Cressida ([info]cressida0201) wrote,
@ 2008-12-22 21:21:00
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Current mood: mischievous

Christmas Music Genderbending Brain-Teaser
Two of the most beloved Christmas albums in my family are Christmas Hymns and Carols, volumes 1 and 2, from the Robert Shaw Chorale. They're what we play on Christmas Day when we're sitting around the tree--the albums, as many families have, without which it Just Isn't Properly Christmas. And we've always had to play them on LP or, later, cassette tape recorded from the LPs; Robert Shaw recorded these carol arrangements three or four times over the course of his long career, but sadly, this particular iteration has never been released on CD. Believe me, I've checked! So when I got myself a USB turntable, the very first albums that I digitized were those two. (ETA: I may have found a source for it on CD!! Will post when I get the CD I ordered.)

Now, one of the big mysteries to me has always been the identity of the soloist on "The Cherry Tree Carol," on volume 2. This has got to be the most androgynous voice I've ever heard; I swear that every time I listen to it, I think at the exact same moments, "Oh, I guess it is a woman after all" and "No wait, that sounds like a man." Well, through careful inspection of the album notes, I think I've worked out the answer to this question at last, but before revealing the answer, I thought it might be fun to see what my flist thinks!

The MP3 file is available for the next seven days here. Download it and tell me your guess! I've already had one guess of "female" from [info]coeli and "male" from [info]lilan1214.

Also, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all on my flist! :-D

ETA2: Posted the results of my research here.


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[info]roh_wyn
2008-12-23 05:38 am UTC (link)
Very cool! :)

As to your conundrum, I think the voice is female. I'm not sure why I feel that way, but there you go! :)

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 03:16 pm UTC (link)
Well, I've just posted my guess at the answer!

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[info]lindahoyland
2008-12-23 06:20 am UTC (link)
Sounds female to me.

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 03:16 pm UTC (link)
See the next entry for my deduction! :-)

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[info]lindahoyland
2009-01-01 08:34 pm UTC (link)
It was fun to play along!

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[info]lilan14
2008-12-23 08:45 am UTC (link)
I still say it's a guy! :) And what a beautiful record... *melts*

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[info]cressida0201
2008-12-23 03:36 pm UTC (link)
And what a beautiful record... *melts*

Thanks! I've always thought this carol was really beautiful, and I also think that the arrangements on the Shaw records are just perfect. They're just so natural and lovely. I once got to sing a couple of the arrangements, and they feel very right in the voice, too.

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[info]lilan14
2008-12-24 07:56 am UTC (link)
Yes, both those volumes are great! Thanks SOOOO much for sending them. :) They really help to create the proper mood, so no wonder it's your family's favorite.

I once got to sing a couple of the arrangements

Wow, really? Which ones were they?

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[info]cressida0201
2008-12-24 04:46 pm UTC (link)
Which ones were they?

A choir I was in once did "Hacia Belén" and "Ya viene la vieja" for a Christmas concert.

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[info]lilan14
2008-12-28 02:45 pm UTC (link)
So I did the brain-teaser with my friend Ira and my brother.

She said "male" and he said "female." Both have done a bit of music at some point.

Go figure. *giggles*

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 02:49 pm UTC (link)
Well--I thought it was pretty hard to figure out, so I'm not surprised they did too! But I do think it's funny that each thought it was "the other" sort of voice. :-D

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[info]bela_black
2008-12-23 09:54 am UTC (link)
Oh wow, that's difficult, but I'd say it's female.


(But doesn't it say something about the gender on the link to download it?)

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[info]cressida0201
2008-12-23 03:15 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for guessing! :-D

(But doesn't it say something about the gender on the link to download it?)

If you mean the fact that the file is labeled "Robert Shaw Chorale," that doesn't refer to the soloist. Robert Shaw is the conductor.

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[info]sealover_astara
2008-12-26 01:23 pm UTC (link)
It's a male voice, I guess.

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 03:17 pm UTC (link)
See the next entry for my conclusion!

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It's a lady tenor, I think
[info]mattiescottage
2008-12-28 01:40 am UTC (link)
It's a lady tenor, I think. It is a nice piece. Thanks for sharing!

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Re: It's a lady tenor, I think
[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 03:18 pm UTC (link)
Both of the albums are wonderful, and I do hope that my potential source of getting them on CD works out!

I've just posted my deductions in the next entry.

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[info]chibirisu
2008-12-28 05:28 am UTC (link)
My guess is Irish countertenor-trained male. :)

(Spotted this a couple days ago; would've gotten back to you sooner but first I was netless in Danville and then my parents were here all day waiting for my brother's flights from Minnesota to stop getting cancelled, re-cancelled, and plane-in-the-dock-for-repairs multiple-hours-late. I'm starting to think there's some kind of mystic no-fly-on-time zone circulating around Minneapolis...)

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 02:53 pm UTC (link)
Ouch! I think you may be right about that no-fly-on-time zone (although in my case it seems to be Chicago that usually causes the trouble). I kept thinking it wasn't possible to have a worse flight experience without actually crashing, but I think this year's hassle topped last year's.

Anyway, I'm about to post the results of my research!

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[info]lilan14
2008-12-28 03:18 pm UTC (link)
Oh, BTW, I've thought a lot about this carol and the fact that it places Christmas on the 6th of January. My idea was that the song was written before the splitting of the religious calendars. Guess what -- the carol dates back to the early 15th century! I vaguely remember that until a certain point Christmas indeed was 6 January, and even that was a change, because the "gap" between the Julian and Gregorian calendar increases by 3 days each 4 centuries.

Another possible reason is that in the early Eastern Christians celebrated Christmas on the same day as Epiphany (found that on Wikipedia), but I still like my first version better, especially since I found the carol's lyrics, apparently older, that have Christmas on "the fifth day of January."

*is acting much too geeky for the holiday season* *shuts up*

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[info]cressida0201
2009-01-01 03:20 pm UTC (link)
I've got both versions of the Oxford Book of Carols here, so I'll see what I can find out! It could very well be that old, at least the words--I've found it with three or four different tunes in various books.

(And hey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being geeky on my LJ!! :-D )

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