Venanzio Rauzzini and the Birth of a New Style in English Singing

An Italian castrato and father of English singing; a sought-after singing master and subject of scandal. This book considers how Venanzio Rauzzini became known as the founder of a new style of English singing. It is a unique insight into eighteenth-century Georgian culture.

Brianna E. Robertson-Kirkland is a Lecturer in Historical Musicology at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Prelude: "The First Master for Singing in the Universe" 1. Britain's Music Education in Decline 2. Using and Creating Celebrity 3. Natural or Learned? 4. "The Father of a New Style in English Singing"? 5. A Master's Treatise: A Legacy Product 6. Master or Servant: Vilifying the Female Amateur and the Italian Master 7. A Respectable Master or a Scandalous Lover? Postlude: The Eighteenth Century in the Twenty-First Century