John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...> wrote: > No, Bach was a still greater composer than we usually think > and timbre was important to him, even although he must rarely have had > ideal circumstances to realise it.
You've got an Amen from me! In particular his choices of obbligato instruments are always inspired. Sometimes I feel like he hated all singers, though ;-) it's not easy stuff to sing!
> I've been working on this music for years now, and I can still > get this excited about it! Suffice to say that Bach's alto writing > would work superlatively well, no matter who sung it, but there is > probably a particular timbre which would give it that extra something.
Most music historians seem to think Bach had only boy altos and countertenors available to sing alto lines (based on the idiotic interpretation of scripture that women should remain silent in church). I suspect this is true, because half of his alto parts seem appropriate for a boy alto (high tessitura with a few low notes like Erbarme dich) and the other half seem appropriate for a countertenor with a much lower tessitura.
Surely you're not suggesting Bach alto arias are best sung by mezzos? Certainly there are cases of women (mostly contraltos) who shine in this repertoire, but it's a stretch to say he wrote it with women in mind.
-Tako
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