Editing Contralto

{{Short description|Low-pitched female singing voice}}
{{Other uses|Contra-alto (disambiguation){{!}}Contra-alto}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Voice type}}
A '''contralto''' ({{IPA|it|konˈtralto}}) is a [[classical music|classical]] female [[singing]] [[human voice|voice]] whose [[vocal range]] is the lowest of their [[voice type|voice types]].<ref name=McKinney>{{cite book
|title= The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults
|last= McKinney
|first= James
|year= 1994
|publisher= Genovex Music Group
|isbn=978-1-56593-940-0}}</ref>

The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the [[mezzo-soprano]], and almost identical to that of a [[countertenor]], typically between the F below middle C (F<sub>3</sub> in [[scientific pitch notation]]) to the second F above middle C (F<sub>5</sub>), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D<sub>3</sub>)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.voiceteacher.com/contralto.html |title=Training the Contralto Voice |last=Jones |first=David L. |date=2007 |website=The Voice Teacher |access-date=2018-07-24 }}</ref> or the second B{{Music|flat}} above middle C (B{{Music|flat}}<sub>5</sub>).<ref name=McKinney /> The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto.

== 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>

== Vocal range ==
[[File:Contralto voice range on keyboard.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Contralto vocal range (F<sub>3</sub>–F<sub>5</sub>) notated on the [[treble clef|treble]] [[staff (music)|staff]] (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C<sub>4</sub>).]]
{| align=right
|<score>{ \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } f4 f''4 }</score>
|}

The contralto has the lowest [[vocal range]] of the female [[voice type]]s, with the lowest [[tessitura]];<ref name=Appelman>{{cite book |title=The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application |last=Appelman |first=D. Ralph |year=1986 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-20378-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Contralto}}</ref> it is between [[tenor]] and [[mezzo-soprano]].

Although tenors, baritones, and basses are male singers, some women can sing as low (albeit with a slightly different timbre and texture) as their male counterparts. Some of the rare female singers who specialized in the tenor and baritone registers include film actress [[Zarah Leander]],<ref>[[Brigitte Peucker|Peucker, Brigitte]]. ''The Material Image: Art and the Real in Film''. Stanford University Press 2007. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_B7GQLCHPVMC&pg=PA120 p. 120] {{ISBN|9780804754316}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905124455/https://books.google.com/books?id=_B7GQLCHPVMC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120 |date=2017-09-05 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LCGU0SANmw8|title=A Taste of the Music of Zarah Leander|publisher=YouTube: Flower Bomb|date=29 June 2022}}</ref> the Iranian ''āvāz'' singer [[Hayedeh]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hayeda|title=HĀYEDA – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=2019-06-30}}</ref> the child prodigy [[Ruby Helder]] (1890–1938),<ref>{{cite book|last=Elliot|first=David J.|title=Praxial Music Education: Reflections and Dialogues|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7Og8KV3LpAC&pg=PA302|page=302|isbn=9780199725113|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326060551/https://books.google.com/books?id=T7Og8KV3LpAC&pg=PA302&lpg=PA302&dq=ruby+helder+contralto&source=bl&ots=gDLEQOOF84&sig=eU7uEvC-0kgNM-dsmX8UCtu5FOc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_sfnS-vHSAhWK7iYKHdbMBsQQ6AEIigEwGQ#v=onepage&q=ruby%20helder%20contralto&f=false|archive-date=2017-03-26}}</ref> and Bavarian novelty singer [[Bally Prell]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/jjAwPARKYqc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170326231043/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjAwPARKYqc&app=desktop Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Contralto Female Voice…|publisher=YouTube: DHO Gwen|date=8 January 2017|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jjAwPARKYqc}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bally Prell|publisher=Historical Tenors|accessdate=12 July 2021|url=http://www.historicaltenors.net/secrettenordreams/prell.html}}</ref> The Guiness World Record for lowest note by a female is D<sub>2</sub>, by [[Helen Leahey]].

== Subtypes and roles in opera ==
[[File:Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore (1907, Odeon) - 02 - I'm called Little Buttercup.mp3|thumb|[[Ada Florence]] singing ''I'm called Little Buttercup'' from ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]]]

Within the contralto voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: '''[[coloratura]] contralto''', an agile voice specializing in florid passages; '''lyric contralto''', a voice lighter in timbre; and '''dramatic contralto''', a deep, dark, and bold contralto voice.  

The coloratura contralto was a favorite voice type of [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini's]]. Many of his roles listed below were written with this type of voice in mind. Lyric contraltos are heavily utilized in both the French and English operatic repertoire. Many of the Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles are best suited with a lyric contralto voice. Ma Moss in ''[[The Tender Land]]'' is a notable lyric contralto role. The dramatic contralto voice is heard in much of the German operatic repertoire. Erda in ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' and Gaea in [[Daphne (opera)|''Daphne'']] are both good examples of the dramatic contralto. 

True operatic contraltos are rare, and the operatic literature contains few roles written specifically for them with most of those roles singing notes outside of their defined range. Contraltos sometimes are assigned feminine roles like Teodata in ''[[Flavio]]'', Angelina in ''[[La Cenerentola]]'', Rosina in ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'', Isabella in ''[[L'italiana in Algeri]]'', and Olga in ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'', but more frequently they play female villains or [[Breeches role|trouser roles]]. Contraltos may also be cast in roles originally written for [[castrato|castrati]]. A common saying among contraltos is that they may play only "witches, bitches, or [[Breeches role|britches]]."<ref name=Boldrey>{{cite book
|title= Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias
|last= Boldrey
|first= Richard
|year= 1994
|publisher= Caldwell Publishing Company
|isbn=978-1-877761-64-5}}</ref>

<!-- This list should be divided into the three types listed above -->
Examples of contralto roles in the standard operatic repertoire include the following:<ref name=Boldrey />
{{div col|colwidth=25em|rules=yes}}
*Angelina<sup>*</sup>, ''[[La Cenerentola]]'' ([[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]])
*Arnalta, ''[[L'incoronazione di Poppea]]'' ([[Claudio Monteverdi|Monteverdi]])
*Arsace, ''[[Semiramide]]'' (Rossini)
*Art Banker, ''[[Facing Goya]]'' ([[Michael Nyman|Nyman]])
*Azucena<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Il trovatore]]'' (Verdi)
*Auntie<sup>*</sup>, landlady of The Boar, ''[[Peter Grimes]]'' ([[Benjamin Britten|Britten]])
*The Baroness, ''[[Vanessa (opera)|Vanessa]]'' ([[Samuel Barber|Barber]])
*Bradamante, ''[[Alcina]]'' ([[George Frideric Handel|Handel]])
*La Cieca, ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'' ([[Amilcare Ponchielli|Ponchielli]])
*Cornelia, ''[[Giulio Cesare]]'' (Handel)
*The Countess<sup>*</sup>, ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' ([[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]])
*Didone, ''[[Egisto (opera)|Egisto]]'' ([[Francesco Cavalli|Cavalli]])
*Dryade, ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' ([[Richard Strauss|Strauss]])
*Erda, ''[[Das Rheingold]], [[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' ([[Richard Wagner|Wagner]])
*Felicia, ''[[Il crociato in Egitto]]'' ([[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]])
*Madame Flora (Baba), ''[[The Medium]]'' ([[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]])
*Fidès, ''[[Le prophète]]'' ([[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]])
*Florence Pike, ''[[Albert Herring]]'' (Britten)
*Gaea, ''[[Daphne (opera)|Daphne]]'' ([[Richard Strauss|Strauss]])
*Geneviève, ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' ([[Claude Debussy|Debussy]])
*Griselda, ''[[Griselda (Vivaldi)|Griselda]]'' ([[Antonio Vivaldi|Vivaldi]])
*Hélène Bezukhova, ''[[War and Peace (opera)|War and Peace]]'' (Prokofiev)
*Hippolyta, ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' (Britten)
*Isabella<sup>*</sup>, ''[[L'italiana in Algeri]]'' (Rossini)
*Katisha, ''[[The Mikado]]'' ([[Gilbert and Sullivan]])
*Klytemnestra<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' ([[Richard Strauss]])
*Lel, ''[[The Snow Maiden]]'' ([[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]])
*Little Buttercup, ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' (Gilbert and Sullivan)
*Lucretia, ''[[The Rape of Lucretia]]'' (Britten)
*Maddalena<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Rigoletto]]'' (Verdi)
*Magdelone, ''[[Maskarade]]'' ([[Carl Nielsen|Nielsen]])
*Mamma Lucia, ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' ([[Pietro Mascagni|Mascagni]])
*Ma Moss, ''[[The Tender Land]]'' ([[Aaron Copland|Copland]])
*Malcolm<sup>*</sup>, ''[[La donna del lago]]'' (Rossini)
*Margret, ''[[Wozzeck]]'' ([[Alban Berg|Berg]])
*Maria, ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' ([[George Gershwin|Gershwin]])
*The Marquise of Berkenfield, ''[[La fille du régiment]]'' ([[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]])
*Marthe, ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' ([[Charles Gounod|Gounod]])
*Marilyn Klinghoffer, ''[[The Death of Klinghoffer]]'' ([[John Adams (composer)|Adams]])
*Mary, ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' (Wagner)
*Miss Todd, ''[[The Old Maid and the Thief]]'' (Menotti)
*Mother, ''[[The Consul]]'' (Menotti)
*Mother Goose, ''[[Mother Goose]]'' (Felix Jarrar)
*Mother Goose, ''[[The Rake's Progress]]'' ([[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]])
*Mrs. Noye, ''[[Noye's Fludde]]'' ([[Benjamin Britten|Britten]])
*Mrs. Prin, ''[[Tabula Rasa]]'' ([[Felix Jarrar]])
*Mistress Quickly, ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' (Verdi)
*Norn (I), ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' (Wagner)
*Olga<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' (Tchaikovsky)
*Orfeo, ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'' ([[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]]) (originally for castrato)
*Orlando, ''[[Orlando furioso (Vivaldi, 1727)|Orlando Furioso]]'' ([[Antonio Vivaldi|Vivaldi]])
*Orsini, ''[[Lucrezia Borgia (opera)|Lucrezia Borgia]]'' (Donizetti)
*Polina, ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' (Tchaikovsky)
*Preziosilla "[[La forza del destino]]" (Verdi)
*Ratmir, ''[[Ruslan and Lyudmila (opera)|Ruslan and Lyudmila]]'' ([[Mikhail Glinka|Glinka]])
*Rosina<sup>*</sup>, ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'' (Rossini)
*Rosmira/Eurimene<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Partenope]]'' (Handel)
*Ruth, ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' (Gilbert and Sullivan)
*Schwertleite, ''[[Die Walküre]]'' (Wagner)
*Smeaton, ''[[Anna Bolena]]'' (Donizetti)
*Sosostris, ''[[The Midsummer Marriage]]'' ([[Michael Tippett|Tippett]])
*Stella, ''[[What Next? (opera)|What Next?]]'' ([[Elliott Carter|Carter]])
*Tancredi, ''[[Tancredi]]'' (Rossini)
*Ulrica, ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'' (Verdi)
*Widow Begbick<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny]]'' ([[Kurt Weill|Weill]])
*3rd Woodsprite, ''[[Rusalka (opera)|Rusalka]]'' ([[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]])
*La Zia Principessa, ''[[Suor Angelica]]'' ([[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]])
*Zita, ''[[Gianni Schicchi]]'' ([[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]])
*{{div col end}}
<sup>*</sup> indicates a role that may also be sung by a [[mezzo-soprano]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Opera}}
* [[:Category:Contraltos|Category of contraltos]]
* ''[[Fach]]'', the German system for classifying voices
* [[List of contraltos in non-classical music]]
* [[List of operatic contraltos]]
* [[Voice classification in non-classical music]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book
|title= Coloratura, Lyric and Dramatic Soprano, Vol. 1
|last= Coffin
|first= Berton
|year= 1960
|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield
|isbn= 978-0-8108-0188-2
|url-access= registration
|url= https://archive.org/details/singersrepertoir0000coff
|ref=none
}}
* {{Cite book
|title= Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer
|last= Peckham
|first= Anne
|year= 2005
|publisher= Berklee Press
|isbn= 978-0-87639-047-4
|url-access= registration
|url= https://archive.org/details/vocalworkoutsfor0000peck
|ref=none
}}
* {{Cite book
|title= Choral Pedagogy
|last= Smith
|first= Brenda
|year= 2005
|publisher= Plural Publishing
|isbn=978-1-59756-043-6
|ref=none
}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline|Contraltos}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline|Contralto}}

{{Range (music)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Contraltos| ]]
[[Category:Italian opera terminology]]
[[Category:Musical terminology]]
[[Category:Opera terminology]]
[[Category:Pitch (music)]]
[[Category:Voice types]]