A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Tosi, Pier

TOSI, Pier Francesco, the son of a musician of Bologna, must have been born about 1650, since we learn from the translator of his book that he died soon after the beginning of George II's reign (1730) above eighty years old.^[1] In the early part of his life he travelled a great deal, but in 1693 we find him in London, giving regular concerts,^[2] and from that time forward he resided there almost entirely till his death, in great consideration as a singing-master and a composer. A volume in the Harleian Collection of the British Museum (no. 1272) contains seven songs or cantatas for voice and harpsichord, with his name to them. Galliard praises his music for its exquisite taste, and especially mentions the pathos and expression of the recitatives. When more than seventy Tosi published the work 'cantori antichi e moderni, o sieno osservnzioni sopra il canto figurato. . . .' (Bologna 1723), which was translated after his death into English by Galliard—'Observations on the Florid Song, or sentiments of the ancient and modern singers,' London, 1742—second edition, 1743; and into German by Agricola.—'Anleitung zur Singkunst,' Berlin, 1757. It is a practical treat; se on singing, in which the aged teacher embodies his own experience and that of his contemporaries, at a time when the art was probably more thoroughly taught than it has ever been since. Many of its remarks would still be highly useful.

[ G. M. ]

1. Galliard's Prefatory Discourse, p. viii.
2. Hawkins, 'History.' v. 5.