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Alto

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Voice type
Female
Male

In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the lowest female singing voice, or to a kind of male singing voice utilizing falsetto called a countertenor. Alto pieces normally span between G below middle C to the E a tenth above middle C (i.e. G3-E5). At the bottom of their range, male altos sound almost like tenors. Some altos have even larger ranges; from the C below middle C to the C two octaves above (C3-C6 if middle C is C4), but like all singers, their vocal type is defined mostly by their "vocal center" and not by their range (a soprano for instance could technically possess the lower range of an alto, but would not be comfortable singing it). In four part choral harmony, the alto is the second highest voice. Alto pieces were originally written in the alto clef, but now use the treble clef.

Although both men and women may have voices in the alto range, the word is usually used to mean a female singer. The word "contralto" can be used to refer specifically to a female alto singer, versus alto male singers or instruments or clefs. However, choirs singing early music frequently include adult male altos, also called countertenors. If a singer is a man and a natural tenor, if they choose to sing using falsetto they are referred to as a countertenor, whereas a male alto's true vocal weight usually is that of a baritone or bass.

In English church usage, the term alto is sometimes exclusively used to mean a countertenor, while contralto is used for a female singer: this is particularly the case in the Anglican cathedral tradition which is historically all-male. However, this is not done consistently, and for most practical purposes, alto and contralto can be thought of as synonyms. Boys may also sing alto, in which case the term boy alto may be used to avoid confusion.

A few popular music enthusiasts define the contralto and alto separately, as the contralto having an especially dark range, from the D above low C to Tenor C, which is essentially a female of tenor range, while alto is a voice with a range from G below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C, and is closer to the mezzo-soprano. The majority however define contralto and alto as synonyms, and assign the adjectives light and dark, with a dark alto being a female of tenor range, while a light alto, commonly referred to as simply alto, to include mezzo-sopranos as well.

In medieval polyphony, the principal voice was the tenor. When additional voices were added, they were called contratenor (meaning "against the tenor"). When two such voices were added, they were called contratenor alto and contratenor bassus, indicating high and low respectively.

Contraltos are fairly rare in opera, since there is very little work that was written specifically for them. Most of the time, contralto roles are limited to maids, mothers and grandmothers, but they do occasionally get notable roles, with witches being the most common outside of the three former roles (a common saying among contraltos is that they are only allowed to play "witches, bitches, or britches"). Baroque opera features a large number of alto roles.

The word, "alto", is often applied to instruments to indicate their range in relation to other instruments of the same group. In common usage, particularly among jazz musicians, the word has become synonymous with the alto saxophone. In US usage the alto horn is an Eb saxhorn, a brass instrument.

Contralto roles in operas

The following is a list of contralto roles in the standard operatic repertoire. Technically, "alto" is only a separate category in choral music where it refers simply to the vocal range. In current operatic practice, female singers with very low tessituras are included among mezzo-sopranos, because singers in both ranges are able to cover the other, and true operatic contraltos are very rare.

Alto roles in operettas and musicals

Many operettas and musicals have important contralto roles. Every Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera has at least one contralto role for a mature female character who is usually a forceful person or a member of the nobility.

Contralto roles lie lower in the voice than mezzo-soprano, soubrette or most "belt" roles. Some other notable contralto roles include the following:

Notable Altos

Classical and Operatic Contraltos

Classical and operatic singers are singers who have regularly performed unamplified classical or operatic music in concert halls and/or opera houses.

Contemporary and Crossover Altos

See also

References

  1. ^ Martin, Bill (2002). Pro Secrets Of Heavy Rock Singing. Sanctuary Publishing. pp. Page 9. ISBN 1-86074-437-0.
  2. ^ Brun-Lambert. Nina Simone, het tragische lot van een uitzonderlijke zangeres. pp. pp. 56. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)


Sources

  • The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
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