Vocal Traditions in Conflict - Descent from Sweet, Clear, Pure and Affecting Italian Singing To Grand Uproar

I outline what my book is about in the form of a brief homily. My text:

‘Music must, somehow or other, reflect the manners and fancies of its birth-time and birth-place,—and also the conditions of executive art … I believe that thoughtful science, not shrinking from retrospect, not averse to discovery, will increasingly refer to Record, not to Tradition,—will increasingly separate that which is of the hour, from that which does not pass away. The “players” have had their riot:—the orchestra and its combinations have been driven into that prominence and perfection to which extravagance and corruption may be the inevitable sequel. The turn of the singers may be again to come.’

Henry Chorley, 1862

Dear Reader,

Chorley’s prediction that commentators will focus more on Record than on Tradition has indeed come to pass, with increasing emphasis on Historically Informed Practice