Stephen Beet
Page 254 | 2024
Abstract
The history of the boy and adult male soprano (as opposed to high countertenor) has been little researched. This paper examines recently discovered documents and sound recordings which confirm that the vocal techniques employed by teachers and choir trainers since the mid-20th century differ fundamentally from those used in the past. The consequences of a change from the teaching of what was understood as “head-tone”, “small voice” and “mixed voice” to the use of the “chest” or “fundamental register” during mutation has resulted in advice that boys stop singing soprano/treble at the first sign of puberty, but boys expertly trained in earlier methods in most cases sang the whole soprano range without strain well into late adolescence. In some cases, this continued into adulthood. The assumption that their head tone is nothing more than falsetto with no variation in dynamics is challenged by contemporary accounts, recordings, and documents. Recently rediscovered sound recordings evidence a sound comparable to a good female voice trained in similar methods. Recordings heretofore classified as falsetto, countertenor or alto may need to be reappraised. There are implications for a profound practical effect on the training of present-day choirs; and, most importantly, the sound they produce.
