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From:  Reg Boyle <bandb@n...>
Date:  Mon May 29, 2000  7:34 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Re: American School of Countertenors


Dear Tako,
My goodness... doesn't this call for some elaboration:)

> The majority of countertenors approach their first
>passagio not like tenors but like mezzos - it is not a categorically
>female technique - rather, it is the only way to balance the registers
>to allow for notes above E5. It is worth noting that women who
>specialize in low notes often balance their registers the way tenors do.

First, other than from books I've never been conscious of
the primo passagio or even the second. Nor do I wish to be, but as well
as that, why would anyone 'specialise in low notes' and isn't it
essential that all voices balance their 'registers', both for even tonal
quality and loudness throughout the range? My limited experience
with live performances of professional counter-tenors shows this to
be their most common vocal weakness.

>Bach considered the alto voice to be representative of the Holy Spirit.
>This is probably because it avoids gender-based irrelevancies, and
>therefore transcends the trivialities of corporeal existence. This
>notion of artifice is critical in understanding Baroque aesthetics!

For all his beautiful music I don't think JSBach was particularly
considerate of his singers just so long as they could do the job and
if his music and Handels taxed the vocal ability of castrati of the day,
it seems that present day male substitutes would be likely to fall far
short of their intentions. (The refusal to consider corporeal
existence sits well with current economic rationalism and a
composer with an infernal mathematical bent would engender a
natural reaction resulting in a CPE a Haydn and Mozart.)
Allow me to attempt to illustrate what I think is a similar
(but different) effect of the period.
The sound of string instruments pre- Mozart did not include
vibrato on gut strings because they would not last, yet modern
playing often inserts the vibrato even though it was not intended
by the composer. Just because we now use steel strings which will
survive the vibrato, should we implement it? Even worse, with
counter-tenors. We've no real comparison with castrati,yet,
because it's convenient to assume that ct technique is the same as
that followed by true castrati, it is designated valid and presumed
to satisfy the composer's requirements.
What little I have read of the descriptions of castrato could
equally be interpreted as a description of Gedda's singing, and
what would anyone do with their spare time if it was authoritatively
suggested to them, that they had a promising voice, but no fear at
all of being distracted sexually from its development?
None of those depressing negatives like ' they hold you back;
they drag you down and they break your heart.' (Mere illustration.)
I sometimes wonder whether the enthusiasm that most singers
have experienced had driven some of these people to do themselves
" the damage " so they could remove that nagging distraction!
Stranger things have happened.
No doubt van Gogh had the same problem
only he chose a a less permanent sexual circuit-breaker and a
body part that enabled him to continue standing at the canvas.
(I don't expect any of the ladies to understand or accept this!!:))

> He is trying to approximate for us the experience of seeing
>a castrato - a man who sounds, looks, and acts like a man but sings very
>high with ferocious coloratura. In this respect, he succeeds with flying
>colors.
Pardon! How do you know that? I mean: 'that he succeeds with flying
colours, in approximating a castrato'?

Just _my_ imagination but I think in the absence of a true castrato
I'd rather hear a brilliant mezzo with an extended range,
but maybe I'm being sexist and I wouldn't want to be that:) Reg.












  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
1963 Bach, Baroque and Countertenors, was:Re: [vocalis John Alexander Blyth   Mon  5/29/2000   4 KB
1987 Re: Bach, Baroque and Countertenors Reg Boyle   Tue  5/30/2000   5 KB
1991 Some Bach, some vibrato, was: Re: Bach, Baroque a John Alexander Blyth   Tue  5/30/2000   4 KB
1996 Re: Some Bach, some vibrato, some support Reg Boyle   Wed  5/31/2000   4 KB
2014 Re: Some Bach, some vibrato, some support John Alexander Blyth   Wed  5/31/2000   5 KB
1997 Re: Bach, Baroque and Countertenors - and castrat Joel Figen   Wed  5/31/2000   4 KB
2037 Re: Bach, Baroque and Countertenors - and castrat Reg Boyle   Thu  6/1/2000   3 KB
2050 Bach and Basses Joel Figen   Thu  6/1/2000   3 KB

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