Reg Boyle <bandb@n...> wrote:
Reg Boyle <bandb@n...> wrote:
> Then being forthright ,as I always prefer, culture and custom
> has decreed just what a tenor is. Let us not divert the
> expression. A tenor, is a quality that we all recognise, so if
> there was to be a term to describe the CT it would have to
> parallel that other strange name...the female tenor...and
> become....the male soprano. Is that not acceptable?
> It certainly describes the quality.
I'm still not sure what you're getting at about the gay thing, but
that's OK :-)
I don't think tenor is a quality we all recognize. Many English
tenors sound suspicously like countertenors, Irish ones are most
hautes contre, barbershop ones are mostly tenorinos or falsettists.
Maybe we recognize the late 19th century romantic operatic tenor? Is
that fair?
I think the idea of female tenor and male soprano are both great.
Tenor, Alto, Soprano, Bass are all *part* names from early
counterpoint. These terms used to denote function only. They are not
gender-specifc (although women weren't allowed to sing much back
then, but that's just plain stupid).
Tako
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