What Is a Bass-Baritone?

A bass-baritone is a type of male singer who is at ease singing in the middle to lower range of pitches. Normally, the term “bass-baritone” conjures up images of classical music and opera, but the term refers to the range and quality of the voice, so it can be applied to any type of vocal music. In a broad sense, the term can refer to any instrument that has a range similar to that of these singers.

Low baritones and high bass-baritones are two different types of bass-baritones. Their voices have baritone qualities, but they can also reach deeper, true bass pitches when the musical repertoire calls for it. However, the bass-baritone loses some of his power and resonance in the lower part of his range, which is a distinguishing feature of this voice type. The color available with this voice type is highly valued, despite the fact that some of the lower range power is sacrificed.

Until Richard Wagner specifically requested a high bass in roles for his operas, the term “bass-baritone” did not exist. As a result, many scores call for a bass or baritone voice, rather than a bass-baritone voice. As a result, whether a bass-baritone can sing a role labeled for bass or baritone is frequently decided at the casting director’s discretion. In these cases, the casting director’s goal is to ensure that the vocalist has a range that allows them to handle the pitches in the role with clarity, power, and control.

When bass-baritones perform in ensembles, the part they play is somewhat amorphous. The bass-baritone, for example, sings with the basses in a four-part mixed voice choir with bass, tenor, alto, and soprano parts, taking the upper pitch or pitches if the bass part divides. The bass-baritone usually sings the middle part in a male trio. He sings the third part in a male quartet or all-male choir, above the low basses but below the low tenors. Bass-baritones are used to this chameleon-like behavior, to the point where trained bass-baritones will often take the proper pitches in a divided-part score, changing pitches only when the director wants to improve the choir’s overall harmonic balance and thus assigns what to sing.

Bass-baritone singers, like other voice types, can be classified as either lyric or dramatic. Lyric implies that the singer’s voice has a light quality to it, though he can still be powerful. Because their vocal cords are thinner, lyricists’ voices are often more agile. The sound of dramatic bass-baritones is richer and fuller.