At 11:33 AM 16-03-01 +0000,
>Reg Boyle wrote:
> >
> > Dear Linda,
> > Unkind one, it is not in my nature to be mischievous!
>
>As in "nughty"? Oh, I'm disappointed
> (Trifling? Never. Well hardly ever!)
Most Worthy Linda and Edna,
Well naughty perhaps, but not scheming. Do you see a similarity
here with the boy presenting the book to his mother just to gloat
over her shocked reaction? Interesting!
With a full broad-side from the big guns like Linda and Edna I feel
a need for smoke and covering fire but without that, I yield.
>Altus means high. Alter can mean "other" as in alter ego - I don't
>remember ever hearing it as meaning "two", but in any case, altus was
>the root here, as used in the early voice designations. This is why alto
>for a low female voice is actually nonsensical, but it's widely used.
Then what is the root of "alter'nate" and "a'ter|nate" if not two? Even
'alter ego' has a dual state in spite of its altus root. Then there's the
duality of alternatives. Also illustrating why it is grammatically
incorrect to say "either alternative" unless there are two pairs.
>but one
>point because it's the French word for viola, matching the alto voice.
My son is going to get a good hard stare for that!
So do I gather that it's the SECOND highest pitched of its group?
Neither the highest nor, the lowest? So how can 'alto' be mistaken
for contralto? SATB is completely different to SCTB huh?
>Edna.....
>Um, you're kidding, right? I _really_ hope you are. A vast repertoire
>of Renaissance choral music still exists today, and there are a lot
>of people who like to sing it.
But Edna, the existence of the repertoire doesn't necessarily
define the timbre of the vocalists, does it?
Oh...and Linda...please...I'm confused enough...yeeeeeech...
>Even in the face of most choral music nowadays being designated SATB,
>where the A, depending on the genre of music, would suggest either
>sometimes, or usually, or almost always, female voices of that pitch?
What pitch? ...... and don't tell me..contralto.....mezzo soprano or male
mezzo soprano, because that would compounded the problem of
defining alto.
If a boy soprano is an alto, then a mezzo soprano is NOT.
If a mezzo soprano is the same as a female tenor, then I assume that would
logically lead to a CT being described as a male mezzo soprano, but not
an alto, because that's a boy soprano.
As to 'contra' or its variant, any voice could do that, not just female,
after all it is still (only) the frill around the collar of the musical gown!
It's a part, as Edna says, not a particular voice.
> > To me a contralto is cello like!
>
>Physically, maybe :o) but the cello's lowest octave and a half is beyond
>the reach of most contraltos, and not all basses, let alone baritones,
>can reach its lowest C.
Careful...my ex-wife is a contralto, and verrry verry trim too!
Well..she was.
FOAF.
Of course you understand I was talking quality, (timbre), not range.
Now that there's a lull in the fire, I'm relieved to see that we agree that
a contralto is NOT an alto .....whew... and that the CT approximates
a mezzo soprano as a support voice in a chorus, rather than a soloist.
The implication this raises of course is the likely balance of such a
combination, in that the CT may have needed the vocal size of a
castrato to achieve the desired result.
>Edna Huelsenbeck (singer of alto, countertenor, and tenor parts as
>needed, but never going to have the right timbre to be an operatic
>contralto)
I'll leave you to take that up with Karen, Edna. he he he : )
Now having been so soundly trounced I retreat to my kennel
suitably chasten . @( Reg.
"One must have loved a woman of genius
to comprehend the happiness of loving a fool."
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