The Short

fingerings in his op. 33 string quartets of 1781–2 indicate the use of violin portamento for special effects, and it may
not be too fanciful to relate this use of it to his association with Nicola Mestrino, who was a member of the Esterházy
establishment from 1780 to 1785. Woldemar's comments about Mestrino's employment of portamento (above) may
give some idea of what Haydn had in mind when he wrote fingerings and other markings such as those in the trios of
the menuettos in op. 33 no. 2 and later in op. 64 no. 6 (Ex. 15.27.) In the latter there is an evident analogy with Corri's
‘leaping grace’.
Ex. 15.27.Haydn: (a) String Quartet op. 33/2/ii; (b) String Quartet op. 64/6/iii
PORTAMENTO 581
Few early nineteenth-century composers were as explicit as Meyerbeer, whose operas contain many clear instructions
for the employment of vocal portamento (Ex. 15.28.) What distinction, if any, he may have intended between trainez la
voix and portez la voix (Ex. 15.12(d)) is uncertain. Wagner occasionally included instructions for portamento in his vocal
parts. In Der fliegende HollÄnder he several times supplemented the vocal line with the words ‘con portamento’ or
‘portamento’ to indicate that whole phrases should be sung in this manner. One instance provides a close analogy with
the messa di voce