Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface: A Declaration of Disinterest
- Acknowledgements
- CHAPTER 1 The Discovery of Alfred Deller
- EXTEMPORE 1 An Inartistic Trick: Physiology and Terminology
- CHAPTER 2 The Ancient World to the Middle Ages
- EXTEMPORE 2 A Famine in Tenors: The Historically Developing Human Larynx
- CHAPTER 3 Renaissance Europe
- EXTEMPORE 3 Are We Too Loud? The Impact of Volume on Singing Styles
- CHAPTER 4 Late Medieval and Renaissance England
- EXTEMPORE 4 Reserved Spaniards: Cultural Stereotypes and the High Male Voice
- CHAPTER 5 Baroque Europe
- EXTEMPORE 5 Into Man's Estate: Changing Boys' Voices and Nascent Falsettists
- CHAPTER 6 Baroque England
- EXTEMPORE 6 A Musicological Red Herring: The Etymology of the Counter-Tenor
- CHAPTER 7 The Nineteenth Century
- EXTEMPORE 7 The Bearded Lady: Gender Identity and Falsetto
- CHAPTER 8 The Early Twentieth Century
- EXTEMPORE 8 The Angel's Voice: Falsetto in Popular Music
- CHAPTER 9 The Modern Counter-Tenor
- Bibliography
- Index
EXTEMPORE 7 - The Bearded Lady: Gender Identity and Falsetto
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface: A Declaration of Disinterest
- Acknowledgements
- CHAPTER 1 The Discovery of Alfred Deller
- EXTEMPORE 1 An Inartistic Trick: Physiology and Terminology
- CHAPTER 2 The Ancient World to the Middle Ages
- EXTEMPORE 2 A Famine in Tenors: The Historically Developing Human Larynx
- CHAPTER 3 Renaissance Europe
- EXTEMPORE 3 Are We Too Loud? The Impact of Volume on Singing Styles
- CHAPTER 4 Late Medieval and Renaissance England
- EXTEMPORE 4 Reserved Spaniards: Cultural Stereotypes and the High Male Voice
- CHAPTER 5 Baroque Europe
- EXTEMPORE 5 Into Man's Estate: Changing Boys' Voices and Nascent Falsettists
- CHAPTER 6 Baroque England
- EXTEMPORE 6 A Musicological Red Herring: The Etymology of the Counter-Tenor
- CHAPTER 7 The Nineteenth Century
- EXTEMPORE 7 The Bearded Lady: Gender Identity and Falsetto
- CHAPTER 8 The Early Twentieth Century
- EXTEMPORE 8 The Angel's Voice: Falsetto in Popular Music
- CHAPTER 9 The Modern Counter-Tenor
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
‘I see we have the bearded lady with us tonight’.
Orchestral leader overheard by Alfred Deller before a concertGerman lady: ‘Meester Deller, you are absolute eunuch, ja?’
Alfred Deller: ‘Umm … I think you mean unique!’
German lady: ‘Ja, ja. Eunuch.’
Audience member to Alfred DellerHowever elegant the high male voice has sounded during its modern renaissance, it has often been heard in counterpoint with a quiet but discordant ground bass. The elements of this insidious lower part may vary – notes of homosexuality, effeminacy and castration can all be heard on occasion – but the repeated theme of sexual prejudice is always recognisable. In short, the accompaniment of grumbling voices avers that the male falsettist is not a true man.
In the early days of the falsetto revival the hostile undercurrent was at its strongest, and there is no doubt that Deller himself had more to contend with than his successors. As luck would have it, he was ideally placed to defy the contentious voices. Not only did Deller have a beard, and a speaking voice like any other man, but he was also happily married with children. Deller, then, had easy answers to the prejudice he met. But what of his successors? Although today there are no castrated counter-tenors there are, of course, openly gay ones, and some who might even be termed effeminate.
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- Information
- The Supernatural VoiceA History of High Male Singing, pp. 182 - 185Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2014