1612—Italy

Lodovico da Viadana’s Salmi a Quattro chori contains instructions for performing his polychoral works for 4 choirs. In the third choir, he instructs, “the tenor is sung by several voices, with trombones.” In the fourth choir, “the [second] part is in a comfortable tenor register, sung by a number of voices with trombones; the third part is a baritone—again, this should have good voices or trombones, with violins. The bass is always low, so it should be sung by deep voices with trombones…” (Roche, North Italian 118; Collver 181).