The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 10
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speculation (particularly by Italian writers such as Fantoni and Monaldi) that many of these
Spanish falsettists were actually castrati. They argued that these singers hid their identity to
preserve public opinion. Although some contend that these Italian writers were merely trying to
project the "blame" the practice of castration for musical purpose onto Spain, this may explain
the sudden appearance of large numbers of castrati around the year 1600. In 1589, Pope Sixtus V
approved the recruitment of castrato singers for the choir of St. Peter. This was introduced in an
official Bull of 1589. Perhaps it was merely a case of these singers acknowledging their
existence instead of a sudden appearance of newly created castrato singers. Orlando Lassus,
kapellmeister at Munich in the 1560s and 1570s, boasted six castrati singers in his choir, all of
whom had been imported from Spain (Heriot 1975). This fact supports the theory that not all
Spanish falsettists were indeed what they claimed, and that the special "method" used in Spain to
train these soprano voices was indeed not based in theory or pedagogy at all, but one of illicit
castration procedures. A more permanent solution was needed. Therefore, the castrati were born.
In order to properly understand the mindset of someone who might produce a castrato
from one of their own sons, the family structure and situation must be examined. Modern day
families are of a much closer-knit nature than families of the 17th and 18th centuries. Family
units were run more like a business than the closely involved and supportive groups that are
more common today. All authority was placed on the male head of the family, and a sense of
formality and distance was the normal atmosphere between the parents and children. The
husband and wife spent the majority of their time apart, each with members of their own gender.
A child's formative years were much more often spent with nurses who reared the children,
instead of their biological parents. The child was then sent back to their parents around age 10,
to be apprenticed to learn a trade. The tumultuous economy caused families to resort to "defining10
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Sowle, Jennifer. The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified?, thesis, August 2006; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5343/m1/13/: accessed May 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .