Thanks Stewart.
It is not that I can't believe that accompanists ever played notes above the
line of solo singers or solo instruments; but I rather doubt if Caccini
would have written bass lines which he could not play as they are, on his
own instrument. Therefore I tried to suggest that he might have accompanied
some of his monodies with another instrument than the obvious theorbo in A.
With alfabeto we don't care much about the rules of counterpoint, and the
cittern parts you mention (which I have not seen) may be closer to the
strummed style of the guitar (?)
Lex
Dear Lex,
There is nothing wrong with the bass line of the theorbo crossing above
the tenor here and there, because those high notes are still perceived
as the bass line.
I have on my lap a copy of _Yorke Solos for Double Bass and Piano_, ed.
Rodney Slatford (London: Yorke Edition, 1984). If the solo part were
played at the written pitch, e.g. by a cello, the piano part would
underpin it, and no-one would bat an eyelid. However, the double bass
sounds an octave lower than written, which theoretically would create
all sorts of unwanted inversions. In practice you hear the lowest piano
notes as the bass line, even though many of them are actually above the
melody notes of the double bass.
The same phenomenon occurs with tenors singing soprano lines down an
octave.
Best wishes,
Stewart McCoy.
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