Basso profondo

{{Short description|Vocal range}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}} {{Voice type}} '''Basso profondo''' ({{IPA|it|ˈbasso proˈfondo|lang}}, "deep bass") is the lowest bass voice type.

While ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that extends downward to the second E below middle C (E2),<ref name=Grove1>{{cite web|url=http://www.grovemusic.com|title=Bass|access-date=14 June 2006|author1=Owen Jander|author2=Lionel Sawkins|author3=J. B. Steane|author3-link=J. B. Steane|author4=Elizabeth Forbes|author4-link=Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist)|editor=L. Macy|publisher=Grove Music Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516041031/http://www.grovemusic.com/ |archive-date=May 16, 2008 |url-status= live}}; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2 to E4 or F4</ref> operatic bassi profondi can be called on to sing low C (C2), as in the role of Baron Ochs in ''Der Rosenkavalier''. Often choral composers make use of lower notes, such as G1 or even F1; in such rare cases the choir relies on exceptionally deep-ranged bassi profondi termed '''octavists''', who may sing an octave below the bass part.

Bass singer Tim Storms holds the Guinness World Record for the "lowest note produced by a human".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lowest vocal note by a male |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/lowest-vocal-note-by-a-male |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Guinness World Records |language=en-gb}}</ref>

== Definition== thumb|400px|Basso profondo voice range (C2–C4) indicated on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C thumb|200px|Range of a basso profondo according to the Italian definition ranging from C{{sub|2}} to F{{sub|4}}

According to Rousseau (1775): "Basse-contres – the most profound of all voices, singing lower than the bass like a double bass, and should not be confused with contrabasses, which are instruments."<ref>{{cite book |author=Rousseau, Jean-Jacques |author-link=Jean-Jacques Rousseau |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionmusic177501rousuoft/page/n87 |title=Dictionnaire de musique |language=fr |location=Paris |year=1775 |page=66|quote=... des ''Basse-Contres'' les plus graves de toutes les Voix, qui chantent la ''Basse'' sous la ''Basse'' même, & qu'il ne faut pas confondre avec les ''Contre-basses'', qui sont des Instrumens.}}</ref>

==Octavist== An octavist (German: Oktavist) is an exceptionally deep-ranged basso profondo, especially typical of Russian Orthodox choral music. This voice type has a vocal range which extends down to A{{sub|1}} (an octave below the baritone range) and sometimes to F{{sub|1}} (an octave below the bass staff) with the extreme lows for octavists, such as Mikhail Zlatopolsky or Alexander Ort, reaching C{{sub|1}}.<ref name=rubass>{{cite web |title=Russian Basses |date=28 March 2018 |last=Galbraith |first=R. |url=https://russiansacredmusic.com/russian-basses/ |publisher=Russian Sacred Music |access-date=11 July 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625041348/https://russiansacredmusic.com/russian-basses/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Slavic choral composers sometimes make use of lower notes such as B{{music|♭}}1 as in Rachmaninoff's ''All-Night Vigil'', G{{music|♯}}{{sub|1}} in "The Twelve Brigands", G{{sub|1}} in "Ne otverzhi mene" by Pavel Chesnokov, or F1 in "Kheruvimskaya pesn" ("Song of Cherubim") by Krzysztof Penderecki, although such notes sometimes also appear in repertoire by non-Slavic composers (e.g. B{{music|♭}}1 appears in Gustav Mahler's Second and Eighth Symphonies).

In popular culture several a capella groups have bass singers with an octavist range, such as Home Free's Tim Foust, VoicePlay's Geoff Castellucci, and Avi Kaplan formerly of Pentatonix, as well as Tony-nominated Broadway performer Patrick Page, each of these being able to reach down to a G{{sub|1}} or in some cases even lower, with Castellucci able to hit a B{{sub|0}} using subharmonic singing and Foust able to hit a G{{sub|0}} using growl.

== See also == *Fach *Vocal weight

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{Cite thesis|last=Camp |first=Philip Reuel |title=A Historical and Contextual Examination of Alexandre Gretchaninoff's Second Liturgy of St. John Chrysotom, Opus 29 |type=PhD. Thesis |url=http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-07312008-31295018541861/unrestricted/31295018541861.pdf |year=2002 |publisher=Texas Tech University |access-date=8 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720060940/http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-07312008-31295018541861/unrestricted/31295018541861.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2011|ref=none}} * {{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10280/1093129-388.stm |title=The basses of 'the Barber' |last=Croan |first=Robert |date=7 October 2010 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=17 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115123951/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10280/1093129-388.stm |archive-date=15 November 2010|ref=none}} *Morosan, Vladimir ''Choral Performance in Pre-revolutionary Russia'', UMI Research Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-8357-1713-5}} *{{cite book |last=Ritzarev |first=Marina |year=2006 |title=Eighteenth-century Russian Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNxosVOlSRoC&q=Octavist&pg=PA255 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing|page=255 |isbn=0-7546-3466-3 |access-date=8 April 2015|ref=none}} * {{cite journal|last=Rommereim|first=J. C.|title=''The Choir and How to Direct It'': Pavel Chesnokov's magnum opus|journal=Choral Journal|publisher=American Choral Directors Association|volume=XXXVIII|number=7|year=1998|ref=none}} *{{Cite AV media notes |title=Basso Profondo from Old Russia |others=The Orthodox Singers male choir |year=1999 |url=http://www.mymusicbase.ru/PPS4/sd_4897.htm |access-date=8 April 2015 |first=Georgy |last=Smirnov |type=CD Liner notes |publisher=Russian Season |id=RUS 288 158 |location=Moscow Conservatory|ref=none}}

Category:Bass (sound) Category:Italian opera terminology Category:Voice types