Pier Francesco Tosi: pioneer of singing teaching

Who is Pier Francesco Tosi?

In Lindte of his father Giuseppe Felice Tosi, Pier Francesco Tosi carried out his activity in numerous European cities and courts starting from Vienna, Dresden, and finally London, combining the career as a singer with that of business in charge of Count Palatine Giovanni Guglielmo, and subsequently of the emperor.

Pier Francesco Tosi and his method of singing

In 1723 Pier Francesco Tosi published in Bologna, at Lelio della Volpe , the Treaty Opinions of the ancient and modern singers, who in no time earned a large reputation among the singers of the time, but above all his fame came later thanks to 'usefulness of his precious testimony regarding the aesthetic, taste and musical costume of the late Baroque age. In this book Pier Francesco Tosi does not limit himself to dedicating pages concerning the generic method of teaching singing, such as how to set the voice, how to perform a trill or a supporting, it scrutinizes and "prick" thanks to the chapters dedicated to Arie and recitatives the composers and virtuous singers of that time, calling them exaggeratedly modern and vocally narcissistic.

What do you think and what Pier Francesco Tosi writes in opinions of ancient and modern singers?

In this book Pier Francesco Tosi, with a kind literary spirit, but very firm on his opinions, highlights some problems of the period starting from the decrease in the importance of the counterpoint within the compositions, the increasingly arising of the instrumental value at the expense of The vocal-changing one, a preference to be somewhat lively at the expense of the slow ones, in order to be able to show off more and more a hedonism and the circus ability vocal to the disadvantage of the severe artistic commitment dictated by a meticulous and attentive discipline. In this book parallel to the one previously written, Pier Francesco Tosi tries to outline and explain the figure according to his opinion of the virtuous singer, a cultured person and immersed in the knowledge of the composition, with literary culture, lover of taste and vocal aesthetic , looking for originality in them respecting the stylistic characters of that time: theatrical, ecclesiastical and chamber.
There is no lack of reflection on the value of time and of going in time, expertly using the value of the "stolen" useful for obtaining a sound, timbric and interpretative character of absolute originality. I conclude this short essay thinking that after about 400 years of experience, the situation is still like then, a world that continually searches a change of state, giving value only and exclusively to the things that bring success, notoriety and add numbers. A song now made of numbers, views, selfies, practically a world where everything is based on appearing instead of singing ...

I attach below my meticulous research on the web regarding Pier Francesco Tosi

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