Pier Francesco Tosi
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Pier Francesco Tosi (c. 1653 – 1732) was a castrato singer, composer, and writer on music. His Opinoni de' cantori antichi e moderni... was the first full-length treatise on singing and provides a unique glimpse into the technical and social aspects of Baroque vocal music.
Life and career
Tosi was born in
cantatas
.
Opinioni de' cantori antichi, e moderni... [Observations on the Florid Song]
Opinioni is primarily directed to the
reading and composing music, singing and constructing ornamentation, as well as in grammar, diction, social decorum and acting. All the standard ornaments of the time are thoroughly presented: appoggiatura, messa di voce, eight kinds of trills, passaggi (divisions), and portamento. Tosi also dedicates a chapter each to recitative and aria singing, preaching throughout the necessity of improvising one's own graces
and divisions on the spot in performances.
There are a few teachings of Tosi's in his Opinioni that have been particularly interesting to singers and scholars over the years. Tosi clearly advocates uniting and blending the
rubato as an embellishment. While he again and again rails on singers who accidentally sing out of tempo or self-aggrandizingly hold out notes as in the modern fermata, he encourages “[t]he stealing of Time […], provided he makes a Restitution with Ingenuity”; meaning, provided the singer catches back up the accompaniment, allowing them to keep tempo.[2]
Another interesting element of Opinioni is Tosi's discussions on
meantone temperament
were becoming antiquated at the time Tosi wrote his treatise, he nevertheless insisted on their use.
Opinioni was in fact a watershed for much more than just early
Church modes and “tasteless” virtuosic displays as the great sin of the “modern” music generation. Being a pragmaticist, however, he still encourages “it will be of Use to a prudent Scholar, who is desirous to be expert in both Manners.”[6]
Literature
- Dutch Translation: "Korte Aanmerkingen over de Zangkonst, getrokken uit een Italiaansch Boek, betyteld Osservazioni sopra il canto figurato di Pier-Francesco Tosi" (Leyden, 1731)
- Opinioni de’ cantori antichi, e moderni o sieno osservazioni sopra il canto figurato. (Bologna 1723).
- English Translation: Observations on the Florid Song. Trans. by John Ernest Galliard, London: J. Wilcox, 1742 or 1743.
- German Translation and Extensive Commentary: Anleitung zur Gesangskunst. By Johann Friedrich Agricola. Berlin: George Ludewig Winter, 1757. Facsimile Edition with introduction and commentary by Kurt Wichmann. Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1966.
- Tosi, Pierfrancesco: Opinions of singers, Ancient and Modern, or Observations on Figured Singing, English translation with introduction and commentary by Edward Foreman Minneapolis, Pro Music Press, 1993
- Portuguese translation: Opiniões de cantores antigos e modernos, ou seja, Observações sobre o canto florido. Introduction and commentary by ISBN 978-65-88388-20-4
References
Sources
- Malcolm Boyd/John Rosselli. The ISBN 1-56159-228-5
- Text for this article has been excerpted by permission of the author from the introduction to P.F. Tosi Observations on the Florid Song, Bel Canto Masters Study Series (Pitch Perfect Publishing, 2009). ISBN 978-0-557-12293-6.
