Countertenors in early music

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Leader: tmair
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Created on: 9 Jun 2008
Description:
Group for countertenor voice type lovers in early music.

1. Countertenor
A countertenor is an adult male who sings in a contralto, mezzo-soprano or (more rarely) soprano range, usually through use of falsetto, or more rarely the normal or modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble. This term is used almost exclusively in the context of the classical vocal tradition, although numerous popular music artists employ countertenor technique. The countertenor voice went through a massive resurgence in popularity in the second half of the 20th century, partly due to pioneers such as Alfred Deller, by 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.

2. Voice Type (ranges)
A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types.

Female voices:
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Contralto

Male voices:
Countertenor
Tenor
Baritone
Bass

3. Early music
Early music is commonly defined as European classical music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Group picture Copyright Decca
http://www.andreasschollsociety.org/photos.htm

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