Monks And The Gregorian Chant

[hopeful1]

ok, i'm taking a fine arts class this summer that covers theater, music, and art. So far it's been fun and we were listening to renaissance music today and the gregorian chant (WHICH SOUNDS GORGIOUS!). however he said some historical fact (????) about the chant that sounded very disturbing, not to mention totally inconsistent with church teachings. He seemed to insinuate that in order for some of the monks to hit the high notes for the chant some of them were (guys be ready for this) castrated. I know there were alot of abuses back in the day, but i'm a bit skepical about this one. does anyone know if this is historically accurate, or even remotely true? (sources would be good, if any available).

Edited May 26, 2004 by hopeful1

[crusader1234]

I do know that there were a certain type of male singers called 'castrati' which were castrated before puberty. Whether or not these castrati were part of the chants is up for debate... but they did exist. And if they were involved in Gregorian Chants it would go against Church Teaching. In a lot of cases, however, they got little boys to sing the high parts and when their voices changed theyd get kicked out until their voices had finished maturation.

[hopeful1]

[quote name='crusader1234' date='May 25 2004, 10:08 PM'] I do know that there were a certain type of male singers called 'castrati' which were castrated before puberty. Whether or not these castrati were part of the chants is up for debate... but they did exist. And if they were involved in Gregorian Chants it would go against Church Teaching. In a lot of cases, however, they got little boys to sing the high parts and when their voices changed theyd get kicked out until their voices had finished maturation. [/quote]
yeah, he did say that about them getting kicked out when their voice matured (hey that's the way it goes sometimes even today), but the castration thing???

[crusader1234]

well like i said, the castrati were real, and actually it was kind of a musical fad... a crazy sick fad but yeah.

[hopeful1]

anyone else know?

[cmotherofpirl]

Guys were castrated to keep their voices high. They were the superstars of the day.

[hopeful1]

ouch

Edited May 26, 2004 by hopeful1

[Spiritual_Arsonist]

To some extents, this practice was done.

[ransom]

In true Gregorian chant everyone sings the same note. The only differences are in tone and timbre of the voices not in pitch. The "high" notes are not actually notes at all but rather overtones created by the mixture of different tones. If done correctly the overtones can be manipulated to create melodies rising above the natural male voices. The same technique is used by Tibetan monks and [url="http://www.furious.com/perfect/tuva.html"]Tuvan throat singers[/url], except one groovin' Tuvan can make as many as three (one tone and two overtones) sounds at once by himself. Casterati were used mainly in operas and mass choirs not in Gregorian chant.

pax tecum,
ransom

[hopeful1]

intresting. bump

[immaculata]

[quote name='ransom' date='May 26 2004, 08:47 AM'] In true Gregorian chant everyone sings the same note. [/quote]
Yes, I think she may be thinking more along the lines of polyphonic chant

[hopeful1]

[quote name='immaculata' date='May 26 2004, 11:08 PM'] Yes, I think she may be thinking more along the lines of polyphonic chant [/quote]
YES!!!! THAT"S THE BIG WORD HE USED IN CLASS!!!!

[Dave]

Oh yeah, I remember reading about that.

[immaculata]

[quote name='hopeful1' date='May 26 2004, 11:14 PM'] YES!!!! THAT"S THE BIG WORD HE USED IN CLASS!!!! [/quote]


Katrina, your friendly neighborhood dictionary.

[hopeful1]

(claps for immaculata)

[Winchester]

Weird, I thought it just involved some kicking. Surgery seems kind of extreme...

[homeschoolmom]

Winchester, you are weird...

[Dave]

[quote name='Winchester' date='May 27 2004, 01:38 AM'] Weird, I thought it just involved some kicking. Surgery seems kind of extreme... [/quote]
:rotfl: