Boy Sopranos

A boy soprano (British and especially North American English) or boy treble (only British English) is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range, a range that is often still called the treble voice range (in North America too) when talking about children.

Origins

In the Anglican and English Catholic liturgical traditions (in which girls and women did not sing in church choirs), young male choristers were normally referred to as "trebles" rather than as boy sopranos, but today the term "boy trebles" is increasingly common (girls with high voices are trebles too). The term "treble" derives from the Latin ', used in 13th and 14th century motets to indicate the third and highest range, which was sung above the tenor part (which carried the tune) and the alto part. Another term for that range is '. The term "treble" itself was first used in the 15th century. Trebles have an average range of A₃ to F₅ (220–700 Hz).

The term ''boy soprano'' originated with Dr Henry Stephen Cutler (1825–1902), choirmaster of the Cecilian Choir, New York, who used the term for both the choir members and soloists, who were church choristers, when giving concerts in public halls. The earliest use found can be traced to a choral festival at Irving Hall, New York, in May 1866.

Short-lived range

Most trebles have a comfortable range from the A below " middle C" (A₃, 220 Hz) to the F one and a half octaves above "middle C" (F₅, 700 Hz), roughly corresponding to an adult male baritone range, up one octave. Some writing demands higher notes; the Anglican church repertory, which many trained trebles to sing, frequently demands G₅ (784 Hz) and A₅ (880 Hz). Some trebles, however, can extend their voices higher in the modal register to " high C" (C₆, 1109 Hz). The high C is considered the defining note of the soprano voice type. For high notes see, for example, the treble solo at the beginning of Stanford's '' in G'', David Willcocks' descant to Mendelssohn's tune for the carol ''Hark, the Herald Angels Sing'', the even higher treble solo from Gregorio Allegri's ', and the treble part in the ' from Tippett's ''Evening Canticles'' written for St John's College, Cambridge. Many trebles are also able to reach higher notes by use of the whistle register but this practice is rarely called for and writing above high C is very rare in choral music of any kind.

As a boy approaches and begins to undergo puberty, the quality of his voice increasingly distinguishes itself from that typical of girls. The voice takes on a resonant masculine quality before its pitch drops, resulting in a liminal stage wherein the boy may sing in a high register with a unique timbre. This brief period of high vocal range and unique color forms much of the ground for the use of the boy soprano in both liturgical and secular music in the Western world and elsewhere. Occasionally boys whose voices have changed can continue to sing in the soprano range for a period of time. This stage ends as the boy's larynx continues to grow and, with the breaking of his voice, he becomes unable to sing the highest notes required by the pieces of music involved.

The voice of the boy is subject to the effects of the dropping of the larynx, also known as the breaking of the voice. The ultimate result of this profound change is that a new set of vocal ranges become available, for example bass, baritone, tenor, countertenor and sopranist.

It has been observed that boy sopranos in earlier times were, on average, somewhat older than in modern times. For example, Franz Joseph Haydn was considered to be an excellent boy soprano well into his teens and Ernest Lough was 15 when he first recorded his famous " Hear My Prayer" (on 5 April 1927), with his voice not getting deeper until sometime in 1929, when he was either 17 or 18 years old. However, for a male to sing soprano with an unchanged voice in his mid-to-late teens is currently fairly uncommon. In the developed world, puberty tends to begin at younger ages (most likely due to differences in diet, including greater availability of proteins and vitamins). It is also becoming more widely known that the style of singing and voice training within cathedrals has changed significantly in the past century, making it more difficult for boys to continue singing soprano much beyond the age of 13 or 14, with the raising of concert pitch being one factor.

Early breaking of boys' voices due to puberty becoming earlier in recent times is causing a serious problem for choirmasters.

On the other hand, some musicologists dispute that earlier onset of puberty occurs. They contend that there is no reliable evidence of any significant change in the age of boys' maturity over the past 500 years or even beyond that.

Notable boy sopranos

* Billie Joe Armstrong ( Green Day frontman) recorded a song titled "Look For Love" at the age of five. He is now a tenor.
* Peter Auty sang the original version of the Howard Blake song "Walking in the Air" for the 1982 animated film '' The Snowman''.
* Justin Bieber first became popular as a boy soprano with a "female" sounding voice."Justin Bieber and Other Famous Boy Sopranos". Itchy Fish. 17 August 2010. https://itchyfish.com/justin-bieber-and-other-famous-boy-sopranos/ In early 2011, his voice deepened from the high-pitched treble he had as a child to the lyric baritone voice that he currently has as an adult.
* Daniel Furlong won the third and final season of '' The All Ireland Talent Show'' and afterwards released an album called Voice of an Angel.
* Roy Goodman became famous as the 12-year old treble soloist in the March 1963 recording of Allegri's '' Miserere'' with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, under the direction of David Willcocks.
* David Hemmings started his career as a boy soprano for Benjamin Britten and is best known for originating the role of Miles in Britten's Opera ''The Turn of the Screw''.
* Michael Jackson rose to fame as a child alongside his brothers as a member of the Jackson 5. Between 1971 and 1975 his voice descended from boy soprano to dramatic tenor.
* Andrew Johnston became famous while singing on season 2 of ''Britain's Got Talent'' and afterwards releasing an album called One Voice. He is now a tenor / high baritone opera singer as a result of his voice getting deeper.
* Aled Jones, a world famous Welsh boy soprano, sang a cover version of "Walking in the Air" in 1985 for a Toys "R" Us commercial in spite of being mistaken for the original singer heard on the animated movie ''The Snowman''. He now sings in the baritone vocal range.
* Frankie Lymon became a famous singer when he recorded "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" with 1950s boy band The Teenagers and remained popular after 1957 as a solo artist. As he matured into adulthood by the 1960s, his voice changed to a deep tenor.
* Bruno Mars performed as an Elvis impersonator as a child. He is now a lyric tenor.
* Jean-Baptiste Maunier starred as Pierre Morhange and sang in the 2004 French film ''Les Choristes'', which is also known as '' The Chorus''.
* Joseph McManners first became known when he played in a local production of the Lionel Bart musical '' Oliver!'' as the title character. He then won the BBC competition to portray the title character in Rachel Portman

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