Basso profondo

Basso profondo (Italian: [ˈbasso proˈfondo], "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), 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".

Definition

Basso profondo voice range (C₂–C₄) indicated on piano keyboard in green with dot marking middle C

Range of a basso profondo according to the Italian definition ranging from C₂ to F₄

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."

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 A₁ (an octave below the baritone range) and sometimes to F₁ (an octave below the bass staff) with the extreme lows for octavists, such as Mikhail Zlatopolsky or Alexander Ort, reaching C₁.

Slavic choral composers sometimes make use of lower notes such as B♭₁ as in Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, G♯₁ in "The Twelve Brigands", G₁ 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♭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 G₁ or in some cases even lower, with Castellucci able to hit a B₀ using subharmonic singing and Foust able to hit a G₀ using growl.

See also

• Fach
• Vocal weight

Further reading

• Morosan, Vladimir Choral Performance in Pre-revolutionary Russia, UMI Research Press, 1986.