Tune Thy Musicke to Thy Hart: The Art of Eloquent Singing in England, 1597-1622

Brad Richmond is an assistant professor in the Music Department at
Southeastern Louisiana University.

Airs and partsongs were all the rage in early–17th-century England, if
one is to judge by the plethora of songbooks that appeared around this
time. These scores offered few interpretive markings, and it was left to
the singer to add expressive nuance according to accepted performance
practice. This book offers stylistic guidelines for the performance of
Elizabethan song.

Theorists of the period describe a close relationship among music,
poetry, and oratory; since contemporary musical treatises offer little
help, Toft turns to the abundant literature on the art of rhetoric to
make his case. In the first of the book’s three sections, he outlines
the primary textual devices (“figures”) associated with elocutio,
identifying each by its Latin name and citing useful examples from
Elizabethan song texts. According to Toft, song and oratory typically
employed more rhetorical figures than poetry because they were designed
for oral presentation.

Section 2 is devoted to the concept of pronunciato, which governs the
aural and visual elements of rhetorical performance. Toft contends that
Elizabethan orators and singers used punctuation for expressive
purposes, treating commas, colons, and periods as breath points of
different lengths. Morley, among others, stated that punctuation marks
corresponded with specific musical rests; if not notated, these would be
inserted by the singer. For his discussion of ornamentation, Toft draws
on English as well as continental sources. The modern singer may exploit
the wide variety of divisions and graces that were at the disposal of
his Elizabethan counterpart, but he should also heed John Dowland’s
complaint that singers of his day were frequently excessive in their use
of embellishment. The visual element of pronunciato encompasses hand,
body, and facial movements. Toft includes plates depicting a fascinating
repertory of gestures, each intended to enhance a particular passion.
One suspects that the modern singer would do well not to overindulge in
this practice, because audiences today might find it contrived. In
Section 3, the author puts theory into practice. Examining two airs by
Dowland, Toft employs the principles of elocutio to determine the
dominant affection in the text as well as those passions associated with
single words and phrases. Finally, applying pronunciato, he proposes
vocal and gestural devices to amplify the expressive features of the
songs.

Toft writes with clarity and argues his points convincingly. Voice
teachers and singers who seek direction in early–17th-century
performance practice will find this book an excellent reference tool.