On Monday, January 19, 2004, at 07:38 PM, Stewart McCoy wrote: > ...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.
Dear Stewart, You mean sing the bass line in the lute part? It may have been the age of polyphony, but a lot of those bass lines are not exactly tuneful ayres! For the most part, they're so obviously bass lines. It seems to me that even where the music is purely polyphonic, there's a difference between a good song and a good bass line. Certainly, I can remember singing some bass lines that were very beautiful, but I don't know that every bass line I've ever sung (or played in lute-song accompaniments) is worth singing as a solo song. Having said that, though, I'll definitely give those bass lines a second look! Best wishes, David R
