Bass (voice type)

Bass (from Latin bassus 'strong', 'abundant'; pl. the basses) is the name given to the lowest vocal register. A singer of this pitch is simply called a bass or basso. Few of the basses have a large volume on very low notes and a downwardly extended range, and often a dark coloration. Such basses are called dramatic basso profondo or colloquially black bass.

The name developed with the onset of polyphony, when the voice that held the cantus firmus was called the tenor. The second male voice was initially given the name contratenor as the tenor's musical counterpart, but was initially in roughly the same register and tessitura as the tenor. Later the range of the compositions was extended to about two octaves and the voices were layered one on top of the other, the counter-voices moved up or down and a distinction was made between a high counter-voice contratenor altus and a low counter-voice contratenor bassus. These designations then developed into the terms altus and bassus, which was sometimes also called base.

The range of the bass voice is approximately from F to f'. Some parts also call for E or D, e.g. Osmin from Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Baron Ochs from Der Rosenkavalier. A strong F is expected in Haydn's oratorio The Creation in the aria Nun scheint in vollem Glanze, where the voice is expected to assert itself tonally against the orchestra and contrabassoon. In the final movement of his Symphony No. 2, Gustav Mahler noted a range of 'B-flat to f1' for the bass part of the choir.

Some basses of Russian choirs, the so-called octavists (from the octave, in the strict sense "an octave lower"), sing an octave lower than the other basses and do not switch to the upper register. This register is also used (rather rarely) as a soloist, and some composers have written solo pieces for this particular register (including the solo part in Sacred Choral Concerto no. 21 by Dmitri Stepanovich Bortnjanski).

Statistically, 5% of male voices are basses. Profound basses are rare. Even in the school choirs of the 17th and 18th centuries there was a shortage of good basses. In 1619 Michael Praetorius recommended in the Syntagma musicum that the weakness of the basses be compensated for with a string bass. In the St. Thomas Boys' Choir of Bach's time, too, a string instrument always played the bass in performances of a cappella works.

Specialized bass voices

• High bass, also called basso cantante
• Character Bass
• serious bass
• Bass buffo, for cheerful opera roles
• Bass-baritone is a subject between bass and baritone. He can sing lower baritone roles (such as Scarpia in Tosca or four villains from The Tales of Hoffmann) as well as higher bass roles (e.g. Bartolo, van Bett or Kaspar).

Famous bass roles in operas and oratorios

• Osmin, The Abduction from the Seraglio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Leporello, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Sarastro, The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss
• Don Basilio, Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini
• van Bett, Mayor, Tsar and Carpenter by Albert Lortzing
• Rocco, Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
• Kaspar, The Freeshooter by Carl Maria von Weber
• Boris Godunov, title role of the opera of the same name by Modest Mussorgski
• Don Quichotte, title role of the opera of the same name by Jules Massenet
• Fiesco, Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi
• Philip II, Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi
• Gurnemanz, Parsifal by Richard Wagner
• Hagen, Twilight of the Gods from the tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner
• Elijah, Elias by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Oratorio)

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

See also

• Bass (Instrument)
• Basso continuo
• Bass line