Why do altos always seem to get stuck with all the crummy parts?
One or two or three delightful notes that we call the counterpart?"
-The opening lines from William Bowlus's Alto's Lament, one of two songs I learned in high school about how much altos suck.
Let me tell you a truth from high school chorus: everyone wants to be a soprano.
There's a glamor associated with being a soprano. They get the melodies. They get those amazing parts that just soar above the rest of the choir. They get most of the solos.
The altos are the people singing five notes in that very narrow range between the second sopranos (almost as good as 'real sopranos') and the tenors.
In operas, the sopranos are usually the main female protagonist, the love interests, the beauties.
The altos are the villains, the witches, or at if you're lucky, the comedic sidekick and member of the Beta Couple.
I started off in high school being a "second soprano." That meant I sang the soprano line in most parts, but if the soprano was ever divided in two, I took the lower half. A lot of female choral work is written for "SSA;" I was that second S. If we divided in to parts (SA) or (SSAA), I was still soprano.
Then my voice started settling. By my junior year, I was in the woman's chorus as what we referred to as a "sopralto." I was still singing second soprano in most pieces (SSA), but when we started to delve into (SSAA), I was suddenly first alto.
My senior year I was firmly seated in the alto section. I even went one step lower: as I'd worked by way into the high-level mixed group, I was now taking on "altenor" roles. Our chorus was lacking enough tenors on certain pieces, when meant the choral director had a few altos double on the tenor's higher lines.
The lowest note I ever remember singing was in a piece called The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee by Jean Berger. It's actually one of my favorite pieces of choral music I've gotten to sing. However, near the end, there is a very low E3 for the altos. We were having trouble hitting it with good tone; I remember thinking it was difficult and being glad I could make it. The other week, I was really, really surprised when I found myself hitting the same note without thinking about it while recording Midsummer's Dance.
After all of that, I still really didn't consider myself an alto. I wasn't silly enough to think I was a first soprano, but I was still a soprano, right? Just give me more (SSA) music to prove it!
I liked being a middle voice, really. One of the things I love about music are the subtle shifts in harmony, those little changes in those inner voices can produce. I adore a suspended resolution, creating tension. Or being that blue note in a V9 chord. You don't get to do that much in the melody, at least not to the same affect. One of the reasons I loved The Eyes of All was the beautiful lines given to to the altos and tenors. In the first few seconds of the piece, the dramatic line isn't the sopranos, it's the tenors.
However, I'm not the typical listener. I think a lot of people might find that song to be slow and boring. The glory goes to the music with the sweeping, singable melodic lines; you're not going to be humming The Eyes of All while picking up your books from the locker. And those lines go to the awesome, cool sopranos.
Never mind it's the people who are singing harmony are the ones who make a piece interesting. When we did volunteer work around Christmas, you'd occasionally have a group of vocal students working together and singing. They would get attention. However, they'd get even more attention when the group included people who could manage the harmonic parts. At that point, it switched from being some kids singing to Oh my goodness they're a organized group that knows music!
It's more challenging to be the alto. You can't let yourself drift to the easier melody. Your parts are harder to learn. You need to be aware of how you fit into the overall piece.
However... it's also a bit easier, as any of your mistakes will be hidden in the choir to the casual listener. Not so with the sopranos. If they make a mistake, it's out there for everyone to hear.
Sopranos had a bit of a reputation for being divas; they had to be, to maintain the level of confidence it took to carry that melody. And, like most divas, you really hated them, but wanted to be one of them.
I finally resigned myself to being an alto in college. If you ask me today what voice part I sing, I will tell you, "Alto." And yet, I still dream of those soaring soprano parts. The beautiful arias. I wish, wish, wish, I could be Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera.
There is hope though. Maybe I could sing Let It Go....
(...just kidding.)
An actual recording of me singing The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee as part of the Douglas Anderson Chamber Singers.
An actual recording of some group that doesn't include me or anyone I know singing Alto's Lament.
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