The Solfeggio Tradition The Solfeggio Tradition A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth Century NICHOLAS BARAGWANATH 1 3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data Names: Baragwanath, Nicholas, author. Title: The solfeggio tradition : a forgotten art of melody in the long eighteenth century / Nicholas Baragwanath. Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020017866 (print) | LCCN 2020017867 (ebook) | ISBN 9780197514085 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197514108 (epub) | ISBN 9780197514115 Subjects: LCSH: Solmization—History—18th century. | Sight singing—History—18th century. | Music—Instruction and study—History—18th century. Classification: LCC MT44 .B4 2020 (print) | LCC MT44 (ebook) | DDC 782.04/2—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017866 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017867 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America For Isaac Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Glossary of Technical Terms xiii 1. Introduction: Discovering Solfeggio 1 I. CONTEXT: APPRENTICESHIP, PLAINCHANT, AND THE RUDIMENTS 2. Sepperl’s Story: A Case Study in Music and Social Mobility 23 3. The Church Music Industry 31 4. Eighteenth- Century Plainchant— For Beginners 37 5. Canto Fermo and Canto Figurato 58 II. THEORY AND PRACTICE: LESSONS IN THE ART OF MELODY 6. Speaking Solfeggio 85 Solmization Solutions 113 Appendix: Ambiguities, Complexities, and Supplementary Guidelines 120 7. Singing Solfeggio 128 8. Learning la- sol- fa- mi, with Some Hints on Musical Grammar 156 9. Solano and Sabbatini on Modulation 213 III. THE SOLFEGGIO REPERTORY: TYPES, STYLES, AND GENRES 10. Defining Solfeggio 239 11. Unaccompanied Solfeggio 249 12. Accompanied Solfeggio 266 13. Solfeggio and Partimento 288 14. Epilogue: Alternative Systems and the End of the Great Tradition 298 Notes 309 Bibliography 339 Index 399 Figures 2.1. Georg Balthasar Probst, L’ouïe, c. 1740 29 7.1/ Ex. 7.5. Niccolò Zingarelli, Solfeggi 140 7.2/ Ex. 7.7. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi 143 7.3. Niccolò Porpora, Solfeggi di Soprano 147 7.4/ Ex. 7.10. Leonardo Leo, Solfeggi, 1756 148 7.5. Saverio Valente, Solfegi [sic] 149 7.6./ Ex. 7.12. Carlo Cotumacci, Principij e Solfeggi, c. 1755 150 8.1/ Ex. 8.4. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 172 8.2/ Ex. 8.5. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 173 8.3/ Ex. 8.6. Leonardo Leo, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 175 8.4/ Ex. 8.7. Carlo Cotumacci, Principij e Solfeggi, c. 1755 176 8.5/ Ex. 8.8. Leonardo Leo, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 178 8.6/ Ex. 8.9. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 181 8.7/ Ex. 8.10. Leonardo Leo, Solfeggi, 1756 183 8.8/ Ex. 8.13. Leonardo Leo, Solfeggi 187 8.9/ Ex. 8.14. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 188 8.10/ Ex. 8.20. Carlo Cotumacci, Principij e Solfeggi, c. 1755 196 8.11/ Ex. 8.21. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 198 8.12/ Ex. 8.22. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 199 8.13/ Ex. 8.23. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 200 8.14/ Ex. 8.24. Pasquale Cafaro, Solfeggi a voce sola di soprano 201 8.15/ Ex. 8.25. Carlo Cotumacci, Principij e Solfeggi, c. 1755 204 8.16/ Ex. 8.26. Carlo Cotumacci, Principij e Solfeggi, c. 1755 208 9.1/ Ex. 9.14. Niccolò Porpora, Solfeggi di Soprano 233