Tenor
This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. For other meanings see Tenor (disambiguation).In music, a
tenor is a male
singer with a high voice (although not as high as the modern
countertenor). In four part chorale-style harmony, it is the second lowest voice, above the
bass and below the
soprano and
alto. A typical
operatic tenor will have a range extending from the C below
middle C to the C above middle C (C3-C5), though, in choral music, tenors are rarely asked to sing above Bb4, except in solos. In a mixed-gender choir, females may also sing as tenors.
Generally, the tenor roles are parallel to the soprano roles, in that they are usually the most sympathetic male roles; they play the hero, the lover, etc but there are the occasional villains (the Duke of Mantua in
Rigoletto; Lt. Pinkerton and Goro in
Madame Butterfly). A tenor is classified by several vocal traits, including range, tone quality, vocal lift points, and transition points within the singer's range.
The name "tenor" comes 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; later it was applied not only to singers, but also instrumental parts occupying approximately the same register, such as the Tenor violin.
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.
Also a literary term referring to part of a sentence.
In
opera, distinctions are made between different types of tenor:
*
Tenore drammatico,
di forza or
robusto: a powerful, rich, heroic tenor
**Calaf (
Turandot)
**Otello (
Otello)
**Radamés (
Aida)
**Rodolfo (
Luisa Miller)
**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)
**Erik (
Der fliegende Holländer)
**Florestan (
Fidelio)
**Heinrich Tannhäuser (
Tannhäuser)
**Loge (
Das Rheingold)
**Lohengrin (
Lohengrin)
**Parsifal (
Parsifal)
**Paul (
Die Tote Stadt)
**Siegfried (
Götterdämmerung,
Siegfried)
**Siegmund (
Die Walküre)
**Walter von Stolzing (
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
**Tristan (
Tristan und Isolde)
*
Tenore leggero: a light, flexible tenor, specializing in the Mozartean repertoire, but also in the operas of 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 relatively weak voice with certain limitations, with a timbre that is not entirely appealing. 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)
*
Tenore lirico or
di grazia: a lightweight, graceful, lyric 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: 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)
**Canio (
Pagliacci)
**Don Carlos (
Don Carlos)
**Don José (
Carmen)
**Ernani (
Ernani)
**Foresto (
Attila)
**Manrico (
Il trovatore)
**Mario Cavaradossi (
Tosca)
**Maurizio (
Adriana Lecouvreur)
**Max (
Der Freischütz)
**Riccardo (
Un Ballo in Maschera)
**Turiddu (
Cavalleria Rusticana)
*
Trial: a high, thin, nasal tenor, used for character roles. Named after Antoine Trial (
1736-
1792), a singer at the
Opéra Comique.
*
Baritenor, a lyric dark tenor, or one with a strong baritonic lower register, but tops out only a A or B above middle C.
*Alex Dillingham (
Aspects of Love) (Has been played successfully by baritones)
*Alfred (
Tanz der Vampire)
*Angel Dumott-Schunard (
Rent)
*Anthony Hope (
Sweeney Todd)
*Adolfo Pirelli (
Sweeney Todd)
*Amos Hart (
Chicago)
*Archibald Craven (
The Secret Garden (musical))
*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) (Must also have a strong lower and middle register.)
*Chip (
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
*The Duke of Dunstable (
Patience (operetta))
*The Emcee (
Cabaret)
*Enjolras (
Les Miserables) (Can also be played effectively by a
baritone.)
*Fiyero (
Wicked)
*Freddy Eynsford-Hill (
My Fair Lady)
*Frederic (
The Pirates of Penzance)
*Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde (
Jekyll & Hyde)
*Hero (
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)
*Herr Schultz (
Cabaret)
*Imam (
Kismet)
*Jean Valjean (
Les Miserables)
*Jesus (
Jesus Christ Superstar)
*Joseph (
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) (However, some
baritones have played the role.)
*Judas Iscariot (
Jesus Christ Superstar)
*Kenickie (
Grease (musical))
*Leader (
Lost in the Stars)
*Lestat (
Lestat)
*Lt. Cable (
South Pacific)
*Lord Tolloller (
Iolanthe)
*Marcellus Washburn (
The Music Man)
*Marius (
Les Miserables) (Can also be played just as effectively by a baritone.)
*Mark Cohen (
Rent (musical)) Can also be performed by a strong baritone.
*Marryin' Sam (
Li'l Abner)
*Mother's Younger Brother (
Ragtime)
*Mr. Snow (
Carousel)
*Nanki-Poo (
The Mikado)
*Nicely-Nicely Johnson (
Guys and Dolls)
*Nicky/Trekkie Monster/Bad Idea Bear (
Avenue Q)
*The Phantom (Erik) (
The Phantom of the Opera), although
baritones have also sung the part.
*Pompineau (
The Cat and the Fiddle)
*Professor Abronsius (
Tanz der Vampire)
*Radames (
Aida (musical))
*Ralph Rackstraw (
H.M.S. Pinafore)
*Raoul de Chagny (
The Phantom of the Opera) Can also be performed effectively by baritones.
*Riff Raff (
The Rocky Horror Show)
*Roger Davis(
Rent)
*Sam Kaplan (
Street Scene)
*Seymour Krelborn (
Little Shop of Horrors)
*Simba (
The Lion King)
*Dr. Thomas Parker (
Bat Boy:The Musical)
*Tobias Ragg (
Sweeney Todd)
*Tony (
West Side Story) Can also be performed effecively by baritones.
*Tony Brockhurst (
The Boy Friend)
*Tateh (
Ragtime)
*The Wizard (
Wicked) Can also be performed by baritones.
David Fallows, Owen Jander. "Tenor", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy, grovemusic.com (subscription access).
*
List of famous tenors*
countertenor*
baritone*
timbre
