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) |
Read more about this topic: Italian Musical Terms Used In English
Famous quotes containing the word voices:
“We love to hear some men speak, though we hear not what they say; the very air they breathe is rich and perfumed, and the sound of their voices falls on the ear like the rustling of leaves or the crackling of the fire. They stand many deep.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There are these sudden mobs of men,
These sudden clouds of faces and arms,
An immense suppression, freed,
These voices crying without knowing for what,
Except to be happy, without knowing how,
Imposing forms they cannot describe,
Requiring order beyond their speech.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The frequent failure of men to cultivate their capacity for listening has a profound impact on their capacity for parenting, for it is mothers more than fathers who are most likely to still their own voices so they may hear and draw out the voices of their children.”
—Mary Field Belenky (20th century)