Dear Ed:
I'm sorry if I am dense. I do not understand what is the problem you
are concerned about.
Here is how I see it:
the alto section at your colleague's church choir has a number of
what you term "short-range sopranos". First of all, by short-range I
assume you mean short on the top end - these are women whose voices
you feel are truly sopranos.
My dense question is - how is this a problem? Is the problem that
the sound in the alto section is not as "rich" as your friend would
like? Are these women unable to handle the low notes? Are they
straining their voices?
My bias is that if the women are not straining, I don't see a problem
with "sopranos" singing in the alto section.
I take the issue a bit personally, so let me tell a story. I have a
tenorish quality but am quite comfortable in my lower range and
generally prefer the bass part in a choir. I do not effect a fake
bass sound to be in the bass section - much of the range comes
naturally to me and I just fade out if it gets too low. When I work
on solo literature with a teacher it is usually in the high baritone
to tenor range. Out of about 10 voice teachers most have considered
me a "tweenie" (in-between tenor and baritone), although some
teachers felt for certain I was a baritone and one or two felt I was
definitely a tenor. For sure nobody thinks I'm a bass. I can't hit
the lowest notes of a choral bass part (not much sound below a
baritone low G) but I am confident that I am an asset to the bass
section of most choral groups.
Some years ago I sang in the bass section of a choir whose director
also played organ and directed a church choir. On the basis of my
strong sight-reading skills and accurate pitch, the director
recruited me to be a paid substitute for a few week-ends while his
regular professional bass singer was on vacation.
I was then taking singing lessons from a soprano who thought I was a
tenor. Well I show up at church choir rehearsal, and it turns out
that it is also my teacher's gig! At break she walks over to me and
says, what are you doing in the bass section - you're a tenor. I was
not pleased and felt she was out of line.
So I have a bias against too strong a stance about classification,
and do not understand the great evil of a "soprano" in the alto
section. Do I think a woman who has no upper range should try to
develop it? Sure. Do I think a woman should "force" her low range
and sing lower and louder than comfortable? No. But many sopranos
can comfortably sing alto, and I do not understand the harm, in
general. Having some sopranos in the alto section (as tenors in the
bass section) can be a good thing. And in my opinion, the
classification voice teachers use for selection of solo material may
not apply for choral singing.
Cheers,
Michael
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