faft: had the obfervation occurred to him as a musician as well as an anatomist, he would certainly have admired the eminent defign and use of the lips in fpeech and finging.

By a contraction of the lips the founds are thinned, by the motion of them and the jaw they are broken, and by an over extenfion they are too much enlarged.

If the founds are hindered and choked in the throat, or confined within the mouth by the teeth, the tones produced are guttural and difagreeable, after the manner called mouthing and muttering, or mumbling.

The throat then, mouth, teeth and lips, moderately opened with fteadiness, this it is that gives a proper rotundity to the founds, and a sweetness superior to that of any instrument whatever. It is upon this principle that all wind inftruments terminate with circularity.

It is eafy to conceive from what hath been obferved on inarticulate founds, that the most agreeable in singing must be the

intermediate, as being neither too open and broad, nor too thin and narrow.

In all diphthongs and triphthongs, both proper and improper, of every language, the voice should be short as poffible on the narrow vowel, and be forcible, or continue on the open, as on the open u in hear, fear, cheer, life, beauty; on o in out; on a in way, praise, articulating the confonants which precede or follow the vowels, neatly, lightly, and quick, yet so as to be diftinguished by the ear, without what may be called a hard, vehement, boisterous, and vulgar utterance, like that of spelling words and fyllables, or the contrary extreme of a foft and affected pronunciation, that of narrowing the vowels, and not articulating the confonants at all, changing vocal mufick into instrumental.

One or other of these unpardonable faults many public fpeakers have, and the generality of fingers, Italian as well as English.

Some speak and fing in the throat, or through the nose; many thin the tones, break, or produce them tremulously, or

not

not with correfpondence and proportion, fo as to render the voice and inftrument all of a piece, effecting in found, what Pythagoras obferved on true friendship, that it makes of two, and many, one.

Most agreeable united founds, and nearest to the sweetness of the human voice, are those produced from glaffes and the Æolian harp; yet as they are confined, foft only and flow, they deserve no confideration in the study and practice of vocal mufick, except perhaps in forming the voice, and in pianos and plaintives.

The delivery or putting forth of the voice, and its fupport, called in Italian foftenuto di voce, are not only very pleafing, but indifpenfible requifites in speaking and finging, though of most difficult acquifition; in which the Italians, it must be confeffed to their honour, excell the English, and Madame Mara all the Italians I ever heard, except Monticelli, in thefe, as alfo in the other two requifites above mentioned, elegant pronunciation and uniformity of tone; without which the greateft execution, orna

ments,

ments, and graces of finging and playing are of no estimation, like fine colours on vile canvas, and with bad drawing.

We may now infer from the preceding remarks, that agreeable founds depend not only on the nature of the voice and inftrument, but also very much on their management, to be acquired by great attention to found, frequent practice, and the instruction of a master, skilful and of real taste.

The art of forming the voice with fweetness and unity of tone is a fecret understood and felt by very few who teach mufick, and by the performers of it.

The method hitherto pursued by profeffors in teaching fol-fa-ing, is first to afcend gradually from the lower part of the voice to the upper, and from thence to defcend.

Though this method may in time poffibly answer the end propofed, yet when we confider, that it is easier to defcend with the voice than to afcend, the oppofite practice might be found equally proper for ftriking the tones, and certainly much

better for forming the voice, beginning with the best natural tone, which in every voice is about the middle, and regulating by that all the others above and below.

The Italian mafters very properly diftinguish tones into thofe di petto from the breaft, which are the natural, deepest, fullest and most agreeable; and those di testa of the head, which are the higher and fmaller, formed by properly contracting the throat and fhaping the mouth.

By opening the throat lower tones may be gained artificially to the natural, and upper by properly contracting it.

The upper artificial tones are properly the falfetto, being only two, three, or more added to the natural, and made exactly to resemble them; and not thofe, which are feigned by a change of the whole voice.

There are in nature four kinds of human voices, diftinct and peculiar, that called the baffo or bafe, the loweft, in man; that of boys and women, the highest, called the foprano or treble; and the two middle, called the tenor and contratenor.