Date Added: 1/2/2008
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 mls
 mlsrepertoireonline.com

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Antonio Lotti was born in Venice about 1667. As a young man he studied with Legrenzi, and began his musical career in his early teens as a singer at the Chapel of the Venetian Doge. He composed several operas and acquired a wide reputation in Italy as well as in the rest of the world.
In this song, Pur dicesti, O bocca bella we have a simple, beautiful melody, full of embellishments that were so common to the Early Italian School. Youthful vocalists will find again in this florid number of fine and practical medium for the study of turns, mordents, appoggiaturas, etc. Needless to say, very serious thought and practice should be given to every measure, particularly the ones that present new problems of technique. Probably the best way to study the voice part is to practice the melody straight through without the embellishments; in so doing, the vocal line will be well balanced as to resonance, etc. The measures containing the appoggiaturas, mordents, turns, etc" should be studied individually, and worked out according to the examples that the editor has so definitely marked above in small notes. It might be well to repeat, that in this style of singing, regardless of its apparent lightness and staccato-like character, the vocal line must be sung with a smooth legato tone-quality. Ornaments are inserted only to add grace and beauty to the melody.