 | Alto voice: Encyclopedia - Alto voice
Alto (voice)
Soprano
Mezzo-soprano
Contralto
Male ranges
Sopranist
Alto
Tenor
Baritenor
Baritone
Bass-baritone
Bass
In music, an alto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice, or the highest male voice. A typical alto will have a range from around the F below middle C to the E a tenth above middle C (i.e. F3-E5); at the bottom of their range, 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). In four part choral harmony, the alto is the second highest voice. Altos originally sang from music 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. However, choirs singing early music frequently include adult male altos, also called countertenors. In English church usage, the term alto is sometimes exclusively used to mean a boy with this range, while contralto is used for a female singer. However, this is not done consistently, and for most practical purposes, alto and contralto can be thought of as synonyms (the phrase "boy alto" can be used if there is a chance of misunderstanding). 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 F 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, "against the tenor." When two such voices were added they were called contratenor alto and contratenor bassus, indicating high and low respectively. So alto essentially means high voice.
Contraltos are fairly rare in opera (and in general), 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're only allowed to play "witches, bitches, or boys.")
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.
Alto voice - Alto roles in operas
- 3rd Lady (Die Zauberflöte)
- Azucena (Il Trovatore)
- Arsace (Semiramide)
- Birgitta (Die Tote Stadt)
- Carmen (Carmen)
- Dalila (Samson et Dalila)
- Frédéric (Mignon)
- Erda (Das Rheingold, Siegfried)
- La Cieca (La Gioconda)
- Jeanne (The Maid of Orleans)
- Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
- Olga (Eugene Onegin)
- Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice)
- Orlando (Orlando)
- Pauline (The Queen of Spades)
- Rinaldo (Rinaldo)
- The Witch (Hänsel und Gretel)
- Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera)
Alto voice - Alto roles in operettas and musicals
- Eva Peron (Evita)
- Eponine (Les Misérables)
- Fantine (Les Misérables)
- Katisha (The Mikado)
- Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance)
- Little Buttercup (HMS Pinafore)
- Queen of the Fairies (Iolanthe)
- Sally Bowles (Cabaret)
- Velma Kelly (Chicago)
Alto voice - Famous altos
Alto voice - Classical music
- Marian Anderson
- Janet Baker
- Clara Butt
- Lili Chookasian
- Kathleen Ferrier
- Birgit Finnilä
- Maureen Forrester
- Marilyn Horne
- Patti LuPone
- Sara Mingardo
- Judy Garland
- Yvonne Minton
- Ewa Podleś
- Ernestine Schumann-Heink
- Nathalie Stutzmann
Alto voice - Popular music
NOTE: In most cases, it is not possible to find a reputable source for the vocal range of pop singers. It seems most names were listed here on an empirical basis. It must be noted that in the pop world, the vocal range of a singer is often artificially enhanced.
- Anita Baker
- Toni Braxton
- Karen Carpenter
- Cher
- Fantasia
- Mahalia Jackson
- Etta James
- Alicia Keys
- Chaka Khan
- Gladys Knight
- Dorothy Moore
- Brandy
- Kelly Price
- Raven-Symoné
- Sade
- Joss Stone
- Enya
- Annie Lennox
- Anne Nurmi
- Albertina Walker
Category: Vocal ranges
Other related archivesA Midsummer Night's Dream, Alicia Keys, Anita Baker, Annie Lennox, Baritenor, Baritone, Bass, Bass-baritone, Birgit Finnilä, Brandy, Cabaret, Carmen, Chaka Khan, Cher, Chicago, Clara Butt, Das Rheingold, Die Tote Stadt, Die Zauberflöte, Dorothy Moore, Enya, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Etta James, Eugene Onegin, Evita, Fantasia, Gladys Knight, HMS Pinafore, Hänsel und Gretel, Il Trovatore, Iolanthe, Janet Baker, Joss Stone, Judy Garland, Karen Carpenter, Kathleen Ferrier, Kelly Price, La Gioconda, Les Misérables, Lili Chookasian, Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, Marilyn Horne, Maureen Forrester, Mezzo-soprano, Mignon, Orfeo ed Euridice, Orlando, Patti LuPone, Raven-Symoné, Rinaldo, Sade, Samson et Dalila, Semiramide, Siegfried, Sopranist, Soprano, Tenor, Tenor C, The Maid of Orleans, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, The Queen of Spades, Toni Braxton, Un Ballo in Maschera, Vocal ranges, Yvonne Minton, alto clef, alto horn, brass instrument, choral, countertenors, early music, jazz, low C, mezzo-soprano, middle C, mothers, music, musicians, opera, polyphony, range, saxhorn, saxophone, singer, tenor, tenors, treble clef, vocal range, witches
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Alto voice", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
