On Apr 30, 2008, at 7:12 AM, Ron Andrico wrote:

> When singing part music, a singer only had one part to read, and  
> did not have the luxury of scanning the complete score to see where  
> he or she could add bits here or there.

Neither does the first oboe player in an orchestra playing Handel or  
the lead guitarist in a rock band, but it doesn't stop them from  
ornamenting.  A skilled singer who understood the style (and all  
skilled singers understood the style) wouldn't need a score to know  
what was going on, particularly if the music was actually rehearsed.

>   The object was to blend and to be a pleasing part of the whole.
>
> Zarlino, in _Istitutioni harmoniche_, 1558, wrote: "Matters for the  
> singer to observe are these: First of all he must aim diligently to  
> perform what the composer has written. He must not be like those  
> who, wishing to be thought worthier and wiser than their  
> colleagues, indulge in certain rapid improvisations that are so  
> savage and so inappropriate that they not only annoy the hearer but  
> are riddled with thousands of errors, such as many dissonances,  
> consecutive unisons, octaves, fifths, and other similar  
> progressions absolutely intolerable in composition. Then there are  
> singers who substitute higher or lower tones for those intended by  
> the composer, singing for instance a whole tone instead of a  
> semitone, or vice versa, leading to countless errors as well as  
> offense to the ear.

It sounds like ornamentation was common in part-singing, unless  
Zarlino was inclined to waste a lot of ink on a non-existant problem.

None of this is dispositive on the question of whether a lutenist  
should ornament polyphonic lines.  As usual, two readers can examine  
the historical sources and come to different conclusions.

I am fortunate not to have to confront the problem in practice, since  
I am sufficiently untalented that simply getting the written notes is  
more than enough to occupy my hands.


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