Though not technically 'lute songs' in the tradition of Dowland, Barbara Strozzi wrote two songs specifically for bass voice and BC. Opus 2, 1651: 2.08 'La crudele, che non sente, non vede, non parla Dagl' abissi del mio core' can be found in the Cornetto ( http://www.faksimiles.org/ ) facsimile of Opus 2, as well as in the Rosand edited volume of Strozzi (vol. 5) in the series "The Italian Cantata in the 17th Century" -- Garland Press, 1986 - out of print but widely available in libraries.
Work without Opus: WoO4 'Un amante doglioso' is unfortunately only available in MS: Manuscript. D: Kl, MS Collection of cantatas, fol. 34, 1681 Re: singers singing all parts, Thomas Schall wrote: "Singers told me it would have been good taste for renaissance singers to be able to sing *all* voices. I really don't know if this could be possible - I'm just forwarding what a singer told me." As a singer, let me say 'almost all parts'. Certainly vocal parts up to the middle part of the 18th C generally had a smaller range and more central tessitura (the area where most of the notes fall) than later art-song and opera. While a male singer can conceivably sing 4 octaves using falsetto, a female singer cannot sing bass range notes. Maybe not even an octave higher. Voices are voices, they vary. Always have. But voice parts or (what later became known as) fachs were not much part of the earlier music vocabulary. I tend to call myself 'girl singer' for early music, whereas the opera world wants the voice range sliced down to 'lyric soprano'. Too bad, since I sing mezzo with equal ease. But I am no bass! Not most days, anyway. Best, Candace - - - - - Dr. Candace A. Magner University of New Mexico - Los Alamos Dept of Fine Arts/Music [EMAIL PROTECTED] homepage http://clik.to/candace Barbara Strozzi site http://barbarastrozzi.com
