Documents for Pre-20th-Century Quarter-Tones:

Giambattista Doni's Composizione per il Diatonico Equabile of 1635

Christopher Simpson's A Compendium of Practical Musick of 1667

Francisco Valls's Enharmonic Composition for String Instruments, 1742[?], or PDF here

Charles De Lusse's Treatise The Art of the Transverse Flute, 1760, including fingerings for flute quarter-tones

Recorded performance of De Lusse's "Air a la Grecque" (1760) or mp3, played by Vera Balogh on transverse flute and Balint Maroth on cello:

Original score Of De Lusse's Air a la Grecque and transcription into modern notation; there are some ambiguities in the cello part

"G.B. Orazi's Enharmonic Flute and its Music (1795-1815)" by Patrizio Babieri, including scores of Orazi's quarter-tone pieces for flute trio, 1797

Antoine Reicha's references to quarter-tones in 1814 and 1824.

If you find any problems with the examples, e-mail me here


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