Comments on: Castrati: Castrated for the Love of Music http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/ Daily Oddities Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:32:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jeanne http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2469 Jeanne Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:06:58 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2469 Yet another horror from the Catholic Church....mutilation of boys to keep them singing like women for God's sake ! Why did they not just have the women sing ?! Yet another horror from the Catholic Church….mutilation of boys to keep them singing like women for God’s sake ! Why did they not just have the women sing ?!

]]> By: CPB http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2322 CPB Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:28:25 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2322 lol, i was just thinking that. outlaw tritones, ban women from church, and castrate boys...riduculous. lol, i was just thinking that. outlaw tritones, ban women from church, and castrate boys…riduculous.

]]> By: Dawn-Gale http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2319 Dawn-Gale Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:55:28 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2319 That's funny and interesting because my mother always believed people who get their little girl's ears pierced was mutilation too. That’s funny and interesting because my mother always believed people who get their little girl’s ears pierced was mutilation too.

]]> By: Asmodeus http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2158 Asmodeus Mon, 09 May 2011 05:32:43 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2158 Meanwhile, back in reality.... Meanwhile, back in reality….

]]> By: lexi http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2145 lexi Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:09:52 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2145 what you say is very true. we only have to look at every day samples in the media to confirm that we have not changed or learned from our mutilated past; there are people who inject their 8 year old daughters with botox, or preform female circumcises. not to mention infants receiving tattoos and tongue piercings.... we shouldn't be creeped out by castrati when our society is tenfold worse. what you say is very true. we only have to look at every day samples in the media to confirm that we have not changed or learned from our mutilated past; there are people who inject their 8 year old daughters with botox, or preform female circumcises. not to mention infants receiving tattoos and tongue piercings…. we shouldn’t be creeped out by castrati when our society is tenfold worse.

]]> By: Mackenzie http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2099 Mackenzie Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:14:15 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2099 That last sentence was the best thing I've read in weeks! Haha! That last sentence was the best thing I’ve read in weeks! Haha!

]]> By: Tommy Manning http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2063 Tommy Manning Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:17:46 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2063 Mutilation, for the sake or art or culture or for whatever reason, seems wrong to me. If one wanted to broaden the issue, one could lament strict parenting which accepts nothing less than perfect from one's child, whether in the classroom, on the athletic field, or in the music studio. Thus, "mutilation" could be seen to be more than physical. Do the ends really justify the means? I wonder. I imagine that the castrati endured psychological as well as physical scars. And while I do not know, I doubt if any of them requested to be included in the elite group of castrated singers. Mutilation, for the sake or art or culture or for whatever reason, seems wrong to me.

If one wanted to broaden the issue, one could lament strict parenting which accepts nothing less than perfect from one’s child, whether in the classroom, on the athletic field, or in the music studio. Thus, “mutilation” could be seen to be more than physical. Do the ends really justify the means? I wonder.

I imagine that the castrati endured psychological as well as physical scars. And while I do not know, I doubt if any of them requested to be included in the elite group of castrated singers.

]]> By: Andrew Timm http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2062 Andrew Timm Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:38:42 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2062 The recordings with Moreschi were made in 1902 and 1904, NOT 1908. Likewise, the recording people had nothing to do with that thieving Edison, who did NOT invent the phonograph any more than he invented the light bulb. People can "ooh" and gasp about castrati today, but how is that fundamentally different from the parents who force their children into paedophile "child pageants" or the Hollywood types who mutilate their bodies with silicon, botox, surgical scalpels etc etc to fit a grotesque ideal of "beauty"? Yes, forcibly castrating young boys is and was wrong. But, what is shocking is how people think we've "moved past" that. There are still areas of the world where children are ritually mutilated, and that has nothing to do with music. The recordings with Moreschi were made in 1902 and 1904, NOT 1908. Likewise, the recording people had nothing to do with that thieving Edison, who did NOT invent the phonograph any more than he invented the light bulb.

People can “ooh” and gasp about castrati today, but how is that fundamentally different from the parents who force their children into paedophile “child pageants” or the Hollywood types who mutilate their bodies with silicon, botox, surgical scalpels etc etc to fit a grotesque ideal of “beauty”?

Yes, forcibly castrating young boys is and was wrong. But, what is shocking is how people think we’ve “moved past” that. There are still areas of the world where children are ritually mutilated, and that has nothing to do with music.

]]> By: Paul http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2008 Paul Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:40:21 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-2008 All the above is true; however, it is worth mentioning that a recent BBC documentary analyzed this recording and determined that the highest level of Acoustic Interference (Hiss, Pop, Faulty Room Acoustics) occurred in the same part of the Acoustic Spectrum as would be the top range of Moreschi's voice - so in this Recording, we are essentially missing part of the Voice - as admittedly mediocre a voice as it does indeed sound. What this article refers to as "Falsettitst" in our time are roughly equivalent to Countertenors. With no Castrati to sing the Music written for them, there are some young singers active today (Scholl, Maniaci, Jaroussky) who are doing amazing work bringing Castrato Music back to life. If, as splendid as they are, they are perhaps but a pale reflection, then the real article must have been mind-blowing! We truly will never really know... All the above is true; however, it is worth mentioning that a recent BBC documentary analyzed this recording and determined that the highest level of Acoustic Interference (Hiss, Pop, Faulty Room Acoustics) occurred in the same part of the Acoustic Spectrum as would be the top range of Moreschi’s voice – so in this Recording, we are essentially missing part of the Voice – as admittedly mediocre a voice as it does indeed sound. What this article refers to as “Falsettitst” in our time are roughly equivalent to Countertenors. With no Castrati to sing the Music written for them, there are some young singers active today (Scholl, Maniaci, Jaroussky) who are doing amazing work bringing Castrato Music back to life. If, as splendid as they are, they are perhaps but a pale reflection, then the real article must have been mind-blowing! We truly will never really know…

]]> By: Tommy Manning http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-1833 Tommy Manning Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:06:28 +0000 http://cogitz.com/2009/08/24/castrati-castrated-for-the-love-of-music/#comment-1833 11-6-2010 Did anyone see "Prince Poppycock's" performances on "America's Got Talent" a few weeks back? He brought to mind the Castrati and how some of them may have sounded, although it's fairly certain that he was singing in falsetto. Poppycock's performances and costumes transported one to another era, but with a considerable amount of humor and real entertainment. I am thinking, however, that true Castrati performed more seriously. Those who ridicule the Castrati and their sound would do well to review some of today's "music." It is a matter of taste, but in my opinion some contemporary singing amounts to little more than noise, however popular and lucrative. We should remember that Castrati fulfilled a particular need and desire of the culture, however mysterious and repugnant to modern thought. Tommy Manning noel.manning@sbcglobal.net 11-6-2010

Did anyone see “Prince Poppycock’s” performances on “America’s Got Talent” a few weeks back? He brought to mind the Castrati and how some of them may have sounded, although it’s fairly certain that he was singing in falsetto. Poppycock’s performances and costumes transported one to another era, but with a considerable amount of humor and real entertainment. I am thinking, however, that true Castrati performed more seriously.

Those who ridicule the Castrati and their sound would do well to review some of today’s “music.” It is a matter of taste, but in my opinion some contemporary singing amounts to little more than noise, however popular and lucrative. We should remember that Castrati fulfilled a particular need and desire of the culture, however mysterious and repugnant to modern thought.

Tommy Manning
noel.manning@sbcglobal.net

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