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62-657: There are six choirs, within the organisation, catering for different ages and voice ranges: These groups replace the former Junior (7-9 Years), Intermediate (9-11 years) and Performing choirs (11-21 years.) The Performing choir was the main group which would perform at all of the major events and concerts the choir was asked to sing at, as well as the group that would tour. The Junior and Intermediate choirs were more aimed at being development groups, occasionally performing at much smaller events such as local church concerts or as entertainment at nursing homes. Nowadays, all groups get equal opportunity to perform. The Artistic Director of

124-435: A soprano , mezzo-soprano , or contralto . The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity . Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents the larynx from being transformed by the normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in

186-490: A Western context, eunuch singers are known to have existed from the early Byzantine Empire . In Constantinople around 400 AD, the empress Aelia Eudoxia had a eunuch choir-master, Brison, who may have established the use of castrati in Byzantine choirs, though whether Brison himself was a singer and whether he had colleagues who were eunuch singers is not certain. By the 9th century, eunuch singers were well-known (most in

248-431: A castrato's body grew, his lack of testosterone meant that his epiphyses (bone-joints) did not harden in the normal manner. Thus, the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did their ribs . This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivaled lung power and breath capacity. Operating through small, child-sized vocal cords , their voices were also extraordinarily flexible, and quite different from

310-408: A coloratura mezzo-soprano. Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career. A soubrette's range extends approximately from Middle C (C 4 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano. The lyric soprano is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre, which can be heard over a big orchestra. It generally has

372-427: A flexibility and power no woman or ordinary male singer could match. Many castrati came from poor homes and were castrated by their parents in the hope that their child might be successful and lift them from poverty (this was the case with Senesino ). There are, though, records of some young boys asking to be operated on to preserve their voices (e.g. Caffarelli , who was from a wealthy family: his grandmother gave him

434-456: A full spinto or dramatic soprano. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately "low B" (B 3 ) to "high F" (F 6 ) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a voice type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and with no extensive coloratura. The soubrette voice

496-428: A great amount of scurrilous and unkind abuse, and as their fame increased, so did the hatred of them. They were often castigated as malign creatures who lured men into homosexuality. There were homosexual castrati, as Casanova 's accounts of 18th-century Italy bear witness. He mentions meeting an abbé whom he took for a girl in disguise, only later discovering that "she" was a famous castrato. In Rome in 1762 he attended

558-400: A higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingénues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C 4 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). The lyric soprano may be a light lyric soprano or a full lyric soprano. The light lyric soprano has a bigger voice than a soubrette but still possesses a youthful quality. The full lyric soprano has

620-491: A history going back to the ancient Near East. Stereotypically, eunuchs served as harem guards, but they were also valued as high-level political appointees since they could not start a dynasty which would threaten the ruler. Castrati first appeared in Italy in the mid-16th century, though at first the terms describing them were not always clear. The phrase soprano maschio (male soprano), which could also mean falsettist, occurs in

682-594: A low note in a song within a soprano role. Low notes can be reached with a lowered position of the larynx . The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is "soprano C" (C 6 two octaves above middle C), and many roles in the standard repertoire call for C ♯ 6 or D 6 . A couple of roles have optional E ♭ 6 s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire, several roles call for E ♭ 6 on up to F 6 . In rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G 6 or G ♯ 6 , such as Mozart's concert aria " Popoli di Tessaglia! ", or

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744-628: A moderately skillful falsettist and professional double bass player. A male can retain his child voice if it never changes during puberty. The retained voice can be the treble voice shared by both sexes in childhood and is the same as a boy soprano voice. But as evidence shows, many castrati, such as Senesino and Caffarelli, were actually altos (mezzo-soprano) – not sopranos. So-called "natural" or "endocrinological castrati" are born with hormonal anomalies, such as Klinefelter's syndrome and Kallmann's syndrome , or have undergone unusual physical or medical events during their early lives that reproduce

806-436: A more mature sound than a light-lyric soprano and can be heard over a bigger orchestra. Also lirico- spinto , Italian for "pushed lyric", the spinto soprano has the brightness and height of a lyric soprano, but can be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes without strain, and may have a somewhat darker timbre. Spinto sopranos have a range from approximately B (B 3 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). A dramatic soprano (or soprano robusto ) has

868-628: A much higher range than most countertenors . Examples are Aris Christofellis , Jörg Waschinski, and Ghio Nannini. However, it is believed the castrati possessed more of a tenorial chest register (the aria "Navigante che non spera" in Leonardo Vinci 's opera Il Medo , written for Farinelli , requires notes down to C 3 , 131 Hz). Similar low-voiced singing can be heard from the jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott, whose range matches approximately that used by female blues singers. High-pitched singer Jordan Smith has demonstrated having more of

930-437: A performance at which the prima donna was a castrato, "the favourite pathic " of Cardinal Borghese , who dined every evening with his protector. From his behaviour on stage "it was obvious that he hoped to inspire the love of those who liked him as a man, and probably would not have done so as a woman". By the late 18th century, changes in operatic taste and social attitudes spelled the end for castrati. They lingered on past

992-499: A person is classified through the identification of several vocal traits, including range, vocal timbre , vocal weight , vocal tessitura , vocal resonance , and vocal transition points (lifts or " passaggio ") within the singer's voice. These different traits are used to identify different sub-types within the voice. Within opera , particular roles are written with specific kinds of soprano voices in mind, causing certain roles to be associated with certain kinds of voices . Within

1054-487: A powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra. Usually (but not always) this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately A (A 3 ) to "high C" (C 6 ). Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have a very big voice that can assert itself over an exceptionally large orchestra (over eighty pieces). These voices are substantial and very powerful and ideally even throughout

1116-464: A tenorial chest register. Actor Chris Colfer has stated in interviews that when his voice began to change at puberty, he sang in a high voice "constantly" in an effort to retain his range. Actor and singer Alex Newell has soprano range. Voice actor Walter Tetley may or may not have been a castrato ; Bill Scott , a co-worker of Tetley's during their later work in television, once half-jokingly quipped that Tetley's mother "had him fixed" to protect

1178-415: A unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century. Methods of castration used to terminate the onset of puberty varied. Methods involved using opium to medically induce a coma, then submerging the boy into an ice or milk bath where the procedure of either twisting the testicles until they atrophied, or complete removal via surgical cutting was performed (however

1240-473: Is a rare term but probably does equate to castrato . The Cardinal's nephew, Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara , was another early enthusiast, inquiring about castrati in 1556. There were certainly castrati in the Sistine Chapel choir in 1558, although not described as such: on 27 April of that year, Hernando Bustamante, a Spaniard from Palencia , was admitted (the first castrati so termed who joined

1302-403: Is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types . The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation ) is from approximately middle C (C 4 ) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A 5 ) = 880 Hz in choral music , or to "soprano C" (C 6 , two octaves above middle C) = 1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony,

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1364-646: Is also notable for being one of the few vocal ensembles in the ACT specifically for younger boys. The Woden Valley Youth Choir began in February 1969 when conductor, Don Whitbread , and his pianist wife, Barbara, soon after they moved to Canberra, issued an invitation to local children. Beginning with twenty-two singers, the Choir grew to a regular membership of 70. Memorable performances have included: In 1996, Don Whitbread AOM retired as president and musical director of

1426-481: Is desirable to employ the high voices of sopranos and contraltos, these parts must be taken by boys, according to the most ancient usage of the Church." The last Sistine castrato to survive was Alessandro Moreschi , the only castrato to have made solo recordings. While an interesting historical record, these discs of his give us only a glimpse of the castrato voice, although he had been renowned as "The Angel of Rome" at

1488-424: Is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre. Many young singers start out as soubrettes, but, as they grow older and the voice matures more physically, they may be reclassified as another voice type, usually either a light lyric soprano, a lyric coloratura soprano, or

1550-422: Is roughly A 3 or B ♭ 3 (just below middle C). Within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F 3 (from Richard Strauss 's Die Frau ohne Schatten ). Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, and tend to "count less" in roles (although some Verdi, Strauss and Wagner roles call for stronger singing below the staff ). However, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing

1612-480: Is the term for a male countertenor able to sing in the soprano vocal range, while a castrato is the term for a castrated male singer, typical of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and a treble is a boy soprano , whether they finished puberty or are still a child, as long as they are still able to sing in that range. The term "soprano" is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, referred to

1674-422: Is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume , and most comfort. In SATB four-part mixed chorus, the soprano is the highest vocal range, above the alto , tenor , and bass . Sopranos commonly sing in the tessitura G4-A5. When the composer calls for divisi, sopranos can be separated into Soprano I (highest part) and Soprano II (lower soprano part). In contrast to choral singing, in classical solo singing

1736-519: The Direttore Perpetuo , the fine soprano castrato Domenico Mustafà . In 1902 a ruling was extracted from Pope Leo that no further castrati should be admitted. The official end to the castrati came on St. Cecilia's Day, 22 November 1903, when the new pope, Pius X, issued his motu proprio , Tra le Sollecitudini ("Amongst the Cares"), which contained this instruction: "Whenever ... it

1798-668: The Due Dialoghi della Musica (Two dialogues upon music) of Luigi Dentice , an Oratorian priest, published in Rome in 1553. On 9 November 1555 Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (famed as the builder of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli), wrote to Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (1538–1587), that he has heard that the Duke was interested in his cantoretti (little singers) and offered to send him two, so that he could choose one for his own service. This

1860-493: The Kapellmeister (music director) was the famous Orlando di Lasso . In 1589, by the bull Cum pro nostro pastorali munere , Pope Sixtus V re-organised the choir of St Peter's, Rome specifically to include castrati. Thus the castrati came to supplant both boys (whose voices broke after only a few years) and falsettists (whose voices were weaker and less reliable) from the top line in such choirs. Women were banned by

1922-487: The carotid artery in the neck (intended to render them unconscious during the castration procedure). The geographical locations of where these procedures took place is not known specifically. During the 18th century, the music historian Charles Burney was sent from pillar to post in search of places where the operation was carried out: I enquired throughout Italy at what place boys were chiefly qualified for singing by castration, but could get no certain intelligence. I

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1984-687: The Doll Aria, "Les oiseaux dans la charmille", from The Tales of Hoffmann , e.g. by Rachele Gilmore in a 2009 performance, and a written A ♮ 6 by Audrey Luna in 2017 in The Exterminating Angel , both at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The dramatic coloratura soprano is a coloratura soprano with great flexibility in high-lying velocity passages, yet with great sustaining power comparable to that of

2046-799: The Haymarket. What a Pipe! What Modulation! What Extasy to the Ear! But, Heavens! What Clumsiness! What Stupidity! What Offence to the Eye! Reader, if of the City, thou mayest probably have seen in the Fields of Islington or Mile-End or, If thou art in the environs of St James', thou must have observed in the Park with what Ease and Agility a cow, heavy with calf, has rose up at the command of the Milk-woman's foot: thus from

2108-652: The Pauline dictum mulieres in ecclesiis taceant ("let women keep silent in the churches"; see I Corinthians, ch. 14, v. 34). The Italian castrati were often rumored to have unusually long lives, but a 1993 study found that their lifespans were average. Although the castrato (or musico) predates opera, there is some evidence that castrati had parts in the earliest operas. In the first performance of Monteverdi 's Orfeo (1607), for example, they played subsidiary roles, including Speranza and (possibly) that of Euridice. Although female roles were performed by castrati in some of

2170-695: The Sistine choir were Pietro Paolo Folignato and Girolamo Rossini, admitted in 1599). Surprisingly, considering the later French distaste for castrati, they certainly existed in France at this time also, being known of in Paris, Orléans , Picardy and Normandy , though they were not abundant: the King of France himself had difficulty in obtaining them. By 1574, there were castrati in the Ducal court chapel at Munich , where

2232-541: The beginning of his career, some would say he was past his prime when the recordings were made in 1902 and 1904 and he never attempted to sing opera. Domenico Salvatori , a castrato who was contemporary with Moreschi, made some ensemble recordings with him but has no surviving solo recordings. The recording technology of the day was not of modern high quality. Salvatori died in 1909; Moreschi retired officially in March 1913, and died in 1922. The Catholic Church's involvement in

2294-464: The castrato phenomenon has long been controversial, and there have recently been calls for it to issue an official apology for its role. As early as 1748, Pope Benedict XIV tried to ban castrati from churches, but such was their popularity at the time that he realised that doing so might result in a drastic decline in church attendance. The rumours of another castrato sequestered in the Vatican for

2356-399: The choir and conductor of Australis Voices is local musician and composer Olivia Swift, who along with WVYC conducts many choirs throughout Canberra, including Kompactus Youth Choir and CHOIR Canberra. Jade McFaul (Leonis), and Lucus Allerton (Centauri) are also conductors for the choir. Previous conductors have included Lucy Bermingham, Rachel Campbell, Veronica Moore and Sally McRae. One of

2418-645: The choir of Hagia Sophia ) and remained so until the sack of Constantinople by the Western forces of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Their fate from then until their reappearance in Italy more than three hundred years later is not clear. It seems likely that the Spanish tradition of soprano falsettists may have hidden castrati. Much of Spain was under Muslim rulers during the Middle Ages, and castration had

2480-417: The choir's biggest changes is the introduction of a group for young men, as previously, boys whose voices were transitioning from soprano and alto to tenor and bass were notably excluded and asked to leave the choir. The choir's third artistic director Kimberley Steele, who set up the group, described the group as a "safe space to sing together" as "A lot of choirs are just treble choirs." Centauri Voices

2542-464: The choir's third Artistic Director on 1 January 2017. In August 2018, Olivia Swift became Artistic Director. In 2019 Woden Valley Youth Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary. The choir has had many pieces commissioned for them, some of which have become famous Australian choral works. Some of the commissioned pieces include: The Choir can be heard on: Other albums: Soprano A soprano ( Italian pronunciation: [soˈpraːno] )

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2604-645: The choir. He was named Canberran of the Year for 1996. In 2009, the choir celebrated its 40th anniversary with a concert at Llewellyn Hall including alumni and featuring two world premiers-Paul Jarman's 'Source of Life' and 'Fortyssimo' by Michelle Leonard and Sally Whitwell. In 2010, the choir toured South Korea, hosted by the World Vision Korean Children's Choir. At the end of 2016, Alpha Gregory stood down as Artistic Director after 20 years. Local musician and conductor, Kimberley Steele, became

2666-472: The complete removal of the testicles was not a popularly used technique). The procedure was usually done to boys around the age of 8–10; recovery time from the procedure took around two weeks. The means by which future singers were prepared could lead to premature death. To prevent the child from experiencing the intense pain of castration, many were inadvertently administered lethal doses of opium or some other narcotic, or were killed by overlong compression of

2728-513: The end of the ancien régime , which their style of opera parallels, and two of their number, Pacchierotti and Crescentini , performed before Napoleon. The last great operatic castrato was Giovanni Battista Velluti (1781–1861), who performed the last operatic castrato role ever written: Armando in Il crociato in Egitto by Meyerbeer (Venice, 1824). Soon after this they were replaced definitively as

2790-419: The equivalent adult female voice. Their vocal range was higher than that of the uncastrated adult male. Listening to the only surviving recordings of a castrato (see below), one can hear that the lower part of the voice sounds like a "super-high" tenor, with a more falsetto -like upper register above that. Castrati were rarely referred to as such: in the 18th century, the euphemism musico ( pl. : musici )

2852-504: The first men of the operatic stage by a new breed of heroic tenor, as first incarnated by the Frenchman Gilbert-Louis Duprez , the earliest so-called "king of the high Cs". His successors have included such singers as Enrico Tamberlik , Jean de Reszke , Francesco Tamagno , Enrico Caruso , Giovanni Martinelli , Beniamino Gigli , Jussi Björling , Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti , among others. After

2914-399: The first operatic superstars, earning enormous fees and hysterical public adulation. The strictly hierarchical organisation of opera seria favoured their high voices as symbols of heroic virtue, though they were frequently mocked for their strange appearance and bad acting. In his 1755 Reflections upon theatrical expression in tragedy , Roger Pickering wrote: Farinelli drew every Body to

2976-423: The highest pitch vocal range of all human voice types. The word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types , with the highest tessitura . A soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos

3038-554: The income from two vineyards to pay for his studies ). Caffarelli was also typical of many castrati in being famous for tantrums on and off-stage, and for amorous adventures with noble ladies. Some, as described by Casanova, preferred gentlemen (noble or otherwise). According to John Rosselli , the total number of castrati alive at any given time during the height of their existence cannot be ascertained. He estimates that "several hundred" of them existed at any given time between 1630 and 1750. Approximately 100 existed in Rome in 1694, but

3100-662: The mossy bank sprang the DIVINE FARINELLI. The training of the boys was rigorous. The regimen of one singing school in Rome (c. 1700) consisted of one hour of singing difficult and awkward pieces, one hour practising trills, one hour practising ornamented passaggi, one hour of singing exercises in their teacher's presence and in front of a mirror so as to avoid unnecessary movement of the body or facial grimaces, and one hour of literary study; all this, moreover, before lunch. After, half an hour would be devoted to musical theory, another to writing counterpoint, an hour copying down

3162-446: The papal states, this was increasingly rare; by 1680, they had supplanted normal male voices in lead roles, and retained their position as primo uomo for about a hundred years; an Italian opera not featuring at least one renowned castrato in a lead part would be doomed to fail. Because of the popularity of Italian opera throughout 18th-century Europe (except France), singers such as Ferri, Farinelli , Senesino and Pacchierotti became

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3224-520: The personal delectation of the Pontiff until as recently as 1959 have been proven false. The singer in question was a pupil of Moreschi's, Domenico Mancini, such a successful imitator of his teacher's voice that even Lorenzo Perosi , Direttore Perpetuo of the Sistine Choir from 1898 to 1956 and a strenuous opponent of the practice of castrato singers, thought he was a castrato. Mancini was in fact

3286-423: The possibility that was a decline from earlier in the century cannot be ruled out. Only a small percentage of boys castrated to preserve their voices had successful careers on the operatic stage; the better "also-rans" sang in cathedral or church choirs, but because of their marked appearance and the ban on their marrying, there was little room for them in society outside a musical context. The castrati came in for

3348-541: The registers. Two other types of soprano are the Dugazon and the Falcon , which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo-soprano: a Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico. Castrato A castrato (Italian; pl. : castrati ) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain singing voice equivalent to that of

3410-408: The same from dictation, and another hour of literary study. During the remainder of the day, the young castrati had to find time to practice their harpsichord playing, and to compose vocal music, either sacred or secular depending on their inclination. This demanding schedule meant that, if sufficiently talented, they were able to make a debut in their mid-teens with a perfect technique and a voice of

3472-523: The soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody . The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura , soubrette , lyric , spinto , and dramatic soprano. The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word sopra (above, over, on top of), as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. "Soprano" refers mainly to women, but it can also be applied to men; " sopranist "

3534-584: The soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories: coloratura soprano , soubrette , lyric soprano , spinto soprano , and dramatic soprano . The coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura. Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C (C 4 ) to "high F" ( in alt ) (F 6 ) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat lower or higher, e.g. an interpolated A ♭ 6 in

3596-468: The title role of Jules Massenet 's opera Esclarmonde . While not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura , vocal weight , and timbre of voices, and the roles they sing, are commonly categorized into voice types, often called Fächer ( sg. Fach , from German Fach or Stimmfach , "vocal category"). A singer's tessitura

3658-583: The unification of Italy in 1861, "eviration" was officially made illegal, as the new Italian state had adopted the previous penal code of the Kingdom of Sardinia , which expressly forbade the practice. In 1878, Pope Leo XIII prohibited the hiring of new castrati by the church: only in the Sistine Chapel and in other papal basilicas in Rome did a few castrati linger. A group photo of the Sistine Choir taken in 1898 shows that by then only six remained, plus

3720-484: The vocal effects of castration without being castrated. Jimmy Scott , Radu Marian and Javier Medina are examples of this type of high male voice via endocrinological conditions. Michael Maniaci is somewhat different, in that he has no hormonal or other anomalies, but claims that his voice did not "break" in the usual manner, leaving him still able to sing in the soprano register. Other uncastrated male adults sing soprano, generally using some form of falsetto but in

3782-429: Was much more generally used, although it usually carried derogatory implications; another synonym was evirato , literally meaning "emasculated". Eunuch is a more general term since, historically, many eunuchs were castrated after puberty and thus the castration had no effect on their voices. Castration as a means of subjugation, enslavement or other punishment has a very long history, dating back to ancient Sumer . In

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3844-489: Was told at Milan that it was at Venice ; at Venice that it was at Bologna ; but at Bologna the fact was denied, and I was referred to Florence ; from Florence to Rome, and from Rome I was sent to Naples  ... it is said that there are shops in Naples with this inscription: 'QUI SI CASTRANO RAGAZZI' ("Here boys are castrated"); but I was utterly unable to see or hear of any such shops during my residence in that city. As

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