From: Karen Mercedes
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Arias Transposed?
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

I still maintain my position on this:

1) We were talking about operatic arias, not art songs. I agree that
there is a long tradition of transposing art songs. Often the original
composer does not make a specific voice type intention clear when he
composes songs, and thus it is perfectly reasonable to transpose such
songs. On the other hand, art songs where the composer DOES make a voice
type intention explicitly clear should probably NOT be transposed.

2) Arias are written for specific characters, and the composer always
makes it clear the vocal category (if not specific _fach_) of that
character. Yes, there is a tradition of singers transposing arias WITHIN
THEIR FACH - i.e., taking the aria up or down a half or whole step (tenors
and sopranos with "short tops" are particular culprits). But that is not
the same as transposing the aria OUT OF FACH. I still maintain that
transposing the aria out of fach is NOT acceptable, and not just because
of anal-retentive audiences. Transposing out of fach shows a real lack of
respect for the composer's intentions.

3) We are supposed to be musicians. To me, being a good musician means at
least TRYING to respect the composer's original intentions. As much as
I'd love to sing "Kuda, kuda", I'm not going to transpose it and perform
it in public for exactly this reason.

Karen Mercedes
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There is delight in singing,
tho' none hear Beside the singer.
- Walter Savage Landor
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