gloria

[pauraque_bk]

I still haven't watched that Vivaldi documentary yet, but I did watch an intriguing related video. It seeks to show how the tenor and "bass" (really baritone, by today's naming conventions) parts of vocal music could have been performed by women at the Ospedale della Pietà, a shelter for homeless girls where Vivaldi taught music.

From the uploader:

"This is the contralto/tenor/bass trio "Gloria Patri" from Dixit Dominus (RV 595), composed for the Figlie di Coro of the Ospedale della Pietà. Here the voice of Anna dal Basso (1670-1742), a documented bass singer at the Pietà, is sung by Margaret (centre), Cecilia dal Contralto (1679-1726) by Victoria, and Paulina dal Tenor (1675-1748) by Penny. Vivaldi's Women challenge the cultural stereotype which assumes that female voices are naturally high and that it is wrong for them to sing low."

I'm not knowledgeable enough about the history to comment on whether this performance is period accurate or not (it seems to be a point of contention), but it is at the very least a fascinating demonstration of the arbitrariness of vocal categorizations. The difference between a "contralto" voice and a "tenor" voice is not always one of natural range, but more one of training and the style one sings in. It's pointed out in the comments that the woman singing the contralto part in this video doesn't sing in the classical contralto style but in a belty "chest voice", which I took to be intentional and part of the commentary on how women's voices are categorized and expected to be used in classical song. Though at first the sound of their blended voices is surprising, I ultimately found it a beautiful performance.

I hope my US friends are having a peaceful Memorial Day. ♥

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

Comments

[perverse-idyll.livejournal.com]

Oh, that would be a challenge - both learning how to strengthen and preserve your voice in the soprano range, and the new approach to parts. If you belong to a choir, I bet they were sorry to lose your low alto. Those always seem to be a scarce commodity, or so I gathered from the artistic director I once knew.

I agree the contralto has a lovely voice, but I imagine the way she played with the pitch (assuming it was intentional) drove the other two singers crazy.

I loooooove women with a strong lower range - in a different genre, Nina Simone is one of my favorite singers.

Random anecdote: the bass-baritone most often hired for Magnificat concerts during my time with them started his career as a countertenor because it was easier for him to find work!

[cloelockless2.livejournal.com]

Actually it's the new choir I auditioned for that asked me to change (I think they were lacking Soprano IIs...). I think I mostly got into my last choir just because they were desperate for alto IIs.
Anyway, I am hurting in muscles I never knew I had (and realizing I don't have enough abs (yet) to sing properly in that range) XD but the parts are becoming a new kind of awesome. BUT it'll be more difficult to get into good choirs now :(

Yes, the contralto. Choirs are about blending, this is all wrong.

Nina Simone <3

Hehe