Tenor
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- This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. For other meanings see Tenor (disambiguation).
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Male ranges |
In singing, a tenor is a male singer with a high vocal range.
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[edit] Origin of the term
The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word tenere, which means "to hold". In medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental (or ‘holding’) voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, which often proceeded in longer note values and carried a borrowed Cantus firmus melody. Until the late 15th-century introduction of the contratenor bassus, the tenor was usually the lowest voice, assuming the role of providing a harmonic foundation. It was also in the 15th century that "tenor" came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. Thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked 'tenor' indicated the part's role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the seventeenth century, partbooks labelled 'tenor' might contain parts for a range of voice types.
[edit] Operatic tenor
Due to the lyrical tone quality as well as the dramatic high notes, composers have given tenors some of the best-known melodies and arias in the operatic literature, which have then spilled out as well into popular culture (e.g., The Three Tenors).[citation needed] Also important to the operatic tenor is its common association with youth, vigor, and romance.[citation needed]
Operatic tenor lead roles have thus tended to parallel the soprano roles, in that they customarily play the most sympathetic male character. They are usually the protagonist, and most commonly the hero or the lover, though they are also the occasional villains (the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto; Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly).[citation needed]
A professional operatic tenor typically has a range extending up to the C above middle C (C5), which is often called the "high C". A solid full voice "high C" is often said to be a requisite for a "true" operatic tenor. This is disputed, however, as it has been suggested that even some well-known tenors do not have (or retain) this coveted ability. In opera, several different fachs are recognized among tenors, including the comic, lyric, dramatic, spinto, and heldentenor, ordered from lightest to heaviest in tone quality.
Famous operatic tenors from various countries include Carlo Bergonzi (Italy), Beniamino Gigli (Italy), Georges Thill (France), Jussi Björling (Sweden), Nicolai Gedda (Sweden), José Carreras (Spain), Enrico Caruso (Italy), Plácido Domingo (Spain), Jon Vickers (Canada), Richard Tucker (USA), Franco Corelli (Italy), Lauritz Melchior (Denmark), Fritz Wunderlich (Germany), Luciano Pavarotti (Italy), Juan Diego Florez (Peru), David Hobson (Australia), Mario Del Monaco (Italy), Mario Lanza (USA}, Bülent Bezdüz (Turkey), Wu Pak Chiu (China), Nicholas Dore (England), Giuseppe di Stefano (Italy), and Rolando Villazon (Mexico).
[edit] Tenor in choral music
In four-part choral music, the tenor is the second lowest voice, above the bass and below the soprano and alto. The range of the choral tenor is generally not as great as that in opera, however. While certain choral music does require the first tenors to ascend the full tenor range, the majority of choral music places the tenors in the range from approximately B3 up to G4.
Even so, one nearly ubiquitous facet of choral singing is the shortage of tenor voices. Because the higher tenor range is quite unusual in adult males, the majority of men tend to prefer singing bass or baritone. For this reason, some men are often asked to sing tenor even if they lack the full range, while rarely low altos are even asked to sing the tenor part as well.
[edit] Tenor Classification
Although vocal range is the primary characteristic which defines a tenor, it is not the only. A tenor is ultimately classified by several vocal traits, including range, tone quality, vocal lift points, and transition points ("passaggio") within the singer's range. In non-professional choirs, individuals will generally be classified based on their most resonant and comfortable tessitura.
[edit] Other uses
In the Barbershop harmony musical style, the name "tenor" is used for the highest part. The four parts are known (lowest to highest) as bass, baritone, lead, and tenor. The tenor generally sings in falsetto voice (thus the term tenor used in barbershop terminology most closely corresponds to the term countertenor as used in classical music), and harmonizes above the lead, who sings the melody. The barbershop tenor range is, as notated, Bb-below-middle C to D-above-high-C (and sung an octave lower).
It is often applied to instruments to indicate their range in relation to other instruments of the same group. For instance the tenor saxophone.
[edit] Types of tenor and tenor roles in operas
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In opera, distinctions are made between different types of tenor:
- Tenore drammatico (Dramatic tenor), di forza or robusto: a powerful, rich, heroic tenor
- Calaf (Turandot)
- Otello (Otello)
- Radamés (Aïda)
- Rodolfo (Luisa Miller)
- Standing Bear (Wakonda's Dream)
- Samson (Samson et Dalila)
- Heldentenor: the German equivalent of the tenore drammatico, however with a more baritonal quality; the typical Wagnerian protagonist
- Apollo (Daphne)
- Claudio (Das Liebesverbot)
- Cola Rienzi (Rienzi)
- Sonny (Wakonda's Dream)or high baritone
- Florestan (Fidelio)
- Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser)
- Loge (Das Rheingold)
- Lohengrin (Lohengrin)
- Parsifal (Parsifal)
- Paul (Die Tote Stadt)
- Siegfried (Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
- Siegmund (Die Walküre)
- Walter von Stolzing (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
- Tristan (Tristan und Isolde)
- Tenore lirico (Lyric-dramatic tenor): a graceful, lyric dramatic tenor
- David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
- Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto)
- Edgar (Edgar)
- Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor)
- Faust (Faust)
- Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann)
- Idomeneo (Idomeneo)
- Lensky (Eugene Onegin)
- Lionel (Martha)
- Macduff (Macbeth)
- Nadir (Les Pêcheurs de Perles)
- Rodolfo (La Boheme)
- Roméo (Roméo et Juliette)
- Ruggero (La Rondine)
- Tamino (Die Zauberflöte)
- Tito (La clemenza di Tito)
- Werther (Werther)
- Wilhelm Meister (Mignon)
- Tenore (lirico) spinto (Lyric tenor): a lyric tenor with more "punch", therefore able to play more heroic roles
- An Italian Tenor (Der Rosenkavalier)
- Benjamin Pinkerton (Madame Butterfly)
- Benvenuto Cellini (Benvenuto Cellini)
- Jason Labelle (Wakonda's Dream)
- Canio (Pagliacci)
- Don Carlos (Don Carlos)
- Don José (Carmen)
- Erik (Der fliegende Holländer)
- Ernani (Ernani)
- Foresto (Attila)
- Manrico (Il trovatore)
- Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca)
- Maurizio (Adriana Lecouvreur)
- Max (Der Freischütz)
- Riccardo (Un Ballo in Maschera)
- Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi)
- Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana)
- Tenore leggiero or di grazia (Light-lyric tenor): a light, flexible tenor, specializing in the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, and sometimes specializing in Baroque repertoire or in comical roles
- Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
- Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia)
- Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni)
- Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola)
- Ernesto (Don Pasquale)
- Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte)
- Gérald (Lakmé)
- Lindoro (L'Italiana in Algeri)
- Nemorino (L'Elisir d'Amore)
- Tenore buffo: a voice with a timbre that is not always appealing, and usually with limitations in range and florid singing. Specializes in comic roles such as
- Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro)
- Don Curzio (Le nozze di Figaro)
- Gabriel von Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus)
- Mime (Das Rheingold)
- Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte)
- Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)
- Trial: a high, thin, nasal tenor, used for character roles. Named after Antoine Trial (1736-1792), a singer at the Opéra Comique.
[edit] Tenor roles in operettas and musicals
- Adam/Noah (Children of Eden) Although can be played by a baritenor. (Range B flat to A above middle C)
- Professor Abronsius (Tanz der Vampire)
- Alex Dillingham (Aspects of Love)
- Alferd Packer (Cannibal! The Musical)
- Alfred (Tanz der Vampire)
- Angel Dumott-Schunard (Rent)
- Anatoly (the Russian) (Chess (musical)) - although can be played by a baritone.
- Anthony Hope (Sweeney Todd)
- Adolfo Pirelli (Sweeney Todd)
- Archibald Craven (The Secret Garden (musical))
- Armand (Lestat)
- The Balladeer (Assassins)
- The Beadle (Sweeney Todd)
- Barinkay (Der Zigeunerbaron)
- Bat Boy (Edgar) (Bat Boy: The Musical)
- Billy Lawlor (42nd Street (musical))
- Caliph (Kismet)
- Candide (Candide)
- Captain Fitzbattleaxe (Utopia Limited)
- Charlie (Brigadoon)
- Che (Evita)
- Chip (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
- Chris (Miss Saigon)
- Christian (Moulin Rouge!)
- Chuck Cranston (Footloose)
- Colonel Fairfax (The Yeomen of the Guard)
- The Duke of Dunstable (Patience (operetta))
- Danny Zuko (Grease)
- The Emcee (Cabaret)
- Enjolras (Les Misérables (musical)) (Goes up to A flat 4)
- Fabrizio (The Light in the Piazza)
- Fiyero (Wicked)(Goes up to B flat 4)
- Count Fosco (The Woman in White)
- Freddy Eynsford-Hill (My Fair Lady)
- Freddie (The American) (Chess (musical))
- Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance)
- Hero (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)
- Herr Schultz (Cabaret)
- Imam (Kismet)
- Jamie Wellerstein (The Last Five Years)
- Jean Valjean Les Misérables (musical)
- Jekyll and Hyde (Title role can be played by a tenor or a high baritone)
- Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar)
- John (Miss Saigon)
- Joseph (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)
- Judas Iscariot (Jesus Christ Superstar)
- Kenickie (Grease (musical))
- Leader (Lost in the Stars)
- Lestat (Lestat)
- Lt. Cable (South Pacific)(Although could be played by a baritone)
- Lord Tolloller (Iolanthe)
- Macheath (Threepenny Opera)
- Marcellus Washburn (The Music Man)
- Marius Les Misérables (musical)
- Mark Cohen (Rent (musical))
- Marryin' Sam (Li'l Abner)
- Mereb (Aida)
- Mother's Younger Brother (Ragtime)
- Mr. Snow (Carousel)
- Nanki-Poo (The Mikado)
- Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Guys and Dolls) (Range D bellow middle C to B flat 4)
- Nicky/Trekkie Monster/Bad Idea Bear (Avenue Q)
- Pam (Bat Boy:The Musical) (Range E flat bellow middle C to C above middle C) May be played by a low Alto.
- The Phantom (Erik) (The Phantom of the Opera) Has been played several times by baritones.
- Sir Percival Glyde (The Woman in White)
- Radames (Aida (musical)) (Range B flat to B flat 4)
- Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore)
- Ren McCormack (Footloose)
- Riff Raff (The Rocky Horror Show)
- Rocky (The Rocky Horror Show)
- Roger Davis(Rent)
- Ryan Evans (High School Musical)
- Sam Kaplan (Street Scene)
- The Scarecrow (The Wiz)
- Seymour Krelborn (Little Shop of Horrors) Although can be played by a baritone
- Simba (The Lion King)
- Tateh (Ragtime)
- Terk (Tarzan(Goes up to B flat 4)
- Timon (The Lion King)
- Dr. Thomas Parker (Bat Boy:The Musical) Although can be played by a baritone or a baritenor
- Tobias Ragg (Sweeney Todd)
- Tony (West Side Story) (B 2 to B flat 4)
- Tony Brockhurst (The Boy Friend)
- Troy Bolton (High School Musical) (Goes up to B flat 4)
- Ubaldo Piangi (The Phantom of the Opera)
- Walter Hartwright (The Woman in White)
[edit] Sources
David Fallows, Owen Jander. "Tenor", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy, grovemusic.com (subscription access).
