National Singing Styles - Germany (I)

German sources on singing from the seventeenth century outnumber both Italian and French. As the chart in Figure 1.1 indicates, there are strong links among the German sources. The model established by Michael Praetorius in Syntagma Musicum III (1619) was imitated throughout the century by writers who tried to convey what they understood of the Italian style of ornamented singing. Though there was increasing impact of Italian musical developments in Germany as the century progressed, the vocal aesthetic that emerges from German treatises changed relatively little, except in its attitude toward falsetto.

Praetorius called attention to the close connection between singing and oratory. It was important for a singer to have not only a good voice, but also an understanding and knowledge of music, skill in ornamentation (which required throat articulation), good diction, and proper pronunciation. We can establish from Praetorius that the Germans ca.1620, like the Italians ca. 1600, used throat articulation, prized the development of good breath control, and did not favor using falsetto. Praetorius’s description of the requisites of a good singing voice has been quoted frequently, in modern times often as a defense for using continuous vibrato:

The requisites are these: that a Singer first have a beautiful, lovely, agile [zittern] and vibrating [bebende] voice . . . and a smooth [glatten], round throat for diminutions; secondly, the ability to hold a continuous long breath without many inhalations; thirdly, in addition, a voice . . . which he can hold with a full and bright [hellem] sound without Falsetto (which is a half and forced voice).

In the above quotation, Praetorius’s term zittern probably signifies more than its literal meaning of “trembling.” Considered in light of Zacconi’s discussion of the importance of the tremolo for learning the gorgia technique and singing passaggi (see above), it is likely that Praetorius (who learned much from Italian theorists) was referring not to continuous pitch-fluctuation vibrato, but to that “trembling” of the voice that is the essence of glottal technique, and hence the source of vocal agility. When considered in the context of the standards of intonation during this period, Praetorius’s use of the word bebende could perhaps best be translated as “shimmering,” again conveying a voice using intensity vibrato rather than pitch-fluctuation vibrato. Though Johann Andreas Herbst would later quote this passage verbatim, it is perhaps not insignificant that forty-six years later (and sixty-nine years after Praetorius) Georg Falck, who also follows the passage closely, omits the words zittern and bebende altogether in his description of the ideal singing voice.

Christoph Demantius outlined six important elements in proper singing in his influential Isagoge artis musicae (8th ed., 1632): (1) accurate pronunciation of vowels; (2) careful attention to semitones; (3) matching the tone of voice to the affect of the text; (4) correct intonation and proper awareness of the harmony; (5) avoidance of shouting; and (6) proper attention to the text and avoidance of breath articulation or “ha-ha-ha” in coloratura passages. Though he makes no direct reference to throat articulation, Demantius’s admonition against breath articulation or aspiration is quite clear and was closely quoted by Falck. Demantius did not mention vibrato.

Christoph Bernhard outlined nine elements of good singing, the first of which he called fermo, which was keeping the voice steady on all notes except when doing a trillo (single-note repercussion) or an ardire, an ornamental type of vibrato for passionate expression. In any other context, polished singers did not use pitchfluctuation vibrato, which Bernhard termed tremolo, with the exception of basses, who used it seldom and only on short notes.

Bernhard’s student Wolfgang Mylius followed Praetorius’s model in his Rudimenta Musices (1686), except that, in his description of the ideal singing voice, he omitted the word zittern and used belebende, meaning “lively,” where Praetorius had used bebende: “First a youth or singer must have by nature a beautiful, lovely, lively [belebende] voice well-disposed to a trill and a smooth, round throat.”

to be continued
(by A Performer's Guide to Seveteenth-Century Music)