Countertenor

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 are baritones or tenors at core, but on rare occasions use their lower vocal range, instead preferring their falsetto or high head voice.

Voice type
Female
Male

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 which is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology 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. However, 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, 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.[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). However, countertenors were never used for roles in early opera, the rise of which coincided with the arrival of a fashion for castrati. For example, they 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.[9] In Italian opera, by the late seventeenth century castrati predominated,[10] 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 Giulio Cesare and Orlando, and Bertarido in Rodelinda.[6] Mozart also had castrati roles in his early operas, including Amintas in Il re pastore and Cecilio in Lucio Silla.

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), 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)

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 center 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 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] The only known man who can claim to be a true male soprano by that definition is Michael Maniaci, whose modal voice falls in the soprano range, akin to a woman's, because his larynx did not develop fully in puberty.[19]

Roles in opera

Notable countertenor roles include:

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See also

References
  1. J. B. Steane, "Countertenor", in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, I, p. 999.
  2. A sopranist is a term used to describe a countertenor whose vocal range is so high it is equivalent to that of a soprano; however, this term is widely used falsely. McKinney, James (1994). The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Genovex Music Group. ISBN 978-1-56593-940-0.
  3. Ravens, Simon (2015). The Supernatural Voice. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 38–44. ISBN 9781843839620.
  4. Simon, Ravens (2014). The supernatural voice : a history of high male singing. pp. 50–57. ISBN 9781843839620. OCLC 967385734.
  5. Simon, Ravens (2014). The supernatural voice : a history of high male singing. pp. 71–89. ISBN 9781843839620. OCLC 967385734.
  6. Stark 2003
  7. Giles 1982
  8. 1 Corinthians 14:34
  9. "SingerList". sophia.smith.edu. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009.
  10. During the first half of the century, some falsettist altos, such as Lorenzino Sances and Mario Savioni, happened to appear onstage, especially in Rome.
  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, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, II, pp. 668-69, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2, and Mary Cyr, "On performing 18th-century Haute-Contre Roles", The Musical Times, vol. 118, 1997, pp. 291–5, 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)
  12. 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. Simon, Ravens (2014). The supernatural voice : a history of high male singing. pp. 130–138. ISBN 9781843839620. OCLC 967385734.
  14. Giles 2005
  15. "Russell Oberlin explica o que é um contratenor". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016.
  16. Appelman 1986
  17. Ardran and Wulstan in their article "The Alto or Countertenor Voice" (Music & Letters, vol. 48/1, January 1967) agree with the view of Giles noted below; others disagree strongly – see, for example, Neal Zaslaw: "The enigma of the Haute-Contre" (The Musical Times, vol. 115, no. 1581 (November 1974), pp. 939-941); Mary Cyr: "On performing 18th-century haute-contre roles" (The Musical Times, vol. 118, April 1977); Simon Ravens: "A sweet shrill voice : The countertenor and vocal scoring in Tudor England" (Early Music 1998; XXVI: 123-136).
  18. Giles, "liberal" in his use of the word countertenor, proposes this latter term for such voices
  19. "The Times & The Sunday Times". entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011.
  20. Questioned. According to Anthony Hicks it is a treble part which was originally performed by William Savage before his voice broke (Giustino, in Sadie, II, p. 440).
  21. 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, II, 121).
  22. Very dubious. According to Anthony Hicks the role was originally intended to be sung by contralto Maria Antonia Marchesini), 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).
  23. Role conceived for treble, soprano or high countertenor (Paul Griffiths, Grand Macabre, Le, in Sadie, II, p. 511).
  24. Role created by tenor David Knutson, but conceived for both tenor and countertenor (Andrew Clements, Lear, in Sadie, II, p. 1115).
  25. 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).

Sources

  • Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20378-6.
  • Giles, Peter (1982). The Countertenor. Muller Publishing.
  • Giles, Peter (2005). A Basic Countertenor Method. London: Kahn & Averill. ISBN 978-1-871082-82-1.
  • Stark, James (2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-8614-3.

Further reading
  • Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5.
  • Hennen, Peter (1 February 2011). "Nature's Way: Vocal Production in Social Context". The Countertenor Voice.
  • Herr, Corinna (2013). Gesang gegen die 'Ordnung der Natur'? Kastraten und Falsettisten in der Musikgeschichte (2nd ed.). Baerenreiter Verlag. ISBN 978-3-761-82187-9.
  • Howell, Ian. "Countertenor Technique: An Introduction to Concepts". The Countertenor Voice (April 2011).
  • Howell, Ian. "Vocal Technique: The Flex". The Countertenor Voice (July 2011).
  • Howell, Ian. "Are We Post-Anglican Yet?". The Countertenor Voice (January 2011).
  • Mormile, Alessandro, "Controtenori. La rinascita dei 'nuovi angeli' nella prassi esecutiva dell'opera barocca", Varese, Zecchini Editore, 2010, 88-6540-000-5, pagg. 218
  • Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997. ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2
  • Smith, Brenda (2005). Choral Pedagogy. Plural Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59756-043-6.

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