Charles Burney

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

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Naples

cent upon the wrong note; for instance,
upon the second instead of the first; or,
in common time, upon the fourth instead
of the third. This may have its merit
in comic operas, where some humour is
seconded by it, but surely such a poor
expedient is beneath the dignity of church
music, where a grave and majestic stile
should be preserved, even in rapid move-
ments. But the same rage for novelty,
which has occasioned such sudden revo-
lutions in the music of Italy, gives birth,
sometimes, to strange concetti.

The national music here is so singu-
lar, as to be totally different, both in
melody and modulation, from all that I
have heard elsewhere. This evening in
the streets there were two people singing
alternately; one of these Neapolitan
Canzoni was accompanied by a violin
and calascione*. The singing is noisy