In a message dated 3/25/2001 1:20:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
ibracamonte@y... writes:
ibracamonte@y... writes:
<<
To mike, who believes that calling a composer
"unsingable" is just an excuse not to work hard and
that great art is allowed to demand only the greatest
singers, I would say that understanding the
limitations of an instrument does not degrade the
quality of the art.>>
isabelle,
calling a composer (like mozart, for example) whose music has been sung,
'unsingable' is not the fault of composer, it is the fault of the singer,
either due to a lack of talent, work ethic, technique or any combination of
the previous. i don't mean that anybody who can't sing mozart is a lazy
piece of trash, i just mean that singer does not have the ability to sing
mozart.
<< I could write a smashing piece
for piano that would, unfortunately, require three
hands to play. Waiting until someone with three hands
is born and saying, "Well, the rest of you nincompoops
just aren't good enought to breathe life into my Art"
isn't a very intelligent stance, nor does it make me a
very intelligent composer. You work within the
limitations of the art form and you make it look good
(a la Michaelangelo working with marble, for
instance), or else it is your fault, not the stone's,
for asking something it cannot give. Understanding
how an instrument works is part of your responsibility
if you compose for that instrument. Simply throwing
up your hands because the stone won't bend is your
failing as a sub-par artist.>>
taking this to the opposite extreme; if a composer's music can't be sung
by the lowest rung on the ladder, he doesn't understand the voice? what are
you? some kind of maoist?
<<Yes, Abigaille is also unsingable, unfortunately.
What can I say -- maybe Verdi hadn't gotten the hang
of it yet.>>
i've heard abigaille sung. you mean; you can't sing it, so far.
<>
unless a composer is writing for the absolute beginner, there is no
reason to expect to be able to perform his/her music. a composer who writes
something hellishly difficult and is surprised that most singers find it so,
probably doesn't understand the voice. but a composer who writes difficult
music, knowing it to be so, is choosing the exactness of his statement over
the likelihood of frequent performances. a singer then is either someone
who can or someone who can't perform that piece.
i think composers should understand the instruments they are writing
for. to not understand the instrument is to miss an oppurtunity to take
full advantage of it. alicia de larocha, a great pianist, is (was?) never
going to perform the 'symphonic etudes'. does that mean schumann didn't
understand the piano? by then, he sure had a better idea how the hand
didn't work. the voice is a far more varied instrument than any other (even
the ocarina). if there are many voices that cannot sing a piece of music,
there is always the hope that some freak who can, exists.
mike
|
