Editing Contralto (section)

== History ==
"Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and [[opera]]tic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable [[Voice classification in non-classical music|system of vocal categorization]]. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "[[countertenor]]s".<ref name=Appelman /> The Italian terms "contralto" and "[[alto]]" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific [[vocal range]] in choral singing without regard to factors like [[tessitura]], vocal [[timbre]], vocal facility, and [[vocal weight]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy|last=Stark|first=James|year=2003|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|isbn=978-0-8020-8614-3}}</ref> However, there exists some French choral writing (including that of [[Ravel]] and [[Poulenc]]) with a part labelled "contralto", despite the tessitura and function being that of a classical alto part. The Saracen princess Clorinde in [[André Campra]]'s 1702 opera ''[[Tancrède]]'' was written for [[Julie d'Aubigny]] and is considered the earliest major role for ''bas-dessus'' or contralto voice.<ref name="bas-dessus">The part of Clorinde is notated in the [[soprano clef]] (original score: {{cite book |last= |first= |date=1702 |title=Tancrede, Tragedie [...] |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9058774w/f130.image.r=Tancr%C3%A8de%201702.langEN|location=Paris |publisher=Ballard|page=71 ff}}), but, although it never descends below d′, tradition has it that it was the first major ''bas-dessus'' (contralto) role in the French opera history ({{cite book |last=Sadie |first=Julie Anne |editor-last=Sadie  |editor-first=Stanley  |editor-link=Stanley Sadie |date=1997 |title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]] |url= |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=3 |page=274 |chapter=Maupin |isbn=978-0-19-522186-2}}</ref>