Very good Bill! Nevertheless, David Hill makes an extremely compelling case and his (often humorous) paper needs to be noted by performers. He is also well aware that the area is uncomfortable for some to consider and writes "I suspect that fatwas may already be being drawn up against me across the falsetto and lute community......."
Of course, the male alto can sound very well in certain repertoire: but I'm merely intrigued why anyone would wish to use such a voice to sing intabulated lute songs rather than the voice generally expected at the time the songs were composed............. But don't take my word for it: read David Hill's paper. As he says "Does not the fur coat look better when worn by the original animal?". rgds Martyn --- On Thu, 1/12/11, William Samson <[email protected]> wrote: From: William Samson <[email protected]> Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: Male alto in Lute songs? [wasTransposing lute tablature on sight [was Re: A=392]] To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, 1 December, 2011, 13:42 >>I'm afraid I'm going to mention the dreaded 'e' word again: what evidence have you that the male alto ('countertenor') voice was used historically to perform lute songs? Aw come on Martyn! You'll be telling us next that lute players didn't wear jester outfits or sing 'Hey Nonny Nonny'. Bill -- To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
