Tenor |

ital. tenore, from lat. tensor – continuous move, uniform movement, tension of the voice, from teneo – direct, hold (path); French tenor, teneur, taille, haute contra, German. tenor, english tenor

An ambiguous term, already known in the Middle Ages and for a long time not having an established meaning: its meaning partly coincided with the meanings of the words tonus (psalmodized tone, church mode, whole tone), modus, tropus (system, mode), accentus (accent, stress, raising your voice) it also denoted the length of the breath or the duration of the sound, among the theorists of the late Middle Ages – sometimes the ambitus (volume) of the mode. Over time, the following values ​​​​of it were more accurately determined.

1) In Gregorian chant, T. (later also called tuba (2), corda (French corda, Spanish cuerda)) is the same as repercussion (2), that is, one of the most important sounds of chanting, coinciding with the dominant and defining together with concludes. sound (finalis, similar in position to the tonic) modal affiliation of the melody (see Medieval modes). In decomp. types of psalmody and tunes close to it T. serves ch. tone of recitation (sound, on which a significant part of the text is recited).

2) In the Middle Ages. polygonal music (approximately in the 12th-16th centuries) the name of the party, in which the leading melody (cantus firmus) is stated. This melody served as the basis, the connecting beginning of the many-goal. compositions. Initially, the term in this sense was used in connection with the treble genre (1) – a special, strictly metrized variety of the organum (in the early forms of the organum, a role similar to T. was played by vox principalis – the main voice); T. performs the same functions in other polygons. genres: motte, mass, ballad, etc. In two-goal. compositions T. was the lower voice. With the addition of the countertenor bassus (counterpoint in a lower voice), T. became one of the middle voices; over T. could be placed countertenor altus. In some genres, the voice located above the T. had a different name: motetus in a motet, superius in a clause; the upper voices were also called duplum, triplum, quadruplum or – discantus (see Treble (2)), later – soprano.

In the 15th century name “T.” sometimes extended to the countertenor; the concept of “T.” for some authors (for example, Glarean) it merges with the concept of cantus firmus and with the theme in general (as a one-headed melody processed in a many-headed composition); in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries. name “T.” applied to the supporting melody of the dance, which was placed in the middle voice, the counterpoint to which formed the upper voice (superius) and lower (countertenor).

G. de Macho. Kyrie from Mass.

In addition, notations that suggest use in Op. c.-l. a well-known melody given in T. (German Tenorlied, Tenormesse, Italian messa su tenore, French messe sur tenor).

3) The name of the choral or ensemble part intended for the performance of T. (4). In a polygon harmonic or polyphonic. warehouse, where the choir is taken as a sample. presentation (for example, in educational works on harmony, polyphony), – voice (1), located between bass and alto.

4) High male voice (4), the name of which comes from the predominant performance by him in the early polygonal. the music of the party T. (2). The range of T. in solo parts is c – c2, in choral c – a1. Sounds in the volume from f to f1 are the middle register, sounds below f are in the lower register, sounds above f1 are in the upper and higher register. The idea of ​​the range of T. did not remain unchanged: in the 15-16 centuries. T. in decomp. cases, it was interpreted either as closer to the viola, or, on the contrary, as lying in the baritone region (tenorino, quanti-tenore); in the 17th century the usual volume of T. was within h – g 1. Until recently, the parts of T. were recorded in the tenor key (for example, the part of Sigmund in Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung; lady” by Tchaikovsky), in the old choir. scores are often in alto and baritone; in modern publications party T. notated in violin. key, which implies a transposition down an octave (also denoted

or

). The figurative and semantic role of T. changed greatly over time. In oratorio (Handel’s Samson) and ancient sacred music, a tradition valid for subsequent eras of interpreting the solo tenor part as narrative-dramatic (The Evangelist in Passions) or objectively sublime (Benedictus from Bach’s mass in h-moll, separate episodes in “All-Night Vigil” by Rachmaninov, central part in “Canticum sacrum” by Stravinsky). As the Italian operas in the 17th century the typical tenor roles of young heroes and lovers were determined; specific appears a little later. part of T.-buffa. In the opera-series of wives. the voices and voices of the castrati replaced the male voices, and T. was entrusted with only minor roles. On the contrary, in a different more democratic the character of the opera buffa, the developed tenor parts (lyrical and comic) are an important constituent element. On the interpretation of T. in operas of the 18-19 centuries. was influenced by W. A. ​​Mozart (“Don Giovanni” – the part of Don Ottavio, “Everyone does it” – Ferrando, “The Magic Flute” – Tamino). Opera in the 19th century formed the main types of tenor parties: lyric. T. (Italian tenore di grazia) is distinguished by a light timbre, a strong upper register (sometimes up to d2), lightness and mobility (Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville; Lensky); dram. T. (Italian tenore di forza) is characterized by baritone coloring and great sounding power with a slightly smaller range (Jose, Herman); in lyric drama. T. (Italian mezzo-carattere) combines the qualities of both types in different ways (Othello, Lohengrin). A special variety is characteristic T.; the name is due to the fact that it is often used in character roles (trike). When determining whether a singer’s voice belongs to one type or another, the singing traditions of a given nationality are essential. schools; yes, in Italian. singers the difference between the lyric. and dram. T. is relative, it is more clearly expressed in it. opera (for example, the restless Max in The Free Shooter and the unshakable Sigmund in The Valkyrie); in Russian music is a special type of lyric drama. T. with a chased upper register and a strong even sound delivery originates from Glinka’s Ivan Susanin (Sobinin’s author’s definition – “remote character” naturally extends to the vocal appearance of the party). The increased importance of the timbre-colorful beginning in opera music con. 19 – beg. 20th century, convergence of opera and drama. theater and the strengthening of the role of recitative (especially in operas of the 20th century) affected the use of special tenor timbres. Such is, for example, reaching to e2 and sounding like a falsetto T.-altino (Astrologer). Shifting emphasis from cantilena to express. pronunciation of the word characterizes such specific. roles, like Yurodivy and Shuisky in Boris Godunov, Alexei in The Gambler and Prince in Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges, and others.

The history of the lawsuit includes the names of many outstanding T. performers. In Italy, G. Rubini, G. Mario enjoyed great fame, in the 20th century. – E. Caruso, B. Gigli, M. Del Monaco, G. Di Stefano, among him. opera artists (in particular, performers of Wagner’s works) stood out Czech. singer J. A. Tikhachek, German. singers W. Windgassen, L. Zuthaus; among the Russian and owls. singers-T. — N. N. Figner, I. A. Alchevsky, D. A. Smirnov, L. V. Sobinov, I. V. Ershov, N. K. Pechkovsky, G. M. Nelepp, S. Ya. Lemeshev, I S. Kozlovsky.

5) Wide-scale copper spirit. instrument (Italian Flicorno tenore, French saxhorn tynor, German Tenorhorn). Refers to transposing instruments, made in B, T.’s part is written on b. none higher than the real sound. Thanks to the use of a three-valve mechanism, it has a full chromatic scale, the real range is E – h1. Wed and top. T. registers are characterized by a soft and full sound; melodic T.’s capabilities are combined with technical. mobility. T. came into use in the middle. 19th century (b. h. designs by A. Saks). Along with other instruments from the saxhorn family—the cornet, baritone, and bass—the T. forms the basis of the spirit. an orchestra, where, depending on the composition, the T. group is divided into 2 (in small copper, sometimes in small mixed) or 3 (in small mixed and large mixed) parts; 1st T. at the same time have the function of a leader, melodic. voices, 2nd and 3rd are accompanying, accompanying voices. T. or baritone is usually entrusted with the lead melodic. voice in trio marches. Responsible parts of T. are found in Myaskovsky’s Symphony No. 19. A closely related instrument is the Wagner horn (tenor) tuba (1).

6) Clarifying definition in the title decomp. music instruments, indicating the tenor qualities of their sound and range (as opposed to other varieties belonging to the same family); for example: saxophone-T., tenor trombone, domra-T., tenor viola (also called viola da gamba and taille), etc.

Literature: 4) Timokhin V., Outstanding Italian singers, M., 1962; his, Masters of vocal art of the XX century, no. 1, M., 1974; Lvov M., From the history of vocal art, M., 1964; his, Russian singers, M., 1965; Rogal-Levitsky Dm., Modern orchestra, vol. 2, M., 1953; Gubarev I., Brass band, M., 1963; Chulaki M., Instruments of a symphony orchestra, M.-L., 1950, M., 1972.

TS Kyuregyan

High male voice. Main range from to small to to first octave (occasionally up to ре or even before F at Bellini). There are roles of lyric and dramatic tenors. The most typical roles of the lyric tenor are Nemorino, Faust, Lensky; among the parts of the dramatic tenor, we note the roles of Manrico, Othello, Calaf and others.

For a long time in the opera, the tenor was used only in secondary roles. Until the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century, castrati dominated the stage. Only in the work of Mozart, and then in Rossini, did tenor voices take a leading place (mainly in buffa operas).

Among the most prominent tenors of the 20th century are Caruso, Gigli, Björling, Del Monaco, Pavarotti, Domingo, Sobinov and others. See also countertenor.

E. Tsodokov