WEBVTT

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- Although she had a
three octave range,

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she sang in the contralto mode.

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- Contralto, being the
lowest possible female voice.

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She could sing that
to break your heart

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into a million pieces, but
she also had a great top.

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She had a great high C.

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And her voice could
live above the staff,

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meaning in soprano territory.

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- [Marian] I don't feel
that the singing a high C

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was any trouble at all,
to me it was a lark.

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(piano music)

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(Marian vocalizes)

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One did not confine herself
to being either soprano

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or contralto or anything else.

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But one was billed
as a contralto.

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- In the operatic world,

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the sopranos always
are the leading ladies.

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I've sung some of
Marian Anderson's pieces

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and they were out
of my tessitura,

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meaning they were
out of my range.

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And my voice is classified
as a higher voice than hers.

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It's one of the reasons that
I believe that Marian Anderson

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was not classified as a soprano,

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is because that would mean

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that she would be the love
interest of a white counterpart,

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which was not accepted
at all at the time.

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(piano music)