Extreme Range in Monodic and Soloistic Repertoire for Bass Voice Between 1550 and 1800. Determining the Compositions with a Range of at Least Two Octaves and a Fourth or More, Accompanied by a List of the Bass Singers for Whom They Were Written or Performed by, and Case Studies of G. D. Puliaschi, O. Valera, D. A. Manna, A. F. Carli and L. Fischer

Abstract

Among the many bass singers documented as remarkable between 1550 and 1800, some of them stood out to their ability to sing very low, as well as unusually high. Some composers took a note of that and composed pieces with extreme ambiti, designed specifically for them. What characterises those pieces and what can we infer from them about about what those sing-ers were capable of? Which lessons can we learn about what is ultimately achievable for a bass voice, which can then be used in a pedagogical process?