Contralto

The alto (as in Italian alto and Latin vox alta, "high voice", from altus, "high"), plural the Alte, in Switzerland also the Älte, refers in music as a vocal genre or register to the lower voice of women's or boys' voices ("Knabenalt") or the very high male voice, historically in particular also castrato voices. The range of the voice is about g-e'' (also f-f''). In English, French and Italian contralto refers to this voice range, whereas in German particularly low female voices are also known as contra alto.

A female singer of this voice range is called "contralto" or simply "alto". Corresponding male voices are called "altist", "altus" or (not quite correctly) "countertenor". Particularly agile alto voices capable of coloratura, as required above all in Baroque music or Rossini, are also called coloratura alto.

A number of important female alto singers are included in the list of famous singers of classical music.

In analogy to the alto register there is the alto register for musical instruments, e.g. alto horn, alto saxophone, alto flute, alto trombone, alto guitar, alto clarinet. On stringed instruments the viola corresponds to the alto register and the parts are notated in alto clef.

Origin and use

The name comes from the Latin altus, which was originally used to designate the high voice above the melody-leading tenor, or from the four-part male chorus (in the chest and falsetto registers) in which the second voice is called the contratenor altus. This has a range of approximately e-e''.

Artistically interesting and important parts for solo alto were written primarily in the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, often (but not only) for castrato singers. In the music of the Classical and Romantic periods, pure alto parts are relatively rare.

Well-known alto parts are:

• Johann Sebastian Bach: alto parts in St. Matthew and St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio and numerous cantatas
• Georg Friedrich Händel: numerous roles in operas and oratorios, including Cornelia and the title role in Giulio Cesare, as well as Bradamante in Alcina
• Richard Wagner: Erda in Das Rheingold, and Erda in Siegfried

The alto part can be performed by boys' alto voices, women's voices and men's voices - each with a different timbre. Alto parts in early music are also sung by countertenors, especially in performances of historical performance practice. This is particularly true of Renaissance and Baroque choral music and English, French or sometimes German church music of the 17th and 18th centuries; but also of parts in Baroque operas originally composed for castrati or as trouser roles for women (!).

Transition to mezzo-soprano and contra-alto

The transition between the alto and mezzo-soprano registers is fluid, especially as the parts in historical works were originally always written for individual singers whose voices often had quite individual characteristics and ranges. In addition, there was a tendency in the 19th century to extend the voices (of all registers) as far upwards as possible, which led to parts whose main focus is fundamentally in the alto range but which require brief outbursts or "flights of fancy" upwards, for example in several roles for coloratura alto by Rossini (see below).

Many professional singers therefore have both alto and mezzo-soprano parts in their repertoire. Since singers with a pure alto voice are rare, alto roles are also sung by singers with a low mezzo-soprano; since the alto parts themselves are also rare, mezzo-soprano parts are likewise sometimes taken by singers with a high (or extended) alto, but this is not entirely harmless and can lead to early vocal damage.

Well-known parts for low mezzo-soprano or alto with extended high notes are:

• Gioachino Rossini: Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri, the title role in Tancredi, Arsace in Semiramide
• Giacomo Meyerbeer: Fidès in Le prophète
• Giuseppe Verdi: Azucena in Il trovatore, or Maddalena in Rigoletto
• Camille Saint-Saëns: Dalila in Samson et Dalila

There are also very low female voices that are roughly in the range of a tenor or even a baritone, these are called contra alto. However, there are hardly any parts for such voices in classical music. A well-known historical example is the Venetian singer Ambrosina, who performed in sacred works by Vivaldi (e.g. in Beatus vir RV 795). The nurse roles in 17th-century Venetian operas (e.g. Arnalta in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppaea) were originally sung en travestie by tenors to achieve alienation and emphasize the comic character.