Hudechrome wrote:
I'm not crazy about Lord of the Rings. I see the word "Lord" and my eyes glaze over.
You can hit the A below low Bb? That's better than the Russian Basses! And theirs isn't all that loud either (Listen to Rachmaninoff "Vespers", #5. The very last note is low Bb. Excellent version from "Evening Star" Phillips 442 344-2).
Get thee to a choir!.
(Note to spell check: Rachmaninoff is spelled correctly, at least in the English version. "Brahman", or "Drachma" are not anywhere good substitutes!)
I first read LOTR when I was about 12 (1977), long before the current craze (and the movie, while very good, is only about 50% Tolkien & is VERY different in overall mood & impression), but I can understand why your eyes might be glazing over when you hear the word "Lord"
Regarding my claim, yes, I am pretty sure I can hit those notes, but I guess now I might have to post some proof.
Good to know that even the pros don't get very loud.... will have to check out the Rachmaninoff piece you mention. ![]()
dave milbut wrote:
“I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
'.....This was a little more difficult and got less applause; most people were trying to work it out in their heads to see if it came out to a compliment.'
(From memory; I eschewed Googling.
)
Supposedly, the Russian Basses are famous for being able to hit low Bb. The Vespers were performed here about a year ago and I listened really carefully when they got to that note.
They are right about the Russians!
BTW, that piece sometimes called "Nunc Dimittis", is probably the most known of the Vespers. It's a marvelous piece, with a solo for tenor, but the tenor in this recording sounds higher, but not like a castrati.
A number of composers wrote as Rachmaninoff-outside their compositional style. Mendelssohn is one, "Motets and Psaulmes", one of the first cd's I purchased way back in the 80's. Richard Strauss is another, writing a series of works for a cappella chorus, so difficult they get few performances. I have a lovely Chando recording; the Mendelssohn Barthody is Harmonia Mundi.
The three mentioned here cover a vast compositional range, and all three not their normal work.
I never cease to be amazed, and very, very grateful.
So find a choir and do "Nunc Dimittis" ![]()
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function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}Hudechrome wrote:
Supposedly, the Russian Basses are famous for being able to hit low Bb. The Vespers were performed here about a year ago and I listened really carefully when they got to that note.
They are right about the Russians!
BTW, that piece sometimes called "Nunc Dimittis", is probably the most known of the Vespers. It's a marvelous piece, with a solo for tenor, but the tenor in this recording sounds higher, but not like a castrati.
A number of composers wrote as Rachmaninoff-outside their compositional style. Mendelssohn is one, "Motets and Psaulmes", one of the first cd's I purchased way back in the 80's. Richard Strauss is another, writing a series of works for a cappella chorus, so difficult they get few performances. I have a lovely Chando recording; the Mendelssohn Barthody is Harmonia Mundi.
The three mentioned here cover a vast compositional range, and all three not their normal work.
I never cease to be amazed, and very, very grateful.
So find a choir and do "Nunc Dimittis"
I listened a bit to some of them Russians last night, though I didn't find the Vesper (now I will...). There is one singer - Vladimir Pasuikov - who just makes me shiver. There were a number of videos which featured various singers doing various notes. Heres two.......First one has the fellow I mentioned above, the second has a number of notes illustrated by various singers (some I don't like; Vladimir appears at about 54......ooooooohhhhhhh.......).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TobBU7uuLlM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byXfy3uWiIk&feature=related
But for my own claim, I don't think I am probably actually 'frying' my voice, rather than singing, but here is me doing the Nazgul speech I quoted earlier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EqxII5JQEQ
It's a start, hopefully, even if I might never get that amazing volume and resonance that Vladimir has.
Here's a quote from Herman Hesse, "The Glass Bead Game", 1943:
"People know, or dimly feel, that if thinking is not kept pure and keen, and if respect for the world of the mind is no longer operative, ships and automobiles will soon cease to run right, the engineer's slide rule and the computations of banks and stock exchanges will forfeit validity and authority, and chaos will ensue. It took long enough in all conscience for realization to come that the externals of civilization - technology, industry, commerce and so on - also require a common basis of intellectual honesty and morality."
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