Charles Burney in Venice - 3 August, 1770

from The Present State of Music in France and Italy, pages 138-9:

The first music I heard here was in the street, immediately on my arrival, performed by an itinerant band of two fiddles, a violoncello, and a voice, who, though unnoticed here as small-coal-men or oyster-women in England, performed so well, that in any other country of Europe they would not only have excited attention, but have acquired applause, which they justly merited. These two violins played difficult passages very neatly, the base stopped well in tune, and the voice, which was a woman's, was well toned, and had several essentials belonging to that of a good singer, such as compass, …   more >>
cite as

Charles Burney, The Present State of Music in France and Italy (London, 1771), p. 138-9. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1403265706873 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: Venice

Listeners

Charles Burney
musicologist, Musician, Writer
1726-1814

Listening to

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Street music performed by Street musicians

Experience Information

Date/Time 3 August, 1770
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, outdoors, in public

Originally submitted by Robert Fraser on Fri, 20 Jun 2014 13:01:46 +0100