tessitura
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian tessitura. Doublet of texture.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛsɪˈtʊəɹə/
- Rhymes: -ʊəɹə
Noun
tessitura (plural tessituras or tessiture)
- (music) The most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a singer or musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding timbre.
- Coordinate term: compass
- Hyponyms: soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, counter tenor, tenor, baritone, bass
- 1995, Anthony Burgess, Byrne:
- Byrne shrugged. He started writing a bravura / Opera based on Cleopatra’s death, / Exploiting all Maria’s tessitura, / With a high F before her final breath.
- 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 257:
- Anne's talented voice made the lines I had written swoop, howl, and whine through an authentically Thatcherite tessitura [...].
- 2014, Jane Streeton; Philip Raymond, Singing on Stage, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 146:
- In classical voice training, and in the world of classical singing, voices are divided into categories dependent on timbre or tonal colour and tessitura or comfortable average pitch range.
Translations
most comfortable vocal range for a given singer
|
Italian
Etymology
From tessere + -tura. Compare Spanish tejedura, Portuguese tecedura, Romanian țesătură, Friulian tiessidure.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tes.siˈtu.ra/
- Rhymes: -ura
- Hyphenation: tes‧si‧tù‧ra
Noun
tessitura f (plural tessiture)
- weaving
- weaving mill
- (music) tessitura (most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or musical instrument)
Related terms
- tessere
Descendants
- → English: tessitura
- → German: Tessitur
- → Spanish: tesitura
Further reading
- tessitura in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Anagrams
- eruttassi