Virtuosity

A belated post....

Today, I will explore the notion of virtuosity and what it means to me.  Let's start with the Oxford Dictionary Online's (ODO) definition of a virtuoso: "a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit."  Seems simple enough, but when talking about new words or ideas, I find it instructive to consider the edges.  No one would argue against applying the appellation to Yehudi Menuhin, Arthur Rubinstein, or Jacqueline du Pré, so heaping more praise on them does little to clarify anything.  But what about soloists less celebrated?  Do they deserve the designation?  Is skill all that matters or does depth of expression make a difference?  What about dancers, authors, or painters?  Why are we more likely to proclaim a poet a genius than a virtuoso?

SATB

That stands for soprano, alto, tenor, bass. That's just a scoring for choral works common enough to get an abbreviation. You may have noticed if there are choirs in your church that there are the high and lowish female sections and highish and low male sections of the choir.  SATB

Well, that's easy enough. But I also wondered, what's a baritone? Doesn't treble mean something? The three tenors don't sound that high. I never heard them singing falsetto. (That's the higher register of your voice associated with yodeling which, by the way, is really hard whether you enjoy it or not.  Try it.) If you've wondered these things, too, then read on.