Bass-baritone

{{short description|Voice type between bass and baritone}}
{{Voice type}}

A '''bass-baritone''' is a high-lying [[Bass (voice type)|bass]] or low-lying "classical" [[baritone]] [[voice type]] which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerian]] roles: the title role in ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'', Wotan/Der Wanderer in the ''[[Ring Cycle]]'' and Hans Sachs in ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]''. Wagner labelled these roles as ''Hoher Bass'' ("high bass")&mdash;see [[fach]] for more details.<ref name=Stark>{{cite book 
|title= Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy
|last= Stark 
|first=  James
|year= 2003
|publisher= University of Toronto Press
|isbn= 978-0-8020-8614-3}}</ref>

The bass-baritone voice is distinguished by two attributes. First, it must be capable of singing comfortably in a baritonal [[tessitura]]. Secondly, however, it needs to have the ripely resonant lower range typically associated with the bass voice. For example, the role of Wotan in ''[[Die Walküre]]'' covers the range from F<sub>2</sub> (the F at the bottom of the bass clef) to F{{music|#}}<sub>4</sub> (the F{{music|#}} above middle C), but only infrequently descends beyond C<sub>3</sub> (the C below middle C). Bass-baritones are typically divided into two separate categories: '''lyric bass-baritone''' and '''dramatic bass-baritone'''.<ref name=McKinney>{{cite book 
|title= The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults
|last= McKinney
|first= James
|year= 1994
|publisher= Genovex Music Group
|isbn= 978-1-56593-940-0}}</ref>

Bass-baritones should not be confused with their vocal cousin—the so-called '''Verdi baritone'''. This type of Italianate baritone voice has a brighter tone colour and sings at a slightly higher tessitura than that possessed by the bass-baritone. In addition to the operas of [[Giuseppe Verdi]], its natural home is to be found in operatic music composed after about 1830 by the likes of [[Donizetti]], [[Ponchielli]], [[Massenet]], [[Puccini]] and the [[verismo]] composers.

The term bass-baritone is roughly synonymous with the Italian vocal classification '''basso cantante'''; for example, in the Verdian repertoire, Philip II in ''[[Don Carlos]]'' is sung by a true bass, while Ferrando in ''[[Il trovatore]]'' is often taken by a bass-baritone, though the two roles' ranges are very similar. In Debussy's ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' the role of Golaud, created by [[Hector Dufranne]], sits between Pelléas (high baritone) and Arkel (bass). Some of the classical [[Mozart]] baritone roles such as Don Giovanni, Figaro and Gugliemo&mdash;composed before the term "baritone" gained currency&mdash;are occasionally played by a bass-baritone.<ref>{{Cite web
 | url=http://www.harlequin-agency.co.uk/index.php?page=12&action=details&id=50
 | title=Bryn Terfel Opera Repertoire
 | publisher=Harlequin Agency
 | access-date=2023-11-16
 }}{{better source needed|date=November 2023}}</ref>

[[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s [[Savoy opera]]s usually featured a comic bass-baritone character, created to make use of [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company|D'Oyly Carte]] company member [[Richard Temple (bass-baritone)|Richard Temple]].

In short: the ''bass-baritone'' is a voice that has the resonant low notes of the typical bass allied with the ability to sing in a baritonal tessitura. Colloquially, it refers to a voice with a [[Vocal range|range]] and tone somewhere between a [[Bass (voice type)|bass]] and a [[baritone]].

The bass-baritone's required range can vary tremendously based on the role, with some less demanding than others. Many bass-baritones have ventured into the baritone repertoire, including (among others) [[Leopold Demuth]], [[Georges Baklanoff]], [[Rudolf Bockelmann]], [[George London (bass-baritone)|George London]], [[Thomas Quasthoff]] ,[[Thomas Stewart (bass-baritone)|Thomas Stewart]], [[James Morris (bass-baritone)|James Morris]], and [[Bryn Terfel]].

==Repertoire==

{{Listen|type=music|filename=Faust de Gounod Le veau d'or.ogg|title="Le veau d'or"|description=Méphistophélès in ''Faust'', performed by [[Feodor Chaliapin]]|filename2=SchorrDutchman.OGG|title2="Die Frist ist um"|description2=The Dutchman in ''Der fliegende Holländer'', performed by [[Friedrich Schorr]]}}

'''The following operatic parts are performed by bass-baritones but sometimes by high basses:'''
{{Div col|colwidth=25em|rules=yes}}
* Don Pizarro, ''[[Fidelio]]'' by [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]
* Golaud, ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' by [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]
* Olin Blitch, ''[[Susannah]]'' by [[Carlisle Floyd|Floyd]]
* Méphistophélès, ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' by [[Charles Gounod|Gounod]]
* Leporello, ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] 
* Don Alfonso, ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' by Mozart
* Figaro, ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' by Mozart
{{Div col end}}

'''Core bass-baritone operatic parts:'''
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* Escamillo, ''[[Carmen]]'' by [[Georges Bizet|Bizet]]
* Igor<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Prince Igor]]'' by [[Alexander Borodin|Borodin]]
* Porgy, ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' by [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]]
* The 4 Villains, ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' by [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]
* Scarpia<sup>*</sup>, ''[[Tosca]]'' by [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]
* Dutchman, ''[[Der fliegende Holländer]]'' by [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]
* Hans Sachs, ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' by Wagner
* Wotan, ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' by Wagner
* Amfortas, ''[[Parsifal]]'' by Wagner
{{Div col end}}

''' Bass-baritone parts in Gilbert and Sullivan works:'''
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* ''[[Trial by Jury]]'': Usher
* ''[[The Sorcerer]]'': Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre
* ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'': Dick Deadeye
* ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'': The Pirate King
* ''[[Patience (opera)|Patience]]'': Colonel Calverley
* ''[[Iolanthe]]'': Lord Mountararat
* ''[[Princess Ida]]'': King Hildebrand
* ''[[The Mikado]]'': The Mikado of Japan
* ''[[Ruddigore]]'': Sir Roderic Murgatroyd
* ''[[The Yeomen of the Guard]]'': Sergeant Meryll
* ''[[The Gondoliers]]'': Don Alhambra del Bolero
{{Div col end}}

'''Other bass-baritone parts:'''
{{Div col|colwidth=33em|rules=yes}}
* [[Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz)|''Roméo et Juliette'']] by [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]
* Symphony No.15 by [[Rued Langgaard|Langgaard]]
* [[Cantabile (symphonic suite)|''Cantabile'', symphonic suite]] by [[Frederik Magle|Magle]]
* ''[[Gurre-Lieder]]'' by [[Arnold Schoenberg|Schoenberg]]
{{Div col end}}

<sup>*</sup> A role also sung by 'standard' baritones

==See also==
*[[Soprano]]
*[[Alto]]
*[[Tenor]]
*[[Baritone]]
*[[Bass (voice type)|Bass]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Range (music)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bass-Baritone}}
[[Category:Bass-baritones| ]]
[[Category:Voice types]]
[[Category:Opera terminology]]
[[Category:Pitch (music)]]