On 17.01.2007 David W. Fenton wrote:
And, of course, why would Bach have copied ripieno parts, or parts indicating solo/ripieno for a performance he knew would not have anything but solo singers?
Well, would he have written that very same piece had he know he would have a larger choir?
Interestingly in the whole of the B minor mass there is not a single solo or ripinieno indication of any type in any of the original manuscripts. I must say that a performance of the Kyrie fugue with 5 singers is imo much more powerfull than any performance by a large choir (even the Thomas Choir).
We are now turning in circles. In Bach's oevre there are cantatas which were intended for solistic performance only (only one set of voice parts, and no indication whatsoever of solo or ripieno passages, ergo (simplified) one singer per part), and the larger cantatas where ripieno parts exist. These were typically performed by 8 singers (like the John Passion): 4 soloists, and 4 ripienists.
Please don't mix these two types, or the whole discussion is useless. Joshua Rifkin _never_ said that Bach's cantatas were all intended for single voices, he knows the distinction between ripieno and solo better than anyone else.
The problem is that this whole discussion has become a "single voices against big choir" discussion. This was never started by Joshua.
Now, if anyone really wants to know about this, please read the book by Andrew Parrot.
Johannes -- http://www.musikmanufaktur.com http://www.camerata-berolinensis.de _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
