| Date sent: Fri, 7 Jan 2000 13:57:29 EST Subject: Re: Brahms "Four Serious Songs" To: vocalist Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
In a message dated 01/07/2000 1:19:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, DCLARK-at-rhodes.edu writes:
<< John wrote:
>>Definitely composed for Bass. Brahms even writes in a letter (8 May 1896) that it would be "ridiculous to let a girl or tenor sing them".
I hope he changed his mind when the sounds of Kathleen Ferrier's beautiful rendition wafted up to heaven. I love to sing these songs myself. They lie wonderfully in my voice, and I think I do them very well. (I use the high key.) Of course, I certainly do enjoy them sung by a good bass. Richard Vernon did them in his October Memphis recital, and they were stunning. >>
Also, Brahms had a distinctively sexist mindset - not uncommon in his day - and I tend to take anything he wrote about women with a large grain of salt. I've been rereading biographies of Brahms lately in preparation for doing these songs, and I've been reminded that his relationships with women were problematic at best.
Lee Morgan Mezzo-soprano
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