Composers such as Vivaldi and Monteverdi knew that women’s voices were not always high, and men’s voices were not always low. But another strange phenomenon arose, particularly in the European classical tradition: the castrato voice, which involved prepubertal castration of young boys and resulted in a strikingly high, often ethereal voice. That the church was complicit in this bizarre fad is incomprehensible (Benedict XIV tried to ban it). Fortunately, those days are long gone. The last castrato died in 1922.

But the high male voice lives on in “countertenors,” most of whom are male altos and mezzos, though there are a few sopranists—male sopranos—who can sing the full soprano range without falsetto. Opera companies can now stage Baroque operas (which require such voices) with a variety of countertenors. When Virginia Opera presented Handel’s “Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare)” in 1997 with three very different countertenors as Caesar, Sextus and Tolomeo, they recorded it because the only extant recordings involved female singers in at least some of those parts.

Oddly enough, it was doo-wop falsetto leads that brought countertenors back into common currency. Think Bee Gees, Frankie Valli ... the list goes on.

Okay, that’s classical music and pop music—how does any of this connect with church choirs?

It’s a matter of what kinds of voices are available in your community and how best to utilize those voices and make the most of them—whether they’re male or female.

Stay tuned for part three!