On Sat, 17 Sep 2011, Michael Smith wrote:
>> Another ways to think of it are parts that seem (to the modern
>> listener, socialized as we are) more independent and less subordinated
>> to, and contrained by, the pattern of the whole.
>
> I would have said just the opposite -- if you compare, as I suggested
> earlier, Haydn and Ockeghem. Alto lines in the 'modern', 'rational'
> world of music are generally so boring that it's no wonder altos are
> such notorious substance abusers. (Brahms is the great exception; was
> Clara Schumann an alto, I wonder?)
I think we're actually on the same side here -- I was saying the parts seemed less subordinated in the pre-baroque period. You seem to be agreeing.
That rest of what you have to say is enlightening. Thanks.
Michael