Re: Tangentially GG... alto lines

[Arin Murphy <la_murph@alcor.concordia.ca>]

Whoa, there!

I have been enjoying this thread immensely, guys, and been quite happy to
just read and nod or sigh or whatever, but no slagging of alto lines! 
Personally, I've always found the melody to be pretty boring on its own; 
sure, maybe second fiddle lines seem to be there just to complete chords,
but if you extract them they make up an alternate melody that's much more
interesting than the primary melody. Okay, I will admit here and now that
I sing alto - hence my prejudice - but I honestly feel that the lines I
hum in songs I've learned are more interesting musically, simply because
they're not as predictable and as... well... boring. Christmas carols
especially fall into this category, possibly because everyone knows the
main tunes to death, so an alternate, slightly different version of the
melody is fresher and more interesting to the ear. The only way I can
stand to listen to Mozart's Nachtmusik is if I shut out the
top/soprano/main violin line and listen for the alto line. I guess it has
a lot to do with the old `familiarity breeds contempt' problem, too. But
it's always seemed unfair to me that the main theme gets all the
recognition when there's terrific stuff happening underneath it. Maybe
that's one of the reasons I really like Bach; four musical lines, all with
equally important roles... I dare you to try to stick with the top line
when you hum something from the Goldbergs. I don't think it's possible; I
think you end up flipping from line to line, depending on what's being
woven to the forefront at the time. (Gould's great at bringing different
bits of different lines out like that.) 

A-hem. That's my soapbox speech for the year. Proceed with this
fascinating and educational thread.

Arin Murphy
Student, Savoyard,
Bookseller, Cellist-By-Night

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"It really isn't difficult if you give your whole mind to it."
				-Lady Angela, Act 1
				   Gilbert & Sullivan's `Patience'