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{{short description|High classical male singing voice}}
{{Vocal range}}
A '''countertenor''' (also '''contra tenor''') is a type of [[classical music|classical]] male [[singing]] [[human voice|voice]] whose [[vocal range]] is equivalent to that of the female [[contralto]] or [[mezzo-soprano]] [[voice type]]s, generally extending from around [[scientific pitch notation|E<sub>3</sub>]] to D<sub>5</sub> or E<sub>5</sub>,<ref name=Steane /> although a [[sopranist]] (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the [[soprano]]'s range of around C<sub>4</sub> to C<sub>6</sub>.<ref name=McKinney>A sopranist is a term, widely used falsely, used to describe a countertenor whose vocal range is so high it is equivalent to that of a soprano. {{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> Countertenors often have [[tenor]] or [[baritone]] chest voices, but sing in [[falsetto]] or [[head voice]] much more often than they do in their chest voice.

The nature of the countertenor voice has radically changed throughout musical history, from a [[modal voice]], to a modal and [[falsetto]] voice, to the primarily falsetto voice that is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology ([[Human height#Human height throughout history|increase in body height]]) and partly because of fluctuations in pitch.{{sfn|Ravens|2014|pages=38–44}}

The term first came into use in England during the mid-17th century and was in wide use by the late 17th century. The use of adult male falsettos in polyphony, commonly in the soprano range, was known in European all-male sacred choirs for some decades previous, as early as the mid-16th century.{{sfn|Ravens|2014|pages=50–57}} Modern-day ensembles such as [[the Tallis Scholars]] and [[the Sixteen]] have countertenors on alto parts in works of this period. There is no evidence that falsetto singing was known in Britain before the early 17th century, when it was occasionally heard on soprano parts.{{sfn|Ravens|2014|pages=71–89}}

In the second half of the 20th century, there was great interest in and renewed popularity of the countertenor voice, partly due to pioneers such as [[Alfred Deller]] and [[Russell Oberlin]], as well as the increased popularity of [[Baroque music|Baroque]] [[opera]] and the need of male singers to replace the [[castrato|castrati]] roles in such works. Although the voice has been considered largely an [[early music]] phenomenon, there is a growing modern repertoire collection for countertenors, especially in contemporary music.<ref name="Stark2003">{{harvnb|Stark|2003}}</ref><ref name="Giles1982">{{harvnb|Giles|1982}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Early centuries ===
In [[polyphony|polyphonic]] compositions of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the ''contratenor'' was a voice part added to the basic two-part contrapuntal texture of discant (''[[superius]]'') and [[tenor]] (from the [[Latin language|Latin]] {{lang|la|tenere}}, which means to hold, since this part "held" the music's melody, while the ''superius'' [[descant]]ed upon it at a higher pitch). Though having approximately the same range as the tenor, it was generally of a much less melodic nature than either of these other two parts. With the introduction in about 1450 of four-part writing by composers such as [[Johannes Ockeghem|Ockeghem]] and [[Jacob Obrecht|Obrecht]], the ''contratenor'' split into ''contratenor altus'' and ''contratenor bassus'', which were respectively above and below the tenor.<ref name="Giles1982" /> Later the term became obsolete: in Italy, ''contratenor altus'' became simply ''altus'', in France, ''[[haute-contre]]'', and in England, countertenor. Though originally these words were used to designate a vocal part, they are now used to describe singers of that part, whose vocal techniques may differ (see below).<ref name="Stark2003" />

In the Catholic Church during the Renaissance, St. Paul's admonition ''"mulieres in ecclesiis taceant"'' ("let the women keep silence in the churches")<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|14:34|ASV}}</ref> still prevailed, and women were banned from singing in church services. Countertenors, though rarely described as such, therefore found a prominent part in liturgical music, whether singing a line alone or with boy [[Boy soprano|treble]]s or [[alto]]s. (Spain had a long tradition of male falsettists singing soprano lines). Countertenors were hardly ever used for roles in early opera,<ref>During the first half of the seventeenth century, some falsettist altos, such as Lorenzino Sances and [[Mario Savioni]], occasionally appeared onstage, especially in Rome.</ref> however, the rise of which coincided with the arrival of a fashion for [[castrato|castrati]]. For example, the latter took several roles in the first performance of [[Claudio Monteverdi|Monteverdi]]'s ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' (1607). Castrati were already prominent by this date in Italian church choirs, replacing both falsettists and trebles; the last soprano falsettist singing in Rome, Juan [Johannes de] San[c]tos (a Spaniard), died in 1652.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sophia.smith.edu/~rsherr/frmst1.htm|title=SingerList|website=sophia.smith.edu|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326004513/http://sophia.smith.edu/~rsherr/frmst1.htm|archive-date=26 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In [[Italian opera]], by the late seventeenth century castrati predominated, while in France, the modal high tenor, called the ''haute-contre'',<ref>the nature of the ''haute-contre'' voice has been the subject of much debate, but it is now generally accepted that ''haute-contres'' sang in what voice scientists term "[[Modal voice|modal]]", perhaps using [[falsetto]] or ''[[falsettone]]'' for their highest notes (cf. Lionel Sawkins, "Haute-contre", in {{harvnb|Sadie|1997|loc=vol. II, pp.&nbsp;668–669}}, and {{harvnb|Cyr|1977}})</ref> was established as the voice of choice for leading male roles.

In England [[Henry Purcell|Purcell]] wrote significant music for a higher male voice that he called a "counter-tenor", for example, the roles of Secrecy and Summer in ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]'' (1692). "These lines have often challenged modern singers, who have been unsure whether they are high tenor parts or are meant for falsettists".<ref name="Potter">[[John Potter (musician)|Potter, J.]] (2009), ''Tenor, History of a voice'', Yale University Press, New Haven/London, p. 19 (included footnote 35). {{ISBN|978-0-300-11873-5}}</ref> Contemporary vocal treatises, however, make clear that Purcell's singers would have been trained to blend both methods of vocal production.{{sfn|Ravens|2014|pages=130–138}} In Purcell's choral music the situation is further complicated by the occasional appearance of more than one solo part designated "countertenor", but with a considerable difference in range and [[tessitura]]. Such is the case in ''[[Hail! Bright Cecilia|Hail, bright Cecilia]]'' (''The Ode on St Cecilia's Day 1692'') in which the solo, {{"'}}Tis Nature's Voice", has the range F<sub>3</sub> to B{{music|flat}}<sub>4</sub> (similar to those stage roles cited previously), whereas, in the duet, "Hark each tree", the countertenor soloist sings from E<sub>4</sub> to D<sub>5</sub> (in the trio "With that sublime celestial lay". Later in the same work, Purcell's own manuscript designates the same singer, Mr Howel, described as "a High Contra tenor" to perform in the range G<sub>3</sub> to C<sub>4</sub>; it is very likely that he took some of the lowest notes in a well-blended "chest voice"&nbsp;– see below).

=== 18th century ===
"The Purcell counter-tenor 'tenor' did not flourish in England much beyond the early years of the [eighteenth] century; within twenty years of Purcell's death [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] had settled in London and ''[[opera seria]]'', which was underpinned entirely by Italian singing, soon became entrenched in British theatres".<ref name="Potter"/> In parallel, by Handel's time, castrati had come to dominate the English operatic stage as much as that of Italy (and indeed most of Europe outside France). They also took part in several of Handel's oratorios, though countertenors, too, occasionally featured as soloists in the latter, the parts written for them being closer in compass to the higher ones of Purcell, with a usual range of A<sub>3</sub> to E<sub>5</sub>.<ref name="Giles1982" /> They also sang the alto parts in Handel's choruses. It was as choral singers within the Anglican church tradition (as well as in the secular genre of the [[Glee (music)|glee]]) that countertenors survived as performers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Otherwise they largely faded from public notice.<ref name="Stark2003" />

=== 20th century ===
The most visible person of the countertenor revival in the twentieth century was [[Alfred Deller]], an English singer and champion of authentic early music performance. Deller initially identified as an "alto", but his collaborator [[Michael Tippett]] recommended the archaic term "countertenor" to describe his voice.<ref name="Giles1982" /> In the 1950s and 60s, his group, the [[Deller Consort]], was important in increasing audiences' awareness (and appreciation) of Renaissance and Baroque music. Deller was the first modern countertenor to achieve fame and has had many prominent successors. [[Benjamin Britten]] wrote the leading role of Oberon in his setting of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' (1960) especially for Deller. The countertenor role of Apollo in Britten's ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]'' (1973) was created by [[James Bowman (countertenor)|James Bowman]], the best-known amongst the next generation of English countertenors. [[Russell Oberlin]] was Deller's American counterpart and another early music pioneer. Oberlin's success was entirely unprecedented in a country that did not have much experience of performance of works prior to [[Bach]], and it paved the way for the great success of countertenors following him.<ref name="Giles2005">{{harvnb|Giles|2005}}</ref> Oberlin, however, harked back to the earlier tradition of countertenors using only their modal voices.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YgrPBTRjMk|title=Russell Oberlin explica o que é um contratenor|website=YouTube|date=23 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316010040/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YgrPBTRjMk|archive-date=16 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Today, countertenors are much in demand in many forms of classical music. In opera, many roles originally written for castrati (castrated males) are now sung and recorded by countertenors, as are some [[Breeches role|trouser roles]] originally written for female singers. The former category is much more numerous and includes Orfeo in [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]]'s {{lang|it|[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]}} and many Handel roles, such as the name parts in ''[[Rinaldo (opera)|Rinaldo]]'', {{lang|it|[[Giulio Cesare]]}}, {{lang|it|[[Serse]]}} and ''[[Orlando (opera)|Orlando]]'', and Bertarido in ''[[Rodelinda (opera)|Rodelinda]]''.<ref name="Stark2003" /> [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] also had castrati roles in his operas, including Aminta in {{lang|it|[[Il re pastore]]}}, Cecilio in {{lang|it|[[Lucio Silla]]}}, Ramiro in {{lang|it|[[La finta giardiniera]]}}, Idamante in {{lang|it|[[Idomeneo]]}}, and Sesto in {{lang|it|[[La clemenza di Tito]]}}.

Many modern composers other than Britten have written, and continue to write, countertenor parts, both in choral works and opera, as well as songs and song-cycles for the voice. Men's choral groups such as [[Chanticleer (ensemble)|Chanticleer]] and [[the King's Singers]] employ the voice to great effect in a variety of genres, including early music, gospel, and even folk songs. Other recent operatic parts written for the countertenor voice include Edgar in [[Aribert Reimann]]'s ''[[Lear (opera)|Lear]]'' (1978), the messenger in his ''[[Medea (Reimann)|Medea]]'' (2010), Prince Go-Go in [[György Ligeti]]'s ''[[Le Grand Macabre]]'' (1978), the title role in [[Philip Glass]]'s ''[[Akhnaten (opera)|Akhnaten]]'' (1983), Claire in [[John Lunn]]'s ''The Maids'' (1998), the Refugee in [[Jonathan Dove]]'s ''[[Flight (opera)|Flight]]'' (1998), Trinculo in [[Thomas Adès]]'s ''[[The Tempest (opera)|The Tempest]]'' (2004), the Boy in [[George Benjamin (composer)|George Benjamin]]'s ''[[Written on Skin]]'' (2012) and several others (see [[Countertenor#Roles in opera and oratorio|Roles in opera]] below).

== Vocal range ==
[[File:Countertenor voice range on keyboard.svg|thumb|400px|Countertenor vocal range (E<sub>3</sub>–E<sub>5</sub>) notated on the [[treble clef|treble]] [[staff (music)|staff]] (left) and on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C (C4)]]
{| align=right
|<score>{ \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } \clef "treble_8" e4 e''4 }</score>
|}
The [[vocal range]] of a countertenor is equivalent to that of the female [[contralto]] or [[mezzo-soprano]] [[voice type]]s. A trained countertenor will typically have a vocal centre similar in placement to that of a contralto or mezzo-soprano.<ref name="Appelman1986">{{harvnb|Appelman|1986}}</ref> [[Peter Giles (countertenor)|Peter Giles]], a professional countertenor and noted author on the subject, defines the countertenor as a musical part rather than as a vocal style or mechanism. In modern usage, the term "countertenor" is essentially equivalent to the medieval term ''contratenor altus'' (see above). In this way, a countertenor singer can be operationally defined as a man who sings the countertenor part, whatever vocal style or mechanism is employed.<ref name="Giles2005" /> The countertenor range is generally equivalent to an alto range, extending from approximately G<sub>3</sub> to D<sub>5</sub> or E<sub>5</sub>.<ref name=Steane>[[J. B. Steane]], "Countertenor", in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', I, p. 999.</ref> In comparison to female voices the male voice usually has an extended range towards the low notes, but the lowest parts of the range are usually not used. In actual practice, it is generally acknowledged that a majority of countertenors sing with a [[falsetto]] vocal production for at least the upper half of this range, although most use some form of "[[chest voice]]" (akin to the range of their speaking voice) for the lower notes. The most difficult challenge for such a singer is managing the lower middle range, for there are normally a few notes (around B{{music|flat}}<sub>3</sub>) that can be sung with either vocal mechanism, and the transition between registers must somehow be blended or smoothly managed.<ref name="Giles2005" />

In response to the (in his view) pejorative connotation of the term falsetto, Giles refuses to use it, calling the upper register "[[head voice]]".<ref name="Giles2005" /> Many voice experts{{who|date=November 2017}} would disagree with this choice of terminology, reserving the designation "head voice" for the high damped register accompanied by a relatively low larynx that is typical of modern high operatic tenor voice production.  The latter type of head voice is, in terms of the vocal cord vibration, actually more similar to "chest voice" than to falsetto, since it uses the same "speaking voice" production (referred to as "modal" by voice scientists), and this is reflected in the timbre.<ref name="Appelman1986" />

== Terminology ==
Particularly in the British choral tradition, the terms "male soprano" and "male alto" serve to identify men who rely on falsetto vocal production, rather than the [[modal voice]], to sing in the soprano or alto vocal range. Elsewhere, the terms have less universal currency. Some authorities do accept them as descriptive of male falsettists, although this view is subject to controversy;<ref>{{cite journal|author1=G. M. Ardran|author2=David Wulstan|title=The Alto or Countertenor Voice|journal=[[Music & Letters]]|volume=48|number=1|date=January 1967|pages=17–22|doi=10.1093/ml/XLVIII.1.17 |jstor=733148|postscript=none}} agree with the view of Giles{{incomplete short citation|date=March 2023|reason=Which Giles? 1982 or 2005?}} noted below; others disagree strongly&nbsp;– see, for example, {{cite journal|author=[[Neal Zaslaw]]|title=The enigma of the Haute-Contre|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|volume=115|number=1581|date=November 1974|pages=939–941|jstor=958179|doi=10.2307/958179|postscript=none}}; {{cite journal|last=Cyr|first=Mary|title=On Performing 18th-Century Haute-Contre Roles|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|volume=118|number=1610|date=April 1977|pages=291–295|jstor=958048|doi=10.2307/958048 |postscript=none}}, later reproduced in Cyr, M., ''Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music. Opera and Chamber Music in France and England'', essay no. IX, Ashgate Variorum, Aldeshot (UK)/Burlington, Vermont (USA), 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-5926-6}}; {{cite journal|author=Simon Ravens|title='A Sweet Shrill Voice': The Countertenor and Vocal Scoring in Tudor England|journal=[[Early Music (journal)|Early Music]]|date=February 1998|volume=26|number=1|pages=122–134|doi=10.1093/em/26.1.122 |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |jstor=3128554}}</ref> they would reserve the term "countertenor" for men who, like [[Russell Oberlin]], sing in the alto range with little or no falsetto, equating it with ''haute-contre'' and the Italian ''tenor altino''.<ref>Giles,{{incomplete short citation|date=March 2023|reason=Which Giles? 1982 or 2005?}} "liberal" in his use of the word countertenor, proposes this latter term for such voices</ref> Adherents to this view maintain that a countertenor will have unusually short vocal cords<ref name="Stark2003" /> and consequently a higher speaking voice and lower range and tessitura than their falsettist counterparts, perhaps from D<sub>3</sub> to D<sub>5</sub>. Operatic vocal classification, on the other hand, prefers the terms "countertenor" and "[[sopranist]]" to "male alto" and "male soprano", and some scholars consider the latter two terms inaccurate owing to physiological differences between male and female vocal production.<ref name=McKinney />

== Roles in opera and oratorio ==
Notable countertenor roles include:
{{div col|colwidth=25em|rules=yes}}
*Adone, ''[[La catena d'Adone]]'' ([[Domenico Mazzocchi]])
*Atlante, Alceste, ''[[Il palazzo incantato]]'' ([[Luigi Rossi]])
*Joad, ''[[Athalia (Handel)|Athalia]]''  ([[George Frideric Handel|Handel]])
*La Fortuna,<ref>Questioned. According to [[Anthony Hicks]] it is a [[Boy soprano|treble]] part that was originally performed by [[William Savage]] before his voice broke (''Giustino'', in {{harvnb|Sadie|1997|loc=vol. II, p. 440}}).</ref> ''[[Giustino (Handel)|Giustino]]'', (Handel)
*Childerico,<ref>Questioned. According to Anthony Hicks the small [[soprano]] part of Childerico, which has no arias, was probably sung an octave lower by William Savage after his voice had just broken (''Faramondo'', in {{harvnb|Sadie|1997|loc=vol. II, p. 121}}).</ref> ''[[Faramondo]]'', (Handel)
*David,<ref>Very dubious. According to Anthony Hicks the role was originally intended to be sung by [[contralto]] {{ill|Maria Antonia Marchesini|it}}, but on account of her illness it was taken at the premiere by an actor singing as a [[tenor]], and was later always entrusted by Handel to female singers (cf. David Vickers, [http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/handel-saul "Handel ''Saul''. The Sixteen's magnificent new recording of Handel's ''Saul''"], ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815033304/https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/handel-saul?pmtx=green-red |date=15 August 2017}}"; Robert Hugill, ''CD Review – Handel's Saul'', "[http://www.planethugill.com/2012/09/cd-review-handels-saul.html Planet Hugill – A world of classical music] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206113741/http://www.planethugill.com/2012/09/cd-review-handels-saul.html |date=6 February 2015 }}", 19 September 2012).</ref> ''[[Saul (Handel)|Saul]]'' (Handel)
*Athamas, ''[[Semele (Handel)|Semele]]'' (Handel)
*Joseph, ''[[Joseph and his Brethren]]''  (Handel)
*Hamor, ''[[Jephtha (Handel)|Jephtha]]''  (Handel)
*Oberon, ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' ([[Benjamin Britten|Britten]])
*David, ''[[Chichester Psalms]]'' ([[Leonard Bernstein|Bernstein]])
*Annas, ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'' ([[Andrew Lloyd Webber|Lloyd Webber]])
*Priest, ''[[Taverner (opera)|Taverner]]'' ([[Peter Maxwell Davies|Davies]])
*Voice of Apollo, ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]'' (Britten)
*Death, Ithuriel, Raphael, ''[[Paradise Lost (Penderecki)|Paradise Lost]]'' ([[Krzysztof Penderecki|Penderecki]])
*Prince Go-Go,<ref>Role conceived for treble, soprano or high countertenor ([[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Paul Griffiths]], "''Grand Macabre, Le''", in {{harvnb|Sadie|1997|loc=vol. II, p. 511}}).</ref> ''[[Le Grand Macabre]]'' ([[György Ligeti|Ligeti]])
*Edgar,<ref>Role created by tenor David Knutson, but conceived for both tenor and countertenor (Andrew Clements, ''Lear'', in {{harvnb|Sadie|1997|loc=vol. II, p. 1115}}).</ref> ''[[Lear (opera)|Lear]]'' ([[Aribert Reimann|Reimann]])
*Akhnaten, ''[[Akhnaten (opera)|Akhnaten]]'' ([[Philip Glass|Glass]])
*Military Governor, ''[[A Night at the Chinese Opera]]'' ([[Judith Weir|Weir]])
*Mephistophiles, ''[[Historia von D. Johann Fausten (opera)|Historia von D. Johann Fausten]]'' ([[Alfred Schnittke|Schnittke]])
*Vera Loman, ''[[Vera of Las Vegas]]'' ([[Daron Hagen|Hagen]])
*The Refugee, ''[[Flight (opera)|Flight]]'' ([[Jonathan Dove|Dove]])
*The Guest, The voice behind the scene, ''[[Luci mie traditrici]]'' ([[Salvatore Sciarrino|Sciarrino]])
*Kreon, ''Freispruch für Medea'' ([[Rolf Liebermann|Liebermann]])
*Franz, Fritz, ''[[Doctor Ox's Experiment (opera)|Doctor Ox's Experiment]]'' ([[Gavin Bryars|Bryars]])
*Raphael, ''[[Tobias and the Angel (opera)|Tobias and the Angel]]'' (Dove)
*Adschib ("the Wayward"), ''[[L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe]]'' ([[Hans Werner Henze|Henze]])
*Trinculo, ''[[The Tempest (opera)|The Tempest]]'' (Adès)
*Artemis (travesti role), ''[[Phaedra (opera)|Phaedra]]'' (Henze)
*Fox/Coachman, ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio (opera)|The Adventures of Pinocchio]]'' (Dove)
*Herald, ''[[Medea (Reimann)|Medea]]'' (Reimann)
*Prospero, Ferdinand, ''[[The Enchanted Island (opera)|The Enchanted Island]]'' ([[Pasticcio]])<ref name="pasticcio">Music by various baroque composers, including George Frideric Handel, [[Antonio Vivaldi]], and [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]] (cf.: [http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/enchanted-island-music.aspx?icamp=EnchIslint&iloc=prodpage ''The Enchanted Island:'' The Music] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123220205/http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/enchanted-island-music.aspx?icamp=EnchIslint&iloc=prodpage |date=23 January 2012 }}, The Metropolitan Opera).</ref>
*First Angel/Boy, ''[[Written on Skin]]'' ([[George Benjamin (composer)|Benjamin]])
*Bishop Baldwin, ''[[Gawain (opera)|Gawain]]'' ([[Harrison Birtwistle|Birtwistle]])
*Orpheus, ''[[The Second Mrs Kong]]'' (Birtwistle)
*Snake Priestess and 2 Innocents, ''[[The Minotaur (opera)|The Minotaur]]'' (Birtwistle)
*Odysseus, ''[[Sirenen]]'' ([[Rolf Riehm|Riehm]])
*Terry, ''[[Marnie (opera)|Marnie]]'' ([[Nico Muhly]])
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* ''[[Fach]]'', the German system for classifying voices
* [[Voice classification in non-classical music]]

== References ==
<references />
'''Sources'''
* {{cite book|title=The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application|last=Appelman|first= D. Ralph|year=1986|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-20378-6}}
* {{cite book|title=The Countertenor|last=Giles|first=Peter|year=1982|publisher=Muller Publishing|isbn=978-0584104745}}
* {{cite book|title=A Basic Countertenor Method|last=Giles|first=Peter|year=2005|publisher=Kahn & Averill|location=London|isbn=978-1-871082-82-1}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ravens|first=Simon|title=The Supernatural Voice: A History of High Male Singing|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2014|isbn=9781843839620|location=Woodbridge|oclc=967385734}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Sadie|editor-first=Stanley|editor-link=Stanley Sadie|title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|year=1997|isbn=978-0-19-522186-2}}
* {{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}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book
|title=Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias
|last=Boldrey
|first=Richard
|year=1994
|publisher=Caldwell Publishing Company
|isbn=978-1-877761-64-5|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal|last=Hennen|first=Peter|title=Nature's Way: Vocal Production in Social Context|journal=The Countertenor Voice|date=1 February 2011|url=http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/02/feature-%E2%80%93-nature%E2%80%99s-way-normal-vocal-production-in-social-context|ref=none}}
* {{cite book
|title=Gesang gegen die 'Ordnung der Natur'? Kastraten und Falsettisten in der Musikgeschichte
|last=Herr
|first= Corinna
|year=2013|edition=2nd
|publisher=Baerenreiter Verlag
|isbn=978-3-761-82187-9|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal|last=Howell|first=Ian|title=Countertenor Technique: An Introduction to Concepts|journal=The Countertenor Voice|issue=April 2011|url=http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/04/countertenor-technique-an-introduction-to-concepts/|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal|last=Howell|first=Ian|title=Vocal Technique: The Flex|journal=The Countertenor Voice|issue=July 2011|url=http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/07/vocal-technique-the-flex/|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal|last=Howell|first=Ian|title=Are We Post-Anglican Yet?|journal=The Countertenor Voice|issue=January 2011|url=http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/01/feature-are-we-post-anglican-yet-part-1/|ref=none}}
* Mormile, Alessandro, ''Controtenori. La rinascita dei 'nuovi angeli' nella prassi esecutiva dell'opera barocca'', Varese, Zecchini Editore, 2010, {{ISBN|9788865400005}}, p. 218
* {{cite book
|title=Choral Pedagogy
|last=Smith
|first=Brenda
|year=2005
|publisher=Plural Publishing, Inc
|isbn=978-1-59756-043-6|ref=none}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Countertenor vocalists}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Countertenor}}

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[[Category:Voice types]]
[[Category:Pitch (music)]]
[[Category:Musical terminology]]
[[Category:Opera terminology]]
[[Category:Italian opera terminology]]
[[Category:Countertenors| ]]