Countertenor

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A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, [1] although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C4 to C6. [2] Countertenors often have tenor or baritone chest voices, but sing in falsetto or head voice much more often than they do in their chest voice.

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The nature of the countertenor voice has radically changed throughout musical history, from a modal voice, to a modal and falsetto voice, to the primarily falsetto voice that is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology (increase in body height) and partly because of fluctuations in pitch. [3]

The term first came into use in England during the mid-17th century and was in wide use by the late 17th century. The use of adult male falsettos in polyphony, commonly in the soprano range, was known in European all-male sacred choirs for some decades previous, as early as the mid-16th century. [4] Modern-day ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars and the Sixteen have countertenors on alto parts in works of this period. There is no evidence that falsetto singing was known in Britain before the early 17th century, when it was occasionally heard on soprano parts. [5]

In the second half of the 20th century, there was great interest in and renewed popularity of the countertenor voice, partly due to pioneers such as Alfred Deller and Russell Oberlin, as well as the increased popularity of Baroque opera and the need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in such works. Although the voice has been considered largely an early music phenomenon, there is a growing modern repertoire collection for countertenors, especially in contemporary music. [6] [7]

History

Early centuries

In polyphonic compositions of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the contratenor was a voice part added to the basic two-part contrapuntal texture of discant ( superius ) and tenor (from the Latin tenere, which means to hold, since this part "held" the music's melody, while the superius descanted upon it at a higher pitch). Though having approximately the same range as the tenor, it was generally of a much less melodic nature than either of these other two parts. With the introduction in about 1450 of four-part writing by composers such as Ockeghem and Obrecht, the contratenor split into contratenor altus and contratenor bassus, which were respectively above and below the tenor. [7] Later the term became obsolete: in Italy, contratenor altus became simply altus, in France, haute-contre , and in England, countertenor. Though originally these words were used to designate a vocal part, they are now used to describe singers of that part, whose vocal techniques may differ (see below). [6]

In the Catholic Church during the Renaissance, St. Paul's admonition "mulieres in ecclesiis taceant" ("let the women keep silence in the churches") [8] still prevailed, and women were banned from singing in church services. Countertenors, though rarely described as such, therefore found a prominent part in liturgical music, whether singing a line alone or with boy trebles or altos. (Spain had a long tradition of male falsettists singing soprano lines). Countertenors were hardly ever used for roles in early opera, [9] however, the rise of which coincided with the arrival of a fashion for castrati. For example, the latter took several roles in the first performance of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607). Castrati were already prominent by this date in Italian church choirs, replacing both falsettists and trebles; the last soprano falsettist singing in Rome, Juan [Johannes de] San[c]tos (a Spaniard), died in 1652. [10] In Italian opera, by the late seventeenth century castrati predominated, while in France, the modal high tenor, called the haute-contre, [11] was established as the voice of choice for leading male roles.

In England Purcell wrote significant music for a higher male voice that he called a "counter-tenor", for example, the roles of Secrecy and Summer in The Fairy-Queen (1692). "These lines have often challenged modern singers, who have been unsure whether they are high tenor parts or are meant for falsettists". [12] Contemporary vocal treatises, however, make clear that Purcell's singers would have been trained to blend both methods of vocal production. [13] In Purcell's choral music the situation is further complicated by the occasional appearance of more than one solo part designated "countertenor", but with a considerable difference in range and tessitura. Such is the case in Hail, bright Cecilia (The Ode on St Cecilia's Day 1692) in which the solo, "'Tis Nature's Voice", has the range F3 to B♭4 (similar to those stage roles cited previously), whereas, in the duet, "Hark each tree", the countertenor soloist sings from E4 to D5 (in the trio "With that sublime celestial lay". Later in the same work, Purcell's own manuscript designates the same singer, Mr Howel, described as "a High Contra tenor" to perform in the range G3 to C4; it is very likely that he took some of the lowest notes in a well-blended "chest voice" – see below).

18th century

"The Purcell counter-tenor 'tenor' did not flourish in England much beyond the early years of the [eighteenth] century; within twenty years of Purcell's death Handel had settled in London and opera seria , which was underpinned entirely by Italian singing, soon became entrenched in British theatres". [12] In parallel, by Handel's time, castrati had come to dominate the English operatic stage as much as that of Italy (and indeed most of Europe outside France). They also took part in several of Handel's oratorios, though countertenors, too, occasionally featured as soloists in the latter, the parts written for them being closer in compass to the higher ones of Purcell, with a usual range of A3 to E5. [7] They also sang the alto parts in Handel's choruses. It was as choral singers within the Anglican church tradition (as well as in the secular genre of the glee) that countertenors survived as performers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Otherwise they largely faded from public notice. [6]

20th century

The most visible person of the countertenor revival in the twentieth century was Alfred Deller, an English singer and champion of authentic early music performance. Deller initially identified as an "alto", but his collaborator Michael Tippett recommended the archaic term "countertenor" to describe his voice. [7] In the 1950s and 60s, his group, the Deller Consort, was important in increasing audiences' awareness (and appreciation) of Renaissance and Baroque music. Deller was the first modern countertenor to achieve fame and has had many prominent successors. Benjamin Britten wrote the leading role of Oberon in his setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) especially for Deller. The countertenor role of Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice (1973) was created by James Bowman, the best-known amongst the next generation of English countertenors. Russell Oberlin was Deller's American counterpart and another early music pioneer. Oberlin's success was entirely unprecedented in a country that did not have much experience of performance of works prior to Bach, and it paved the way for the great success of countertenors following him. [14] Oberlin, however, harked back to the earlier tradition of countertenors using only their modal voices. [15]

Today, countertenors are much in demand in many forms of classical music. In opera, many roles originally written for castrati (castrated males) are now sung and recorded by countertenors, as are some trouser roles originally written for female singers. The former category is much more numerous and includes Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and many Handel roles, such as the name parts in Rinaldo , Giulio Cesare , Serse and Orlando , and Bertarido in Rodelinda . [6] Mozart also had castrati roles in his operas, including Aminta in Il re pastore , Cecilio in Lucio Silla , Ramiro in La finta giardiniera , Idamante in Idomeneo , and Sesto in La clemenza di Tito .

Many modern composers other than Britten have written, and continue to write, countertenor parts, both in choral works and opera, as well as songs and song-cycles for the voice. Men's choral groups such as Chanticleer and The King's Singers employ the voice to great effect in a variety of genres, including early music, gospel, and even folk songs. Other recent operatic parts written for the countertenor voice include Edgar in Aribert Reimann's Lear (1978), the messenger in his Medea (2010), Prince Go-Go in György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre (1978), the title role in Philip Glass's Akhnaten (1983), Claire in John Lunn's The Maids (1998), the Refugee in Jonathan Dove's Flight (1998), Trinculo in Thomas Adès's The Tempest (2004), the Boy in George Benjamin's Written on Skin (2012) and several others (see Roles in opera below).

Vocal range

Countertenor vocal range (E3-E5) notated on the treble staff (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4) Countertenor voice range on keyboard.svg
Countertenor vocal range (E3–E5) notated on the treble staff (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4)
Countertenor

The vocal range of a countertenor is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types. A trained countertenor will typically have a vocal centre similar in placement to that of a contralto or mezzo-soprano. [16] Peter Giles, a professional countertenor and noted author on the subject, defines the countertenor as a musical part rather than as a vocal style or mechanism. In modern usage, the term "countertenor" is essentially equivalent to the medieval term contratenor altus (see above). In this way, a countertenor singer can be operationally defined as a man who sings the countertenor part, whatever vocal style or mechanism is employed. [14] The countertenor range is generally equivalent to an alto range, extending from approximately G3 to D5 or E5. [1] In comparison to female voices the male voice usually has an extended range towards the low notes, but the lowest parts of the range are usually not used. In actual practice, it is generally acknowledged that a majority of countertenors sing with a falsetto vocal production for at least the upper half of this range, although most use some form of "chest voice" (akin to the range of their speaking voice) for the lower notes. The most difficult challenge for such a singer is managing the lower middle range, for there are normally a few notes (around B♭3) that can be sung with either vocal mechanism, and the transition between registers must somehow be blended or smoothly managed. [14]

In response to the (in his view) pejorative connotation of the term falsetto, Giles refuses to use it, calling the upper register "head voice". [14] Many voice experts[ who? ] would disagree with this choice of terminology, reserving the designation "head voice" for the high damped register accompanied by a relatively low larynx that is typical of modern high operatic tenor voice production. The latter type of head voice is, in terms of the vocal cord vibration, actually more similar to "chest voice" than to falsetto, since it uses the same "speaking voice" production (referred to as "modal" by voice scientists), and this is reflected in the timbre. [16]

Terminology

Particularly in the British choral tradition, the terms "male soprano" and "male alto" serve to identify men who rely on falsetto vocal production, rather than the modal voice, to sing in the soprano or alto vocal range. Elsewhere, the terms have less universal currency. Some authorities do accept them as descriptive of male falsettists, although this view is subject to controversy; [17] they would reserve the term "countertenor" for men who, like Russell Oberlin, achieve a soprano range voice with little or no falsetto, equating it with haute-contre and the Italian tenor altino. [18] Adherents to this view maintain that a countertenor will have unusually short vocal cords [6] and consequently a higher speaking voice and lower range and tessitura than their falsettist counterparts, perhaps from D3 to D5. Operatic vocal classification, on the other hand, prefers the terms "countertenor" and "sopranist" to "male soprano" and "male alto", and some scholars consider the latter two terms inaccurate owing to physiological differences between male and female vocal production. [2]

Roles in opera and oratorio

Notable countertenor roles include:

See also

Related Research Articles

The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian, historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by either low women's or high men's voices. In vocal classification these are usually called contralto and male alto or countertenor.

A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B♭2 to C5) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or spieltenor.

A contralto is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Deller</span> English countertenor

Alfred George Deller, CBE, was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century.

A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; Italian:[ˌmɛddzosoˈpraːno]; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic.

Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.

A sopranist is a male singer who is able to sing in vocal tessitura of a soprano, usually through falsetto or head voice technique. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor. In rare cases an adult man may be able to sing in the soprano range using his normal or modal voice and not falsetto due to endocrinological reasons, like Radu Marian, or as a result of a larynx that has not completely developed as is allegedly the case of Michael Maniaci.

Head voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regard to this term. Head voice can be used in relation to the following:

Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech-language pathology, particularly in relation to the study of tonal languages and certain types of vocal disorders, although it has little practical application in terms of speech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breeches role</span> Theatre role in which an actress wears male clothing

A breeches role is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced. The theatrical term travesti covers both this sort of cross-dressing and also that of male actors dressing as female characters. Both are part of the long history of cross-dressing in music and opera and later in film and television.

The tenore contraltino is a specialized form of the tenor voice found in Italian opera around the beginning of the 19th century, mainly in the Rossini repertoire, which rapidly evolved into the modern "romantic" tenor. It is sometimes referred to as tenor altino in English books.

Russell Keys Oberlin was an American singer and founding member of the New York Pro Musica Antiqua ensemble who became the first, and for years the only, countertenor in the United States to attain general recognition—in The New Yorker's words, "America's first star countertenor." A pioneering figure in the early music revival in the 1950s and 1960s, Oberlin sang on both sides of the Atlantic, and brought a "full, warm, vibrato-rich tone" to his recitals, recordings, and his performances in works ranging from the thirteenth-century liturgical drama The Play of Daniel to the twentieth-century opera A Midsummer Night's Dream.

<i>The Fairy-Queen</i> Semi-opera by Henry Purcell

The Fairy-Queen is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age of 35. Following his death, the score was lost and only rediscovered early in the twentieth century.

The haute-contre was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century.

A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points (passaggi). Voice classification is most strongly associated with European classical music, though it, and the terms it utilizes, are used in other styles of music as well.

There is no authoritative system of voice classification in non-classical music as classical terms are used to describe not merely various vocal ranges, but specific vocal timbres unique to each range. These timbres are produced by classical training techniques with which most popular singers are not intimately familiar, and which even those that are do not universally employ them.

Michael Maniaci is an American opera singer. Possessing a male soprano voice, Maniaci is noted for his claim to be able to sing into the upper soprano range without resorting to falsetto, an otherwise common phonation for men who sing in high registers, such as countertenors. Although this was possible for castrati because of the hormonal imbalance following castration, Maniaci claims that, for some unknown reason, his larynx did not develop and lengthen completely during puberty, causing his voice not to "break" in the usual manner. Maniaci claims that this physical particularity has given him the ability to sing in the soprano register without sounding like a typical countertenor or a female singer. There are, however, critics who claim that Maniaci actually sings in falsetto.

Baritenor is a portmanteau (blend) of the words "baritone" and "tenor". It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary it is defined as "a baritone singing voice with virtually a tenor range". However, the term was defined in several late 19th century and early 20th century music dictionaries, such as The American History and Encyclopedia of Music, as "a low tenor voice, almost barytone [sic]."

Falsettone is a term used in modern Italian musicology to describe a vocal technique used by male opera singers in the past, in which the fluty sounds typical of falsetto singing are amplified by using the same singing technique used in the modal voice register. The result is a bright, powerful tone, often very high-pitched, although the sound is still different from and more feminine than what is produced by the modal voice. The term falsettone is also used for the mixed vocal register that can be achieved using this technique.

A voice change or voice mutation, sometimes referred to as a voice break or voice crack, commonly refers to the deepening of the voice of men as they reach puberty. Before puberty, both sexes have roughly similar vocal pitch, but during puberty the male voice typically deepens an octave, while the female voice usually deepens only by a few tones.

References

  1. 1 2 J. B. Steane, "Countertenor", in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera , I, p. 999.
  2. 1 2 A sopranist is a term, widely used falsely, used to describe a countertenor whose vocal range is so high it is equivalent to that of a soprano. McKinney, James (1994). The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Genovex Music Group. ISBN   978-1-56593-940-0.
  3. ↑ Ravens 2014, pp. 38–44.
  4. ↑ Ravens 2014, pp. 50–57.
  5. ↑ Ravens 2014, pp. 71–89.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Stark 2003
  7. 1 2 3 4 Giles 1982
  8. ↑ 1 Corinthians 14:34
  9. ↑ During the first half of the seventeenth century, some falsettist altos, such as Lorenzino Sances and Mario Savioni, occasionally appeared onstage, especially in Rome.
  10. ↑ "SingerList". sophia.smith.edu. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009.
  11. ↑ the nature of the haute-contre voice has been the subject of much debate, but it is now generally accepted that haute-contres sang in what voice scientists term "modal", perhaps using falsetto or falsettone for their highest notes (cf. Lionel Sawkins, "Haute-contre", in Sadie 1997 , vol. II, pp. 668–669, and Cyr 1977)
  12. 1 2 Potter, J. (2009), Tenor, History of a voice, Yale University Press, New Haven/London, p. 19 (included footnote 35). ISBN   978-0-300-11873-5
  13. ↑ Ravens 2014, pp. 130–138.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Giles 2005
  15. ↑ "Russell Oberlin explica o que é um contratenor". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016.
  16. 1 2 Appelman 1986
  17. ↑ G. M. Ardran; David Wulstan (January 1967). "The Alto or Countertenor Voice". Music & Letters . 48 (1): 17–22. doi:10.1093/ml/XLVIII.1.17. JSTOR   733148 agree with the view of Giles[ incomplete short citation ] noted below; others disagree strongly – see, for example, Neal Zaslaw (November 1974). "The enigma of the Haute-Contre". The Musical Times . 115 (1581): 939–941. doi:10.2307/958179. JSTOR   958179 ; Cyr, Mary (April 1977). "On Performing 18th-Century Haute-Contre Roles". The Musical Times . 118 (1610): 291–295. doi:10.2307/958048. JSTOR   958048 , later reproduced in Cyr, M., Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music. Opera and Chamber Music in France and England, essay no. IX, Ashgate Variorum, Aldeshot (UK)/Burlington, Vermont (USA), 2008, ISBN   978-0-7546-5926-6; Simon Ravens (February 1998). "'A Sweet Shrill Voice': The Countertenor and Vocal Scoring in Tudor England". Early Music . 26 (1): 122–134. doi:10.1093/em/26.1.122. JSTOR   3128554.
  18. ↑ Giles,[ incomplete short citation ] "liberal" in his use of the word countertenor, proposes this latter term for such voices
  19. ↑ Questioned. According to Anthony Hicks it is a treble part that was originally performed by William Savage before his voice broke (Giustino, in Sadie 1997 , vol. II, p. 440).
  20. ↑ Questioned. According to Anthony Hicks the small soprano part of Childerico, which has no arias, was probably sung an octave lower by William Savage after his voice had just broken (Faramondo, in Sadie 1997 , vol. II, p. 121).
  21. ↑ Very dubious. According to Anthony Hicks the role was originally intended to be sung by contralto Maria Antonia Marchesini)  [ it ], but on account of her illness it was taken at the premiere by an actor singing as a tenor, and was later always entrusted by Handel to female singers (cf. David Vickers, "Handel Saul. The Sixteen's magnificent new recording of Handel's Saul", Gramophone Archived 15 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine "; Robert Hugill, CD Review – Handel's Saul, "Planet Hugill – A world of classical music Archived 6 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine ", 19 September 2012).
  22. ↑ Role conceived for treble, soprano or high countertenor (Paul Griffiths, "Grand Macabre, Le", in Sadie 1997 , vol. II, p. 511).
  23. ↑ Role created by tenor David Knutson, but conceived for both tenor and countertenor (Andrew Clements, Lear, in Sadie 1997 , vol. II, p. 1115).
  24. ↑ Music by various baroque composers, including George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, and Jean-Philippe Rameau (cf.: The Enchanted Island: The Music Archived 23 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine , The Metropolitan Opera).

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