Giovanni Battista Bovicelli

Regole
Passaggi di Musica

(1594)

Avertimenti per li passaggi

Translated by Sion M. Honea

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 Translator’s Preface

There is no question that Bovicelli’s Regole is of great importance for the study of late
Renaissance vocal performance practice. It could have been of even greater importance had the
author’s critical and writing skills equaled his talent as a performer. In regard to writing, too often
Bovicelli’s explanations assume, probably unconsciously, that the reader already understands what he
is explaining—the typical fault of today’s authors of computer program operating manuals. He
exacerbates this weakness with too many ellipses and some tendency to wandering circumlocutions
like those found in Caccini, though not so desperately extreme as in Zacconi. It can often be quite
difficult to ferret out what exactly he may have meant.
On the side of critical and analytical skill there are also many problems. It is, of course, an
issue of critical and analytical ability that he can so unconsciously assume the reader’s prior
knowledge of the issue that he is describing in order to inform the reader of that issue. His analysis
of the phenomena is often sufficiently weak as to render his explanations incomplete, such as his
remark on text setting to the tremolo on original page 9 and his description and illustrations of the
tremolo on pages 12-13. In fact, to my mind the latter cannot even qualify as an explanation, so
inadequate and defective is it. In this connection also belong the mistakes in some examples and the
presumed omission of the all-important designations for the tremolo in example 13. An extensive
note in the translation attempts to clarify, to the extent possible, what can only be considered
Bovicelli’s unbelievably inadequate and inept discussion of the ornament.
Apart from analytical and writing skills, the text is burdened with a variety of mechanical
flaws. There are errors, misprints, wrong words, inverted letters and faulty printing, often at critical
points.
Given all these flaws, it might seem astounding that Boviceli’s text could still stand as an
important one on the subject, in my opinion second in importance to Maffei, even though his verbal
text presents relatively little about the diminution technique and nothing on the practice of throat
articulation. The former practice Bovicelli largely relegates to the method section of the book and in
the latter he evinces little or no interest; apparently it is simply assumed as a given. The importance
of his text resides in the fact that he provides quite good coverage of those issues that he does
address. Preeminent among these are his remarks on text and text setting in the ornaments and
passaggi. Thereafter come issues of a more general nature of performance practice, how to perform
ornaments and passaggi “with grace” because there are better and worse approaches, both of which
Bovicelli usually describes.
In two aspects of wring style Bovicelli surpasses most others writers, again Maffei is the
exception. Bovicelli seldom ever encumbers his text with superficial and meaningless redundancies
or flowery similes, though his “horsiness” does pall a trifle. Further, and more importantly, his
terminology is the most simple, streamlined and consistent, in which he might possibly surpass even
the masterful Maffei. His terminology for the passaggio is essentially and refreshingly limited to
“passaggio” and “passaggiare.” Even where he is somewhat vague, such as with accentuare and tempo, he
does not approach the colossal ambiguity of Zacconi.
Even if it is, as Bovicelli would say, repeating a tiresome song to the reader’s annoyance, I
must state some standard procedures. Page numbers of the original appear in brackets. In the

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translation I emphasize closeness to the original over elegance. I have tried to address problems in
supplementary notes, to the extent of my ability. I have avoided musical transcriptions in most of
the other selections in this series on the grounds that their contribution to understanding does not
justify the labor. This is not the case with Bovicelli, whose text would be drastically diminished
without them. Thus, I have transcribed all 21 examples and placed them at the end along with one
extra of my own, which attempts to interpret what Bovicelli may have meant by the tremolo. I am
not an adept at music writing programs, which at the best are not at all congenial to dealing with
pre-modern music notation. Fortunately, Bovicelli never uses mensuration signs, which modern
time signatures can only misrepresent, and his use of bar lines is often superfluous, for which reason
I have occasionally omitted them, I believe with no negative effect on the reader’s understanding.
The program does not permit the flexibility that Boviceli’s printer possessed manually, especially in
regard to the ability to reproduce his errors. I can at least say that I believe my efforts are not
inferior to or more confusing than Bovicelli’s own.`

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 The Author to the Reader

[5] It cannot be said with how much amazement and marvel art has always gone playing
round about nature, because (just exactly like a monkey to a human) it seems that it has always tried
to imitate and make everything that it [art] has seen marvelously imprinted and sculpted in it
[nature]. But, if ever one sees art to be marvelous in this imitation, it has been most marvelous in
music.1 Therefore, in seeing the most beautiful order of this our world, as one thing keeps
happening alternately after another, and as all together make a kind of silent harmony, whence it is
that some by the grand order that they discern in the movements of the heavens imagine as
harmony of the sweetest voices. I say that art perceiving this and wanting perhaps also to compete
in this with nature—that order and that harmony which the intellect alone understood by subtle
discourse—it [music] was disposed and wanted also vividly to represent to the senses, and since it is
an easy thing according to the proverb to add to things that exist, the voices thus having first been
tuned together by harmony, there have been very many thereafter who have striven to render to a
greater perfection what at the beginning was crude and to the culmination such as music is now
refined. Among whom it also having occurred to me to write something on the subject of the
manner of making passaggi, just as seeing the great difference between me and those who have
written about it has on one side dismayed me, so on the other side it has reassured me, seeing that
there is no craftsman or merchant who refrains from his profession when there remains any of his
merchandise to sell, [merely] because there may be many others of the same profession. Rather, it
appears that the diversity of things and of opinions may be a beautification for the world and a very
great ornament.
But, coming closer to reveal my mind regarding these few rules and passaggi, everyone may
be assured of my intention, which has only been to be useful, whenever I could, nor ever did it come
into my thoughts to accuse or insult anyone. I say this for those who might like to reprimand me
for having perhaps freely criticized some faults. If others perchance might say that I had [6] created
some passaggi that seem impossible2 to produce by a human voice, I answer them that those gifted
by nature with a good disposition (dispositione)3 of voice will produce some even more difficult, just
as all who understand this profession agree. It also seemed good to me to write out some few rules
before writing the passaggi, part of which instruct in avoiding certain defects that often occur in
                                                                                                                       
1
 Bovicelli’s  style  in  the  prefatory  “To  the  Reader”  is  somewhat  more  “literary”  than  are  the  more  pragmatic  
instructions  that  follow.    In  general  Bovicelli’s  style  is  about  midway  between  the  clinically  clear  and  terse  
discussion  of  the  doctor  Maffei  (1562)  and  the  at  times  well-­‐nigh  incomprehensible  syntactic  concatenations  of  
Caccini  (1602)  or  Zacconi  (1596).  
 
2
 This  is  a  reference  to  the  use  of  passaggi  by  instruments,  which  were  capable  of  producing  more  difficult  ones  
than  could  be  sung  (cf.  Zacconi,  60v).    Zacconi  and  Cerone  seek  to  avoid  such  criticism  in  regard  to  singing  by  
stating  that  their  passaggi  examples  emphasize  rhythmic  simplicity  and  by  explaining  why.    The  issues  concerned  
complex  rhythmic  subdivisions,  from  which  Bovicelli  clearly  does  not  abstain.  
3
 The  word  is  more  often  spelled  disposizione  in  Italian.    This  is  a  critical  term  in  the  subject  area  and  meant,  
originally,  the  physiological  aptitude  (disposition)  for  throat  articulation.    Maffei  gives  incomparably  the  best  
discussion  of  it.    The  term  remains  important  well  into  the  next  century  and  passes  into  other  languages,  German,  
French  and  English.    For  example,  Bacilly  gives  a  discussion  of  it  in  chapter  eight  of  his  Traité  de  la  méthode  ou  Art  
de  bien  chanter  (1671),  p.  48.  

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singing, and part teach the manner by which anyone can easily make use of passaggi and carry them
off well. These rules, for the sake of greater brevity and clarity, I have compiled under two main
headings: those relating to notes and those relating to words.

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 Advice for Passaggi
Advice as regards the words

[7] Just as in writing in such style one ought to have an eye on the sense so that the words may not
be unseemly, nor in order to accommodate the words well to render the sense defective and
mistaken. So also in singing and particularly in producing passaggi, one ought not only pay attention
to the notes but also to the words, since one requires great judgment in appointing them well.
One ought, then, to have great care primarily in subdividing the notes for ornamentation
(accentuare)4 or for making passaggi,5 and this so as not to produce any barbarism by making short
syllables long or long ones short, which is no less unsuitable than it would be ugly and
disproportionate for one who had long legs and left the stirrups short or the contrary.6 Every time
that the passaggi are of continuous notes, which is to say of the same value,7 rarely or never ought
one to introduce a new syllable but continue up to the end on the first one begun because it will turn
out more conveniently,

Music Example # 1

especially because in that great fury and velocity of notes scarcely can one hear the words unless one
is near to the [8] singer. Especially also because sometimes the same syllables aid (aggiutano)8 in
making one passaggio more than another, such a A, E, O in respect to I and U, which [latter] two
are not so convenient for the voice as are the first [three] because of the difference in pronouncing
                                                                                                                       
4
 I  am  not  satisfied  that  there  is  any  entirely  suitable  English  equivalent  for  this  word.    My  impression  is  that  
various  authors  use  it  sometimes  similarly  and  sometimes  idiosyncratically.    In  general  it  seems  to  relate  to  an  
emotional  style  of  singing  through  the  use  of  improvised  ornaments.    When  specific,  it  relates  to  the  accento  
ornament,  which  was  treated  quite  diversely.    F.  Rognoni  gives  examples  of  the  simplest  form  of  the  accento,  while  
Cerone  offers  more  complex  ones.    Praetorius  includes  two  pages  of  them  in  various  intervals  ((3,  233-­‐234).    All  
these  authors  are  included  in  this  translation  series.  
5
 As  so  often  at  this  stage  in  European  vernaculars,  the  grammar  is  not  quite  clear.    The  use  of  ò  seems  to  be  the  
inclusive  one  (i.e.,  both  accentuare  and  far  passaggi  are  possible),  but  it  is  not  clear  as  to  whether  it  is  also  the  so-­‐
called  corrective  sense  that  indicates  that  the  two  are  the  same,  as  accentuare  or  [that  is]  making  passaggi,  though  
modern  usage  tends  to  use  for  this  sense  either  oppure  or  ossia.  It  is  probable  that  the  former  interpretation  is  
correct.    
6
 The  proximity  of  questo  and  quello  (the  latter,  the  former)  here  appear  (falsely)  to  indicate  that  Bovicelli  was  
following  up  with  a  more  complex  explanation.    The  “red  herring”  was  even  emphasized  (accidentally?)  by  
Bovicelli’s  use  of  the  terms  gambe  and  staffe,  both  of  which  have  musical  senses!    Ultimately  any  possible  
confusion  is  resolved  by  the  fortunate  gender-­‐specificity  of  Italian,  despite  the  fact  that  both  questo  and  quello  can  
be  used  in  the  neuter  with  a  nominalizing  force  in  referring  to  a  previous  idea  as  a  whole  rather  than  a  single  
referent  word.  
7
 The  description  is  common  among  the  authors  for  a  succession  of  notes  of  equal  rhythmic  value,  e.g.,  all  eighth-­‐
notes.  
8
 Aggiutano,  is  obscure.    Neither  aggiuntano  (join  together)  nor  aggiustano  (adjust,  arrange)  supply  a  plausible  
meaning.    The  most  probable  understanding  derives  from  the  verb  aiutare  (to  help,  assist)  with  the  “d”  of  the  
original  Latin  preposition  ad  (an  alternative  still  in  Italian)  retained  for  euphony,  and  this  “d+i”  productive  of  the  
soft  g  sound.    Then,  it  is  also  commonplace  to  find  consonants  alternatively  in  single  or  double  form,  even  within  
the  same  author’s  writing.    There  might  also  have  been  an  influence  from  the  form  veggano  for  vedano  in  the  
present  subjunctive  of  vedere  and  elsewhere.  

6  
 
them.9 Although10 it is the opinion of some that11 for the convenience of making some passaggi,
drawing out more syllables on one single note, subdividing it, then, into so many more of lesser
value, which corresponds to the number of syllables—I say again that this seems to be unseemly to
many, perhaps because, as I have said, it is inevitable to subdivide that note in any way (and this is
said with goodwill to all) that I have ever considered to be well done whenever I hear it,12 that it
didn’t generate some barbarism, unless the notes were all on the same chord/note13 and they were
uttered quickly.14
Now then, the words and the notes can be varied without any of the aforesaid difficulty
whenever the notes are not made all of the same value.

Music Example # 2

Where the passaggi are of many notes and especially with groppetti at the end, which are
always concluded with sixteenth-notes or thirtysecond-notes, one ought as much as possible to
avoid performing a new syllable on that note that follows immediately after the groppetto. Rather,
one ought to go moderately with notes of a little greater value.

Music Example # 3
                                                                                                                       
9
 With  the  exception  of  Zacconi,  there  seems  to  be  general  agreement  that  A,  E,  O  are  the  preferred  vowels  for  
passaggi  and  that  I  and  U  are  bad.    Maffei  prefers  O  as  the  best,  while  Cerone  is  vague  but  seems  to  prefer  A.    
Zacconi,  oddly,  says  that  A  is  the  most  difficult  (cf.  Zacconi  60r).  
10
 This  begins  a  sentence  of  six  and  one-­‐half  lines  of  sheer  Caccinian  convolution.    It  is  rendered  all  the  more  
ambiguous  by  Bovicelli’s  frequent  interrupting  asides,  the  imprecise  overuse  of  the  multipurpose  Italian  che  (a  
word  perhaps  even  more  diverse  than  English  “that”)  and  the  loss  of  letters  due  to  faulty  inking  of  the  imprint  as  
alluded  to  above.  
11
 At  this  point  Bovicelli  loses  control  of  the  sentence.    This  begins  a  long  complex  phrase  with  two  infinitives  (one  
apparently  used  substantively)  and  a  gerund  but  no  finite  verb!    Thus,  it  is  syntactically  impossible  to  relate  its  
meaning  to  the  rest  of  the  long  sentence.    Context  and  guesswork  must  suffice.  
12
 The  faulty  imprint  here  is  almost  disastrous  for  the  meaning.    The  word  in  question  is  divided  by  the  line  ending  
with  several  letters  missing  and  only  –rò  surviving  on  the  next.    Thus,  it  is  only  possible  to  determine  that  the  verb  
was  a  first  person  singular  future.    Since  Bovicelli  is  discussing  a  point  of  which  he  disapproves,  it  is  unlikely  that  he  
is  referring  to  himself  as  doing  the  proscribed  action  but  rather  as  observing  others  doing  it.    This  leads  to  the  
conjecture  of  udirò.    The  future  strikes  the  English  ear  as  a  bit  odd,  but  it  is  less  so  in  Italian  and  especially  when  
immediately  preceded  by  the  present  subjunctive  stia  in  the  previous  clause,  the  future  indicative  and  the  present  
subjunctive  being  so  closely  related  in  the  Romance  languages  in  both  sense  and  originally  in  morphology.  
 
13
 The  term  here  is  corda  which  means  both  chord  and  note,  the  latter  possibly  more  in  the  sense  of  sonority.    I  
have  used  both  in  order  to  communicate  to  the  reader  the  essential  ambiguity  of  Bovicelli’s  original.    His  
illustrations  do  nothing  to  resolve  the  issue.    In  this  case  and  the  next  following,  I  believe  “note”  is  intended  but  
perhaps  with  an  implication  of  harmony.  
14
 I  believe  that  this  is  best  understood  by  considering  the  previous  remarks  on  vowels  as  a  digression  from  the  
subject  and  that  this  passage  continues  Bovicelli’s  concern  with  text  setting  in  passaggi.    I  believe  he  is  saying  that  
some  people  take  a  long  note  of  the  intended  passaggio,  break  it  up  into  several  smaller  notes  of  the  same  pitch  
and  set  the  text  to  them,  thus  getting  it  out  of  the  way  of  the  diminution  process  so  that  the  passaggio  can  
proceed  unencumbered.    Bovicelli  says  he  has  never  heard  it  done  successfully  except  for  when  two  conditions  are  
met:    the  syllables  must  be  over  the  same  harmony  (unfortunately  the  word  here  is  corda,  see  note  13)  and  when  
executed  rapidly.  

7  
 
 I said one ought to avoid “as much as possible” because some notes one can’t [avoid], and
then with a moderate and gentle voice one ought to finish the word in such a way that the gentleness
of the voice tempers the harshness that is produced by the speed of the notes.

Music Example # 4

What has been said of groppetti, the same also ought to be observed about the tremolo [9],
namely, not beginning another syllable, which, nonetheless, one will be able to put there when the
two last notes of the tremolo,15 or of any passaggio will be made on the same note/chord (corda).

Music Example # 516

As to the placement of the words under the notes, it is necessary to pay very close attention
to accompany them exactly together, so that not only no barbarisms result from it, as I said in the
beginning, but also so that they make the best effect possible, because many times one syllable will
have a greater grace when placed under one than under another note, as one will be able to see very
clearly from these examples of them.

Music Example # 6

Finally, it is the greatest fault of those who never make an end on the word and always keep
repeating the two or three first syllables, as for example saying Benedi—Benedictus, being similar to
those who have ruined their teeth, who keep chewing over and over the same bite in order to
swallow it.

                                                                                                                       
15
 I  have  provided  a  lengthy  discussion  of  the  tremolo  in  note  23.    Neither  of  the  two  possibilities  seem  in  the  least  
possible  for  text  setting  such  as  Bovicelli  suggests  here.  
16
 Bovicelli’s  example  is  confusing.    I  believe  he  intends  to  present  two  different  passaggi,  despite  the  fact  that  he  
contrasts  tremolo  and  passaggio  in  his  description.    Neither  of  the  ornamentations  is  remotely  like  the  tremolo  as  
he  illustrates  it  in  example  13,  or  rather,  as  he  does  not  illustrate  it  effectively!      

8  
 
 [10] Advice about the Notes

As to the notes (note), then (among which I include passaggi, gorppetti, leaps (salti) and
everything that in some way can be reduced to notes), great judgment is required primarily in making
passaggi or ornamenting (accentuare) the notes of value,17 in which it is necessary to have an ear to the
movement of the other parts, because never, except at the end, do all the parts meet together and
stop at one and the same time on one and the same prolongation of the harmony. Two examples
are presented, nevertheless, so that one may see the way that it must be maintained in the
aforementioned variation. Because at times, for example, one will go from Csolfaut (c’) over
Gsolreut (g) and [to] Csolfa (c”), as in the first example, at times from Dlasolre (d’) over Alamire (a)
and to Dlasol (d”) as in the second.18

Music Example # 7

So as not to have to keep repeating the same song many times to the point of the listener’s
tedium, as the proverb says, the longest ornament it seems often keeps varying with passaggi of the
very same notes but diversely put together. Because, just like in writing or speaking, the greatest
boredom is, for the one who is listening or reading, if the oration goes along languishing by itself
without any color of figures; so in passaggi in singing, if they are without diverse style, almost like
revived by the colors, in place of delight, [then] they will bring annoyance. I want to say that
passaggi sometimes ought to be of continuous notes of one and the same value, and the same varied
sometimes in another way, in such a way that they produce those same pitches (notes), nonetheless
they will appear diverse because of the different way of delivering them.

[11] Example # 8

Most often when one sings, so as to give grace to the voice, either in the beginning or
wherever it is (but in this as in everything, however, it needs judgment) one begins a third or a
fourth lower according to the harmony of the other parts and particularly of the contralto, where

                                                                                                                       
17
 The  phrase  is  accentuare  le  note  di  valore.    The  idea  seems  to  be  that  it  is  necessary  to  listen  closely  to  the  other  
parts  and  keep  the  rhythm  synchronized  so  that  all  may  cadence  together.    Since  Bovicelli  is  now  discussing  notes  
and  no  longer  the  words,  as  in  the  previous  section,  the  notes  of  value  cannot  refer  to  textually  significant  ones.    
The  most  likely  determinant  of  “value”  would  seem  to  be  those  that  are  long  and  so  subject  to  diminution.  
18
 There  are  two  issues.    First,  this  seems  a  very  awkward  way  to  describe  the  two  passaggi  represented  by  
examples  7  and  8.    In  the  first  example  the  pitch  that  experiences  diminution  is  a  sustained  Gsolreut  (g)  in  the  
Guidonian  system,  with  the  range  of  the  passaggio  covering  the  octave  around  it,  descending  to  Csolfaut  (c’)  and  
up  to  Csolfa  (c”).    The  second  issue  is  an  error  in  the  second  description.    In  the  second  example  the  passaggio  is  
based  on  a  motive  of  two  pitches,  which  Bovicelli  names  incorrectly.    The  lower  pitch  as  notated  is  Dsolre  (d)  and  
the  higher  is  Alamire  (a).    The  passaggio  actually  descends  to  Dsolre  (d)  and  ascends  to  Dlasolre  (d’)  not,  as  Bovicelli  
gives,  to  Dlasol  (d”).    As  Bovicelli  erroneously  describtes  it,  the  passaggio  covers  a  twelfth  because  it  includes  the  
entire  octave  d’  to  d”  above  a,  instead  of  the  octave  d  to  d’  around  a.  

9  
 
easily the soprano can form a unison.19 (What one says of the soprano and contralto, the same holds
true in the other parts.) In this, however, one ought to take care that by how much more the first
note is held and the second is faster, it also produces greater grace in the voice, which grace cannot
possibly be in it every time that the notes are one and the same value. Because the elegance of
singing, as I said above, is nothing other than the variation of notes of greater and lesser value, such
as one sees here below.

Music Example # 9

This is discerned very well in groppetti, which can be terminated in two ways. The first by
notes of the same value; the second is such that the end of the groppetto is, so to speak “restrained”
(raffrenato). This succeeds much better for the most part, because it produces greater grace in the
voice, and also is more suitable for ending words well, so that the flurry does not happen at the end,
which was mentioned, which one must avoid as much as possible. Nonetheless, in order to vary one
ought sometimes to use the one with the equal notes and especially when they are not strictly to the
words.

Example # 10

The same groppetti, not speaking of the voice but of the notes, can be made in more ways,
even on one and the same note. I mean that there can be more than one on only one note. Either
they can be continuous notes or [they can be] restrained (raffrenate), or both of them together.

[12] Example # 1120

Whatever I said about the groppetto, that is that it ends with notes of a little more value
[longer], is said also of passaggi. This value, however, is not intended to reach to white notes21
                                                                                                                       
19
 The  common  term  for  this  is  “intonare,”  though  F.  Rognoni  calls  it  “principiar  sotto  la  nota,”  a  more  vivd  
description.  
20
 As  so  often,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  Bovicelli’s  descriptions,  especially  in  light  of  his  illustrations,  which  tend  
to  provide  more  complicated  forms  of  the  item  to  be  explained,  rather  than  the  simplest  and  clearest.    Example  11  
presents  two  statements  of  a  three-­‐measure  motive  elaborated  by  two  different  variants  below  the  original.    This  
looks  very  confusing  because  the  two  iterations  of  the  motive  appear  to  be  one  single  phrase.  Each  variant  
presents  two  groppetti.    On  the  first  occasion  the  lower  variant  is  labeled  as  “groppetto  raffrenato”  and  the  second  
time  as  “groppetti  di  note  uguali.”    On  the  first  occasion  Bovicelli  brackets  and  labels  only  the  lower  variant  as  
raffrenato.  In  that  it  consists  of  faster  not  slower  ntoes,  its  status  as  raffrenato  “restrained”  seems  mysterious.    In  
the  verbal  description  Bovicelli  specifies  that  the  distinguishing  character  of  the  restrained  type  is  that  it  avoids  a  
flurry  (furia)  of  notes  at  the  end  and  that  (by  implicit  comparison  with  the  first  type,  whose  notes  are  equal)  it  has  
notes  of  unequal  value.    Further,  the  term  raffrenato  would  seem  to  indicate  a  slowing  of  notes  at  the  end,  so  as  to  
avoid  the  furia  there.    The  facts  that  the  lower  variant  of  the  first  groppetto  seems  far  from  raffrenato  but  actually  
quite  “busy,”  as  he  says.  Thus,  the  illustration  seems  to  contradict  Bovicelli’s  description.    The  uguali  illustration  
apparently  simply  presents  two  variants  of  the  uguali  groppetto.    This  is  typical  of  Bovicelli’s  illustrations,  they  can  
present  complicated  examples  poorly  identified  and  poorly  exemplary  of  his  verbal  descriptions.  
21
 By  this  Bovicelli  means  the  half-­‐note  or  longer.  

10  
 
because it would be a contrary and crude effect; rather, [the intent is] in the way that is used in
horsemanship.22 Cavalry men are not accustomed, when they have given a long ride to a horse, to
draw in the reins suddenly in mid-career, but they keep reining in little by little and slowing the steps.

Example # 12

The tremolo, nonetheless, which is nothing other than a trembling (tremar) of the voice on
one and the same note, seeks for the notes to go always stepwise, nor in any other way can the
tremolo be produced by a human voice, and this ought to be made on the designated note, taking
care that at least until the third note no new syllable is added to it, as also was said above when
speaking about words.23

                                                                                                                       
22
 This  is  Bovicelli’s  second  “horsey”  simile.    Since  the  ownership  of  a  horse  required  a  very  substantial  income  in  
those  days,  it  was  a  sign  of  aristocracy  or  wealth.    Perhaps  Bovicelli  is  make  an  implicit  claim  to  social  status.  
23
 In  trying  to  understand  Bovicelli’s  discussion  of  the  tremolo  the  reader  must  bear  several  things  in  mind:  
1.  Bovicelli’s  description  is  inadequate  and  confusing.    “Il  tremolo  nondimeno,  che  non  è  altro,  che  un  tremar  
di  voce  sopra  ad  una  stessa  nota,  ricerca,  che  le  note  vadino  sempre  per  grado  .  .  .  .”    First,  “tremar,”  
“tremble,  shake,  quiver”  of  the  voice  on  one  note  sounds  to  the  modern  ear  like  (a)  a  vibrato,  or  (b)  
possibly  a  trill.    Bovicelli  then  adds  that  the  notes  (not  note)  go  by  step.    The  first  issue  cannot  be  resolved  
from  Bovicelli’s  description  or  illustration.    A  resolution  for  the  second  issue,  “the  notes  always  more  by  
step,”  is  suggested  by  the  illustrations,  which  in  every  single  case  show  that  the  original  melodic  context  
moves  by  step,  which,  at  the  least,  presents  an  alternative  to  understanding  that  he  is  speaking  of  the  
ornamental  figure  that  moves  by  step.    In  other  words,  Bovicelli  may  mean  that  the  tremolo  (whatever  it  
may  be)  occurs  only  in  original  stepwise  contexts.    If  so,  Bovicelli  failed  to  add  that  crucial  point,  
something  like  “un  tremar  di  voce  sopra  ad  una  stessa  nota,  ricerca  che  le  note,  le  quali  nel  passo  siano,  
vadino  sempre  per  grado.”    To  complicate  matters  even  more,  Praetorius  (1619,  3:  235)  for  his  illustration  
of  “tremulo”  clearly  depends  on  Bovicelli,  translating  word  for  word  the  original  phrase  as  “Tremulo:  Ist  
nichts  anders  alß  ein  Zittern  der  Stimme  uber  einer  Noten.”    But,  his  illustration  is  of  a  trill!    I  argue  that  
Praetorius  has  probably  been  misled  by  Bovicelli’s  subsequent  phrase  “note  vadino  sempre  per  grado”  
and  has  understood  or  chosen  to  apply  the  term  to  what  we  today  call  a  trill,  but  which  went  under  
various  terms  in  his  own  time:    e.g.,  tremolo,  trillo,  groppo.    It  seems  somewhat  more  likely  to  me,  
especially  given  the  context  and  the  location  of  the  tremolo,  that  Bovicelli  operates  within  an  Italian  
tradition  as  presented  by  F.  Rognoni.  
2. Apparently,  in  none  of  the  examples  does  Bovicelli  attempt  to  illustrate  the  tremolo  itself.    For  the  
reasons  stated  here  the  turn-­‐like  figure  cannot  be  the  tremolo  but  can  only  be  a  diminution  on  the  larger  
note  of  the  original  motive.    Why  Bovicelli  would  introduce  this  complexity  is  baffling.  He  shows  only  the  
locations  at  which  a  tremolo  can  be  used.    It  might  seem  that  the  turn-­‐like  figure  that  the  notes  form  in  
example  13  could  be  the  tremolo—indeed,  this  was  my  first  interpretation—but  this  is  virtually  precluded  
by  Bovicelli  in  examples  14  and  15  where  he  says  that  the  tremolo  is  performed  on  notes  as  indicated  by  
the  sign,  the  note  being  only  the  dotted  eighth-­‐note  within  the  figure.    Note  also  that  the  designated  
notes  are  not  the  pitches  of  the  original  motive,  so  once  again  the  turn-­‐like  figure  cannot  be  considered  
the  tremolo  but  is  a  turn-­‐like  diminution  of  the  original  pitch.    It  should  also  be  noted  that  Praetorius,  who  
specifically  claims  an  influence  from  Bovicelli,  provides  a  similarly  vague  example  in  connection  with  what  
he  calls  a  second  kind  of  “trillo,”  his  trillo  being  a  repeated  note  tremolo  of  the  Rognoni  type.    His  
examples  show  a  short  elaboration  somewhat  similar  to  Bovicelli’s  on  one  note  of  which  he  has  placed  the  
symbol  “tr.”    The  value  of  the  note  on  which  he  places  it  varies  but  can  be  as  short  as  a  thirtysecond-­‐note!    
See  Praetorius  3,  238.  
3. Of  the  three  relevant  illustrations,  13,  14  and  15,  Bovicelli  only  indicates  where  specifically  the  tremolos  
occur  in  the  latter  two.    The  first  illustration,  whether  by  design  or  oversight,  does  not  indicate  where  the  

11  
 
 [13] Example # 13

Among the number of notes that go by step are the accentos,24 which are made on half-
notes, which, however, ought to be varied with judgment in more ways as to the value of the notes,
in which—although in singing there appears little difference—nonetheless make a different effect,
which cannot be made on accentos that are on quarter-notes, because these accentos, being entirely
of sixteenth-notes or thirtysecond-notes, which are very fast, cannot be made in more than one
manner only, although the tremolo can be made there, but fast and not so formal.

Example # 14

Example # 15

Now as to eighth-notes, there ought not to be many in a run (tirata), unless they go by step
[14] because when not singing a capella but in ensemble, where the tactus ought to be slow, those
wanting to make eighth-notes that do not go by step, [the tirata] seems like studying an exercise.
Nonetheless, there is a possible remedy by making one eighth-note dotted and the next without,
because from that variation of time results a different effect in both.25
Thirtysecond-notes, then, beyond the disposition (disposition) of the voice26 ought to be well
separated, nor ought they be used much, even these, unless they go like I have said of stepwise

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
tremolos  are  to  be  executed!    Only  14  and  15  utilize  signs  to  mark  the  points  for  the  tremolos,  here  
indicated  by  a  V  accent  over  the  note.  
4. Bovicelli  never  explains  the  difference  between  the  “formal”  and  “informal”  tremolo  and  since  the  figures  
that  he  presents,  in  which  the  tremolo  is  to  be  made,  are  nearly  identical  in  nature,  this  also  would  seem  
to  preclude  the  possibility  that  the  turn-­‐like  figure  itself  is  the  tremolo.  
5. In  example  15  the  tremolo  apparently  is  executed  on  the  two  notes  as  though  they  were  tied.  
The  only  way  that  I  see  to  explain  what  Bovicelli  intends  is  to  apply  F.  Rognoni’s  (1620)  tremolo,  which  is  a  brief  
reiterated  pulse  on  the  same  pitch.    Bovicelli’s  indications  seem  always  to  identify  dotted  notes,  in  fact  every  single  
one  is  only  a  dotted  eighth-­‐note  in  length  or  the  equivalent,  at  suitable  points.    Example  15  merely  resolves  the  
dotted  eighth-­‐note  of  example  14  into  two  distinct  notes,  sixteenth  +  eighth  instead  of  the  dotted  eighth-­‐note.    At  
the  end  of  the  musical  examples  I  have  created  an  extra  example  to  illustrate  the  figure  on  which  Bovicelli  says  
that  a  tremolo  is  to  be  executed.    This  I  have  also  realized  with  both  Rognoni’s  pulsed  tremolo  and  Praetorius’  trill.    
I  am  inclined  for  the  reasons  given  here  to  the  interpretation  that  Rognoni’s  form  is  probably  the  correct  one.    It  is  
considerable  support  for  this  interpretation  that  Praetorius  gives  a  very  similar  example  for  what  he  calls  a  second  
kind  of  “trillo”  but  is  actually  a  Rognoni-­‐type  tremolo.    The  mere  change  of  the  Praetorius’  term  from  trillo  to  
tremolo  would  result  in  something  very  close  to  Bovicelli’s  examples  of  the  tremolo.  
While  it  is  true,  as  has  been  seen,  that  Bovicelli’s  text  and  illustrations  sometimes  cross  the  boundary  into  
vagueness  and  even  confusion,  this  is  the  worst  example  of  all.    I  have  dealt  with  hundreds  of  descriptions  of  
ornaments  in  dozens  of  primary  sources  and  yet  can  remember  none  so  ineptly  handled  as  this  one.  
24
 I  accept  accento  as  an  anglicized  term.  
25
 Some  authors  use  the  word  for  eighth-­‐note,  croma  loosely  for  short  “flagged”  notes  of  various  types.    I  can  only  
suppose  that  Bovicelli  means  a  succession  of  alternating  dotted  eighth-­‐notes  and  sixteenth-­‐notes.  
26
 This  enters  upon  the  issue  of  throat  articulation  and  seems  to  say  that  such  runs  of  sixteenths  ought  to  be  more  
detached  than  usual  in  throat  articulation.    Maffei,  who  is  far  the  best  on  the  subject,  calls  the  effect  of  throat  
articulation  delicate  and  controlled.    Zacconi,  and  after  him  Cerone,  criticizes  those  who  do  not  make  the  pitches  

12  
 
eighth-notes. In which thirtysecond-notes result a very lovely effect, whenever in a run of many
notes stepwise the first is held more than those following, as for example:

Example # 16

Take care that not all notes are performed in exactly the same way, because sometimes one
ought to separate one by one enough so that the difference is heard one from the other in the voice,
and this is when they serve in a run. On the contrary, when they serve to facilitate the leap of a
third, which otherwise cannot serve in the middle of a run, where there are only two notes of less
value, those ought not be made heard with such force, because thus they produce greater grace, the
two thirtysecond-notes are those following below.

Example # 17

In leaps equally sometimes it is well to give them a certain liveliness by performing the
higher note with a little emphasis, as we are accustomed to say, and this when the first note is of the
same value with the following ones, one ought to perform equally without any difference of voice.
For these same accentos27 should be noticed that in leaps every time that the note preceding
the leap is of greater value, that of the leap ought not be expressed with much force but sounded
with grace.

[15] Example # 18

Although a succession of many leaps together may be more appropriate for instruments than
for the voice, anyway, if they are accommodated well with the words they succeed also in the voice,
taking care, however, as above, that the higher notes of the leap are taken with grace and without
force, which [latter] is quite unbecoming.

Example # 19

Just as it would be very unbecoming in the one who writes if the words are [sad]28 to
accompany them with happy notes, or sad notes to happy words. Likewise in singing, the words
should be imitated as much as possible, that is, do not adorn sad words with passaggi but
accompany them, so to speak, with accentos and a mournful voice. If the words are happy, use
passaggi and even give them vivacity making the notes vary as is seen here below.

Example # 20
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
distinctly  and  so  produce  an  unclear  passaggio.    At  this  date  it  is  impossible  to  know  exactly  what  effect  Bovicelli  
had  in  mind.  
27
 Here  he  seems  to  use  accento  to  mean  a  more  general  term  including  a  variety  of  ornaments.  
28
 The  text  reads  “molte”  but  this  misprint  is  made  clear  in  the  following  line  in  the  contrast  with  allegre.    It  should  
be  meste.  

13  
 
 Anyway, to quote the proverb, every rule has its exception: in which case it is permitted
sometime even under sad words (if the sonorities and harmony of the parts require) to make a
passaggio, although perhaps they might not express all that sadness that the words require, which,
however, one ought not do without judgment and with the occasion of passaggi such as would
require it.
Some are accustomed to accommodate the passaggi to their style, if a note is worth a beat
29
(battuta) [then they] hold it two or three, by what justification I don’t know. I know well that it is
more praiseworthy in making passaggi to remain precisely bound to the time (tempo) that is found as
composed in the song, except in the end, that is, on the last note.
[16] One ought also always to avoid this way of ending a cadence. To the degree it is more
used, to that degree it is worse.

Example # 21

Finally, in all passaggi, cadences and accentos in every other style of singing, one ought to
breathe in tempo and with judgment, and most of all one ought not breathe between those notes
that serve for accentos until at least part of the last note sounds, nor in the middle of passaggi when
the notes are of the same value, and the same holds good at the end of every passaggio and cadence.
And here I am unable to make a final conclusion of these few rules without speaking also of
those—I know not whether by weakness of chest or because they are fearful—who lack air and take
a breath every few notes, coming to a halt like horses fearful of every little shadow, with whom as
with horses, I would like for this my little warning to serve and give them the help of the spurs.
This is clear, that this mostly does not happen except by little attention, which is discerned
particularly in those who sing also breaking the notes sometimes, that is allowing that note on which
one takes a breath with a certain quickness, so that they hardly make its intoning (intonation) heard,
making on the contrary almost more noise by taking the breath than by their voice.30 Some also—so
as to touch briefly31 some general faults, because it isn’t possible to present all the rules of singing—
they clamp their teeth together as if just intending to breathe. Some send their voice into the nose,
others into the throat. Yet others, finally, right from the beginning of the song, from the first note
they begin (as is customary to say) recklessly to make passaggi, and what is worse, many times so as
to make, as it is presently called, di gorga32 don’t worry about saying all the words, a very unsuitable
thing and very great defect in whatever they want to sing well. One ought, then, at the beginning of

                                                                                                                       
29
 This  is  one  of  the  few  occasions  of  uncertain  terminology  in  Bovicelli’s  text.    I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  does  not  
mean  tactus.    Surely  an  improvised  extension  of  one  tactus  into  two  or  three  would  be  egregious  even  for  that  day.  
30
 The  intoning  is  a  term  for  the  the  ornamental  approach  to  the  note  from  the  third  or  fourth  below,  but  it  can  
also  mean  a  variety  of  things.    Here  it  seems  to  mean  “attacking”  the  pitch  after  a  breath.    Bovicelli  is  saying  that  
they  make  more  sound  breathing  than  they  do  singing.    See  also  original  page  11,  note  20.  
31
 The  idiom  alla  sfuggita  has  several  different  meanings.  
32
 Maffei  uses  the  term  di  gorga  to  refer  to  the  throat  articulation,  but  later  it  and  its  related  terms  came  to  be  
used  more  loosely  to  mean  something  like  “embellishment.”    The  passaggio  technique  is  implicitly  or  explicitly  
linked  to  throat  articulation.    My  sense  is  that  Bovicelli  is  being  censoriously  sarcastic  by  using  what  he  considers  a  
currently  “trendy”  new  term.  

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a song for the space of three or four tactus [?] (tempi).33 If, however, I don’t say [specifically] on the
first tactus but on the second or third, no passaggio would succeed there [on the first tactus] so
opportunetly that it would deserve to be admitted.34

                                                                                                                       
33
 This  is  Bovicelli’s  first  use  of  the  word  tempo  in  this  specific  context,  so  his  intent  is  unclear.    However,  other  
authors  are  clear  in  saying  that  one  should  not  make  a  passaggio  during  the  first  few  tactus;  thus,  I  suggest  tactus.  
34
 Bovicelli  is  somewhat  confusing  here  because  of  his  ellipses.    He  is  clarifying,  not  very  effectively,  that  even  
though  he  didn’t  say  never  on  the  first  tactus  but  only  not  on  the  second  or  third,  nevertheless,  there  is  no  excuse  
for  doing  one  on  the  first  tactus.  

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 Glossary

Despite his other flaws, Bovicelli is fairly exemplary in his handling of terminology. He is
much more consistent than Caccini and incomparably more than Zacconi and Cerone. Few words
need much specific comment.

Accentuare—both in the sense of to sing in an affective style and also to use ornamental graces,
which latter are, of course, considered to be a means to the former. It also can mean to apply the
specific accento ornament.
Battuta—My sense is that Bovicelli uses this to indicate a “beat,” a rhythmic pulse of the
subdivided tactus.
Corda—This is always a problem in Italian because it legitimately means both note and chord. Only
the context can make it clear. My sense is that he uses it to indicate a note that has a harmonic
significance.
Nota—Bovicelli uses this in a much more modern and flexible way than many authors. It can mean
both a pitch and a visual representation of that pitch, a “note.”
Passaggio, Passaggiare—This is virtually the only term that Bovicelli uses for the musical passage
resulting from the improvised diminution technique. Passaggiare is the verbal form of it, “make a
passaggio.”
Tempo—This term is the one that seems to be used most vaguely. Its basic meaning seems to be
“time,” but he also seems occasionally to use it with other implications, in which case I translated it
contextually.

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