On 17 Jan 2007 at 14:46, Johannes Gebauer wrote: > On 17.01.2007 David W. Fenton wrote: > > And, of course, why would Bach have copied ripieno parts, or parts > > indicating solo/ripieno for a performance he knew would not have > > anything but solo singers? > > Well, would he have written that very same piece had he know he would > have a larger choir?
I don't know. But that's not actually the question, is it? > Interestingly in the whole of the B minor mass there is not a single > solo or ripinieno indication of any type in any of the original > manuscripts. I must say that a performance of the Kyrie fugue with 5 > singers is imo much more powerfull than any performance by a large > choir (even the Thomas Choir). > > We are now turning in circles. In Bach's oevre there are cantatas > which were intended for solistic performance only (only one set of > voice parts, and no indication whatsoever of solo or ripieno passages, > ergo (simplified) one singer per part), and the larger cantatas where > ripieno parts exist. These were typically performed by 8 singers (like > the John Passion): 4 soloists, and 4 ripienists. > > Please don't mix these two types, or the whole discussion is useless. > Joshua Rifkin _never_ said that Bach's cantatas were all intended for > single voices, he knows the distinction between ripieno and solo > better than anyone else. I'm not using solo/ripieno as an indication of non-one-on-a-part. Rifkin's argument was that two people didn't share a part, and that when there was solo/ripieno division, there was a part for the soloist and a part for the ripienist. That's still one on a part in Rifkin's interpretation, and I've been treating it as such in my discussions of the situation. > The problem is that this whole discussion has become a "single voices > against big choir" discussion. This was never started by Joshua. If what I've written gives you the idea that I see it that way, I've written unclearly. -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
