Charles Burney

The Present State of Music in France and Italy (2nd, corrected edition)

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Milan

the second page: I made several extracts
from all these.

Signor Oltrocchi, the librarian, began
to be more communicative than at first.
One of the most ancient books which he
shewed me this morning, was a beauti-
ful manuscript of the ninth century, and
well preserved. It is a missal, written
before the time of Guido, at least two
hundred years, and consequently before
the lines used by that monk were in-
vented. The notes are little more than
accents of different kinds put over the
hymns *. I met with a noble and
learned clergyman here, Don Triulzi, a
person very much in years, who had
studied these characters, and had formed
some ingenious conjectures about them.

The rest of this day was spent in quest
of old books, and the evening in hearing
music. Chiesa and Monza seem, and are
said to be the two best composers for the