[Magdalen] Counter-tenors

[Romain Kang]

There used to be an ongoing dispute about what "counter-tenor" is
supposed to mean.  Historically, the term came from having 3-part
polyphony with the cantus firmus roughly corresponding to modern tenor
range, with "contratenor bassus" below and "contratenor altus" above.
Hence, the modern "bass" and "alto."

I'm not sure where the lines are currently drawn, but one school used
"countertenor" to refer to any adult male singing in the alto range or
higher.  Within that category are "falsettists" who can also comfortably
sing in the bass to baritone range, though vocal production is clearly
different between high and low ranges.  Then there are "haut-contres"
(term borrowed from French) whose vocal compass extends into the higher
ranges without obvious difference in tone/production.

I have the film, "Countertenors" on a DVD I've been meaning to watch
for several years now, but it's still gathering dust in its original
shrinkwrap...

Romain

On Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 10:18:30PM +0000, Roger Stokes via Magdalen wrote:
> I have long thought that traditional men and boys choirs have suffered from
> a lack of depth in the Alto part. This evening I have been listening to the
> transmission of a concert version of Handel's opera "Ariodante". While the
> title role (which was originally sung by a castrato) was sung by a
> mezzo-soprano another major male roile was sung by a counter-tenor. This is
> in the vocal range of an Alto but has far more depth of timbre than can be
> offered by men singing falsetto.
> 
> Roger
>