From: "DIANE M. CLARK (MUSIC DEPARTMENT)"
Subject: Re: Switching fach... any survivors?
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Carol S. wrote:

>>Of course I respect that no two voices are the same, but Fach is a matter of
business. Persons with the ability to hire you for MESSIAH will either
think of you as a soprano or an alto soloist (I'm singing MESSIAH on four
separate occasions this season, and all four productions are using only four
soloists, one on a part), and that's the way of that.

Yes, Fach is a matter of business, which is why it shouldn't be such a trau-
matic personal thing. And do not assume the above. Once I auditioned for
the alto solos in the Lord Nelson Mass, thinking there would be less competi-
tion and wanting to get my foot in the door as a soloist. The director for
whom I auditioned was very complimentary, and I got the part. Two days later
he called up and said, "Would you consider coming over and auditioning for
the soprano solos? This is a very difficult soprano part, and I don't think
any of the women that have auditioned for me can do it justice." (My resume,
of course, showed experience in both soprano and mezzo parts.) I said sure...
went to audition...he was thrilled...I got the soprano part, which is much
more exciting than the alto part.

The coup de grace in this situation, as I think I've related before on the
list, came in a rehearsal with the orchestra. In one of my solos, the concert-
master was having some difficulty playing a difficult part, and after starting and stopping several times, the conductor finally said in exasperation, "Why
don't you count like the soprano is doing?" That shocked the poor man so
badly that he played the part right thereafter! :)

Well, anyway, back to the subject of Fach. My point is simply that it's not
worth getting in a snit about. Just use your best judgment in any given
situation, and go with the flow.

|\ Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof./Chair of Music Dept., Rhodes College
| 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112, 901-843-3782, dclark-at-rhodes.edu
() http://gray.music.rhodes.edu/musichtmls/faculty/dclark.html