Tenor is a high-pitched male singing voice. Tenor: description, varieties and classification. Tenor - what voice is this? Lyric tenor singers

All singing voices are divided into women's, men's and children's. The main female voices are soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto, and the most common male voices are tenor, baritone and bass.

All sounds that can be sung or played on a musical instrument are high, medium and low. When musicians talk about the pitch of sounds, they use the term "register", implying whole groups of high, middle or low sounds.

In a global sense, female voices sing sounds of a high or “upper” register, children’s voices sing sounds of a middle register, and male voices sing sounds of a low or “lower” register. But this is only partly true; in fact, everything is much more interesting. Within each group of voices, and even within the range of each individual voice, there is also a division into high, middle and low register.

For example, a high male voice is a tenor, a middle voice is a baritone, and a low voice is a bass. Or, another example, singers have the highest voice - soprano, the middle voice of vocalists is mezzo-soprano, and the low voice is contralto. To finally understand the division of male and female, and at the same time, children’s voices into high and low, this tablet will help you:

If we talk about the registers of any one voice, then each of them has both low and high sounds. For example, a tenor sings both low chest sounds and high falsetto sounds, which are inaccessible to basses or baritones.

Female singing voices

So, the main types of female singing voices are soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto. They differ primarily in range, as well as timbre coloring. Timbre properties include, for example, transparency, lightness or, conversely, saturation, and strength of voice.

Soprano– the highest female singing voice, its usual range is two octaves (entirely the first and second octave). In opera performances, the roles of the main characters are often performed by singers with such a voice. If we talk about artistic images, then a high-pitched voice best characterizes a young girl or some fantastic character (for example, a fairy).

Sopranos, according to the nature of their sound, are divided into lyrical and dramatic– you yourself can easily imagine that the parts of a very tender girl and a very passionate girl cannot be performed by the same performer. If a voice easily copes with fast passages and flourishes in its high register, then such a soprano is called coloratura.

Contralto– it has already been said that this is the lowest of women’s voices, moreover, very beautiful, velvety, and also very rare (in some opera houses there is not a single contralto). A singer with such a voice in operas is often assigned the roles of teenage boys.

Below is a table that names examples of opera roles that are often performed by certain female singing voices:

Let's listen to how women's singing voices sound. Here are three video examples for you:

Soprano. Aria of the Queen of the Night from the opera “The Magic Flute” by Mozart performed by Bela Rudenko

Mezzo-soprano. Habanera from the opera Carmen by Bizet performed by the famous singer Elena Obraztsova

Contralto. Ratmir's aria from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by Glinka, performed by Elizaveta Antonova.

Male singing voices

There are only three main male voices - tenor, bass and baritone. Tenor Of these, the highest, its pitch range is the notes of the small and first octaves. By analogy with the soprano timbre, performers with this timbre are divided into dramatic tenors and lyric tenors. In addition, sometimes they mention such a variety of singers as "characteristic" tenor. “Character” is given to it by some phonic effect - for example, silveriness or rattling. A characteristic tenor is simply irreplaceable where it is necessary to create the image of a gray-haired old man or some cunning rascal.

Baritone– this voice is distinguished by its softness, density and velvety sound. The range of sounds that a baritone can sing is from A major octave to A first octave. Performers with such a timbre are often entrusted with courageous roles of characters in operas of a heroic or patriotic nature, but the softness of the voice allows them to reveal loving and lyrical images.

Bass– the voice is the lowest, can sing sounds from F of the large octave to F of the first. The basses are different: some are rolling, “droning”, “bell-like”, others are hard and very “graphic”. Accordingly, the parts of the characters for the basses are varied: these are heroic, “fatherly”, and ascetic, and even comic images.

You are probably interested to know which of the male singing voices is the lowest? This bass profundo, sometimes singers with such a voice are also called octavists, since they “take” low notes from the counter-octave. By the way, we have not yet mentioned the highest male voice - this tenor-altino or countertenor, who sings quite calmly in an almost feminine voice and easily reaches the high notes of the second octave.

As in the previous case, male singing voices with examples of their operatic roles are displayed in the table:

Now listen to the sound of male singing voices. Here are three more video examples for you.

Tenor. Song of the Indian guest from the opera “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by David Poslukhin.

Baritone. Gliere's romance “The nightingale soul sang sweetly,” sung by Leonid Smetannikov

Bass. Prince Igor's aria from Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" was originally written for baritone, but in this case it is sung by one of the best basses of the 20th century - Alexander Pirogov.

The working range of a professionally trained vocalist's voice is usually two octaves on average, although sometimes singers and singers have much greater capabilities. In order for you to have a good understanding of tessitura when choosing notes for practice, I suggest you get acquainted with the picture, which clearly demonstrates the permissible ranges for each of the voices:

Before concluding, I want to please you with one more tablet, with which you can get acquainted with vocalists who have one or another voice timbre. This is necessary so that you can independently find and listen to even more audio examples of the sound of male and female singing voices:

That's all! We talked about what types of voices singers have, we figured out the basics of their classification, the size of their ranges, the expressive capabilities of timbres, and also listened to examples of the sound of the voices of famous vocalists. If you liked the material, share it on your contact page or on your Twitter feed. There are special buttons under the article for this. Good luck!

Singing voices can be classified in various ways. Division into groups is carried out taking into account physiological characteristics, timbre, mobility, pitch range, location of transition notes, and other parameters. The most convenient and popular today, known since the 16th century, is the classification of vocalists by gender and range. In our vocal studio we distinguish six main types:

• baritone;
• tenor.

• contralto;
• mezzo-soprano;
• soprano.

Characteristics of the singing voice

Soprano. The highest variety of female vocal voices. It stands out for its imagery, sonority, transparency, and flight. The vocalist is characterized by a light, agile, open sound. Soprano character:

• dramatic;
• lyrical;
• coloratura

There are also singers with lyric-dramatic, lyric-coloratura soprano.

Famous soprano vocalists: Montserrat Caballe, Maria Callas. Famous stars of Russian opera: Vishnevskaya G.P., Kazarnovskaya L.Yu., Netrebko A.Yu. Parts written for soprano: Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute by Mozart), Violetta (La Traviata by Verdi). Pop singers with soprano: Lyubov Orlova, Valentina Vasilievna Tolkunova, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears.

Mezzo-soprano. It is remembered for its rich, rich sound, sonorous, deep timbre. It sounds lower than soprano, but higher than contralto. Subtypes: dramatic, lyrical. Famous owners of this type were Tatyana Troyanos, E.V. Obraztsova, I.K. Arkhipova. The operatic role of Amneris in Aida was written for mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-soprano pop singers: Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey.

The lowest, rarest female voice is contralto. It is distinguished by a velvety powerful sound and luxurious chest notes. Examples of contralto can be found in Tchaikovsky’s operas “Eugene Onegin” (Olga), Verdi’s “Un ballo in maschera” (Ulrika). The owner of the contralto was the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater M. Dolina. Singers with contralto on the stage: Cher, Edita Piekha, Sofia Rotaru, Courtney Love, Katy Perry, Shirley Manson, Tina Turner.

High male voice types are represented by lyric, dramatic or lyric-dramatic tenor. They are characterized by mobility, melodiousness, lightness, and softness. An example of a lyric tenor is Lensky in Eugene Onegin, a dramatic tenor is Manrico from Il Trovatore, and a lyric-dramatic tenor is Alfred (the hero of La Traviata). Famous tenors: I. Kozlovsky, S. Lemeshev, Jose Carreras. Tenors on stage: Nikolai Baskov, Anton Makarsky, Jared Leto, David Miller.

The name "baritone" comes from Greek and means heavy. The sound is between bass and tenor. It is distinguished by great strength and brightness in the upper half of the range. There are lyrical (Figaro in “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini) and dramatic (Amonasro in “Aida” by Verdi) baritones. Of the famous opera singers, Pasquale Amato, D.A. Hvorostovsky owned the baritone. Pop baritone singers: Joseph Kobzon, Mikhail Krug, Muslim Magomayev, John Cooper, Marilyn Manson.

A dramatic tenor, the strongest of the high male voices, the timbre of this voice is often hard, steely, and the sound is usually “laser” direct. These are usually the most powerful sounding voices. It is also worth adding that a true dramatic tenor is a rather rare beast, and tenors such that their voices resemble battering rams are generally born once every century.

Mario Del Monaco (1915-1982), according to many testimonies, had the strongest, darkest voice, already close to a baritone in depth of sound. Monaco did not sing almost lyrical parts, except for Rudolf from Puccini's La Bohème and Alfredo from Verdi's La Traviata. His crowning role was the role of Othello in Verdi's opera of the same name. In this part, Monaco’s voice sounded as free as possible, with all its characteristic power.

Dio mi potevi "Otello" Verdi
Here Monaco allows himself to show the entire dynamic range of his voice, from a relatively light and quiet sound to a thunderous forte at the end. It is worth paying attention to the clarity of transitions between notes, to the volume of the voice, to its “directness” in the good sense of the word.

Di quella Pira "Trovatore" (The Troubadour) by Verdi.
The famous “Stretta Manrico” in which Mario completely freely enters the upper C, just as freely he sings all the rather awkward short notes in this aria, everything sounds precise and clear, but with the feeling that the singer is going to the limit of his capabilities, that it wasn't like that at all. Singers such as Mario Del Monaco were also called tenore di forza.

Che gelida manina "La Boheme" by Puccini. In this aria, Monaco tries very hard to sound lyrical, which he almost succeeds. But at the climax, on the upper C, the nature of his voice takes its toll.

Franco Corelli (1921-2003): Was perhaps the only one who could compete with Monaco in terms of sound power. His voice was lighter, softer, and if necessary, Corelli could make it sound almost lyrical. In addition to excellent vocal abilities, Franco was the owner of a deep musical, and not only musical, culture. Corelli became a legend during his lifetime. What’s interesting is that, despite Franco’s thunderous voice, he did not sing Othello (the reason, as he himself admitted, was that this part seemed to him too nervous and psychologically difficult), and one of Corelli’s favorite parts was Rudolf from La Bohème, performed by his is much better than that of Monaco, and that of many lyric-dramatic and lyric tenors. Also one of Corelli's amazing vocal abilities was the smooth deminuendo (gradual decrease in sound volume) on high notes, from thunderous forte to light piano.

Ah, si ben mio. Di quella pira! "Troubadour"
Despite the fact that Monaco performed this part perfectly, in my opinion Corelli sings it stronger, more emotionally, more subtly.

Che gelida manina "Bohemia".
The role of Rudolph, as mentioned above, was one of Corelli’s favorites.
Despite the power and volume of his voice, he sings everything as lyrically as possible, although nature cannot be ignored, a big voice is a big voice.

Celeste Aida "Aida" Verdi.
Mentioning Corelli, one cannot help but touch on his magnificent deminuendos. At the end of Radamès's romance "Sweet Aida", Corelli makes a smooth deminuendo on the upper B, from forte to a barely audible piano, while the voice does not go into falsetto on the piano.

Aureliano Pertile (1885-1952): Possessing a large, sonorous, dramatic voice, Aureliano Pertile sang almost the entire tenor repertoire, from Othello to Arturo from “The Puritans” (although he was forced to sing the last part a tone lower than written by the composer).
Pertile's timbre is specific; his contemporaries called him a croaking tenor, due to his harsh, sometimes even seemingly unpleasant voice. But excellent technique, musicality, literally mathematical precision in performance, make you forget about some unpleasant timbre nuances. Usually, after listening to several things, one gets the impression that Aureliano had a voice with the noblest sounding timbre.

Dio mi potevi "Otello" Verdi.
In this work, in accordance with traditions, Pertile sings powerfully, but sometimes goes into a light sound, in lyrical places.

Di quella pira "Trovatore"
Here Pertile's timbre is very clearly audible, as well as his clarity and thoughtfulness of each phrase; the free and powerful upper notes, rich in timbre, are impressive.

Mein Lieber Schwan "Lohengrin" Richard Wagner.
In the part of Lohengrin, Pertile sings very softly, lyrically, on the piano, but sometimes he comes out on the forte, which seems even more powerful because of the piano preceding it.

The voice is an amazing human gift. Everyone has their own, unique and inimitable. However, in professional art there is a clear classification that unites certain types of voices into groups according to various criteria: sound strength, vocal and technical qualities, timbre, etc. Among men, the tenor takes first place. This is the voice of great opera singers, which we will get to know in detail in this article.

Description

Tenor is the high-pitched singing voice of men. It is the most popular in the world. Translated from Latin, this word means “vocal tension” or “uniform movement.” In terms of its range, the tenor in solo parts is capable of reaching the note “C” of the second octave. And in choral performances its limit is the note “A” of the first octave.

In opera singing, tenor soloists are valued who are able to cleanly take the “B-flat” of the first and “C” of the second octave. By the way, this quality is considered the most beautiful, upper register of the tenor voice. It is often referred to as the “high C” or royal note. In Italy, singers are paid large fees for their ability to take it.

Classification

• lyrical;
• dramatic;
• baritone tenor;
• counter-tenor;
• altino-tenor.

Let's look at each type of named male voice separately.

Varieties

Lyric tenor is a voice with a soft, “silver” timbre with good mobility and melodiousness of sound. Today a huge number of roles have been created for it in the opera repertoire. These are Faust (Gounod's opera of the same name), Lensky (Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin), Alfred (Verdi's La Traviata), Pierre Bezukhov (Prokofiev's War and Peace) and many others. In operas written by Rossini and Mozart, the parts require high mobility and a fairly wide range from the tenor. Therefore, soloists suitable for this role must have a special, Rossini (or Mozart) tenor.

Much less common in operas dramatic tenor. It is characterized by a thick, rich sound. He is often confused with a lyric baritone. However, it has more power and a brighter timbre. In operas, parts for characters with contradictory characters and tragic fates have been created for this type of voice. For example, Jose from Bizet's Carmen, Othello (Verdi's opera) or Herman from Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. In opera there is the concept of a heroic Wagnerian tenor. The fact is that Richard Wagner's operas are large-scale and require great endurance from a performer with a dramatic tenor, forcing him to continuously sing powerfully and heroically for several hours.

There is also an intermediate type called lyric-dramatic tenor. In terms of sound strength and expression of drama, it is inferior to the dramatic tenor, but superior to the lyric tenor. This is a universal instrument for embodying both genres of the operatic repertoire.

Baritone tenor- a voice that simultaneously has the characteristics of a baritone and a tenor. In terms of sound strength, it is the same as its predecessors, but has a short upper register of the range. A suitable operatic role for this type of voice is Mime from Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung.

Altino tenor is a type of lyric tenor with a well-developed upper register and a range reaching the note “E” of the second octave. All these qualities impose certain restrictions on the repertoire. An example of a part for an altino tenor is the Astrologer from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel.

It is becoming increasingly common in opera singing. counter-tenor. This is the highest male singing voice. Its range extends from the note “C” of the minor octave to the “B” of the second octave. This can be demonstrated by the performance of the part “Flight of the Condor”, written in 1913 by the Peruvian composer D. Robles.

Who can sing tenor?

The tenor is the voice most often heard in operas and musicals. Experts say that it is the most complex technique of male singing and one can only learn to master it through many years of practice. Of course, it should be remembered that not every man can sing tenor. After all, it all depends on what kind of voice nature has given him.

Can a baritone voice with a lower pitch sing like a tenor? Of course, it is simply impossible for him to reach the upper registers. But men with a soft, high voice can develop a tenor with the help of a professional teacher and diligence. At the same time, you should not forget about musical theory and notes, without knowledge of which mastering complex singing techniques will be a waste of time.

Famous singers

A popular American tenor is Richard Croft. He has a lyric, or rather, Mozartian tenor. The Italian Alessandro Safina is slightly inferior to him in terms of vocal range.

But the most famous owners of high voices are the Spaniards Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and the Italian Luciano Pavarotti, who made up the legendary opera trio “The Three Tenors”. With this lineup, the singers toured the world with concerts from 1990 to 2003.

Owners of tenors are also found in pop art. Among these are the well-known Chester Bennington from the group Linkin Park, Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Michael Jackson, Adam Lambert, Billy Ocean, Ryan Tedder from One Republic and many others. Of course, their vocal range is significantly inferior to the opera singers from the Three Tenors trio. Is it possible that the “golden voice of Russia” - Nikolai Baskov - can compare with them, since the singer came to the stage from opera, and therefore has not only excellent vocal abilities, but also several years of improving them for opera roles under his belt.

And finally, a few interesting facts:

• In addition to defining the male singing voice, the tenor is also a wind musical instrument belonging to the saxhorn group. Its creation was first undertaken by Adolphe Sax in the mid-19th century. Today, the tenor saxophone is perhaps the most popular instrument in jazz music.
• There are male singers who sing in the range of the female voice. In the Baroque era, such opera roles were performed by castrati - young men who were castrated to maintain a high voice. Today, counter-tenors successfully cope with this role.

The story of how one vocal experiment made a real revolution in the world of opera and what were the tastes of the public of that era.

Jonas Kaufmann as André Chénier in the opera of the same name

In April 1837, Gilbert-Louis Dupre made his debut at the Paris Opera as Arnold in "". He knew that he lacked the elegant virtuosity of his predecessor, the famous opera singer Adolphe Nury, and decided to rely on the upper register of his voice. In Arnold's aria in the fourth act of the opera, he amazed the audience with his high to, which he performed not with his head voice, but with his chest voice, contrary to the plan. The sound, as some contemporaries report, was not pleasant - in particular, he did not like it very much - but Dupre's experiment forced singers and composers to turn to the then untapped potential of the high male voice.

Opera lovers of that time were much more accustomed to hearing tenors singing in the bel canto technique, using coloratura, beautiful legato and a wide range of voices. At the same time, tenor in those days was called a variety of voices from high and lively to lower, but at the same time more powerful. Nuri had outstanding vocal power, but adhered to the bel canto tradition and sang in the high registers in falsetto. Beginning in 1837, he worked on mastering the new Dupre technique, but only ruined his voice and in 1839 he committed suicide.

A happier fate awaited other singers. Tenor Enrico Tamberlic could, using Dupré's technique, sing even higher notes than he could, and inspired works written specifically for the dramatic tenor. It was he, as a dramatic tenor, who first performed the aria Di quella pira, and also created the image of the brave, but tormented by the trials of fate, Alvaro in the opera "". The voice of Francesco Tamagno, who was the first to perform the main role in the opera "", is even stronger than that of Tamberlik; music critics of that era compared it to the sound of a trumpet or even a cannon. His high register inspired the creation of wonderful solo numbers in ““, starting with the first release of “Esultate!”

In Germany (a big fan of “”), he set out to create a new image of the tenor, more “masculine” and heroic. His first tenors - Josef Tihaček, Ludwig Schnor von Carolsfeld and Albert Niemann - were known for their physical endurance, on stage they managed to simultaneously perform roles (sometimes reaching the lower register of baritone sound) and actually act as actors. Wagner's works, written specifically for them, laid the foundations for the development of the heldentenor, a wide-ranging and powerful voice with a strong lower and middle register, as well as a full sound in the upper register.

French singing has always focused on restraint and grace, so it is not surprising that the lyrical tradition remained popular in France, especially at the Opéra-Comique. Alexander Talzac, who was the first to perform the role of Count de Grieux in the opera "", was distinguished by his soft timbre and gentle manner of performance. And yet, Dupre's approach left its mark on the development of opera in France; examples include the roles of Benvenuto Cellini and Aeneas in Berlioz's operas. A few tenors could sing opera in both styles: Jan Reschke performed successfully as Romeo, but given his powerful timbre he was still more of another Wagnerian tenor.

Composers of the 20th century continued to search for new ways to combine music and dramatic tenor. Incredibly complex roles by authorship such as Bacchus in "" or the Emperor in "Woman without a Shadow" require the power of the Heldentenor's voice and at the same time lyrical beauty. Puccini opened new horizons for the sound of a high male voice. Here is the deeply lyrical image of Rodolfo in “”, and the heroic character Calaf in “”. Tenor performers in opera, whose work was largely influenced by his long-time opera singer Peter Pears, must have a flexible, high voice reminiscent of bel canto performance. Pearce's contemporary Richard Lewis, who had a strong high register, inspired composers to create roles for heldentenor, such as Achilles in Tippett's King Priam or Troilus in William Walton's Troilus and Cressida.

Thanks to his performance as Arnold, Gilbert Dupre is considered a revolutionary in the world of opera, the first tenor of the modern era. But perhaps even he would have been surprised by the variety of roles for the dramatic tenor that were created thanks to his bold experiment.

Translated by Marat Abzalov

Source – www.roh.org.uk

The text is a translation of an article posted on the ROH website. By agreement with the theater, the text is given in the exact edition of the author of the article, whose name is indicated in the translation text. “Musical Seasons” is not responsible for any inaccuracies or errors in the text.

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