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Boy soprano

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A boy soprano (British<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and especially North American English)<ref>Harvard Dictionary of Music, p.796 and 904</ref> or boy treble (only British English)<ref>Due to the tradition of not using girls in church choirs, boy sopranos are often still simply called "trebles" even when the gender of the singers is not mentioned, but girls with high voices are trebles too. Even the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music makes this mistake on p. 689 (A boy soprano is known as a treble.) though it points out on p. 746 that all children with high voices are known as trebles.</ref> is a young male singer with a voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) no matter how old.

OriginsEdit

In the Anglican and English Catholic liturgical traditions (in which girls and women did not sing in church choirs), young male choristers were normally referred to as "trebles" rather than as boy sopranos,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but today the term "boy trebles" is increasingly common (girls with high voices are trebles too). The term "treble" derives from the Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, used in 13th and 14th century motets to indicate the third and highest range, which was sung above the tenor part (which carried the tune) and the alto part. Another term for that range is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. The term "treble" itself was first used in the 15th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Trebles have an average range of A3 to F5 (220–700 Hz).<ref name="your-personal-singing-guide.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The term boy soprano originated with Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902), a scholar and choirmaster of the Cecilian Choir, New York, who used the term for both the choir members and soloists, who were church choristers, when giving concerts in public halls. The earliest use found can be traced to a choral festival at Irving Hall, New York, in May 1866.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Short-lived rangeEdit

File:Range of soprano voice vs. boy soprano marked on keyboard.png
The general vocal range of an adult female soprano is C4–C6 (highlighted), with notes unreachable by an average Treble marked in red (B5–C6).

Most trebles have a comfortable range from the A below "middle C" (A3, 220 Hz) to the F one and a half octaves above "middle C" (F5, 698 Hz),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> roughly corresponding to an adult male baritone range, up one octave. Some writing demands higher notes; the Anglican church repertory, which many trained trebles to sing, frequently demands G5 (784 Hz) and A5 (880 Hz).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some trebles, however, can extend their voices higher in the modal register to "high C" (C6, 1046 Hz). The high C is considered the defining note of the soprano voice type. For high notes see, for example, the treble solo at the beginning of Stanford's {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in G, David Willcocks' descant to Mendelssohn's tune for the carol Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, the even higher treble solo from Gregorio Allegri's {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and the treble part in the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} from Tippett's Evening Canticles written for St John's College, Cambridge. Many trebles are also able to reach higher notes by use of the whistle register but this practice is rarely called for<ref name="McKinney">Template:Cite book</ref> and writing above high C is very rare in choral music of any kind.

As a boy approaches and begins to undergo puberty, the quality of his voice increasingly distinguishes itself from that typical of girls.<ref name="your-personal-singing-guide.com"/> The voice takes on a resonant masculine quality before its pitch drops, resulting in a liminal stage wherein the boy may sing in a high register with a unique timbre. This brief period of high vocal range and unique color forms much of the ground for the use of the boy soprano in both liturgical and secular music in the Western world and elsewhere. Occasionally boys whose voices have changed can continue to sing in the soprano range for a period of time. This stage ends as the boy's larynx continues to grow and, with the breaking of his voice, he becomes unable to sing the highest notes required by the pieces of music involved.<ref>Professor Martin Ashley. "Trebles Template:Webarchive", Martin-Ashley.com.</ref>

It has been observed that boy sopranos in earlier times were, on average, somewhat older than in modern times.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For example, Franz Joseph Haydn was considered to be an excellent boy soprano well into his teens<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Ernest Lough was 15 when he first recorded his famous "Hear My Prayer" (on 5 April 1927), with his voice not getting deeper until sometime in 1929, when he was either 17 or 18 years old.<ref>"Ernest Lough (b. November 17, 1911)". The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory. https://www.boysoloist.com/artist.asp?VID=360</ref> However, for a male to sing soprano with an unchanged voice in his mid-to-late teens is currently fairly uncommon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the developed world, puberty tends to begin at younger ages (most likely due to differences in diet, including greater availability of proteins and vitamins).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also becoming more widely known that the style of singing and voice training within cathedrals has changed significantly in the past century, making it more difficult for boys to continue singing soprano much beyond the age of 13 or 14,<ref>"Trebles". Professor Martin Ashley. http://www.martin-ashley.com/sound-archive/boys-keep-singing Template:Webarchive</ref> with the raising of concert pitch being one factor.

Early breaking of boys' voices due to puberty becoming earlier in recent times is causing a serious problem for choirmasters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On the other hand, some musicologists dispute that earlier onset of puberty occurs. They contend that there is no reliable evidence of any significant change in the age of boys' maturity over the past 500 years or even beyond that.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref><ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref> A counterargument to this viewpoint is the paucity of bearded fourteen-year-olds from the historical record, the increased incidence of precocious puberty diagnoses, and availability of testosterone replacement therapy that many parents of boys experiencing delayed adolescence or intersex conditions opt to undergo.Template:Cn

Notable boy sopranosEdit

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is now a tenor.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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|CitationClass=web }}</ref> to the tenor voice that he currently has as an adult.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> later resurfacing as a tenor in the 1950s and 60s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1987, Cenčić sang the notably difficult Frühlingsstimmen in Belgrade at the age of 11.<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Cenčić worked as a sopranist for a short time even after his voice broke, but he ultimately retrained as a countertenor and found success.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and afterwards released an album called Voice of an Angel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Between 1971 and 1975 his voice descended from boy soprano to lyric tenor.<ref>Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Fireside. Template:ISBN.</ref>

  • Andrew Johnston became famous while singing on season 2 of Britain's Got Talent and afterwards releasing an album called One Voice. He is now a tenor / high baritone opera singer as a result of his voice getting deeper.<ref name="Angelvoices"/>
  • Aled Jones, a world famous Welsh treble, sang a cover version of "Walking in the Air" in 1985 for a Toys "R" Us commercial in spite of being mistaken for the original singer heard on the animated movie The Snowman.<ref name="Howhigh"/><ref name="Angelvoices"/> He now sings in the baritone vocal range.<ref name="Angelboy"/>
  • Frankie Lymon became a famous singer when he recorded "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" with 1950s boy band The Teenagers<ref name="Famesoprano"/> and remained popular after 1957 as a solo artist.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="LymonDowns">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As he turned 17-years old in 1959, his voice had changed<ref name="LymonDowns"/> to a low tenor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is now a high tenor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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  • Andrew Swait has done touring, live performances and studio recordings both as a chorister for The Choirboys and as a solo artist.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Anthony Way starred as Henry and sang in the miniseries The Choir, which is based on the novel of the same name by Joanna Trollope.<ref name="Howhigh"/>
  • James Westman is known as being the first boy to ever perform the song "Child's View of Heaven" from Gustav Mahler's 4th Symphony. He had also toured as a boy soprano with Three Boys Choirs (Paris, American, and Vienna). He is now a successful baritone opera singer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Zhou Shen, a popular Chinese singer most known for his song Big Fish,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> despite passing puberty, continues to sing at or near the soprano range.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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  • Jacob Collier, now a prominent musician, songwriter, composer and arranger, performed the role of Miles in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw in three separate productions at a young age. He has since cited Britten as a major influence on his own approach to harmony.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Range (music)

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