The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 60
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Evirati, Kapaune, musici, castrati... whatever epithet is used to describe these
incredible singers, one fact prevails. These singers had an undeniable and invaluable impact on
the creation of opera, and the evolution of vocal music as a whole. Was their musical
contribution worth their physical sacrifice? Evidence points to the affirmative. While the
mutilation of young boys is certainly something that can never be condoned, the circumstances
of their lives were vastly different than that of children today, and modern thinking cannot be
properly applied to their situation. Children developed much earlier, both mentally and
physically. By age ten, a young boy was ready to embark on an apprenticeship. These were the
fortunate ones. The less fortunate ones were relegated to harsh manual labor in the fields and
farms, some at an even younger age. Childhood was not a time to be coddled in Baroque times.
The family's future did not revolve around the individual well being of a child, quite the
contrary. A boy's future was a matter of family strategy or family dynasty, for both the peasant
and nobility, respectively. And with social, economic, and political factors generating an
oppressive situation that modern historians have coined the general crisis of the 17th century, that
future appeared quite bleak. A cloud of desperation enveloped the countryside, so extreme that
many Italian families outright abandoned their children to "foundling hospitals." Despondent
families were desperate for any flicker of hope. Strangely enough, that hope came with the
development of Baroque vocal music. The ban of women from church choirs and the growing
predilection for higher voices created perfect groundwork for the creation of castrati. A chance
for their son to become an international opera star must have been quite attractive for these
families, both the destitute and the noble alike. Although the odds of such success were not
extremely promising, about one in one hundred, but if a boy already showed some musical
inclination, hope was ever greater. There is documentation in many cases to prove that the boys60
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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/m1/63/: accessed May 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .