Decoding the classical voice: A guide to vocal classifications

Have you ever heard somebody being described as the “coloratura soprano” and not known what that meant? Or even somebody debating if someone is a true dramatic or lyric tenor? Vocal classifications can seem like a mystery – especially if you don’t come from a classical background. 

The human voice is quite possibly the first musical instrument and the need to classify voice types originates from the beginning of polyphonic vocal writing in the 11th century. In order to map out harmonies or vocal lines, composers created the SATB choral formation (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) that has since been expanded on over time to create our modern voice types. Classical and operatic vocal types are split into vocal range, timbre and singing style and this classification system is sometimes referred to as the German Fach. It is important to note that this type of vocal classification only applies to classical voice technique and can only be loosely applied to jazz, pop or broadway voices.

Demystifying the classical voice: Tessitura, passagi and timbre 

Tessitura is the section of the vocal range where a vocalist sounds the best and is at ease when singing. For example many people can sing very high notes but if it sounds like a cat scratching a whiteboard they probably aren’t a soprano. To talk about tessitura, we use octaves on the piano to illustrate appropriate pitch ranges for each voice type. 

Timbre is also an essential part of defining a voice type: this is the colour of your voice and is often described with words such as bright, dark, nasal or metallic. Combined with the passagi – transitions between the vocal registers such as head voice, middle or mixed voice and chest voice – this defines whether you will be a coloratura or lyrical voice type. 

Each voice has many different subcategories with specific roles and many singers can take on roles of classical voice types that are not naturally theirs. When talking about timbre and singing style we often talk of coloratura, or spinto singers of each voice type. For example a coloratura is as it sounds, a colourful voice that is able to move dynamically in the high register, often singing very ornamented melodic lines. The lyric soprano for example has a full voice that can carry over an orchestra much more than a coloratura soprano can. 

Soprano: Coloratura, Dramatic and Lyric

Sopranos are the highest voice type, with a typical range between C4 and C6 and they are also known to have the widest selection of categories such as coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto, and dramatic soprano. While the soprano usually refers to a female voice, it can also refer to young boys and castrati. 

One of the most celebrated subcategories is the coloratura soprano. The coloratura has to be incredibly agile in the high register and usually has a clear, almost weightless voice.  A great example is the role of the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

The operatic soprano is dramatic, even shrill at times. She is often the heart of the opera and very often the victim saved by the fearless tenors in the plot. The lyric soprano is most often used in Romantic operas for the love interest roles such as Mimi from La Bohème, who plays the love interest for Rodolfo. Compared to the coloratura soprano, the lyric soprano has more projection and body to the voice.

Mezzo-Soprano

While often treated as second fiddle to the divas in the soprano roles, the mezzo-soprano has a similar range to a soprano but with a darker tone. This darker sound is more associated with mother figures, sneaky or villainous women or even “trouser parts”- which are usually women playing young men such as the role of  “Ruggiero” in Handel’s opera Alcina. The most famous role for mezzo sopranos is however one of the more famous female-led operas: Bizet’s Carmen. 

Like the soprano, the mezzo-soprano also has subgroups:  lyric, dramatic and coloratura, which have similar properties to the soprano. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos like Cecilia Bartoli are able to play soprano roles but have a darker timbre in their voice. 

Contralto 

The contralto is the rarest and lowest of the female voice types, known for its rich chest voice and dark, velvety timbre. Their comfortable singing range is from E3 to F5. Like the stereotypes for Mezzos, the contralto is even more associated with elderly women or witches as a deep and gravelly voice is seen as unfeminine.

By the end of the 18th century, society had ended the practice of castrating young boys to preserve their high voices, and the legendary era of castrati – such as the famed Farinelli – began to fade. With no new castrati to fill these heroic roles, composers and opera houses turned to women to fill the void. The vocal writing was gradually adjusted to suit female voices, leading to the emergence of the contralto in these roles. As one of the rarest female voice types, the contralto gained new prominence, taking on parts initially intended for the now-extinct castrato voice. 

Countertenor and castrati

The invention and use of the countertenor and castrato is directly related to the history of women on stage. Before the 1700s, women were rarely allowed to perform onstage— especially in the church—so the castrati role and later the countertenor was created to fill the need for a mezzo soprano or soprano. However, there are some very important differences between the two classical voice types. 

Starting in the 1500’s and continuing until the 1700s, young boys were castrated to maintain their high voice, this gave rise to popular figures such as the aforementioned Farinelli. However this inhumane practice was forbidden in the 19th century in Italy and composing for countertenor voices fell out of fashion for many years. After the decline of the castrati, there became more demand for countertenors, adult male singers who sing in a falsetto voice rather than a high chest voice like castrati did. 

More recently, composers such as Benjamin Britten and György Ligeti have written roles for countertenors and more countertenors have been cast as trouser roles originally written for female singers. Many modern countertenors such as Jakub Józef Orliński are breaking barriers and widening the repertoire for countertenors by singing traditionally female roles. 

Tenor

If the soprano is the love interest, the tenor is usually her lovesick prince, ready to sing his heart out (and probably die in the final act). Historically the tenor voice type has gone through many transformations, from its part in maintaining the melody in seventeenth-century chants to the famous 1831 performance by Gilbert Duprez in which he pioneered the operatic high C in a full chest voice. Before Duprez, tenors sang all high notes in falsetto which led to them often being cast as more comic roles. The modern tenor has a powerful and rich voice that carries well over an orchestra and can comfortably sing in a vocal range from C3 to C5. 

Like the other voice types, tenor also has many subcategories, each with its own vocal qualities and repertoire. The lyric tenor has a warm, flexible voice suited to romantic roles like Rodolfo in La Bohème. The Spinto tenor has more vocal heft, ideal for roles that require tenderness and dramatic intensity such as Cavaradossi in Tosca. The most powerful is of course the dramatic tenor, used most famously in Verdi’s Otello or Wagner’s Seigfried.

We cannot talk about tenors without mentioning one of the most famous arias for tenor: Nessun Dorma from Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, which is sung by the character Calaf. This role is usually performed by a spinto tenor, similar to the lyric tenor but with more weight to the voice, allowing for more dramatic impact. 

Baritone

The baritone as a voice type was not fully recognised until the 19th century. This came after the rise in popularity of the bel canto style, which emphasized the beauty of the voice over dramatic presentations. The baritones could now distinguish themselves from the deep and rich basses and the more metallic tenors. Baritones often play dramatic roles such as the villain or rival to our main character, or a conflicted hero. 

Within the baritone category there is quite a famous subgenre which is the Verdi baritone, named after Italian composer Giussepe Verdi. Roles like the tragic hero Rigoletto are incredibly demanding,requiring a rich and powerful middle voice and exceptional stamina. This phenomenon is not unique to Verdi; Richard Wagner also pushed vocal boundaries, creating his Heldenbaritone (heroic baritone) and Heldentenor (heroic tenor), voice types that require exceptional power and training to be heard over Wagner’s immense orchestration. Certain performers such as Bryn Terfel and Hans Hotter have become specialists in Wagner’s repertoire because of the unique demands it places on the voice. 

Bass  

The dark horses of the classical voice family are undoubtedly the basses – one of the rarest and most biologically determined voice types. Singers can learn to extend their upper range through training however there is a natural limit to how low the vocal cords can vibrate. The length, thickness and mass of your vocal chords alongside the size of the vocal tract determine the ability to produce resonant low notes. 

The bass has a unique task, singing low enough to fill the role, which is determined by their biology and also giving those deep notes enough power to sound over an orchestra. Low pitched sound waves are longer and less directional and tend to disperse rather than cut through an orchestra. This means that bass singers must be able to produce low notes that have enough resonance to fill the hall in order to be heard by the audience. 

This uncanny register lends them to comical characters in Italian opera buffa or to roles as father figures, Kings, priests or villains.

While debates about whether a singer is truly a lyric or dramatic voice can stir up lively discussions, vocal classification is ultimately a flexible framework. Many singers will shift between categories throughout their career and influence from composers and vocal technique will inevitably shift the definitions over the years. For example, Richard Wagner pushed his vocal parts so far that he transformed all vocal roles to be more physical and demanding, creating a category of Wagnerian vocalists that specifically train for these roles. In the end, it’s the unique quality of the individual voice, not the label, that leaves the lasting impression.