240 Pages
by
Routledge
240 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Synopsis of Vocal Musick, by the unidentified A.B., was published in London in 1680 and appears to have only ever had one edition. Its relatively short shelf-life belies its importance to the history of early British music theory. Unlike other English theoretical writings of the period, the Synopsis derives many of its aspects from the continental theoretical tradition, including the first... Read more
Contents: Preface; Introduction. Synopsis of Vocal Musick: The preface; Epistola Dedicatoria; Of Vocal Musick in general; Of the Notes; Of the Pricks; Of the Pauses; Of the Signs of the Common Time; Of the slower Triple; Of the Swifter Triple; Of the Swiftest Triple; Of the slower Sesquialtre; Of the Swifter Sesquialtre; Of the Swiftest Sesquialtre; Of the Systems; Of the Bars, and Repeats; Of the Cliffs; Of the Use of Cliffs in respect of Voices; Of the Use of Cliffs in respect of Notes; Of the Syllables; Of the Scale of Musick; Of the Order of the Generation of the Degrees; Of the Intervals of the Degrees; Of the agreeableness of the Cliffs and Syllables with the Degrees of the Scale of Musick; Of the generation of an Eighth in b flat; Of the lesser principal and secondary contained signs; Of the signs of the breadth of sounds, and of things; Of the signs of the Ornaments of Songs; Of the second Mean to attain the Art of Musick. Twelve Most Usual Tunes of Psalms: In Three Parts. Treble, Mean, and Bass; Twelve Selected English Tunes in Three Parts. Two Trebles and a Bass; Twelve Selected English Catches A. 3. Voc. Composed by sundry Authors; Fourteen Italian Songs Composed by Giovanni Giacomo Castoldi da Carravaggio; Notes; Critical commentary; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.
Biography
Rebecca Herissone is Lecturer in Musicology in the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at the University of Manchester, UK.
’Overall, the book is an excellent edition and examination of this neglected treatise, and one that has a broader relevance to musical scholarship than might be anticipated. Anyone with an interest in seventeenth-century musical culture would benefit from reading this well-organized and thoughtful presentation of the Synopsis of Vocal Musick. The text is elegantly written and engaging, the edition itself is a fascinating insight into the expectations of the novice singer of the period.’ Studies in Musical Theatre
