Countertenor in the context of Mezzo-soprano

The tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest-voice type. Composers typically write music for the tenor in the range from the second B below middle C, to the G above middle C (i.e. B₂ to G₄) in choral music – and from the second B-flat below middle C, to the C above middle C (B♭₂ to C₅) in operatic music – but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of the tenor include the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor and tenor buffo (also known as the spieltenor).

Four-part harmony is music written for four voices, or for some other musical medium—four musical instruments or a single keyboard instrument, for example—for which the various musical parts can give a different note for each chord of the music.

The four main voices are typically labelled as soprano (or treble and countertenor), alto (contralto, countertenor or mezzo), tenor, and bass. Because the human voice has a limited range, different voice types are usually not able to sing pitches that lie outside of their specific range.

The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (from Latin: altus), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by either low women's or high men's voices. In vocal classification these are usually called contralto and male alto or countertenor.

A contralto (Italian pronunciation: [konˈtralto]) is a classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice types.

The contralto voice type is fairly rare. A contralto's range is similar to that of a mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor – typically from the F below middle C (F₃ in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F₅), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D₃) or the second B♭ above middle C (B♭₅). The contralto voice type includes coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contraltos.

The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s. Thereafter they began to reach a wider American audience, appearing frequently on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the United States. In 1987, they were prominently featured as guests on the Emmy Award-winning ABC television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.

Today the ensemble travels worldwide for its performances, appearing in around 125 concerts each year, mostly in Europe, the US and East Asia, having recently added the People's Republic of China to their list of touring territories. In recent years the group has had several UK appearances at the Royal Albert Hall Proms and concerts as part of the Three Choirs Festival and the City of London Festival. The King's Singers consist of two countertenors, a tenor, a bass and two baritones. Their latest album is titled "Close Harmony", and was released in October 2024.