The Life and Pedagogy of Carlo Bassini (c1815-1870)

Carlo Bassini (c.1815-1870) was an Italian American singing teacher who lived and taught in the New York area between 1853 and 1870. He began his career in Italy as an itinerant violinist and finished it as one of the foremost voice teachers in the United States of America. During his time in New York, he was not only a highly successful singing teacher but also a prolific writer, authoring three series of articles on Italian vocal technique, as well as seven singing method books.

This project will tell the story of Bassini's life, exploring how his training in Italy, and the people he encountered on his travels, influenced his teaching style. It will dive deeply into his articles and books, not only by reading and analysing their content thematically, but since I am a singer and singing teacher myself, by testing out the exercises in his book Bassini's Education of the Voice (1868), on myself. This practical research will bring the method to life in my own voice, and recordings of his exercises will be made to show how they might have sounded.

This study will contribute to both historical and musicological understanding of singing teaching by reframing the origins, development, and dissemination of vocal pedagogical theory in America in the nineteenth century. It will produce the first comprehensive critical examination of Bassini's singing teaching method, from his earliest published articles (1853-1856) through his method books (1857-1869), collating his pedagogical techniques and philosophy and tracing their development over the course of his career. This analysis will lead to a better understanding of how European singing training methods were transformed for an American market, contributing to the understanding of the historical roots of American voice pedagogy.