The appoggiatura as an improvised ornament: A comparison between vocal and instrumental instructions as presented in Italian methods of the eighteenth century

In eighteenth-century music there were national variations in style pertaining to the practice of improvised ornamentation. One of these, the Italian practice of embellishing, employed a mixture of essential and arbitrary ornaments. However, there seem to be differences in the treatment of the appoggiatura as an improvised ornament in Italian vocal and instrumental treatises. The main difficulties presented by the appoggiatura relate to the way in which it was written, its length, and its use in different pieces. Vocal and instrumental instructions as presented in Italian methods of the eighteenth century are compared in order to provide evidence and conclusions regarding this practice. Vocal treatises mention the appoggiatura as an essential part of music. It was seldom written and had to be supplied by singers at sight. Instrumental treatises consistently define the appoggiatura as a written ornament.