On 5 Sep 2007 at 7:37, Johannes Gebauer wrote: > On 04.09.2007 David W. Fenton wrote: > > Which doesn't tell us whether or not Bach would object to having 8-12 > > singers, only that in many situations, the parts clearly indicate one- > > on-a-part performance. > > We weren't talking about what Bach wanted or objected to. That is > something which is mostly speculation anyway.
My understanding is that those who delve into this subject are attempting to determine the appropriate performing forces. Limiting performance strictly to one on a part because of evidence that is not definitive except in what it demonstrates about particular performances under Bach's direction seems to me to be wrongheaded. And I remind you -- I'm not arguing for 30 singers here, just that I doubt that have 12-16 singers would have fallen outside the sound world that Bach and his contemporaries were accustomed to. Far more jarring, I'd expect, would be the lack of male sopranos and the different vocal quality that modern-day men's voices have (especially the higher ones). -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
