Sammelband of 19th-Century Vocal Treatises

An interesting late-19th-century sammelband of vocal exercises and treatises on the voice, including parts I and II of Manuel Garcia's seminal treatise l'Art du Chant in French and German, as well as volumes of vocalizes by Italian composer and pedagogue Nicola Vaccai, Italian voice teacher Giuseppe Concone, and the little-known author Anna Ballard. Hardcover, bound in half leather, with leather ownership label of Helen M. Lough to the front board. Spine and edges rubbed; some internal toning and foxing; binding tight and overall very good. 10.5 x 14 inches.

The contents bound in the following order:
15 Vocalises to give execution and equalize the Voice by Anna Ballard. Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co, [1870]. 7 pp. [PN] 26047.
Méthode Pratique du Chant Italien [...] von N. Vaccaj [Nicola Vaccai]. Mayence: Chez les Fils de B. Schott, [1844]. 25 pp. [PN] 7782.
Troisiéme Livre de 25 Leçons de Chant, ou vocalises mélodiques de moyenne difficulté [...] par Joseph Concone. Mayence: Chez les Fils de B. Schott, [ca. 1851]. 51 pp. [PN] 11271.
Concone's Vocal Studies / 15 Vocalizes for Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano [...] by J. Concone. Philadelphia: Lee & Walker, [ca. 1865–1870]. 23 pp. [PN] 10372 21.
Ecole de Garcia. Traité complet de L'Art du Chant par Manuel Garcia Fils. Mayence: Chez les Fils de B. Schott. [ca. 1840]. xxv; 83 pp. [PN] 6193.
Garcias Schule, oder Die Kunst des Gesanges [...] von Manuel Garcia, Sohn [...] Zweiter Theil. Mainz: bei B. Schott's Söhnen, [ca. 1848]. 158 pp. [PN] 9779.

The Spanish baritone and vocal pedagogue Manuel García (1805–1906), son of Manuel Garcia I and brother of Maria Malibran and Pauline Garcia Viardot, spent the earlier part of his career teaching voice in Paris and the latter half of his life in London, where he taught at the Royal Academy of Music. An important pioneer in understanding the physiological processes of singing, he invented the laryngoscope in 1854 (without apparently anticipating its value to medicine). His students and disciples included Jenny Lind, Christina Nilsson, Henry Wood, Mathilde Marchesi, and many other opera and stage stars of the late-nineteenth century.  

Garcia's 1840 treatise L'Art du Chant remains an important source for vocal pedagogy. Notable for its lengthy and comprehensive treatment of the details of singing technique, it includes information on vocal ranges, breathing, the physiological processes of singing (a topic which was relatively new), and ornamentation. The two volumes end with an extensive range of exercises for the ornamentation of operatic arias. (17439)

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