Bass (vocal range)

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This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type.

A bass is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range.

According to Grove Music Online, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the F below small C to the E above middle C (i.e., F2–E4), with a tessitura, or comfortable range, normally ranging between the outermost lines of the bass clef.

Variations in bass range

However, cultural influence and individual variation create a wide variation in range and quality of bass singers. Parts for basses have included notes as low as the C two octaves below middle C (i.e. Measure 12 of Ne Imami Iniya Pomoshchi by Pavel Chesnokov), and the Rachmaninov Vespers call for the B-flat a tone below that. Many basses have trouble reaching those notes, and the use of them in works by Slavic composers has led to the colloquial term "Russian bass" for an exceptionally deep-ranged basso profondo that can easily sing these notes. Some traditional Russian religious music calls for A2 (110 Hz) drone singing, which is doubled by A1 (55 Hz) in the rare occasion that a choir includes exceptionally gifted singers who can produce this very lowest of human voice pitches.

Basses also have trouble reaching the notes above middle C, according to Grove Music Online; however, many British composers such as Benjamin Britten have written parts for bass that center far higher than the bass tessitura (such as the first movement of his choral work Rejoice in the Lamb). The Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the range as being from the E below low C to middle C (i.e. E2–C4).

In choral music, voices are subdivided into first bass and second bass, no distinction being made between bass and baritone voices, in contrast to the three-fold (tenor-baritone-bass) categorization of solo voices. The exception is in arrangements for male choir (TTBB) and barbershop quartets (TLBB), which sometimes label the lowest two parts baritone and bass.

It is also common for men who are classified as "basses" (and have a full bass choral range) to have a speaking voice which may sound much higher than would be expected.

Bass roles in opera

In classical music, and particularly in opera, the following distinctions are often made among different kinds of bass voices:

Basso Cantante/Lyric High Bass/Lyric Bass-baritone

Basso Cantante means 'singing bass'. Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice. It is produced by a more Italianate vocal production with a faster vibrato. A lyric bass-baritone. for listings of baritone as well as bass roles.

Roles:

Duke Bluebeard Bluebeard's Castle by Bela Bartok
Don Pizarro, Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Count Rodolfo, La Sonnambula by Bellini
Blitch, Susannah by Carlisle Floyd
Méphistophélès, Faust by Charles Gounod
Don Alfonso, Cosi fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Boris, Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
Silva, Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi
Philip II, Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi
Count Walter, Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Verdi
Banquo, Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi
Zaccaria, Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
Fiesco, Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi
Ferrando, Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi
Daland, Der fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner

Hoherbass/Dramatic High Bass/Dramatic Bass-baritone

Hoherbass or "high bass" is a dramatic bass-baritone. for listings of baritone as well as bass roles.
Roles:

Igor, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin
Boris, and Varlaam, Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
Klingsor, Parsifal by Richard Wagner
Wotan Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner
Caspar, Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber

Jugendlicher Bass

Jugendlicher Bass a young man (regardless of the age of the singer).

Roles:

Leporello, Masetto, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Varlaam, Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky
Colline, La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)

Basso Buffo/Bel Canto/Lyric Buffo

Buffo, literally "funny," basses are lyrical roles but demand a solid coloratura technique. They are usually the antagonist or the comic relief in Bel Canto operas.
Roles:

Don Pasquale, Don Pasquale (Gaetano Donizetti)
Dottor Dulcamara, L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti
Don Bartolo, The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini
Don Basilio, The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini
Don Magnifico, La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini
Méphistophélès, Faust by Charles Gounod
Don Alfonso, Cosi fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Leporello, Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Schwerer Spielbass/Dramatic Buffo

English equivalent: Dramatic comic bass
Roles::

Khan Konchak, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin
Baculus, Der Wildschütz (Albert Lortzing)
Ferrando, Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi
Daland, Der fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner
Pogner, Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner

Lyric Basso Profundo

English equivalent: lyric low bass
Basso profundo, is the lowest bass voice type. According to J. B. Steane in "Voices, Singers & Critics", the basso profundo voice «derives from a method of tone-production that elimintes the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a wall-like front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato, the slow beat or dreaded wobble».
Roles: