tenor

1. Music

a. the male voice intermediate between alto and baritone, having a range approximately from the B a ninth below middle C to the G a fifth above it

b. a singer with such a voice

c. a saxophone, horn, recorder, etc., intermediate in compass and size between the alto and baritone or bass

d. (as modifier): a tenor sax

a. (in early polyphonic music) the part singing the melody or the cantus firmus

b. (in four-part harmony) the second lowest part lying directly above the bass

3. Bell-ringing

a. the heaviest and lowest-pitched bell in a ring

b. (as modifier): a tenor bell

4. Law

a. the exact words of a deed, etc., as distinct from their effect

b. an exact copy or transcript

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tenor

(1) A high male singing voice with a range from C below middle C to A above. The main types of tenor are the lyric tenor, or tenore di grazia, and the dramatic tenor, or tenore di forza. The lyric tenor is characterized by its soft timbre, ability to sing tuneful melodies, and mobility. The dramatic tenor is distinguished by great force and breadth of sound over the entire range. There is also a lyric-dramatic tenor and an alto, which reaches E above high C.

(2) A musical wind instrument used in wind bands. The term also refers to some musical instruments, usually of middle register, belonging to a given family—as, for example, the tenor saxophone or tenor dombra.

(3) In the Middle Ages, from the 12th century, the voice in contrapuntal composition that carried the main melody, or cantus firmus. At first the tenor was a low voice; with the addition of the bass, it became the middle voice of a polyphonic work.

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