Tenor

Classical male singing voice The tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest-voice type. Composers typically write music for the tenor in the range from the second B below middle C, to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music – and from the second B-flat below middle C, to the C above middle C (B♭2 to C5) in operatic music – but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of the tenor include the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor and tenor buffo (also known as the spieltenor). History The term tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means 'to hold'. Tenor came into use, at first, to denote the role of the critical male voice in the structure of a polyphonic vocal work. 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 16th-century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the lowest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was in the 18th century that tenor came to signi