On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 7:46 PM, Steve Haflich <[email protected]> wrote: > Steve Freides <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Steve Haflich <[email protected]> wrote: > ... remember that the bass line is for cello and > > contrabass, the latter being a transposing instrument sounding an octave > > lower than written. > > Forgive me but what does this have to do with the price of tea in > China? Playing above the staff is a completely different animal on a > cello or a bass, and the transpositions are never in question, just as > they are never in question with most other instruments. > > My comment had nothing to do with the price of tea in China. But it did > have something to do with Klaus' argument in favor of Bb alto, which > perhaps you didn't understand. > > Klaus argued that the horn key must be Bb alto, because idfs Bb alto the > 2nd horn would lower than the written bass line, and screw up the > harmony. > > Whether that would screw up Mozart's harmony is indeed a question, but > my point is that the bass line is played by CONTRAbasses and therefore > sounds an octave lower than written. The 2nd horn, even played in Bb > basso, would _not_ sound lower than the bass line. Therefore I reject > Klaus' argument.
We used to have this conversation in theory class periodically - the same argument can be applied to chorales which, although written for four voices, are usually doubled on a organ using a 16' stop, effectively creating the same thing as your CONTRAbass. For me, neither argument holds water - 4-part harmony is 4-part harmony and octave doublings don't change it, and I believe this is the best, simplest way to look at it. If the horn part crosses below the cello line, then something's a bit odd, and the fact that the CONTRAbass is an octave below the cello doesn't change that fact. As to whether the horn 2 line crossing below the cello line constitutes a valid argument for Bb alto, I will leave that to you horn gurus. But when it comes to any sort of analysis of a score, one of the first things one does is try to reduce the number of notes under consideration - analysis usually begins with reduction of the actual music, and in that process, octave doublings - be they up or down - would be among the first things to get taken away. -S- _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
