Dear James, Finding suitable lute songs (not theorbo songs) for a bass singer is difficult. The 16th century was the Age of Polyphony. Sixteenth-century lute songs - by and large, generally speaking, and a host of cavils and caveats - were for a high voice, where the lute played the lowest voices. Unlike the theorbo, the lute is a treblish instrument better suited to accompanying ladies' voices rather than men's.
We know that English lute songs were occasionally sung by a tenor rather than a soprano, but I believe that when the cantus is sung an octave lower by a tenor, it is wise to have a bass viol double the bass line. The vocal cues in Robert Dowland's _A Musicall Banquet_ (London, 1610) show that a tenor voice (rather than a soprano) is intended, but there is always a bass voice or bass viol to offer support, rather than leave the lute alone to do all the accompanying. The answer, I think, for 16th-century music, is not to try to do the impossible. Don't try to force the bass singer to be a latter-day soprano or tenor soloist. Don't help his range with bass lutes sounding down a 4th, and all that carry on. Do what Fuenllana does (and possibly Terzi - it's too late at night for me to check now), i.e. the bass singer simply sings the bass line. As long as the lute covers all the parts, the music is complete in itself, and the singer sings the part which naturally suits his voice. If there are other singers who can join in, fine, but a lone bass singer is fine too. After all, if the music is purely polyphonic, where each voice is equally important, why favour the highest voice all the time? You could as well favour the lowest instead. Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James di Properzio" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 8:00 PM Subject: Lute song with low male voice > Does anyone recommend--or have advice from experience with--lute songs > that work well with bass or baritone voice? It doesn't seem that pieces > written for high voice sound right when you pitch them down. > > If there is some obvious repertoire that I'm missing, let me know that, too! > > -James di Properzio
