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contralto

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
contralto (kəntrăl`tō), female voice of lowest pitch. Originally, the term denoted a second voice set against (contra) a high voice (alto); thus, a second high voice. Since most second parts were for a high male voice or a low woman's voice, the term came to mean a low woman's voice, pitched about a fifth below the soprano. See also alto alto, singing voice the range of which is lower than the soprano by the interval of a fifth. More generally, the term refers to the register in which this voice sings, i.e.
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; countertenor countertenor, a male singing voice in the alto range. Singing in this range requires either a special vocal technique called falsetto, or a high extension of the tenor range.
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; voice voice, sound produced by living beings. The source of the sound in human speaking and singing is the vibration of the vocal cords, which are inside the larynx , and the production of the sounds is called phonation.
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alto

 or contralto

Voice or register that extends approximately from the F below middle C to the second D above it. The second-highest part in four-part music, it is normally sung by women. The name derives from contratenor altus, the part above the tenor part. It is used for some instruments that play principally in the alto range (alto saxophone, alto flute, etc.). See also countertenor.


contralto
1. Music the lowest female voice, usually having a range of approximately from F a fifth below middle C to D a ninth above it


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the Bass and Tenor of the Man and the Soprano and Contralto of the two Women?
All I know is that one evening, entering incautiously the salon of the little house just after the news of a considerable Carlist success had reached the faithful, I was seized round the neck and waist and whirled recklessly three times round the room, to the crash of upsetting furniture and the humming of a valse tune in a warm contralto voice.
All at once he heard, not far from the edge of the wood, the sound of Varenka's contralto voice, calling Grisha, and a smile of delight passed over Sergey Ivanovitch's face.
 
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