Charles Burney

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

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Rome

least to have received its first refinement;
and concerning this chapel I was favoured
with all the satisfaction I could wish from
the Cavalier Santarelli.

In the Pope's, or Sistine chapel, no or-
gan, or instrument of any kind, is em-
ployed in accompanying the voices, which
consist of thirty-two; eight bases, eight
tenors, eight counter-tenors, and eight
sopranos, or trebles; these are all in or-
dinary: there is likewise a number of
supernumeraries ready to supply the places
of those who are occasionally absent, so
that the singers are never fewer than
thirty-two, on common days, but on
great festivals they are nearly doubled*.

The dress of the singers in ordinary, is
a kind of purple uniform; their pay is
not great, and at present musicians of
superior merit, belonging to this establish-