The haute-contre (plural hautes-contre) was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classicalopera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century.
This voice was predominantly used in male solo roles, typically heroic and amatory ones, but also in comic parts, even en travesti (see apropos the portrait reproduced below and representing Pierre Jélyotte made up for the female title role of Rameau's Platée). Lully wrote 8 out of 14 leading male roles for the voice; Charpentier, who was an haute-contre himself, composed extensively for the voice-part, as did Rameau and, later, Gluck.
The leading hautes-contre of the Académie Royale de Musique that created the main roles of Lully's operas, at the end of the seventeenth century, were Bernard Clédière (who started off as a taille, a lower Tenor voice type) and Louis Gaulard Dumesny. Notable hautes-contre of the eighteenth century's first half included firstly Jacques Cochereau, Louis/Claude Murayre and Denis-François Tribou, who revived Lully style and operas in the twenties and in the thirties,[1] then the mentioned Pierre Jélyotte and his substitutes, François Poirier et Jean-Paul Spesoller de Latour [it], all of whom sang Rameau's operas and Lully's revivals for the Académie Royale de Musique, and finally Marc-François Bêche, who was engaged mainly in performances at court.[2] After these came Joseph Legros, for whom Gluck wrote his main haute-contre roles, which included the title role in the 1774 version of Orphée et Eurydice, and Achilles in Iphigénie en Aulide. There is also an extensive repertoire of music for this voice in French airs de cour and in French solo cantatas of the Baroque period; hautes-contre sang in choirs as well, taking the part above the taille.
The nature of the haute-contre voice has been the subject of much debate. Historically, English writers have translated the term as "countertenor" which is not particularly helpful since the meaning of that latter term has also been the subject of considerable musicological controversy; both terms are ultimately derived from the Latin contratenor (see countertenor). It is now generally accepted that the hautes-contre sang in what voice scientists term "modal" (i.e. "speaking" voice), perhaps using falsetto for their highest notes. A typical solo range for this voice was C3 to D5 considering that French eighteenth-century pitch was as much as a whole tone lower than that of today.[2] Though this high-pitched range might lead one to think of the haute-contre as a light voice, historical evidence does not bear this out: Jélyotte was much praised for the strength of his high register,[3] the astronomer and traveller Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande commenting that "one takes more pleasure in hearing a large voice than a small one." Lalande stated that Jélyotte's range was identical to that of the famous tenor Angelo Amorevoli. He also remarked that "all those who succeeded Legros had to shout to arrive at the tones of an haute-contre, except for Rousseau [it], but he had the smallest sound."[4]
The haute-contre is regarded by some authorities as similar to, or indeed identical with, the voice-type described in Italian as tenore contraltino. Although not unknown at an earlier date (for example the title-role in Mozart's Mitridate), roles for this voice were particularly numerous at the beginning of the nineteenth century: for example Lindoro in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri or Rodrigo in Otello. Rossini also wrote roles in French for this type of voice, which may thus be regarded as a direct continuation of the earlier haute-contre tradition. These include the protagonist of Le Comte Ory, Néocles in Le siège de Corinthe and Arnold in Guillaume Tell, all of which were written for the great French tenor Adolphe Nourrit.
Modern performancesEdit
Recently, with a revival of interest in and the performance of French baroque repertoire, several high tenors have come to prominence in haute-contre repertoire. These include Mark Padmore,[5] Anders J. Dahlin, Rogers Covey-Crump, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Paul Agnew and Cyril Auvity. None of these sing the French Baroque repertoire to the exclusion of all others, and all are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in the performance of mainstream tenor repertoire.
^so quoted by Mary Cir (ibidem) from de Lalande’s Voyage en Italie (2/1786), p. 204-5. The date Cyr traces de Lalande’s statements back to, 1768, is evidently a misprint as it widely precedes the facts reported: Jean-Joseph Rousseau was then only seven years old and Legros had just started his career and was very far from retiring. The alleged publication date of de Lalande’s Voyage en Italie, or rather, of its (second) edition whence the quotation is reported to have been drawn, 1786, is likelier to be the right one
^The Great Communicator – article in Telegraph.co.uk 10 October 2002[dead link]
Cyr, M: "On performing 18th-century Haute-Contre Roles", Musical Times, vol 118, 1997, pp 291–5, later reproduced in Cyr, M., Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music. Opera and Chamber Music in France and England, Ashgate Variorum, Aldeshot (UK)/Burlington, VT (USA), 2008, ISBN978-0-7546-5926-6 (essay no. IX)
Philip Weller, "Tribou, Denis-François", in Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, ISBN978-0-19-522186-2 (IV, p. 808)
October 21, 2023
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The haute contre plural hautes contre was the primary French operatic tenor voice predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century Contents 1 History 2 Vocal features 3 Modern performances 4 Repertoire 5 ReferencesHistory EditThis voice was predominantly used in male solo roles typically heroic and amatory ones but also in comic parts even en travesti see apropos the portrait reproduced below and representing Pierre Jelyotte made up for the female title role of Rameau s Platee Lully wrote 8 out of 14 leading male roles for the voice Charpentier who was an haute contre himself composed extensively for the voice part as did Rameau and later Gluck The leading hautes contre of the Academie Royale de Musique that created the main roles of Lully s operas at the end of the seventeenth century were Bernard Clediere who started off as a taille a lower Tenor voice type and Louis Gaulard Dumesny Notable hautes contre of the eighteenth century s first half included firstly Jacques Cochereau Louis Claude Murayre and Denis Francois Tribou who revived Lully style and operas in the twenties and in the thirties 1 then the mentioned Pierre Jelyotte and his substitutes Francois Poirier et Jean Paul Spesoller de Latour it all of whom sang Rameau s operas and Lully s revivals for the Academie Royale de Musique and finally Marc Francois Beche who was engaged mainly in performances at court 2 After these came Joseph Legros for whom Gluck wrote his main haute contre roles which included the title role in the 1774 version of Orphee et Eurydice and Achilles in Iphigenie en Aulide There is also an extensive repertoire of music for this voice in French airs de cour and in French solo cantatas of the Baroque period hautes contre sang in choirs as well taking the part above the taille nbsp Jelyotte in the title role of Rameau s Platee by Charles Antoine Coypel c 1745Vocal features EditThe nature of the haute contre voice has been the subject of much debate Historically English writers have translated the term as countertenor which is not particularly helpful since the meaning of that latter term has also been the subject of considerable musicological controversy both terms are ultimately derived from the Latin contratenor see countertenor It is now generally accepted that the hautes contre sang in what voice scientists term modal i e speaking voice perhaps using falsetto for their highest notes A typical solo range for this voice was C3 to D5 considering that French eighteenth century pitch was as much as a whole tone lower than that of today 2 Though this high pitched range might lead one to think of the haute contre as a light voice historical evidence does not bear this out Jelyotte was much praised for the strength of his high register 3 the astronomer and traveller Joseph Jerome Lefrancois de Lalande commenting that one takes more pleasure in hearing a large voice than a small one Lalande stated that Jelyotte s range was identical to that of the famous tenor Angelo Amorevoli He also remarked that all those who succeeded Legros had to shout to arrive at the tones of an haute contre except for Rousseau it but he had the smallest sound 4 The haute contre is regarded by some authorities as similar to or indeed identical with the voice type described in Italian as tenore contraltino Although not unknown at an earlier date for example the title role in Mozart s Mitridate roles for this voice were particularly numerous at the beginning of the nineteenth century for example Lindoro in Rossini s L italiana in Algeri or Rodrigo in Otello Rossini also wrote roles in French for this type of voice which may thus be regarded as a direct continuation of the earlier haute contre tradition These include the protagonist of Le Comte Ory Neocles in Le siege de Corinthe and Arnold in Guillaume Tell all of which were written for the great French tenor Adolphe Nourrit Modern performances EditRecently with a revival of interest in and the performance of French baroque repertoire several high tenors have come to prominence in haute contre repertoire These include Mark Padmore 5 Anders J Dahlin Rogers Covey Crump Jean Paul Fouchecourt Paul Agnew and Cyril Auvity None of these sing the French Baroque repertoire to the exclusion of all others and all are involved to a greater or lesser extent in the performance of mainstream tenor repertoire Repertoire EditSee List of French haute contre rolesReferences Edit Weller op cit a b Sawkins op cit Cyr op cit p 292 so quoted by Mary Cir ibidem from de Lalande s Voyage en Italie 2 1786 p 204 5 The date Cyr traces de Lalande s statements back to 1768 is evidently a misprint as it widely precedes the facts reported Jean Joseph Rousseau was then only seven years old and Legros had just started his career and was very far from retiring The alleged publication date of de Lalande s Voyage en Italie or rather of its second edition whence the quotation is reported to have been drawn 1786 is likelier to be the right one The Great Communicator article in Telegraph co uk 10 October 2002 dead link Cyr M On performing 18th century Haute Contre Roles Musical Times vol 118 1997 pp 291 5 later reproduced in Cyr M Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music Opera and Chamber Music in France and England Ashgate Variorum Aldeshot UK Burlington VT USA 2008 ISBN 978 0 7546 5926 6 essay no IX Sawkins Lionel 2001 Haute contre In Sadie Stanley Tyrrell John eds The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd ed London Macmillan Publishers ISBN 978 1 56159 239 5 Stanley Sadie ed The new Grove Dictionary of Opera Oxford University Press 1992 vol 4 Philip Weller Tribou Denis Francois in Sadie Stanley ed The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Grove Oxford University Press New York 1997 ISBN 978 0 19 522186 2 IV p 808 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Haute contre amp oldid 1098243864, wikipedia, wiki, 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