Lo que un cantor debe saber: the Italian school of singing in Spanish music treatises, 1754–1799

The reception of the Italian school of singing in Spain had an increasingly important impact during the second half of the 18th century. The main Spanish music treatises of that period contain references to 'what a singer should know' (lo que un cantor debe saber) according to the 'modern style'. This article presents a study of five treatises and a poem published by Spanish theorists and musicians between 1754 and 1799, which include comments on the singing voice and recommend learning solfeggi and arias by famous Italian voice teachers. Musicological literature about vocal performance practice is extensive, but the Iberian practice of this period has not yet received the attention it deserves. The works described are El cantor instruido (1754) by Manuel Cavaza; Prontuario músico para el instrumentista de violín y cantor (1771) by Fernando Ferandiere; Dell'origine e delle regole della musica (1774) by Antonio Eximeno; the poem La música (1779) by Tomás Iriarte; Le rivoluzioni del teatro musicale italiano dalla sua origine fino al presente (1783–8) by Esteban de Arteaga; and Arte de cantar (1799) by Miguel López Remacha. Consideration is also given to the solfeggi published in the 18th century that have been found (and thus most likely used) in Spain. This research shows not only the Italian influence on Spanish singers during the second half of the 18th century, but also offers new light on the problems that the adoption of a 'foreign' style of singing may have created at that time for the composition, performance and perception of 'Spanish' vocal genres.