Italian Musical Terms Used in English - Voices

Voices

Soprano upper The highest vocal line
Mezzo-soprano middle-upper Between soprano and alto
Alto high Second-highest vocal line
Contralto against high Alto, esp. a female alto
Basso low Or "bass;" the lowest vocal line
Basso profondo deep and low A very deep bass voice
Castrato castrated A male singer, castrated so as to be able to sing soprano (now sung by women, conventional countertenors, or sopranisti)

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Famous quotes containing the word voices:

    And yet the sun pardons our voices still,
    And berries in the hedge
    Through all the nights of rain have come to the full,
    And death seems like long hills, a range
    We ride each day towards, and never reach.
    Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions. But there is also, it seems to me, a moment at which democracy must prove its capacity to act. Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal chords.
    Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)

    O, let us have him, for his silver hairs
    Will purchase us a good opinion,
    And buy men’s voices to commend our deeds.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)