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When a syllable is sung to more than one note, some singers are in the habit of inserting a light aspirate, as in ‘Cele-heste Aida’. In Italy, Spain and Latin America this appears not to be considered a major stylistic fault (if one at all), but in Britain and, on the whole, the USA and Germany the practice is generally condemned. Gramophone records suggest that in standard operatic work the habit grew during the first half of the century, and that criticism has subsequently had some effect: Domingo and Pavarotti, for instance, are not habitual aspiraters, unlike their predecessors such as Gigli and Pertile. More insidious are the means used to ‘separate’ notes in the florid music of Baroque composers, where on the one hand they are defended as ensuring greater clarity, and on the other attacked as the makeshift devices of a defective technique....

(It.: ‘absolute’)

As applied to a singer, the term crept into opera bills and contracts with the general inflation of titles that set in towards the end of the 18th century. In theory it meant ‘unique’: a particular singer was the only member of the company engaged for a season entitled to be called prima donna (or primo tenore, primo basso etc.), and she or he could refuse parts that did not fit the description. In practice, nearly every leading singer now wished to be called ‘absolute’, however illogically; in Naples the impresario Domenico Barbaia, backed up by Rossini, was still resisting the trend in the 1820s, but in vain. By 1877 the tenor-impresario Italo Campanini could write of parti assolute, meaning simply leading parts; these included Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, one of two leading women’s parts in that work (letter of 29 July 1877, I-Ms Coll. Casati 233). Thus devalued into meaninglessness, the term seems to have vanished from opera by the early 20th century. It is still occasionally used– in its original sense–of an outstanding ballerina....

(b Glišikj, Kavadarci, Republic of Macedonia, 1918; d Skopje Sept 25, 1976). Macedonian folk singer. His lyric tenor voice, with its distinctive timbre (simultaneously light and warm), was recognized soon after his first performance in Radio Skopje in 1948, and it was established as a model for the male vocal repertory of traditional Macedonian music. He sang softly, with richness, in a narrow piano dynamic spectrum, and with delicate use of vibrato and ornaments. He became an idol among Macedonian audiences worldwide and has been adored by Balkan audiences as well, taking tours in Europe, Canada, USA, and Australia.

His recorded repertory of over 230 songs (without variants) is published on dozens of LPs and cassettes. 359 recorded songs have been digitized and stored in the Buzarovski Archive (BuzAr) in 2005. His diverse repertory was carefully selected with a refined musical taste, mainly from urban traditional songs of all genres—love, elegiac, patriotic, and humorous songs. His voice was well suited to ensemble performance, resulting in duets with V. Ilieva, A. Sarievski, Mirvet Belovska, Dragica Nikolova, Blagoj Petrov Karagjule, Violeta Tomovska, E. Redžepova, Anka Gieva, and Atina Apostolova....

A term used to characterize a particular type of Baritone voice. It owes its origin to (Nicolas-)Jean-Blaise Martin (1768–1837), a baritone with a remarkably extensive upper range, sufficiently famous and distinctive for his name to continue in use long after his death to denote a high, lyric baritone, almost a tenor, usually bright of timbre and light of weight, but with a free, unthroaty production characteristic of the French school. Jean Périer, the first Pelléas, was probably typical, with Gabriel Soulacroix a distinguished predecessor and Camille Maurane (...

(Fr. basse; Ger. Bass; It. basso)

The lowest male voice, normally written for within the range F to e′, which may be extended at either end.

Italian composers in the late 16th century often wrote highly ornate parts for the bass voice, and this continued into the first three decades of the 17th. In opera, however, where bass roles were few and generally unimportant, ornate writing was relatively rare; the emphasis lay rather on dramatic portrayal. In the surviving operas of Monteverdi the bass already appears in some of what were to be its most important historical role types: as a god (particularly a god of the underworld: Pluto in Orfeo, 1607, Neptune in Il ritorno d’Ulisse, 1640), or as a sepulchral figure (Charon in Orfeo). In Orfeo Monteverdi called for special instrumentation (the regal, a trombone choir) which was itself to become a tradition in much operatic scoring associated with the bass voice. A further impressive use of the voice is for the role of Seneca in ...

The earliest choral singing in Boston was the first settlers’ congregational psalm singing, which continued through later times of controversy over the relative virtues of the old style and the cultivated new style promoted in the singing schools. Church and community choirs were formed throughout New England from the 1750s. The work of George K. Jackson, who in 1812 organized a concert of Handel’s music, was instrumental in broadening the musical repertory of Boston’s churches.

The Handel and Haydn Society was formed for the purpose of ‘cultivating and improving a correct taste in the performance of sacred music, and also to introduce into more general practice the works of Handel, Haydn, and other eminent composers’. It gave its first concert on 25 December 1815 and served as the prototype for similar organizations in other cities. At Christmas 1818 the society gave its first performance of the complete Messiah; on 16 February 1819...

Member of Brambilla family

(b Cassano d’Adda, 1819; d Milan, 1903). Italian contralto, sister of Marietta Brambilla. She made her début in Trieste in 1841 and sang in Rome, Milan and Barcelona; then in 1846 she was engaged at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, where she appeared as Maffio Orsini, the part created by her eldest sister. In ...

Member of Brambilla family

(b Cassano d’Adda, June 6, 1807; d Milan, Nov 6, 1875). Italian contralto. After studying at the Milan Conservatory with Secchi, she made her début in 1827 at the King’s Theatre, London, as Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide. During the season she sang two more travesty roles, Adriano (Meyerbeer’s Il crociato) and Romeo (Zingarelli’s Romeo e Giulietta), becoming a specialist in such parts. She sang Paolo at the first performance of Generali’s Francesca di Rimini in 1828 at La Fenice. At La Scala (1838) she sang Cherubino and Arsace (Semiramide). Donizetti composed two trouser roles for her, Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, first given at La Scala in 1833, and Pierotto in Linda di Chamounix, which had its première at the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna, in 1842. He also adapted the second tenor role of Armando di Gondi in Maria di Rohan...

Member of Brambilla family

(b Cassano d’Adda, Oct 23, 1813; d Milan, July 15, 1895). Italian soprano, sister of Marietta Brambilla. She made her début in Milan in 1831 and sang throughout Italy with great success for 15 years. In 1846 she appeared in Paris as Abigaille in ...

[Teresina]

Member of Brambilla family

(b Cassano d’Adda, April 15, 1845; d Vercelli, July 1, 1921). Italian soprano, niece of Marietta Brambilla. She studied with her aunts Marietta and Teresa. She made her début in 1863 as Adalgisa at Odessa, afterwards singing in Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, St Petersburg and Italy. In ...

(Fr. voix de poitrine; Ger. Bruststimme; It. voce di petto)

A term that is used in two connections (leaving aside the anatomical conditions under which the chest voice functions): the lower part of the female vocal range and the upper part of the male. In both instances it applies to a certain type of voice production and its resulting sound, which is quite distinct from that of the head voice (voce di testa).

A male singer can extend his upward range by using the head voice or the Falsetto (opera) (opera), which may be strengthened and developed as a mixed tone so that the falsetto element is to a greater or lesser extent disguised. Alternatively he may use the chest voice, which produces the ringing high notes of the characteristic modern operatic voice. The tenor roles in operas by composers such as Bellini have high notes which are sometimes so frequent and beyond normal reach of the non-falsetto male voice that it seems likely that they would have been sung originally with the head voice. Tenors would not then have extended their chest voice much beyond ...

[choir](from Gk. chorosFr. choeurGer. ChorIt., Sp. coro)

A group of singers who perform together either in unison or, much more usually, in parts; also, by extension, a work, or movement in a work, written for performance by such an ensemble (e.g. the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus in Handel's Messiah). In the performance of part-music a distinction is generally observed between a group of soloists (one singer to each part) and a chorus or choir (more than one singer, usually several or many, for each part); this distinction is not, however, without its exceptions (e.g. the solo petit choeur of the 17th-century French grand motet). The designations ‘chorus’ and ‘choir’ are often used in conjunction with qualifying terms indicative of constitution or function (e.g. mixed choir, male voice choir, festival chorus, opera chorus). Moreover at various times and places certain types of chorus and choir have been generically designated by terms lacking the words ‘chorus’ and ‘choir’ (e.g. ...

See also Chorus (i)

During the last years of his life Handel’s oratorios were increasingly performed in the English provinces, generally in conformity with practices familiar in London. His death turned what had already become a cult almost into a religion. In 1759 there were many commemorative Handel performances, not only in London but also in Oxford, Cambridge and other large towns and in the small village of Church Langton, near Leicester, where there was a two-day festival. In the same year, at the Three Choirs Festival at Hereford, Messiah, which like the other oratorios had been previously performed only in secular buildings, was for the first time sung in a cathedral. Almost from the beginning of Handel’s career as an oratorio composer, the profits on performances of his works had helped sustain charities, and as the need for investment in hospitals became more urgent, so the cult of Handel, assisted by the editions of Randall and Arnold, grew even stronger during the remainder of the 18th century....

See also Chorus (i)

Organized choruses are known to have existed in several cultures of the ancient world. Two pre-Christian cultures, those of Greece and Palestine, fostered choral singing that was destined to have an influence on later developments in Western music.

In ancient Greece the chorus was a dancing as well as a singing ensemble. It consisted of one of four groupings – men, women, men and women together, or men and boys – and performed only monophonic music. It played a particularly important role in the drama of the Periclean Age – indeed, Greek drama evolved from religious and ceremonial performances of a chorus of masked dancers. Of the many types of choral dances performed by such choruses, the paean, first mentioned in the Iliad (c850 bce), was an invocation to Apollo in his capacity as god of healing; the partheneia, introduced about 650 bce, was for a women’s chorus composed of Spartan virgins; and the dithyramb, raised to the level of choral art music about ...

See also Chorus (i)

Two major trends – sometimes mutually contradictory, but nonetheless co-existent as the century drew to a close – marked the progess of choral development in the 20th century. On the one hand, there was the pursuit of a monolithic ideal in terms of choral organization and sonority. This tendency, which predominated during the first 60 or so years of the century, was challenged, mildly at first and more strongly from the 1960s, by a growing tendency towards differentiation: organizational, structural, functional, timbral and stylistic.

From very early in the century, the SATB chorus of mixed voices became the favoured medium. Female sopranos and altos were firmly entrenched in choruses large and small, sacred and secular. Choirs of men and boys continued to exist only in a few tradition-laden ecclesiastical and academic insitutions, primarily those of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. These all-male church choirs, as the century progressed, became exceptional even within the Anglican and Roman churches, and they were no longer in the forefront of choral development. Secular choruses, like those founded during the 19th century for oratorio singing, became increasingly important. Under the leadership of choral specialists such as the Englishman Henry Coward, these organizations pursued the ideal of ‘artistic choralism’, as it was called in Coward’s ...

See also Chorus (i)

The general enlargement of church and chapel choirs that had taken place during the Renaissance was not carried forward to any great extent during the period from 1600 to 1750. As in the previous period, unusually large choirs occasionally flourished as a result of favourable patronage: the French royal chapel in the second half of the 17th century, for example, consisted of about 60 singers, Louis XIV having doubled its former size in order to make it a sufficiently splendid representative of his opulent court. For the celebration of particularly important occasions, untypically large choral bodies were sometimes created either by combining two or more choirs or by enlarging a single choir through the temporary employment of additional singers. The choirs of the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey were customarily combined at English coronations, and on at least one occasion, the funeral of Handel in 1759...

See also Chorus (i)

With only a few exceptions, secular music continued throughout the Renaissance to be sung by soloists. At the courts and in the homes of aristocrats and prosperous merchants, madrigals, chansons and all other types of Renaissance secular music were performed for pleasure by amateurs, sometimes with the assistance, or perhaps under the leadership, of court or household professional musicians. Men and women were on an equal footing in performing these convivial pieces, and instruments were freely combined and interchanged with the voices; the social nature of the musical activity made it essential for all those present on any given occasion to contribute whatever vocal or instrumental talents they possessed. Although secular music of this period was generally sung and played by solo performers, there were some important occasions, such as festivities associated with court weddings, at which it was publicly performed by choruses consisting for the most part of professional musicians. In ...