Boy soprano
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A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily be choristers who sing in a boys' choir.
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[edit] Origins
In the liturgical Anglican and English Catholic traditions, young choristers are normally referred to as trebles, rather than boy sopranos. The term "treble" derives from the Latin triplum, used in 13th century motets to indicate the third and highest range. Trebles have an average range of C4-A5.
The use of trebles (and falsettos) in Christian liturgical music can be traced back to pre-Christian times. Boys were called upon to sing chants at Jewish religious services.[citation needed] Saint Paul's dictum that "women should be silent in churches" (mulieres in ecclesiis taceant) resonated with this largely patriarchal tradition; the development of vocal polyphony from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and Baroque thus took place largely, though not exclusively, in the context of the all-male choir, in which all voice parts were sung by men and boys.
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 is traced to a Choral Festival at Irving Hall, New York, in May 1866.[1]
The recent emergence of liturgical choirs including girls has led in these traditions to both a more inclusive definition of treble that includes the higher voices of children of either gender and to the qualified expression "girl treble," though such usage has met with opposition.
[edit] Short-lived range
Most trebles have an approximate range from the A below "middle C" (A3) to the F one and a half octaves above "middle C" (F5). This ability may be comparatively rare, but the Anglican church repertory, which many trained trebles sing, frequently demands G5 and even "high A" (A5).[2] Some trebles, however, can extend their voices higher in the modal register to "high C" (C6). The high C is considered the defining note of the soprano voice type. (For higher notes see, for example, the treble solo at the beginning of Stanford's Magnificat in G, David Willcocks' descant to Mendelssohn's tune for the carol Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, and the even higher treble solo in the Nunc Dimittis 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 in performance.[3]
As a boy approaches and begins to undergo puberty, the quality of his voice increasingly distinguishes itself from that typical of girls. Before and as the voice drops, a uniquely rich tone develops. 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.
While the girl's voice tends to develop gradually into the richness of the adult female voice, 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 (see bass, baritone, tenor, contralto, sopranista; see also castrato).
It has been observed that boy sopranos in earlier times were, on average, somewhat older than in modern times. For example, Johann Sebastian Bach was considered to be an outstanding boy soprano until halfway through his sixteenth year, and Ernest Lough was 16 when he recorded his famous "Hear My Prayer", but for a male to sing soprano with an unchanged voice at that age 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.
The fact that boys are no longer trained to sing in the head voice is a significant factor in the demise of the older boy soprano. In times past it was common for boys to sing soprano well beyond the changes at puberty and it was common (and entirely correct) to refer to a choirboy's voice as 'breaking' as the singing voice had been preserved by methods now generally lost.
[edit] Famous boy sopranos
- Peter Auty sang "Walking in the Air" in the animated film The Snowman and is now a tenor.
- David Hemmings started his career as a boy soprano for Benjamin Britten and, most notably, originated the part of Miles in Britten's opera, "The Turn of the Screw".
- Andrew Johnston rose to fame after his participation in the second series of Britain's Got Talent.
- Aled Jones was a world famous Welsh boy soprano who is now famous again as a baritone.
- Ernest Lough sold millions with his rendition of "O for the Wings of a Dove" in 1927, recorded when he was 16.
- Jean-Baptiste Maunier starred and sang in the French film Les Choristes.
- Joseph McManners is famous for his renditions of "Bright Eyes", "Circle of Life" and "In Dreams".
- Paul Miles-Kingston sang in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem with Sarah Brightman
- Paul Phoenix sang the theme to the BBC's “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” as a chorister of St Paul's Cathedral, and is now one of the King's Singers.
- Anthony Way starred and sang in the hit mini-series The Choir, which was based on a novel of the same name by Joanna Trollope.
- Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones sang as a boy soprano for Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey.
- James Westman was the first boy to perform and record Gustav Mahlers' 4th symphony. He was a member of the American Boychoir, Vienna Boys Choir and Paris Boyschoir. He recorded a solo album titled 'Jamie Westman-Treble'
- Michael Jackson released his first solo single Got to Be There in 1971, at the age of 13. As he entered his adult years, his voice descended from boy soprano to high tenor, which was the voice type he had by the time of his death.
- Frankie Lymon was a famous treble singer from the time he recorded Why Do Fools Fall In Love with 50s boy band quintet "The Teenagers" and into his solo years after 1957. By the mid-60s his voice became a deep tenor or light baritone as he matured into adulthood.
[edit] Popular treble solos
- "Hear My Prayer" by Felix Mendelssohn (containing the famous passage "O for the Wings of a Dove")
- "Miserere mei, Deus" by Gregorio Allegri
- "Once in Royal David's City", where the first verse is often sung as a treble solo
- "Pie Jesu" by Gabriel Fauré from his Requiem
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The Boy Choir & Soloist Directory - Featured Boy Sopranos and Trebles". http://www.boysoloist.com/boysoprano.asp?VID=170. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
- ^ PowerPoint Presentation
- ^ McKinney, James (1994). The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Genovex Music Group. ISBN 978-1565939400.
