see also accent
182 enjambment, 59
courts and court music, 2, 4 Enlightenment, the, 2, 3, 14
crescendo, 64 Hiller and, 22, 30
Cusanino (Giovanni Carestini), 44, 99, 157, and ornamentation, 22
163–164 ensembles, 28, 118–119
Cuzzoni, Francesca, 45–46, 161, 162, 165–166, exercises, see practice
170, 179 expression, 29, 108, 135, 138
see also emotion
da capo arias, 27, 29, 112, 122
ornamentation and arbitrary variations, 136 Fabri, Annibale Pio, 176
written out repeats, 29 Faenza, Bartolino da, 43, 44, 166
David, 38 Faenza, Bartolomeo di [recte Bartolino da], 43
de Amicis, Anna Lucia, see Amicis, Anna Lucia Fago, Lorenzo, 162
de Farinelli (Carlo Broschi), 163, 165, 169, 171,
declamation, 19–21, 66–68 176, 177, 179
breathing and, 63 Faustina, see Bordoni, Faustina
ornamentation and, 23, 73 feelings, see emotions and expression
and word-setting, 21, 69–71 Feo, Francesco, 42, 166
Index 193
fermatas, 28, 62–63, 121, 129–131, 133 goat’s trill, 92

trills and, 24, 93 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 3, 6, 15, 49
see also cadenzas and caesuras Goti, Antonio, 46, 168
Ferri, Baldassare, 42, 166 Gottsched, Johann Christoph, 7
figured bass, 137 Grassi, Antonio, 46, 168
Fischer, Rector, 13 Graun, Carl Heinrich, 3, 16, 25, 26, 55, 137,
Florence, 42 155
Fontana, Agostino, 46, 167 Greco, Gaetano, 176
Formenti, Nicolò, 167 Grétry, André-Ernest-Modeste, 171
Frederick the Great, 7, 163, 184 Grimaldi, Nicolò, see Nicolini, Carlo
French language, 69 Grosses Conzert, see Leipzig
French style, 29, 30, 81 Grossi, Giovanni Francesco, see Siface, Giovanni
Friedrich August II, 7 Francesco
Furlanetto, Bonaventura, 39, 167 Guadagni, Gaetano, 46, 156, 165, 167, 168–169
Guaetta, Giovanna, 159
Gabrielli, Caterina, 46, 167, 169, 174, 182 Guarducci, Tommaso, 43, 169
Gaffarello, see Caffarelli, Gaetano Majorano Guglielmi, Pietro Alessandro, 158, 177
Galliard, John Ernest, 101, 174, 184 Guglielmi, Signora, see Archiopata
Galuppi, Baldassare, 39, 160, 168
Garcia, Francisco Saverio, 167 Hamburg, 4
Garducci, see Guarducci, Tommaso Hamilton, Catherine, 158
Garrick, David, 168 Handel, George Frideric, 44, 157, 159, 160, 161,
Gasparini, Michelangelo, 161, 168 164, 165, 168, 174, 179, 180
Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott, 7, 8, 16 Hiller and, 3, 16
genres, 110 harmony
Gerber, Ernst Ludwig, 179, 182 appoggiaturas and, 77, 78, 79, 84
Gerhard, E., 14 and arbitrary variations, 137
German language, 19, 20, 69 cadenzas and, 125, 126, 127–128
German style, 19, 30 Hasse, Johann Adolf, 39, 156, 157, 161, 164,
Hiller’s concern for, 3, 30 170, 171, 173, 176, 178, 179, 183
Germany Hiller and, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15
conditions for music in, 38, 40, 41 Hiller’s publications of and use of examples
Enlightenment projects, 3 by, 25, 26, 98, 118, 131, 137
school system, 3, 13, 36 Hauskonzerte, 10
training and opportunities for singers in, 3, 4, Hausmusik, 10–11
20, 22, 36–37, 40 Hawkins, John, 44
Gewandhaus Conzerte, see Leipzig Haydn, Joseph, 175
Giardini, Felice de, 172–173 Haym, Nicola Francesco, 174
Giordano, Matteo, 176 head voice, 53, 54
Gizzi, Domenico, 164 Heidegger, Johann Jakob, 180
Gizziello (Gioacchino Conti), 46, 164–165, Heinichen, Johann David, 180
182 Herbst, Johann Andreas, 121–122, 169
Gluck, Christoph Willibald, 160, 167, 169, 170, Hiller, Elisabeth Wilhelmine, 14
172, 173, 182 Hiller, Johann Adam, 1, 2–4, 5–17, 29–31
Alceste, 156, 159, 183 Abhandlung von der Nachahmung in der Musik, 7
Orfeo ed Euridice, 168 acknowledgment of predecessors, 24
194 Index
Hiller, Johann Adam (cont.) cadenzas, 132

Allgemeines Choral-Melodienbuch für Kirchen und ornamentation in, 93, 95, 98–99
Schulen, 11 singing compared to, 99, 99–100
Anweisung zum musikalisch-richtigen Gesange, 1, 11, training in, 9, 39–40
13, 17–18, 24, 25, 73, 111 international style, 30
criticisms of, 47 interval practice, 53
Hiller’s references to in Anweisung zum intervals, 137
musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, 35–36, 47, 48, intonation, 51–53, 105, 106, 120
51, 53, 55, 58, 63, 64, 66, 67, 75, 92, 96, Italian language, 69
102, 105, 106, 113, 115, 119, 121, 137 pronunciation, 137
Preface, 13, 17–18 recommendation for singers to learn, 19, 48,
translation into Danish, 35–36 69
Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, 1–2, Italian style, 19, 30
11, 13, 17, 18–29, 30–31 Italy
criticisms of, 18 conditions for music in, 38, 40–41
dedication, 49 opera houses, 38
Preface, 14, 15 training for singers in, 3, 36, 38–40, 42
autobiography, 7
background, 2 Jélyotte, Pierre de, 159
as composer, 5–6, 8, 12 Jommelli, Niccolò, 158, 162, 168, 171
as concert director, 8, 9–10, 29–30 journals, 8, 14, 15
as critic, 14, 160
50 Geistliche Lieder für Kinder, 12 Kayser, Margareta Susanna, 81, 169
and German culture, 3–4 Keiser, Reinhard, 4
and Hausmusik, 11 keyboard instruments
headaches, 8 ornamentation on, 93, 98–99
hypochondria, 8, 16 singers playing, 48, 137
and Lied, 11–12, 29 Kirnberger, Johann Philipp, 53
publications, 8, 13, 14, 26, 137 Koch, Gottlieb Heinrich, 5
as singer, 7 Koch, Heinrich Christoph, 53, 64–65, 113
singing schools and conservatory, 9, 14–15 Krause, Christian Gottfried, 19
and Singspiel, 2, 4, 5–6, 8, 11–12
as teacher, 1, 2, 9, 11, 12–15, 16–17 Lalande, Michel-Richard de, 159
translations, 16 Lange, Joseph, 180
and women/girls, 14–15 Lange, Maria Antonia, see Schindler,
Hoffmann, E. T. A., 15 Marianne
Hoffmann, Melchior, 8 language, see speech and words
Höpfner, Georg Christoph, 35–36, 169 languages, 19, 20, 21, 48, 69
Horace, 55 Lanzi, Francesco, 45, 169–170
Hume, David, 16 Latin, 69
Hypocritik, 45 leaps, 74–75, 107, 128
legato, 103–104, 106, 107, 138
imitation, 131, 132 see also portamento
improvisation, see arbitrary variations and Leipzig, 2, 4–5, 6, 7, 8–11, 13
cadenzas Collegium musicum, 8–9
instrumental music Grosses Conzert/Gewandhaus Conzerte, 8, 9–10
articulation in, 105, 106 Leo, Leonardo, 42, 156, 170
Index 195
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 3, 15 messa di voce crescente, 85

Lied, 5, 11–12, 29 Metastasio, Pietro, 131, 156, 157, 167, 170, 176,
Lombardini Sirmen, Maddalena, 39, 181–182 179, 182
Lotti, Antonio, 168, 182 meter, 20, 67, 73
loudness, see dynamics in recitative, 115–116
Luther, Martin, 38 middle class, 2, 4, 10–11, 14, 17
and women, 15
Majo, Gian Francesco di, 26, 98, 137, 170, Milan, 42
182 Millico, Vito Giuseppe, 46, 172
Majorano, Gaetano, see Caffarelli, Gaetano mime, 45
Majorano Minelli, Giambattista, 43, 44
Mancini, Giambattista, 37–38, 43, 103, 170, Mingotti, Caterina Regina, 46, 172–173
171–172, 182 Mingotti, Pietro, 172
Hiller and, 3, 30 Modena, 42
Hiller’s expansion of material on singers, Monteverdi, Claudio, 160
42–46 Monticelli, Angelo Maria, 46, 173
on improving voices, 55 morality, music and, 37, 51
on intonation, 51–52 mordents, 21, 92, 94, 94–95, 129
on ornamentation in recitative, 117 chains of, 96
on portamento, 56 in recitative, 116
on vocal registers, 53, 54 as term for appoggiaturas, 107
Manfredini, Vincenzo, 170 Moretta, La, see Tesi-Tramontini, Vittoria
Mann, Horace, 156 Mount-Edgcumbe, Lord, 175, 177
Manzuoli, Giovanni, 46, 170–171, 182 Mozart, Constanze, 16
Mara, Gertrud (Gertrud Schmehling), 15 Mozart, Leopold, 1, 182
Marcello, Alessandro, 161 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 15, 156, 160, 167,
Marcello, Benedetto, 22, 161 171, 177, 180, 183
Maria Elisabeth, Erzherzogin von Österreich, Goethe and, 6
38, 171 Hiller and, 3, 16
Marpurg, Friedrich Wilhelm, 7, 44, 67 Müller, Karl Wilhelm, 8, 9
Hiller and, 3, 7, 17, 20, 24–25, 30 Münter, Balthasar, 69, 173
and ornamentation, 21, 24–25 music, morality and, 37, 51
Martini, Giovanni Battista, 39, 160, 162, 170, Musikalischer Zeitvertreib, 8
171, 176, 183
Matteucci, Matteo, 42–43, 171–172 Nachschlag, 21, 81–85, 131
Mattheson, Johann, 45, 67, 81 in cadenzas, 129
and cadenzas, 122 double, 82, 86, 87
Hiller and, 17, 20, 30 trills and, 93, 94
and ornamentation, 72 Naples, 39–40, 42, 98
Mazzanti, Ferdinando, 46, 172 nature, 64
Mazzocchi, Virgilio, 160 Naumann, Johann Gottlieb, 113, 115, 171
Mazzoni, Antonio Maria, 159 Neefe, Christian Gottlieb, 16
melismas and melismatic singing, 69, 101, 138 Nicolini, Carlo, 46, 173–174
messa di voce, 64, 92 nose, 55
in choral singing, 119–120 notation
in recitative, 118 deficiencies of, 66
trills and, 93 see also under ornamentation
196 Index
notes Perez, David, 166, 177

changing or omitting to facilitate breathing, Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 174
60–63 periodicals, 8, 14, 15
joining, see portamento Perti, Giacomo Antonio, 176
sustaining, 56, 64, 69 Peruzzi, Anna Maria, 46, 176
phrasing, speech phrases and, 20
odes, 12 piano, see keyboard instruments
opera, 3, 4, 29 Piccinni, Niccolò, 40, 159, 169, 177
requirements for singing, 68 Piquiren, see staccato
see also Singspiel Pistocchi, Francesco Antonio Mamiliano, 42, 43,
oratorios, 68 159, 166, 171, 176
Orlandini, Giuseppe Maria, 179 pitching, 51–53, 105, 106, 120
ornamentation, 21–24, 72–100 place of performance, 28–29, 110–111
as accent, 72 placement, 20
arbitrary, 21 Pollarolo, Antonio, 179
in ensembles, 28, 118–120 Pollarolo, Carlo Francesco, 161
essential, 21, 23–24, 114, 135 Porpora, Niccolò Antonio, 42, 156, 157, 162,
harmony and, 47 163, 167, 173, 176, 177, 178, 180
notating, 22, 23, 72–73, 92 Porta, Giovanni, 179
notation to prevent, 22 portamento, 56–57, 64
place of performance and, 29–30 see also messa di voce crescente
in recitative, 116–118 Potenza, Pasquale, 46, 177
relationship to text, 20, 23 practice
see also arbitrary variations, passaggi, and for breath control, 59
individual ornaments for dynamics, 65
Orsini, Gaetano, 43, 174 for intonation, 53–54
Ospedali, 3, 39–40, 42 for joining tones, 56–57
length suggested, 48
Pacchiarotti, Gasparo, 46, 156, 174–175 for strengthening voice, 54–55
Paisiello, Giovanni, 40, 113 prallender Doppelschlag, 98–99
Pallavicino, Carlo, 160, 181 Pralltriller, 92, 94–95, 117–118
pantomime, 45 Predieri, Luca Antonio, 157
Parma, Princess of, 38 Preußner, Eberhard, 10
Pasi, Antonio, 43–44, 175 pronunciation, 20, 47, 48, 55, 67, 137
passaggi, 24–26, 101–109 prosody, 21, 67
in arbitrary variations, 27, 135, 136, 138 Provenzale, Francesco, 173
and breathing, 59, 62 punctuation, 20, 66–67
in cadenzas, 124–125
Nachschläge in, 81 Quantz, Johann Joachim, 23, 30, 105, 161, 175,
staccato in, 57–58 182
passion, see emotion Agricola and, 26
pauses, 60, 62 and arbitrary variations, 26, 27
see also fermatas and cadenzas, 28, 122
Peiser, Karl, 6, 16 Hiller and, 8, 28, 30
Peli, Francesco, 42, 175–176 and ornamentation, 21, 22, 23, 92
Pendarves, Mrs., 157 quoted by Hiller, 44–46
Index 197
Raaff/Raff, Anton, 43, 177 Schleifer, 82, 87–92

range, 54, 57–58, 102 Schmehling, Gertrud (Gertrud Mara), 15
Ratner, Leonard, 20, 110, 113 Scholze, Johann Sigismund (Sperontes), 12
Rauzzini, Venanzio, 46, 177–178 Schöttgen, Christian, 114
Rebling, Eberhard, 4, 12 Schubart, Christian Friedrich Daniel, 158
recitative, 115–118 Schubert, Franz, 15
Redi, Francesco, 42, 44, 178, 182 Schütz, Heinrich, 160
Reginelli, Niccolò, 46, 178 Sciroli, Gregorio, 157
registers, vocal, 53–54 Scirolino/Sciroletto, see Aprile, Giuseppe
Reichardt, Johann Friedrich, 18 Senesino, Bernardi (Francesco Bernardi), 44,
Rellstab, Johann Carl Friedrich, 20 157, 159, 180
Reuter, Georg von, 178 sensitivity, 64, 65, 108
Reuther, Theresia, 46, 178 see also taste
rhythm, meter and, 67 Seven Years War, 7, 8
Ricieri, Giovanni Antonio, 159 Siface, Giovanni Francesco, 42, 181
Rieler, Antonia, see Bernasconi, Antonia sightsinging, 110
Ristori, Giovanni Alberto, 157 simplicity, 99
Rochlitz, Johann Friedrich, 1, 15, 16 singers
Rolli, Paolo Antonio, 180 behavior, 22, 37
Rome, 42 need for models, 65, 99
rondos, 113, 114–115, 131 recommended general education, 21, 68
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 21, 67, 68, 111 recommended to improve compositions, 21,
Rovetta, Giovanni, 160 69–71
rubato, 108, 135 recommended to learn languages, 19, 21, 48,
69
Sacchini, Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino, recommended to play keyboard instruments,
26, 39, 113, 137, 155, 159, 178 48, 137
Salimbeni, Felice, 46, 131, 176, 178 recommended to study figured bass, 137
Sandoni, Pietro Giuseppe, 45, 165, 179 satire on, 22
Santarelli, Giuseppe, 46, 179 training available for, 3, 4, 20, 22, 36–37,
Sarro, Domenico Natale, 162 39–40, 42
Sassani, Matteo, see Matteucci, Matteo singing
scales, 48 choral, 119–120
breathing in, 58–59 compared to instrumental music, 99, 99–100
chains of trills, 96–97 practice material, see practice
character of in unequal temperament, 53 requirements for study of, 47–48
and intonation, 52, 53 social, 10–11
practicing, 54–55 Singspiel, 5–6, 12, 19–20, 29
variations on, 124–125 see also opera and under Hiller
Scalzi, Carlo, 46, 179 Sirmen, Maddalena Lombardini, 39, 181–182
Scarlatti, Alessandro, 163, 174 slurs, 135
Scarlatti, Giuseppe, 156 Smiles, Joan, 23
Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich, 3, 15 social class, see class
Schindler, Catharina, 46, 179–180 softness, see dynamics
Schindler, Marianne, 46, 179–180 solmization, 47–48, 55
Schindler, Philipp Ernst, 180 Solomon, 38
198 Index
Sozi, Sozio, 160 Tenducci, Giusto Ferdinando, 46, 177

speech, 20 Tesi-Tramontini, Vittoria, 44–45, 178, 183
cadence in, 67 Teuberinn, Elisabeth, see Teyber, Elisabeth
need for singers to practice, 55, 66 text, see words
see also declamation and words Teyber, Matthäus, 183
speech defects, 55, 66 Teyber (Teuberinn), Elisabeth, 46, 183
Sperontes (Johann Sigismund Scholze), 12 theater, 110, 111, 114
Spiess, Meinrad, 110 see also opera
staccato, 57–58, 103, 104, 105–107, 135, 138 Thirty Years War, 4
notating, 105 Tibaldi, Giuseppe, 46, 182, 183
tempo and, 57 Tibaldi, Rosa, see Tartaglini, Rosa
Standfuss, J. C., 5 time, 108, 135
Stendhal, 174 tones, see notes
Sterne, Laurence, Tristram Shandy, quoted by tongue, 55
Hiller, 13 Torelli, Giuseppe, 176
street musicians, 41 Toscano, see Guarducci, Tommaso
stuttering, 55 Toschi, Giovanni, 46, 183
style Tosi, Giuseppe Felice, 183
church/chamber/theater, 110–112, 114 Tosi, Pier Francesco, 3, 18, 101, 162, 170, 176,
French, 29, 30, 81 183–184
German, 3, 19, 30 on acting and singing, 45
international, 30 and arbitrary variations, 26, 27, 29, 135,
Italian, 19, 30 137–138
Sulzer, Johann Georg, 182 and cadenzas, 27–28, 118–119, 122
on accent, 67–68 on church music, 111
on aesthetics, 64–65 and declamation, 20
Hiller and, 16, 21, 25 Hiller and, 2, 3, 17, 19, 24, 27–28, 29, 30
and ornamentation, 25 and ornamentation, 20, 21, 22, 23, 72, 73, 76,
suspensions, 95 92
sustaining notes, 56, 64, 69 on passaggi, 103
syllabic singing, 69 Traetta, Tommaso, 25, 168
syllables transcriptions, 11
long and short, 67, 73 transitions, 28, 130–131
suitable for cadenzas, 128–129 translations, 16
for use in singing training, 48, 55 tremolo, 92
syncopation, 107 trills, 24, 92–97, 121
alternatives to, 24, 92–93, 96–97
Tartaglini, Rosa, 46, 182 in arbitrary variations, 135
Tartini, Giuseppe, 181 in cadenzas, 129
taste, 20, 22, 64–65, 73, 108, 135, 138 chains of, 96–97
Tauber, Maria Anna (Marianne), 183 in choral singing, 119
Tedeschi, Giovanni, see Amadori, Giovanni double, 93–94, 134
Tedeschi as essential, 21
Telemann, Georg Philipp, 4, 8 messa di voce and, 93
temperament, 53 on turns, 98–99
tempo, staccato and, 57 types, 24, 92, 93
tempo rubato, 108, 135 trios and triple cadenzas, 28, 119, 131
Index 199
triplets, 103, 104, 106, 107 Volkmann, D., 38

tuning, 51–53, 105, 106, 120 vowels
Türk, Daniel Gottlob, 22, 30 production of, 55, 105, 108–109
turn/Doppelschlag/Doppelvorschlag, 90, 92, 96–99, recommended for practicing scales, 54
131 repetition in staccato, 105
as essential, 21 suitable for cadenzas and arbitrary variations,
notating, 97, 98 128–129, 138
trilled, 98–99
Wagele, Antonia, see Bernasconi, Antonia
Valentin, Caterina Regina, see Mingotti, Caterina Walpole, Horace, 156, 173
Regina Walther, Johann Gottfried, 42, 111
variations, arbitrary, see arbitrary variations Weber, Aloysia, 180
variety, need for, 23, 24 Weisse, Christian Felix, 5, 12
Venice, 38, 39, 41 wind instruments, 105
verse, 67 Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik
see also meter and words betreffend, 14
vibrato, 21, 92, 99 Wolf, Georg Friedrich, 18
Vienna, 4, 41 women
Vinci, Leonardo, 157, 164 in church music, 40–41
violin, 105, 106 Hiller and, 14–15
Visconti, Catarina, 46, 184 as instrumental musicians, 9
voice(s), 51 words
balance in ensembles and choral singing, and breathing, 59, 62, 63
119 in learning singing, 47, 48, 55
carrying of, see portamento ornamentation and, 20, 138
flaws in, 55 singers recommended to improve setting of,
forcing, 54 21, 69–71
good use of, 56, 99–100 suitable for cadenzas, 128–129
improving/strengthening, 54–55 understanding when sung, 19, 66, 67, 111
and passaggi, 102–103 see also declamation and speech
range, 54, 102
registers, 53–54 Zanardi, Domenico, 183

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Hiller’s Treatise on Vocal Performance and Ornamentation was published in Germany

 .  is Lecturer in historical musicology at the University of

   

  

© Cambridge University Press 2004

First published in printed format 2001

ISBN 0-511-03718-X eBook (Adobe Reader)

Translator’s introduction and commentary 1

      33

Hiller’s Anweisung zum musikalisch-zierlichen Gesange, oﬀered here in English as

work of Tosi–Agricola, from the viewpoint of a new “enlightened” musical sen-

manifestations of an extraordinary service and unrelenting dedication to the

pivotal role in the creation of Singspiel. In his attempt to nationalize opera, he

Accent is an essential means of modifying the voice. Using the terminology

become a necessity.”64 By linking ornamentation to historical development,

Hiller comes across important material already presented by a predecessor or

Passaggi and arbitrary variations

Vocal forms and performing in diﬀerent places

tradition of ornamentation. As his pioneering work as an impresario indicates,

Hiller’s own footnotes, designated in the original publication by asterisks, are

entirely objectionable suggestions for improving the study of singing in

smooth performance, her ornaments did not appear to be unnatural. Moreover,

is to be considered as embellishment and ornamentation has to be based upon

To the most illustrious Princess and Lady,

Most illustrious Duchess,

I may consider myself fortunate to have received Your Serene Highness’s

I devote myself with a most thankful and respectful heart.

Most illustrious Duchess

Leipzig Your most Humble

On the qualities of the human voice and its

On good performance and how to use the voice

A good performance of the appoggiatura is based simply upon this smooth

but would do better if they sang:

or refrained from doing so altogether.

It can also be written like this:

With pauses it would look like this:

should be dealt with in the following form:

or also like this:

On good performance, with regard to text and

On good performance, with regard to

Likewise, it is easy and useful to employ the cercar in descending intervals.

frequently as appoggiaturas because it easily creates boredom when heard too

the transition is hardly noticeable. It is even customary to follow the major

Also, fashion has established certain excessive embellishments concerning the

In this and in similar cases, the lengthening or doubling of the mordent is

* Tosi [/Agricola,] Anleitung zur Singkunst, p. 122. [Baird, Introduction, p. 150.]

On good performance, with regard to passaggi

performance includes only a few notes which, in addition, should be descending

We have already become acquainted with some four-note legato ﬁgures.

This example is written out as it is to be performed. One must imagine,

On good performance, with regard to the

greatest freedom. Formerly, he would probably have placed more emphasis on

Traditionally it is always sung as in b. Even in a one-syllable caesura, the upper

former Kapellmeister from Frankfurt-am-Main. To accommodate the singer

   

The introduction of dissonances is the means of modulating to foreign keys.

On arbitrary variation of the aria

Biographical information on musicians

Aguillar, Antonia Girelli

a secondary role in Jommelli’s Iﬁgenia in Aulide. After further operatic perfor-

account of her in the Wöchentliche Nachrichten of October 24, 1768. In December

Bertoni, Ferdinando Gioseﬀo [Ferdinando Giuseppe]