THE ECLIPSE OF THE COUNTERTENOR VOICE: A STUDY IN GENDER AND SOCIETY
From the abstract -
This paper examines the period from 1660 to 1890, investigating the several
causes for the decline of the countertenor (or male alto voice) in London's theaters. Changes in politics, gender roles, masculine archetypes, societal demographics, physiology and musical style combined to effectively bar countertenors from the stage. They were replaced sequentially by castrati and heroic tenors, each successive voice symbolizing and in some ways embodying the virtues and acceptable vices of its respective age.
This paper will explore the main factors that effected the eclipse of the
countertenor voice through the use of personal journals, music criticism, newspapers and the music itself.
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