A singing voice is a musical instrument. As well as other types of instruments: plucked, string, wind, percussion - it has individual characteristics, according to which it can occupy a certain place in the classification.
Over the centuries, many such gradations and a huge number of criteria for evaluating votes have appeared. As in other areas of art, these classifications are rather arbitrary, and estimates are subjective. Still - what is contralto? This is a female singing voice with special properties.
Categorization of votes
There are many systems for classifying voices and their owners in vocal art. Sometimes they are ranked by force (volume and duration of playing one note), some by its flexibility, mobility, distinctive sound, virtuosity. Moreover, for singers singing as part of the choir and performing solo parts, different designations of voices are used. For example, what is contralto in terms of choral or ensemble singing? It corresponds to voices or vocal parts called alt.
The most common classification is the range of voices that directly depends on the gender of the singer. It first appeared in the 16th century. From that time, the beginning of the correspondence of the highest male voices to the lowest female. Only men had access to church singing, the most developed form of vocal art. Parts for high voices were performed either by boys or by castrati, who underwent an operation in childhood in order to preserve the pitch of their voices. Today, such parties in operas are performed by singers who have developed the technique of singing with falsetto. Such singers are called countertenors.
Female singing voices
To understand what contralto is, it’s easy to hear when you hear how high the notes sound confidently in the vocal piece performed by the singer. The contralto in the range has the lowest notes performed by a female singing voice: from the f small octave to the f (salt) of the second octave. The height of the sound available for contralto, measured instrumentally, gives numbers from 150 to 650 Hz.
The highest female singing voice in the range is soprano. The name comes from the Italian sopra - "above, above." The range of notes available to the owners of this voice is from the la small octave to the f (la) third octave. Depending on other vocal characteristics: timbre, register, mobility, etc., there are several categories adopted in opera and chamber vocals. This is a dramatic, lyrical, coloratura soprano and related ones - lyric-dramatic, lyric-coloratura, as well as the highest and most mobile voice - a coloro-whistle soprano. The average numerical expression of the height of such a timbre is 250-1046 Hz, the maximum for a coloratura soprano is 1400 Hz.
Mezzo-soprano (mezzo - "middle, half") - medium-tall female voice (220-880 Hz). Its working range is from la small octave to la second octave. The same varieties are distinguished as in the timbre described above, usually without intermediate steps.
What is contralto in music. Definition
Contralto is the lowest female singing voice in the range of notes available for playing. Real contralto, which is distinguished by a particularly expressive and confident performance of notes in a low register, is a very rare occurrence. The full-blooded, thick and powerful sound of notes of a small octave brings him closer to male voices.
For a long time, those who realized the value of such a singing heritage, who understood what contralto is in the voice, found correspondence among musical instruments that were consonant with its velvety and sound coloring. It is believed that the string strings - viola and cello - correspond most fully to this female voice.
Tessitura
The range in which the singer’s voice is able to reveal all the best qualities, which is the most comfortable for the vocalist, is just the main content of the complex and specific characteristics of the voice, called tessitura.
Typically, singers with contralto do not have the same confidence in the entire range of sounds related to this voice. Uppercase notes often sound sharply, especially when compared to lower notes. Here they merge with mezzo-soprano, and singers with such a characteristic of the voice very often successfully perform contralted parts in operas.
Classic Contralto Stars
It is the special, unique, deep, powerful sound of the low sounds of the contralto range that is the main wealth of this voice. It was it that was especially appreciated and appreciated by connoisseurs of vocal art. It was typical of the most famous singers, opera divas of the past: Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861-1936), Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953), Marian Anderson (1897-1993), Kore Antarova (1886-1959) and many others. Among today's singers, whose voice is recognized as true contralto, the most famous are Eva Podles, Lina Mkrtchan, Sarah Mingardo.
The uniqueness of such a voice has long been recognized. Therefore, even the classical repertoire does not contain many parties for him. And often they were written for boy characters. The most famous are Olga in "Eugene Onegin", Vanya ("Ivan Susanin" Glinka), Konchakovna from Borodino "Prince Igor", Angelina ("Cinderella" Rossini), Ulrika ("Masquerade Ball" Verdi), Erd from "The Rhine Gold "," Siegfried "(R. Wagner). The special emotional coloring of the contralto makes it inherent in specific characters, often having slight negative traits, or strong, expressive, “Wagnerian” - witches, witches, villains, etc.
Contralto of the Non-Academic Repertoire
Many musicians, performers and teachers involved in the theory of classical vocal art strongly disagree with the situation when discussions about what contralto in music are conducted with respect to singers who belong to the stars of the pop industry and jazz or who perform rock compositions. They are sure that there is a huge fundamental difference in approaches, in the methods of sound formation themselves.
But there are those who belong to such a classification of pop voices calmly. These are real professionals who know what contralto is. Photos of the owners of the lowest female voice are in encyclopedias on the history of show business, they have filled numerous glossy publications. These are truly outstanding personalities: Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Tina Turner, Cher, Amy Winehouse, Annie Lennox, Lana Del Rey, Olga Kormukhina and many others. At the same time, extraordinary “musicological” terms are used to characterize the contralto: sensual, hoarse, sexy, and even smoky.
All of them: those performing classical music, and those “from another opera” - are inherent in the maximum use of the vocal data that they received from nature and developed through hard work.